Following potential 2017 draftees...
- Thread starter Dr. Jones
- Start date
The defense aspect that you completely ignored in my previous post regarding Cousins. Do you think Cousins is capable of ever reaching that number given what you know NOW about his consistency, effort and athleticism?
I'm kinda puzzled how your system works when at the time of him being drafted rim protection was already a topic that gained traction with Duncan and Chandler being great at that in their own way.
Game6Conley
Well-Known Member
Are you familiar with the phrase "Follow the money"?
He could have almost $300MM in contracts signed before he turns 27.. Is that not a powerful enough indicator for your personal standards????
I didn't avoid your comment, what you're talking about is in-****ing-consequential, I was glossing over that fact because I'm a nice guy. You want a direct answer? The aspects of the game I just mentioned overwelmingly supersede the negativity you're attempting to bring to attact to his name in this conversation.
1 player doesn't make or break a defense in the NBA. The Jazz brought Diaw here, right?
A 100 in my books is a player that has the athleticism and power of LeBron James, Durant's length and mobility and Steph Curry's accuracy, while protecting the rim like Embiid and having the drive of Jordan. If I see a body and toolkit of Cousins I'm thinking of a 85-95 range when he's young. But if you go by the likelihood to score 2 max contracts, then I can see where you're coming from, even though I have a different standard, because max contract players can outperform other max contract players by a lot.
Regarding Diaw: Basketball is 5on5. The presence of Duncan or Gobert can erase a lot of concerns. The playoffs will give better answers whether other teams can chase him off the court.
Game6Conley
Well-Known Member
Josh Jackson throws perfectly lofted "tight window" post-entry passes like a PG.
There is a reason you have to use per 36 numbers. Because one is the leader of (on pace for) 50+ wins team and the other one can't get minutes on bottom 3 team in the league. And because those numbers don't reflect efficiency and defense much at all...
Here's a question for draftniks - you have to draft one of Josh Jackson or Jonathan Isaac? Who do you go with? I love the way Jackson plays the game, the competitiveness is unparalleled by any other prospect in this year's draft. One of the best defenders in college, one of the better wing passers in college... With that said...
I'm scarily close to flipping my vote to Jonathan Isaac. The kid just seems to have really really good potential. His shooting stroke looks smooth(unlike Jackson's). He seems to be a smart player, makes the right plays most of the time and his size and length are awesome. His defense has been pretty good, too. I probably still give Josh Jackson the slight edge, but they are probably closer to me than to most people I've read and listened to.
I'm scarily close to flipping my vote to Jonathan Isaac. The kid just seems to have really really good potential. His shooting stroke looks smooth(unlike Jackson's). He seems to be a smart player, makes the right plays most of the time and his size and length are awesome. His defense has been pretty good, too. I probably still give Josh Jackson the slight edge, but they are probably closer to me than to most people I've read and listened to.
Jackson, duh.
I'd have to know how Jackson's development curve has been shooting wise and then make an educated guess how much untapped playmaking potential he has. The way the NBA is these days if you want to be an elite wing you need to fit one or more of these labels:
1) primary playmaker - LeBron and Giannis come to mind. They can have a killer impact despite being shaky shooters(I know LeBron looks improved again this season)
2) allround player, especially a strong shooter - George, Hayward, Leonard, Durant(Wiggins has potential here)
3) power and polish player - Butler(Other high energy players can be found in the mid tier like Crowder, healthy DeMarre Carroll, Wes Matthews without an achilles problem could be a superstar wing as well I think)
Watching some of Jackson's game highlights and dx previews, I think his playmaking style resembles Harden and Pau Gasol a lot. Really smart player. Clearly understands geometry and timing. I wouldn't be surprised if he could elevate himself to another level of playmaker over time. The more he handles the ball, the less his success will be reliant on his shooting development. If Kansas plays the same 'overpass the ball on the perimeter with no purpose until the shotclock is down to 5' idiotic system they play every year, then I can totally see the system even hurting him to an extent. Though the spacing should be great if they got the right guys around him this year.
Off the ball he shows the same qualities and goes to spots where he can do damage and where other playmakers have an easy time finding him. But you don't want this space to be permanently occupied by an off-ball wing in the NBA unless your two bigs are capable and comfortable operating outside the paint.
As far as his shooting goes, I don't think he has a bad touch. His floaters are timed well, he putts decent arc on his shots. His release from deep looks wild. Will be interesting to see if someone can make him change his mechanics.
His power level and passion are definitely there. You can see he loves playing basketball, not just the winning part. I'm no psychologist though, so I'm just going by what I see.
I think a really interesting spot would be playing him like Hood as a giant wing who primarily takes care of smaller wings. His frame isn't great, but even though his wingspan is subpar for his size, his arm length looks really solid when you take his narrow shoulders in consideration. Being on smaller guys would eliminate some issues he could face against bigger elite wings.
I like his explosiveness and his handling seems to be well developed. If you draft him top5 your team sucks anyways and his team should definitely try him out as a primary playmaker. They should just add shooting around him as a precautionary measure.
I'll watch Isaac later today when I got more time on my hands.
Yeah, I don't have much trust in his shot. Neither his 3p% nor his FT% suggests him being a natural shooter, of course that can improve, but I'm not sure I'd bank on it improving to the level where it would be a strength. This is the thing that worries me most about him. I think he fits in the primary playmaker category, he surely has the vision and knowledge of the game to help him master an offense and he has the skill to score in various ways around the rim and to playmake for others in the process. But still, it's so rare for a forward playmaker to succeed without a functional jumpshot nowadays. Can he be Giannis type? Possibly, I guess, but what's the chance he gets there? There aren't any other Giannis-type prototypes.
Game6Conley
Well-Known Member
Josh Jackson's role is Warlord Wing (He's easily one of the best I've seen that projects to SG)... There's traces of Latrell Spreewell in his game -- Spree had an interesting uptick in his shooting between Fr. and So. years IIRC - %'s were good both seasons but the was an enormous uptick in volume.
This distinction is not as obvious as some of the extreme examples I usually point out (A la Zion Williamson) - For instance I think and have long thought that Trevor Ariza being classified as just a 3 and D player is an understatement, at-worst he's a 3nD with traces of being a warlord wing!!
This distinction is not as obvious as some of the extreme examples I usually point out (A la Zion Williamson) - For instance I think and have long thought that Trevor Ariza being classified as just a 3 and D player is an understatement, at-worst he's a 3nD with traces of being a warlord wing!!
Game6Conley
Well-Known Member
While i'm dropping older comps of Ex-Knicks lemme be the first to say OG Anunoby is a rich mans Qyntel Woods.