52 Comments

#Jaquez for basically every reason everyone else has said here and he’s one of my all time favorite Bruins.

Expand full comment

#JAQUEZ I don't really know why and I too have scouting burnout but he seems like the type of glue guy warriors could use

Expand full comment

#JAQUEZ

He's the real life Fletch (he's 6'5", 6'9" with the afro).

Expand full comment

#Jaquez damn he’s fun.

That headiness, awareness, and hustle is great. I can see him thriving in our system, on both defense and offense.

Different play styles, but he is giving me Kyle Anderson vibes, also of UCLA. Kyle has a beguiling smoothness while Jaquez has more of an edge, but both have a knack for being at the right place, right time that just makes you trust them on the court. Kyle is a bit bigger though.

Expand full comment

I realize that the odds favor the Warriors doubling down on the present core. However, that will not help resolve their financial tangle or help with their future. I'm still of the mind to try a deal for Draymond with the Nets. Draymond for Dinwiddie and Claxton. Assists, scoring, bench, and big man need are all covered for. If Draymond is such a great defender, the Nets would surely be interested. They get a legend and we get a future without sacrificing quality for a WIN/Now frame of mind.

Expand full comment

What about the fact that Draymond has a player option and controls the situation? He has no incentive to opt in if he thinks he'll be traded. The Dubs would probably have to sign him to a multi-year max extension to incentivize him to agree to a trade, and then the team receiving him in the S&T would be hard capped. Otherwise, he is not tradable.

Expand full comment

Getting back equal salary isn't helping on the financial side. The goal is getting back better fit at less salary if possible. And yes, it's either Green or Poole, seems to be the consensus. I would take Claxton straight up here. Problem with BRK is they have Ben Simmons and he and Draymond are one in the same type of player. If you eliminate all the Franchises that hate Dray and the lottery teams he wouldn't want to play for, the list gets pretty small. I have Portland at the top as Lillard has been lobbying hard for Dray for years. I would take Nurk and a some picks. We dog the guy, but that would solve our issues at center and bring some much needed scoring from that position and open the door for JK to spread his wings. ATL and Collins, makes sense for ATL. NYK, CLE & BOS all need that secret ingredient to get them to the next level. A reunion with KD is possible in a 3-team trade that sends Ayton to, let's say CHA, that could net us a guy like Mark Williams and picks. Anyway you cut it, it ain't simple. Moving Dray is an NBA landscaping job. It requires all parties on board.

Expand full comment

Jaquez' highlight reel is just so unique compared to a lot of other players:

https://twitter.com/pac12/status/1668664529654513665

Expand full comment

We need someone that JZAlvarado gets behind.

Expand full comment

In the first major domino of free agency, Toronto Raptors All-Star guard Fred VanVleet has declined his $22.8 million player option and will become an unrestricted free agent in July.

https://twitter.com/wojespn/status/1668332104374165504

Expand full comment
Comment removed
Expand full comment

FVV 2023 - FG% 39.3, 3P% 34.2%, eFG% 48.6%

JP 2023 - FG% 43.0, 3P% 33.6%, eFG% 51.4%

TH 2023 - FG% 43.9, 3P% 37.8%, eFG% 53.1%

Van Vleet may be better on the defensive end, but it's unlikely that his stats will improve given his age, while one might expect Poole and Herro to continually improve on the offensive end.

Expand full comment

6'1 guards definitely don't age the best, but VanVleet was quite a bit better offensively too if we go by a measure like EPM (+2.5 O-EPM for FVV, -.2 O-EPM for Poole). It's just one metric though.

Expand full comment
Jun 14, 2023·edited Jun 14, 2023

Idk, FVV for a bit higher feels right to me? It kinda surprised me, but the raw stats are closer than I expected I guess.

He's a much better defender and playmaker, but I thought Poole was an overpay to hedge against him blowing up this year and costing the W's even more (lol). Despite that, Poole's a decently better scorer and can grow into a similar playmaker if he gets some wisdom in him. Plus, FVV has a lot of mileage on him and is 29 (so improvements are less likely). I'd personally rather have FVV on the contract, but that's bc the W's would probably be better with one less young player on the team and a lead playmaker on the 2nd team feels like a nice place for improvement if we can swing it.

Edit to add: A FVV for Poole (+stuff potentially) S/T doesn't work now, right? FVV needed to opt into the PO?

Expand full comment
author
Jun 14, 2023·edited Jun 14, 2023Author

Sign and trades are essentially impossible anyway. In the old CBA, it is only available to hard capped teams and GSW would have to get all the way under the Apron. (Thus all the agony trying to get under the apron to sign and trade D’Angelo Russell for KD.) The new CBA I believe says you have to be under the actual cap, though the amount of info on the new CBA is damned annoyingly hard to find.

Expand full comment

Thank you and Attila for the correction, EA!

Expand full comment
Comment removed
Expand full comment

That... and JP had a much better scoring year last year than this year, so he's proven he's capable of better... and easy to see pretty executable growth opportunities.

Expand full comment

Unless the rule has changed, receiving a S&T player hard caps a team, and we can't get under the cap. If that's still the case, we can't get anyone via S&T.

Expand full comment

Id be searching for a contract above that lol. I know Pat Riley gets alot of Kudos for roster construction but man has he delved out alot of crappy contracts for marginal role players and reset the market several times over.

