Why did you have to remind us of that travesty. To this day i still can’t believe we didn’t get him with one of the 3 picks lol. And dude was so sad and openly wanted to play for his hometown team. Funny how 90% of rockets fans were smarter than the brain farted front office.
Devin Carter would have been my reach pick at #9. One of the best defensive players in the draft and a versatile contributor. Has range out to the logo even if the shot looks a bit funky, shot 40% on catch and shoot threes, grabbed 8.7 rebounds per game despite only being 6'3", gets lots of steals and blocks, and has an underrated offensive repertoire. The only problem is he's 6'3" with no PG skills, but he's so fun to watch just on activity alone. He, Amen, and Tari would have teams on lock. Can't justify taking him at our pick though.
I still remember Rudy T glowing about how Boki went something like 20-23 on 3's when they brought him in or something. It's gotten to the point I don't really even care what they do in workouts. lol.
For all this height and wingspan talk, remember we once had one of the best defenders in a position where those things matter most … Chuck Hayes. At WORST Sheppard looks like he could become a better shooting, more athletic version of Pat Bev. Maybe not what you ideally want at 3 but certainly not the worst scenario even if he busts. At best he turns into a better Conley/FVV. I hope we don’t overthink this pick, we already have enough boom/bust athletic wings. Even if you think Amen is the point of the future, at best he’s likely to be what Ben Simmons was at his peak, in which case you’d still want an elite shooting secondary ball handler next to him.
Before the draft he was ranked 9th. After the draft he shot up. Some plant crypto coin scheme going on. Rockets please don't get him at 3.
Apologies if posted but all this talk about drafting a shooter reminds me of this draft moment from the Sacramento Kings. I still get a laugh out of this as it’s a good reminder for team owners (and message board posters )to stay out of draft decisions.
So, you're saying the shooting form of the 24% 3 point shooter looks better to you than the 52% 3 point shooter? That's certainly interesting.
No worries, I was just curious because I've said that I don't think Topic's shooting is as much a concern as most say due to his poor numbers. His shot looks better than his results.....but Sheppard legitimately could be one of the best shooters in the entire league within a few years. Of course, with Topic, he just had another leg injury today, the second of the season. I'm thinking he's going to fall quite a bit. He could have been a top 3 pick, but I think he falls outside of the top 10 now.
LOL, yeah. In fairness, eye test matters a lot more when trying to project kids into the NBA...but that's why it's such a hard thing to do and even the pros end up with busts. I was a lot more down on Topic, till I spent some time watching his games and seeing him shoot. He looks like someone who just hasn't put in the time developing the 3 rather than someone who isn't capable of doing it.....now can he stay healthy? Different story.
