Chet has a high upside but you can't deny there is a high bust factor that comes with someone with his physique. He will probably be one of the lowest lbs per inch players in NBA history this side of manute bol. Don't get me wrong, the skills are there and appealing. I just don't know if his body will translate to the NBA. From what I have seen, it hasn't so far against physical players. He looks more Ralph Sampson than Kevin Garnett.
And this one should be nominated for worst post of the month. Its obvious you haven't watched Chet play or you wouldn't be comparing him to Bol Bol.
Nope , you got it wrong .... Its when those guys are too heavy that they have foot & knee problems. Just look at Yao and Bill Walton. Weight is the enemy. Most of the other injuries come from some single action - coming down wrong , stepping on someone's foot .... and they are "freak" in nature.
I think he overall has played well against physical players in the NCAA. He needs to be more consistent and he needs to get stronger but the same is true for the guy that went #3 last year and the guy likely to go #1 next year… we are seeing more of these types of players because the league isn’t very physical anymore. I think he is interesting because he doesn’t need to be looking at the scale, he needs to be getting his core stronger and not necessarily just putting on weight. There is always injury risks with bigger guys, and I think he is right on the cusp of being big enough that it is a real issue to consider. He is supposedly around 7’1” with a 7’6”-7’8” wingspan…. The kid from France coming out next year is 7’3” with a wingspan approaching 7’10”.
I mean, you get Chet on an NBA nutrition plan and you manage his minutes well I think you can find a nice balance between injury avoidance and good weight.
I think you are right and the key to keeping Wood engaged defensively is to have him defending wings .... Not the 5 and expecting him to protect the rim, that's just a recipe for disaster. Maybe he has been used wrong ..... If he's not traded this offseason, I think they have to look at him at the SF spot next season and who can play alongside of him as a 4-5. (Sengun is not that guy).
Watch film of him and then film of Sampson and Sampson is much thicker and much more athletic. No comparison.
Watched him against mid-majors abd he is impressive. Watched him against legit talent and he gets pushed around. If I took my 7 foot toothpick nephew and had him play against weak talent he’d kill it. The NBA is a legit top of the world talent league and the results will be the same as Manute Bol, Bol Bol, Zhou Qi,Chris Boucher, etc. Look I am the king of anti-small ball and will be happy to have any 7 footer on the team. Just be prepared to be disappointed or better yet drastically lower the ridiculous expectations. He will never average 24 points a game in this league. Jabrari is two inches shorter but gives you tons more to work with and has a body you can develop….sadly that’s not the case with Chet.
I don't even think he has to be that physical to succeed as you can play him at the 4 instead and get all the benefits he offers. It's the injury bug that worries me more about him. It's what worried me about Yao - and it's just so disappointing to have to go through that twice - once with Sampson, and again with Yao - both players you really loved but whose bodies couldn't take the grind. So many 7 footers fail. I mean, there's got to be a reason why human beings don't grow that tall to begin with. And I think the NBA exposes that to some degree. The stresses that comes with height and what it puts on feet and knee joints - not just the weight's but the torques that get applied to the joints have to be so much, yet their bodies are built of the same material science as someone who is 5 feet tall. If you get Chet, you have to find a way to keep him from becoming the next Porzingis, Sampson, Yao, Bradley, Walton, Bowie, Daugherty, or even Muresan. How do you make sure he ends up more like Dirk? I don't know, and that's why I get nervous about him.
I don’t get the Chet injury concerns, he isn’t putting a ton of weight on his joints even when he fills out a bit. Porzingis is 7’3” and 240, anyone think Chet will fill out that much? I’d be more worried about soft tissue injuries since he’s pretty physical despite his frame. I just think Chet has a very variable outcome. I’m a little down on Jabari (still top 4) and a little higher on Banchero. Not really sure what my top 4 is. I’m more waiting to see where the draft order shakes out before getting too concerned about who the Rockets should pick.
I get your worries and I have not watched Chet much so I am just going with the hype now. I think the league is different now, whether the whole 3 point shooting display results in big men pounding less, I am not so sure but I would assume that.
Yeah I don't buy that and facts don't back that up when you look at guys like Porzingis and Davis. If the Rockets do draft Chet, I would hire KG's trainer on day one, and I'd never play Chet on back-to-back's and practice load management as constantly check his bones and ligaments for wear and stress. I'd be very careful about bulking him up, from the waist up and try to learn as much as possible what Dirk and KG did differently in their careers.
Yao in his later years and Oden were not beanstalks. I doubt it is just the frame. Bosh wasn't injury prone until his blood clot and then he was 33 or something. Dirk, KG, Duncan. Shaq did have a lengthier career as well. There is always an issue with bigs, just have to live with it.
The really scary part is that every single guy you listed is much thicker built than Chet. We wouldn’t be having this conversation if he were built like Porzingus or Walton.
a lot of this conversation is based around the fact that you “can play him at the 4” thinking which is the opposite of reality. Reality is you “can play him at the 5” but he’s a 4/3. He’s NOT playing 5 in the nba. And that’s not a bad thing that’s a great thing. clearly he’s not KD level offensively. But he definitely has that type of game in him. I was watching them in the tourney with my 12 yo and explaining that cause he really hadn’t paid attention to his game and he was like “no way” but within 5 minutes was like “ok… maybe”. and it is a maybe cause it’s not nearly as polished in that way. BUT when he brings the ball up the court for example… it’s not like CWood, who CAN do that but really shouldn’t, gets tunnel vision and just looks like a big bringing it up. It’s more of a wing feel and btw he moves it along quick if appropriate. I think 10-10 with great defense and efficiency is an easy floor. You want more than that out of a top 3 pick but at least that’s not a bust. It’s very easy to see more than that though. 25/13 with great defense and 3-5 apg is easy to see in the upside case. the biggest thing in his favor is how impactful he was to winning. Even when not collecting stats in some games he was usually a positive +/- relative to the teams overall. At some point you need to think holistically about winning. He’s the best fit imo - his upside case. there’s no way around the injury concern. If you can get good on that he’s the clear #1 in my book. that said… the injury/durability factor exists and so that easy 10-10 can become less. To that extent he might indeed have the lowest floor which is a concern. In some ways if he’s just gone before you’re pick he’s just gone and there’s no debate to be had. the debate for me between Jabari and Banchero behind him is the tighter debate.
You have to narrow down the Attributes you get on a consistent basis then make your pick- Jabari - Shooting 3pt/ defense/ Blocks/ Banchero- Scoring / dribbling penetration/ passing / (defense average) Chet- Defense/ passing/ Blocks
