Stone & Co did exceptionally well with projecting talent since taking over. from Tate To jaygup To Scoot To Alpy To Green that’s enough evidence for me to put faith in their selection capabilities (and I know Tate wasn’t drafted but the premise holds) as long as they don’t take Maurice Taylor II - I’m in.
If you look at most of the big men who have had injury issues, they are usually due to being heavy causing foot issues .... Bill Walton, Mark Eaton, Yao Ming ,Greg Oden & Zion Williamson are prime examples. Zion has played a grand total of 85 games spanning 3 seasons and Zero in the last calendar year .... because he's overweight. Mitchell Robinson broke a foot last year ..... 7'0" 240. Sure, Chet's gonna gain some weight as he matures but I wouldn't want him to bulk up a whole hell of a lot like most people say "he has to put on weight" .... I don't believe so.
the rise of Dieng helps us one way or another. I think he's basically always mocked as being available at 17... but if he rises into the lotto he'll push someone else don to us. Brahnam's rise is the same, except we don't need another ball dominant guard, so I'm just happy he's going lotto in some mocks now.
Bill Walton was thin no? He is listed at 210#. He and Sampson would be an example of thin players with injuries. At any rate Correlation is not causation. Mitchell Robinson at 240 is heavy now? Olajuwon was list at 255 and never had a serious injury. Tyson Chandler wasn't good until he bulked up and moved to the 5. Shaq, Ewing, Robinson, Tim Duncan, LeBron, Steven Adams, Drummond, Dwight are prime exampled of big dudes with longevity. Hate the generalizations but I agree I hate the "put on weight". Just have to be healthy needs to "add strength" similar to the transformation you see in EJ Liddell from last year. Chet basically looks the same as he did from the HS/Steph Curry clip that people keep posting. That was what 3-4 years ago and he is now 20.
It depends on what "heavy" is. Yao was heavy, but he had tree trunks for legs with a skinny upper body until he got into the NBA and they bulked up his upper body. But he had foot/leg issues even before he got to the NBA, too, as a teenager. Bill Walton wasn't heavy at all. He was kind of tall and lanky. Maybe not lanky for the day, but he wasn't heavy. Shawn Bradley eventually had issues, but was somewhat skinny when he came into the league at around 235-245 and 7'6". They were trying to bulk him up because they thought he was too skinny. I think ultimately he ended up around 260. If you think anything over 240-250 is heavy, then yeah, people like Oden and Eaton were heavy, but I look at dudes like that and they're proportionally normal. They were built like normal humans for their height. Maybe not for basketball? I don't know. People like Zion are what I would consider abnormally stocky/heavy. I think the bigger issue may be what people think a center is. If you're coming from the 80s and 90s, then people like Mobley, Chet, etc. are not going to survive for too many seasons down low. Obviously there's Embiid as a dominant center in those terms, but even if you start talking about Jokic, KAT, Gobert, Ayton, etc., you're talking about dudes that are much bigger than Chet, Mobley, and the like, but these dudes are all over 240-250, too. People like Hakeem, Robinson, Ewing, and others played relatively trouble-free with great careers until later in their careers at around 240-250+. I'm guessing most of the dudes we talk about nowadays are going to be PFs most of the time, anyway, with spot duty in the post unless they're going against other dudes their size.
I’ve been Boston heavily this postseason and I’ve noticed a lot of similarities between Tatum and Banchero. I believe Banchero is underrated on this board. Disrespectfully described as a “low ceiling” player, “washed Blake Griffin” “Arby’s” and “Julius Randle” lol. I want to present an argument for Bigger Tatum as a comp for Banchero. Banchero 6’10 250 7’1 Wingspan Ppg:17.2 Reb:7.8 Ast: 3.2 Fg: 47.8% 3pt: 33.8% (3.3 attempts) 2pt%: 52.5% Ft%: 72.9% TS%: 55.7% eFG% 52.0% PER: 24.79 Usage: 27.40% Off Rtg: 113.8 Def Rtg: 97.2 Tatum 6’8 205 6’11 Wingspan Ppg: 16.8 Reb: 7.2 Ast: 2.1 Fg: 45.2% 3pt: 34.2% (4.0 attempts) 2pt: 50.4% Ft: 84.2% TS: 56.5% eFG: 50.5 PER: 21.19 Usage: 26.62 Off Rtg: 111.5 Def Rtg: 99.8 VERY similar counting stats and advanced stats with highlights supporting the “eye test” offensively. Neither are elite athletes. Tatum is quicker laterally but was almost 50lbs lighter than Banchero. In theory, if Banchero cuts down to around 230-235 he should be comparable laterally. A much improved 3 point shot is the major development needed to compare to Tatum as he went from 34% in college to a career 38% shooter in the NBA. A lot of people will look at free throw percentage (Tatum 84% vs Banchero 73%) as an indication of 3point potential. But.. as a counter argument we just saw Kevin Porter jump from 31% 3pt to 37% 3pt in just one offseason as a 68% career free throw shooter. Blake Griffin peaked at 36% 3pt on 7 attempts while also being a career 68% free throw shooter. Julius Randle peaked at 41% 3pt on 5 attempts while being a 74% free throw shooter. Banchero is MUCH further developed than both Griffin and Randle as neither shot three’s at all in college while Banchero shot 33% on 3 attempts at Duke. Improving as a shooter in the norm and expected in the modern nba. Thoughts? @Nook @D-rock @Verbal Christ @jiggyfly @cmoak1982 @Reeko @treyk3
I could see it as an absolute high side. Banchero isn’t as fluid, and I think it will be very difficult for him to not get heavier which would further limit his quickness. I don’t think he reaches that high, but it isn’t completely out of the realm.
NIce write up! Its fascinating for me to hear people throw around Julius Randle as a sideways compliment to Banchero, but did those people know that Randle was 2nd team All Defense last year? Anywho. Lets revist Jayson Tatums draft bio shall we and in particular the very first line in his 'weakness" section: https://www.nbadraft.net/players/jayson-tatum/ Since entering the Association Tatum has been a fine defensive player. Should give an example why most scouts think Banchero should be able to follow suit. Its all about the IQ. Both of these players share a similar archetype in offensive skill packages. Paolo just happens to be MUCH bigger while doing the same things. Its even more intriguing to hear people hype up Chets "athleticism" for his size when Paolo is just an inch or two shorter and 60lbs heavier. Who's the real unicorn again? Yeah, Yeah, Yeah. "rim protection"
Yea with his body type, staying lean or getting leaner would require serious dedication. Like that crazy diet LeBron had when he cut from 270 to 250 in Miami or Dwight when he cut from 265 to 230 in LA.
Thanks! Yea Im not a fan of the Randle comp. Banchero has a lot more finesse to his game and is much more cerebral in the half court. Randle is more of a bully ball brute force type guy and a poor decision maker. Great find! Tatum and Banchero definitely have similar draft profiles. Tatum being the more advanced shooter while Banchero is a lot further developed as a playmaker. Banchero’s iq is high enough to be a good positional defender. Rim protection can be found in Capela, Robert Williams, Mitchell Robinson type role players. I value high iq decision makers when the game slows down in the playoffs. Paolo fits that mold perfectly.
