His most effective offense seems to happen in transition so we really need to get out and run as much as possible. And take care of the ball for goodness sakes
You're underrating Horry defensively. But I agree with the premise of Eason is more Artest than Horry.
I did a player comp previously for Banchero and Tatum and its only right that I do one for a player that we actually drafted. I’ve fallen for Tari Eason as a prospect and have become high (possibly unreasonably?) on him as a player. I’m not sold that he’ll be restricted to just a 3 and D player. I’ve been lookin for high end paths that lead to Tari becoming an all star and settled on closer to a Jimmy Butler path to stardom with player comparisons being a mixture of Jimmy Butler and Kawhi Leonard qualities. Tari Eason LSU (Senior Year) 6’8 216lbs 7-2 wingspan 16.9 ppg 6.6 reb 1 Ast 1.9 Stl 1.8 Blk FG 52.1 (11.1 Att) 2P 56.4 (8.7 Att) 3P 35.9 (2.4 Att) FT 80.3 (5.7 Att) Stl% 4.5 Blk% 6.2 Ortg: 119 Drtg: 83.2 Scouting Report https://www.nbadraft.net/players/tari-eason/ Jimmy Butler. Marquette (Senior Year) 6’7 220lbs 6-8 Wingspan 15.7 Ppg 6.1 Reb 2.3 Ast 1.4 Stl 0.4 Blk FG 49 (10.3 Att) 2P 51.5 (8.8 Att) 3P 34.5 (1.6 Att) FT 78.3 (6.5 Att) Stl% 2.4 Blk% 1.1 Ortg 126.8 Drtg 102.5 Scouting Report https://www.nbadraft.net/players/jimmy-butler/ Allstar Breakout: 20ppg 5.8rpg 3.3apg Kawhi Leonard San Diego State (Senior Year) 6’7 227lbs 7-3 wing span 14.1 Ppg 10 Reb 2.5 Ast 1.4 Stl 0.6 Blk FG 44 (13.2 Att) 2P 47.8 (10.8 Att) 3P 29.1 (1.6 Att) FT 75.9 (4.0 Att) Stl% 2.7 Blk% 1.9 Ortg 112.5 Drtg 86.3 Scouting Report https://www.nbadraft.net/players/kawhi-leonard/ Allstar Breakout: 21.2ppg 6.8rpg 2.6apg Analysis From what I’ve gathered offensively Tari has the play-finishing, slashing, transition ability, tenacity, Free Throw drawing/making and above the rim play of Jimmy Butler. His shares some flaws offensively with Kawhi Leonard with having a weak left hand. And doesn’t have the inbetween game nor has the playmaking Butler. But is a better 3pt shooter and Free Throw shooter than both and is much more natural scorer than Kawhi. In the modern nba the mid range game is increasingly less important and decent pull up/floater and improved 3 point shot should unlock Tari’s strong slashing ability even further. Now Defensively Tari clears Jimmy Butler (5 All NBA Defensive Team - 102.5 college Defensive Rating) as a defensive prospect. He’s actually more comparable defensively to college Kawhi Leonard (7 All NBA Defensive Team and 2x Defensive Player of The Year) who has similar length and posted a 86.3 Defensive Rating at Diego State compared to Tari’s 83.2 Defensive Rating at LSU. The scouting report shows similar flaws to Kawhi as “lacking discipline” and “gambling” but the eye test imo shows Tari as a better athlete and a more disruptive player boasting higher steal and block totals and percentages. In conclusion: Putting up reasonable Jimmy-esque numbers of: ~20ppg ~5 rpg ~2 Apg While maximizing defensive potential to or near all nba caliber. Could mean a ceiling of perennial all star for Tari Eason. Thoughts? @Nook @D-rock @Verbal Christ @jiggyfly @cmoak1982 @Reeko @treyk3 @i3artow i3aller @vator @CXbby
I watched a lot of Eason at LSU. Kid reminds me of a YOUNG Kawhi. Not the polished all-star but the younger version on the Spurs. I think he has similar upside. Really good and physical defender with a surprisingly good and still developing offensive game. He should have been picked higher.
I'll say that a lineup of KPJ/Eason/Tate/Jabari/Garuba would have to be insufferable to deal with offensively. Jabari and Eason changed the identity of this team in the span of 24 hours.
Yes to this, but it starts at the defensive end. If we are taking it out of the basket like last year you can’t run. Fortunately, Smith, Eason, and possibly Garuba could turn the worst defensive team in the league into a strength. Just hope Silas can unleash the defense he’s promising.
