Wow, Shey Peddy returned to the Phoenix Mercury today after having ruptured her achilles in August. When it happened I was worried her career might be over. Turns out she missed four games lol.
#EIGHT I think Whitehead might have a higher floor and ceiling. He's a wing with solid size that can really shoot. Like maybe, REALLY shoot. The elevation and stroke look really pretty. His tape is pretty nice, and it's pretty fair to give him some due credit for having a tough year. So floor is a 3 and D wing, and upside is he gets healthy and has some star upside as a shot creator.
Clowney's upside is more like very good starting role player. If you have him as a potentially truly elite defender that would be a very valuable player. Like a JJJ. But if he's more just slim, versatile big that can't shoot that much he's a back of rotation guy.
Going into next season, we're no longer the champs. We'll be trying to catch up to the new defending WC winner and the teams right on their tail. In order to compete with those teams, we have to have a defensive answer for their biggest threats. Off the top of my head, and ignoring the geriatric duo of LBJ and AD, here's an incomplete list of major headaches we need to contain to win the West again:
- Jokic / MPJ
- KD / Booker
- JJJ / Ja
- Ingram / Zion
- Kawhi / PG
- Fox / Sabonis
- SGA / Holmgren
- Naz Reid (probably) / KAT
- others: Kessler, Wemby, Dame, Luka, [obvious name I missed here], ...
While there are some guards / smaller wings on that list, it seems to be dominated by bigger guys, and our current defensive answers to those bigger players are both offensive liabilities.
So, looking ahead beyond next season, we need to roster some big bois that cannot just defend but also be a threat on offense and be a physical force inside. While it'd be nice to have a ton of switchable wings, it won't suffice to get us back to the Finals. None of the guys available at 19 in this draft are going to be THE ANSWER, but they can help to start incrementally filling that gap.
Going with the grain here: trade the pick. JK, but honestly neither of these guys would really excite me, I guess like vignette says, give the nod to the high upside wing.
Also on the last thread some of you had mentioned concerns about the Willie Cauley Stein comparison on Lively, but honestly if WCS is a comp coming out of college, people forget that WCS could guard 1-5. In that draft replete with quality Cs, I said that before everything was said and done, WCS would be the best Center in that draft class. Obviously i was wrong but just look at WCS highlights at UK and the dude projected ideal modern NBA center on teams that switched everything defensively.
Big guy, plays both 4 and 5, defensive versatility, 'plays with an edge', can finish through contact, good rebounding and passing, potential floor stretcher. Clowney sounds like a situational contributor even on today's team, for short stints, and could grow into a key rotation piece. Whose minutes would Whitehead take, even if he were healthy?
Vogul to the Suns. Seems like a good move. Suns will be better next year, especially if they can fill out the roster around their new core a little better with a full off season.
#8. Surprised with the Clowney love. Way too raw and there is nothing about his game currently that projects into any meaningful minutes on this squad this yr. Will just be caught behind Draymond, Looney, PBJ, Kuminga and whatever other big man they sign.
Wow, Shey Peddy returned to the Phoenix Mercury today after having ruptured her achilles in August. When it happened I was worried her career might be over. Turns out she missed four games lol.
#EIGHT I think Whitehead might have a higher floor and ceiling. He's a wing with solid size that can really shoot. Like maybe, REALLY shoot. The elevation and stroke look really pretty. His tape is pretty nice, and it's pretty fair to give him some due credit for having a tough year. So floor is a 3 and D wing, and upside is he gets healthy and has some star upside as a shot creator.
Clowney's upside is more like very good starting role player. If you have him as a potentially truly elite defender that would be a very valuable player. Like a JJJ. But if he's more just slim, versatile big that can't shoot that much he's a back of rotation guy.
Going into next season, we're no longer the champs. We'll be trying to catch up to the new defending WC winner and the teams right on their tail. In order to compete with those teams, we have to have a defensive answer for their biggest threats. Off the top of my head, and ignoring the geriatric duo of LBJ and AD, here's an incomplete list of major headaches we need to contain to win the West again:
- Jokic / MPJ
- KD / Booker
- JJJ / Ja
- Ingram / Zion
- Kawhi / PG
- Fox / Sabonis
- SGA / Holmgren
- Naz Reid (probably) / KAT
- others: Kessler, Wemby, Dame, Luka, [obvious name I missed here], ...
While there are some guards / smaller wings on that list, it seems to be dominated by bigger guys, and our current defensive answers to those bigger players are both offensive liabilities.
So, looking ahead beyond next season, we need to roster some big bois that cannot just defend but also be a threat on offense and be a physical force inside. While it'd be nice to have a ton of switchable wings, it won't suffice to get us back to the Finals. None of the guys available at 19 in this draft are going to be THE ANSWER, but they can help to start incrementally filling that gap.
Going with the grain here: trade the pick. JK, but honestly neither of these guys would really excite me, I guess like vignette says, give the nod to the high upside wing.
Going against the grain here. #EIGHT. Give me the raw, high upside wing over the raw, high upside big who may or may not eventually be a 5.
qq Eric -- I see we went from 6v11 to 8v9, you didn't forget about 7v10 (Murray vs. Rupert) did you?
Nope give me miller, lively or Murray over both
Also on the last thread some of you had mentioned concerns about the Willie Cauley Stein comparison on Lively, but honestly if WCS is a comp coming out of college, people forget that WCS could guard 1-5. In that draft replete with quality Cs, I said that before everything was said and done, WCS would be the best Center in that draft class. Obviously i was wrong but just look at WCS highlights at UK and the dude projected ideal modern NBA center on teams that switched everything defensively.
Someplace to find the original scouting report on Klay? If such a thing even existss.
> Warriors draft workout on Monday
> -Dereck Lively II (Duke)
> -Jalen Wilson (Kansas)
> -Colin Castleton (Florida)
> -Keyontae Johnson (Kansas State)
> -Arthur Kaluma (Creighton)
https://twitter.com/anthonyVslater/status/1664696310476460033
Big guy, plays both 4 and 5, defensive versatility, 'plays with an edge', can finish through contact, good rebounding and passing, potential floor stretcher. Clowney sounds like a situational contributor even on today's team, for short stints, and could grow into a key rotation piece. Whose minutes would Whitehead take, even if he were healthy?
#NINE
> The Warriors will work out Dereck Lively II on Monday.
> Wirey big man out of Duke.
https://twitter.com/jdumasreports/status/1664690773235998725
Holy shit, the Warriors are working out a 19 year old?
Vogul to the Suns. Seems like a good move. Suns will be better next year, especially if they can fill out the roster around their new core a little better with a full off season.
The Suns and Frank Vogel are finalizing a five-year, $31 million contract to make the 2020 championship coach the new head man in Phoenix
https://twitter.com/shamscharania/status/1664672362904825856
#8. Surprised with the Clowney love. Way too raw and there is nothing about his game currently that projects into any meaningful minutes on this squad this yr. Will just be caught behind Draymond, Looney, PBJ, Kuminga and whatever other big man they sign.
#NINE for need in some non-Looney minutes, and what Benvolio said :)