Rockets lottery odds again by the skin of their teeth. Got one of the two superstar caliber talents last year and one of the 3 PFs this year.
I actually think Duke's program has been so good and its coaching and structure has been so stellar that it makes guys look better than they are, thus why they tend to disappoint in the NBA. I mean most of their team (presumably) is going in the 1st round of this draft...
If I were the rockets I would seriously look into Jalen Duran and Dyson Daniels, two players that I think could make a big difference. Duran is Dwight Howard at a discount and Daniels is from the long line of Australian players who are bigs that can pass: giddy and Ben Simmons, another discount and he might be better than both of them.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Smith is there at 3. The Rockets are in the absolute easy position of taking the big that’s left. Don’t overthink it Stone.
In today's NBA, Paolo is a PF/C. Historically, the elite Cs/PF's in the league are All-Defensive 1st team/DPOY candidates, and even then it rare for them to lead a team to a title as the Alpha star in the post 2005 rule change era. More often then not, they fail to lead their original team to a title and get traded and then maybe win a title, a la Garnett, Rasheed, AD, Love, Bosh, Bogut, Gasol, etc. Obviously, Giannis an major exception to that, but he plays much more like a SF than a PF/C. After them, you have to go back to Duncan's to find another exception. And both those guys generally needed like 2 more 2nd tier stars to win their titles. I guess Dirk is another exception, but again he plays more like a SF and was an elite shooter. And most people tend to believe that Miami lost that Finals more than Dirk won it. I just don't how to work him in as a center piece because has not shown a great chance of developing a great shot or great defense. He seems to play more like a SF who gets his own shot, but is his playmaking elite? Will it better than Sengun? On top of that, his attitude is already coming off that he believe he should be "the guy", and I think for his position he would need to be more that stat stuffer, elite team guy.
Funny, knowing we're 3rd changes almost nothing. This draft really is wide open. And I'm going to be happy with whoever it is that falls to us. Chet? Shot blocking floor spacer. Lit. Paolo? Offensive big. Lit. Jabari? 3&D prototype. Lit. Jaden? Most athletic backcourt possibly ever. Lit. Don't have to talk about taking Shaedon? Lit.
I guess time will tell, personally I try not to get too hyped about these guys. I don't know if he's a generational can't miss guy like Lebron, that's a guy that might be worth throwing a season for...
it's less his current weight and more the narrow shoulders that bother me because that makes it hard for him to put on good weight in the upper body. not our potential problem anymore. Wembanyama is also rail thin, but he doesn't have narrow shoulders.
You are probably right, but Orlando and OKC may pass on Chet because they both already have players with reasonably similar skill sets and body types. Maybe OKC wants more of a sure contributer in Banchero with Pokusevski already there.