Great post. I can see some of that. We could only be so lucky to have a player reach the levels of Jimmy or Kawhi. Im going to need to watch a season of Tari to establish a longer term outlook with him, but he definitely has all the tools. Will he have the same hunger as Jimmy did? Time will tell. The rumors of his IQ being questionable in some of his meetings/workouts stands out to me and I want to see if that manifests on the court at the professional level. Ideally he will be a starter alongside Jabari and not a bench player.
Denovo, Love the work you put into this! First, I believe comparisons and projections are really tough. There are so many unknowns and variables that go into how a player develops and grows. I think it's also important to look at how long it took each player to really break out--Butler was YR4 at age 25 and Leonard was YRs4-5 at ages 23-24 (depending on how you define breakout). I'll break my feedback down in what I think is easiest to assess to what becomes harder to project... DEFENSE: Tari's physical attributes and play style (on defense) are similar to KL. Both are tenacious and have really good instincts when it comes to going for steals. KL led the league in steals at age 23/Yr4 and Tari could project to do that as well with enough playing time and in a scheme that allows him to leverage his skills and instincts. When he's on the court, he'll likely being taking on the other team's best player at some point early in his career, which may minimize some of his defensive stats, but also benefit his growth. I think what I saw from the film I watched and the advanced stats you posted, Tari has a much higher floor as a shot blocker than KL. He can block shots with either hand and can recover space very quickly. He's going to really be and exciting guy to watch on defense this year and I can't wait. If he stays healthy and continues to develop, I believe we're looking at a perennial candidate for All-Defensive Team. OFFENSE: I'll approach this one a little differently, easiest to assess to more difficult. Finishing: At the rim, he seems solid and see a little of the JB/KL moxie needed to finish. He's definitely got that bull/power move down and will make defenders pay. However, he doesn't have much with the left hand and that will need focus and work for him to improve. Playmaking: I don't see the vision or instincts of either JB or KL. Maybe I just didn't watch enough film, but I saw more than a couple of times where he failed to see a really open teammate and instead went full steam ahead and turned it over. Being a 6th man, he likely had the mindset he had to be the spark and to him that may mean scoring at all costs. This area is my biggest area of concern for Eason. Hopefully, we work hard to get him to see the whole court and learn to facilitate a bit (especially in transition). If not, he's going to be an offensive foul machine. Ball Handling: This has been mentioned a lot by others. He just needs to work extra hard on his left hand. This is a work ethic test. Shooting: I've seen a lot worse. First, he's got a lot of motion going on as he brings the ball up from his waist/chest, while his base is usually moving forward at the same time. His release seems fine, but reducing the upper body motion and stabilizing his jump could make his shot more consistent. He'll also need work on his ability to shoot off the dribble, that seems to be a work in progress and the better he gets at that the more it should open up the rest of his offensive potential. I haven't seen much of a mid-range game of any post up game. Although neither of those aspects is especially highlighted in today's NBA, it wouldn't hurt for him to work on both. INTANGIBLES: Can't comment much here except to say I'm highly encouraged with how he handled himself in the initial press conference and also how he accepted his 6th man role at LSU. I'm very excited about Tari's potential and the impact he should have almost immediately on the defensive side for us.
@Shark44 great post. If you’re a betting man, do you see him more of a rotation (Marcus smart) type player or a future all star?
Ras, thanks for the compliment! If I'm betting I believe he's closer to a Smart-plus than Leonard, but drive, heart and work ethic is what really separates the great ones. He's only 21 and the improvement he made between freshman and sophomore years is encouraging. He's got to get comfortable with his left hand both dribbling and shooting, improve his jump shot mechanics, develop better court sense/situational awareness on offense and continue to work on the other areas of his game. He's got a chance to be really special on defense (elite) and probably above average on offense, that's a damn good player and someone that is a starter on a successful play-off team. Just thinking about him at SF and Jabari at PF going forward is ____ing exciting. Add Jalen at SG that's the foundation of a great team. Now if Alpi can be our mini-Joker, KPJ continues to develop as a PG, JC becomes our combo G/6th man, TyTy or Nix become our back-up PG or a starter, and Garuba can play 15-20 mins of lock down defense we could be good in 2022-23. This year needs to be focused on player growth and scheme expansion. We'll likely still be lottery bound, but that's not a bad thing. Can't wait for the season.
first off I cannot put out a analytic write up like you lol. He reminds me of Ariza with more nasty in him. I didn’t watch many lsu games to comment on his game, but I also wanted Kwahi during our draft because of his potential. I think Eason grows on how we develop him, I just hope he’s not treated like a random pick.
