Lesane Crooks
Published May 14, 2023
"With the 2nd Pick of the 2026 SIBA Draft, the Los Angeles Mamba selects... Reginald Martin, Freshman out of San Diego State University..." SLIM REAPER READY FOR THE MAMBA SHOW
The crowd cheered as the 19 year old kid from SD State was all smiles as he walk up to the podium. As he dons the LA Mamba draft snapback cap, he can't believe that he is going to play pro basketball in the state of California. Basically staying in-state where he played nearby San Diego State for the Aztecs and has been a West Coast kid through & through. This Long Beach native is living the California dream. No one would've guessed that Martin aka Slim Reaper or Slim for short will be playing for Los Angeles who wasn't even in the top 5 range less than 24 hours ago but here we are, seeing arguably the best player in this class suiting up for the the new look Mamba. GM Jron saw an opportunity to move up after several talks in the Top 5 range & he knew the only way to get the kid who is #1 in their draft board is to come up with an offer that would wow Memphis (who owns picks #1 & #2), the consensus is that Memphis will pick a big man whether it's Netherlands' Finn Metternich or Larry Owens, they have multiple picks in the 1st round & the Mamba knows that.
Slim is heavily coveted by lottery teams, sources have told us that Boston & Chicago are among the teams that have their eyes on the 6'8" PG with unique set of skills, Los Angeles also knew that hence they tried to overtake everybody to have the chance to snag the tall PG & they were successful. It was the perfect move to restart the new build in LA, who right now have a future superstar in Hollywood Rob Scott, who played both guard position last season & was successful as he was named an All-Star as a rookie & was named rookie of the year & was an All-League 2nd team, All-Defense 1st team & All-Rookie 1st team awardee. What he needed was a partner in crime that is in the same timeline, enter Slim Reaper. "I'm really happy to stay in Cali, man. It is always a dream to play infront of family & friends and being a Southern Cali kid, it's a dream come true to play for my home state," Slim said when asked about his feeling being drafted by the Mamba. He averaged 13.4 ppg, 4.7 apg, 4 rpg, 1 spg & 0.5 bpg in his only year w/ the Aztecs but he already impressed a lot because of his style of play, naturally an artist that is known for his creativity & flashy game, he will fit right in w/ the new Los Angeles Mamba build.
A QUICK LOOK AT THE REST OF THE CLASS The Mamba has another 1st round pick in pick #23 overall which they used to select undersized big man Brian Sides, the senior out of Utah. Standing only at 6'8" w/ a wide frame (255 lbs) he is actually built like a Defensive End, he made his name as an enforcer posting numbers of 12.8 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 2.4 bpg, 2.3 apg & 1.5 bpg for Utah last season. An experienced player with 4 years of college experience under his belt, he is ready to help the Mamba frontcourt.
The 7th Pick of the 2nd Round Mamba went with a swingman in 6'8" junior our of Arkansas Daniel Street, he wasn't as productive in college but known as an attacker, he posted 7.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.4 apg, 1.4 bpg & 0.8 spg last season for the Razorbacks, it will be tough to tell if he can crack the rotaion in Los Angeles but if he showed promise, I don't see why not.
The 30th pick in the 2nd Round Mamba went for size as they drafted the massive 7'3", 280 lbs big man out of Missouri, the junior center shows inside-outside ability that really intrigued the Mamba which at this late of a round is ok to take projects. Mitchell though isn't known for his defense in college but that is something Mamba would want to try & develop, he averaged 11.5 ppg, 8.7 rpg, 1.7 apg, 0.3 bpg & 0.3 spg. For the Mamba's last pick in the draft the 31st pick in the 2nd round they went with Hasheem Collins, the junior our of Memphis. The 6'2" PG is also known to be a scoring guard in college as he posts 15.8 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 3.4 apg, 0.9 spg & 0.5 bpg. He will have a hard time cracking in the already loaded backcourt position in LA but it's always good to have extra bodies in certain positons.
Overall, the Mamba's draft day was a success solely on picking Slim Martin, he will be considered as a franchise piece alongside Hollywood Rob & will form the Baby Mamba movement in Los Angeles. Everybody is excited on what they can bring to the table but it is still a long way to go. The team is in a rebuild & this is merely another step forward to what they hope to be a bright future. by: Lesane Crooks