Can you imagine how frustrating he will be at Thanksgiving though? "Cam can you please pass the salt?" "No."
Cut the guy some slack. He’s fine passing and this is ridiculous that you keep harping on a non-issue. Not funny at all. Trying to imagine how frustrating it will be for your family at Thanksgiving when they ask you “could you please quit making such stupid false posts”?
Maybe, maybe not. If he is used smartly, he can contribute right away. He's a finisher, you need to use him as a finisher. The dumb Silas 5-out system where they get the ball on the perimeter and try to figure out something would be bad for this kid. You need an offense where he gets the ball in position and finishes. He's a very good cutter, also I think if he is given a chance he can contribute. But that 5-out BS would not work for him.
Just as athletic as Green, far better defender and better shooter than him. If he didn't have tunnel vision i'd be a massive fan. He still could end up being better sg than Green.
Now that's real confidence. Game 1 he was just out of control angry. Game 2 his anger was channeled into decisiveness. Body language was significantly better and he was certainly trying not to get locked into tunnel vision. The tunnel vision was still there though and his decision making on whether it's a good or forced shot was still a bit problematic. Two ill-advised long mid range shots fell for him but they were bad choices that could have had him finishing at 7 of 16 from the field. It's nothing to worry about for a guy who turned 19 yesterday and has 1 week of NBA coaching, but it's silly to say it's not an issue. It's clearly one of the biggest things he needs to work on. His shooting mechanics look good as many have mentioned - with a little work he'll be a good shooter in the NBA. His fearlessness attacking the rim is his best feature. He's not a good decision maker with it, but I'd rather at 19 he's ferocious going to the rim than him being a good decision maker who doesn't know how to finish. Some work on his euro step and finishing angles are necessary. You're not going to be able to dunk on C's in the NBA if they know that's what you try to do on every play. I think going to the rim will be his best quality and his shooting will make defenders have to pick their poison. If he doesn't let the mid range shot infest his game too much, then the defender will be choosing between two high percentage shots to give him. With his defense again he has good individual skills and motor, but needs some work on how to weave that into a team defense. Ime won't care that he's a good one on one defender if the defense breaks down as soon as a switch is required. All in all a very promising performance. I still think he will go to the G League to work on his understanding of how to think about team basketball in the NBA, get some reps on his 3pt shot and finishing angles at the rim. I think for the second half of the season, he could be legitimately contending for a 6th man role at SG/SF - which is a role where tunnel vision and team defense is least detrimental. However he'll be competing with KPJ and Amen for those minutes so it's not going to be easy. He's a young rookie, so I'm not worried about how many minutes he gets his first season as long as he gets some minutes after the first few months of the season. So glad we finally have the luxury of easing 19 year olds into the NBA. We brought in Jabari/Green at a similar age and they just went up against NBA starters right away which is VERY difficult to do no matter who you are (except Lebron James). Kobe and T-Mac were incapable of being good starters at that age and were brought off the bench, no reason we should expect it from anyone else.
Very good write-up. If he can’t get enough minutes they will probably send him to the g-league, but I really don’t think that has really helped many of these guys. I think staying with the team and practicing with the real pros will help him more. KJM was starting last year and this kid is miles ahead of him on 3 pt shooting and defense. Amen has to get his minutes too, so it is going to be a dog fight between Amen, KPJ, and Cam in my opinion. KPJ will be gifted with the minutes to begin, but if he dogs it at all they will pull the trigger quickly. People complain about the “first-rounders” we let go for nothing, but there was absolutely zero minutes for those guys.