Expand full comment

I'm ready for JP to get going next year :)

Expand full comment

Curry (Steph or Ayesha) needs to arrange a stabilizing girlfriend who is not into non-prescription recreational chemicals. Or alcohol. And doesn't mind being on her own when the team travels.

Expand full comment
Comment removed
Expand full comment

As true as that is.....for who can criticize the recreational use of prescription drugs....my comment was about 'non-prescription recreational' drugs.

I didn't realize JP had a girlfriend.....

Expand full comment

Looollll... but are they actually dating? Not that I care...

Expand full comment

#Jacquez - I like Jaime a lot. High floor, and kind of a high upside? There are so many ways he could feasibly help the Warriors pretty soon. He's a smart cutter and passer. He's got the handle and footwork to really attack closeouts and then get to his sweet spots in the midrange. He can be a screener for Steph and then be able to attack mismatches on the short roll or make the best pass. Defensively he rebounds, is a high effort/IQ guy with solid size. If Caleb Martin can be a starting forward for a Finals team I have no idea why Jaime can't.

He really has a lot in his bag, and having a post/mid range game is exactly where we've seen two of the best scouting finds in recent years. Austin Reeves and Jalen Brunson are just herky jerky footwork fiends that figured out how to use that in the NBA.

Strawther is a good shooter, with good size. Interesting guy. Statistically he was better as a junior at Gonzaga vs Corey Kispert.

Wilson I like as a trade down - I actually don't know if there's that much difference between him and Kris Murray. Doesn't have great height or wingspan, but a 230 lb frame is nothing to sneeze at.

Terquavion is an inefficient guard that weighs 160 lbs. Pass.

Expand full comment

On-topic: I voted for Jaime because he’s just so much fun to watch

Off-topic: I posted our newest video of our three days in Malta. We had fun exploring this cool little island nation in the middle of the Mediterranean with a ton of history (that goes back over 5,000 years!) and lots of beauty. It’s also a place most American don’t visit when traveling in Europe. I took nearly 400 video clips while we were there, so I’m kind of proud of being able to edit it down to a tidy 13-minute package https://youtu.be/g5pqRTTehHw

Expand full comment

Jaquez is the guy here but better guys should be available at 19. He'd be a good 2nd rounder.

Expand full comment

Seems like a lot of passable projects should be available well into the second round. Would you pass on Jaquez if we were able to flip to 19 to Memphis for 45 and our own first-rounder back next year? I would consider it, but I feel like Jaquez would be one of the few players in the draft, whether at 19 or later, that could conceivably make a positive contribution THIS upcoming season.

#JAQUEZ

Expand full comment

If there is a good move to trade the pick, I would certainly do that over taking Jaquez. About the only realistic guy I'd consider keeping the pick for is Lively, and even he doesn't look likely to fall to 19.

Expand full comment

I as thinking he might be guy to trade down for.

Expand full comment

#JAQUEZ

I think people are very likely right when they say Jaquez is a role player at the next level, but I do think there's a world where all of his physicality/craft-based shot creation transfers to the next level and offensively he starts looking like a DeMar DeRozan, maybe even get wild and say a Jimmy Butler. It sounds idiotic but if people knew that Jimmy would be Jimmy, he wouldn't have gone 30th in the draft which is about where Jaquez is projected from what I've seen. Occasionally it can happen, and if it does happen it probably happens more for the really high BBIQ guys and Jaquez is probably one of those guys.

That's not why I'd pick him though, it's mainly because I think Jaquez has a realistic path to being a really useful role player. If he can add a couple percentage points to his three I don't see why he can't play 10 years in the league, he does everything else well. Hopefully that's not just me describing Jacob Evans but he's a couple inches taller than Evans so hopefully it goes better this time.

It's hard for me to get over Smith's weight but on the other hand I guess Bones is super light too (is that where the nickname comes from?). Smith is clearly talented and this season he made it a point to pass the ball more and greatly improved his assist rate while not increasing his turnover rate too much. You'd be drafting him in the hopes that he is a 6th man like Bones, although Bones seemed to regress this season but I think that could still be a role for him. I don't know if your foul rate transfers to the pros when you are that thin, that's the type of thing I might research if I was doing this for a living but I'm not so oh well. I think he takes a lot of tough shots so not too worried about the 3PT% but the FT% is a bit concerning.

A lot of issues with Smith but I don't know, seeing Strawther with both "on ball defense" and "off ball defense" as "improvement areas" in that video is a lot for me to take lol. I'll stick with Smith second and Strawther third despite my big concern about Smith's size.

Wilson is a victim of "too many guys to keep track of" for me. Only things I've seen are that he was listed at 6'8 but measured at 6'5.5 (shorter than Jaquez and Strawther) at the combine so those were nice shoes he was wearing I guess. Also he had 0 dunks all season which concerns me regarding his athleticism. But ultimately if the Warriors draft Wilson, I'll be checking him out for the first time then for the most part. Sorry, Jalen.

Expand full comment

Give me shooting or give me death. "He shoots, he shoots well, he’s big for a wing, and he plays with effort." Strawther. Next.

Expand full comment

Well I’m liking the poll results so far...

Expand full comment

I'm reaching saturation point looking at all prospects. They all start to blur but I'm going with Viva Jaquez

Expand full comment

I sort of love all of these guys, but I'll go #Jaquez given the emphasis on hustle and IQ.

Expand full comment

#Jaquez!

Shoutout to my fellow Mexican Americans (JTA, Devin Booker) in the league

Expand full comment