what hayward could bring to the table

[Darkwing Duck]

No one should ever bring up Ed Davis in threads about Hayward. I've had to kill him in my mind to get through this.

Why? I've had Ed Davis as a bust long before the draft ever happened. You think he's the next Amare or something?

 

[Gyp Rosetti]

Yeah I can see why Davis wouldn't have helped. He only averaged nearly 10 boards and 3 blocks a game in the toughest basketball conference in the NCAA.

Are you delusional? The ACC was weak as hell this year.

 

[billyshelby]

Why? I've had Ed Davis as a bust long before the draft ever happened. You think he's the next Amare or something?

I'm not saying it is clear as day we should have drafted Davis. He has plenty of detractors. But if he fails in the league, it won't be for lack of athleticism. And we specifically need long, athletic players. If Davis turns into a Josh Smith type of talent, we're going to remember this draft the wrong way unless Hayward fulfills expectations.

 

[VINYLONE]

I'm not saying it is clear as day we should have drafted Davis. He has plenty of detractors. But if he fails in the league, it won't be for lack of athleticism. And we specifically need long, athletic players. If Davis turns into a Josh Smith type of talent, we're going to remember this draft the wrong way unless Hayward fulfills expectations.

What expectations. I have Haywad being AWS. Anything better than that is icing on the hardcourt cake.

 

[Gyp Rosetti]

I'm not saying it is clear as day we should have drafted Davis. He has plenty of detractors. But if he fails in the league, it won't be for lack of athleticism. And we specifically need long, athletic players. If Davis turns into a Josh Smith type of talent, we're going to remember this draft the wrong way unless Hayward fulfills expectations.

One, Josh Smith is nothing special. He'd be a solid 3rd or 4th option on a great team.
Two, Ed Davis is quite athletic but not in the same category as Josh Smith and unlike Smith, I see none off that supposed athleticism on game footage.

 

[Darkwing Duck]

I'm not saying it is clear as day we should have drafted Davis. He has plenty of detractors. But if he fails in the league, it won't be for lack of athleticism. And we specifically need long, athletic players. If Davis turns into a Josh Smith type of talent, we're going to remember this draft the wrong way unless Hayward fulfills expectations.

So we need long, athletic players who can't play?

 

[Scorpjazz]

So we need long, athletic players who can't play?

Exactly. We must always look for size and athleticism, no matter if they have real skill. Potential is all we need. Ceiling is the word of the day.

 

[billyshelby]

One, Josh Smith is nothing special. He'd be a solid 3rd or 4th option on a great team.
Two, Ed Davis is quite athletic but not in the same category as Josh Smith and unlike Smith, I see none off that supposed athleticism on game footage.

I obviously can't defend Davis since that's all subjective at this point. But even in the context of hyperbole, Josh Smith is very, very far from 'nothing special.' He was a legit 'snub' from the All Star team and 3rd or 4th option makes it sound like he was the 3rd or 4th best player on the Hawks. If I had to pick a player from the Hawks, it wouldn't be Johnson, it would be Smith. I'd be thrilled to have Josh Smith on the Jazz, not just because we have little frontcourt talent. That kid is 24, coming into his prime, already a defensive force, and his offensive game is very good, if not exceptional. So I don't care if you don't think Davis is Josh Smith, but don't go down the road Josh Smith isn't a fantastic player.

 

[billyshelby]

So we need long, athletic players who can't play?

Davis could obviously bust. But 'can't play'? The only reason Davis wasn't bigger on the radar is because UNC had terrible guard play last year AND he was giving up shots to freakin Deon Thompson. Throw in the injury and it was virtually a lost year. We'll see where this all goes.

 

[Stifle Tower]

I see Hayward bringing KFC, burgers and pizza to the table. It's part of his rookie hazing. He'll also get a chance to use his little princess suitcase on road trips. He probably hasn't used it since his freshman year.

 

[Gyp Rosetti]

I obviously can't defend Davis since that's all subjective at this point. But even in the context of hyperbole, Josh Smith is very, very far from 'nothing special.' He was a legit 'snub' from the All Star team and 3rd or 4th option makes it sound like he was the 3rd or 4th best player on the Hawks. If I had to pick a player from the Hawks, it wouldn't be Johnson, it would be Smith. I'd be thrilled to have Josh Smith on the Jazz, not just because we have little frontcourt talent. That kid is 24, coming into his prime, already a defensive force, and his offensive game is very good, if not exceptional. So I don't care if you don't think Davis is Josh Smith, but don't go down the road Josh Smith isn't a fantastic player.

Perhaps I didn't give him enough credit. However, I feel like Smith will always be a tweener. I don't watch enough games to truly assess that accurately but from what I've seen, he's a bit undersized to play the 4 and doesn't really have the offensive skillset to be a true 3 either. I hate tweeners unless they're off the bench, Odom like players who can present match-up problems.

 

[Darkwing Duck]

I obviously can't defend Davis since that's all subjective at this point. But even in the context of hyperbole, Josh Smith is very, very far from 'nothing special.' He was a legit 'snub' from the All Star team and 3rd or 4th option makes it sound like he was the 3rd or 4th best player on the Hawks. If I had to pick a player from the Hawks, it wouldn't be Johnson, it would be Smith. I'd be thrilled to have Josh Smith on the Jazz, not just because we have little frontcourt talent. That kid is 24, coming into his prime, already a defensive force, and his offensive game is very good, if not exceptional. So I don't care if you don't think Davis is Josh Smith, but don't go down the road Josh Smith isn't a fantastic player.

I'd go out on a limb and trade Hayward for Josh Smith.