Seeing your argument against Jalen(which I don’t entirely disagree with)I’m wondering what is it about Cade that is different that would make you agree that keeping him as high as 3rd is accurate? Belief that his size gives him a higher chance of eventually being a positive? All his advanced numbers are worse than Jalens and didn’t get any better in his shortened sophomore season.
Which goes to what I mean, the majority rotation are probably a negative being on bottom feeder team with Sengun being outside that norm, now if the Rockets with this core get to 50-60 win team then the majority of the rotation players would be a plus according to the alphabet gang numbers Now compare those Lakers vs. this Rockets version and you would probably find a negative player from Lakers bottom end rotation but they were a 50+ win team before even getting Shaq and raw talent Kobe that 96' offseason
The only thing that matters to the Cavs fan is that Mobley is first overall, ego is a hell of a drug I'd take Sengun/Green duo and over Mobley/Giddey Its only accurate in the eyes of the beholder, not because they did a knee jerk redraft and posted it, which I have no prob with others opinion, its just funny how some overrate their personal choice Giddey nor Mobley has showcased true franchise game, both are going thru same growth phase as Green, with one having a better overall team and the other has a soon to be all star dropping around 30 or so per game Which favors Green who has to show out more (scoring wise) to help his team win which is great for mental and physical development
If it's Gilgeous Alexander then he is already averaging over 30 ppg. He is already a fringe superstar and not just an All Star.
7 assists tonight. Poor shooting but he is slowly developing into more of a play maker. Effort was much better defensively. He is still missing open teamates, but he has grown tremendously as a passer in less than a year. He's still a work in progress, but he is building other aspects of his game. He's still learning how to play basketball. Considering how raw he was when we drafted him, he is actually in a good place in terms of his overall game. Despite the regression in shooting efficiency.
None of the guys yet looks like a sure-fire franchise player, that 2021 draft was way overhyped. In 2020 you have ANT, LaMello and Haliburton looking surefire franchise players. In 2022 you already have Banchero. all 2021 guys are still TBD, someone needs to pop-up to the next level...
I was low on Cade as a #1 pick so it’s not that I think he is so great, but the only advanced stat that is worse than Jalen is his scoring efficiency due to being below average athletically which was exactly the concern I had. However he is a much better defender and playmaker than Jalen, which is why all the winning metrics like bpm and Raptor rates Cade higher. My complaint on Jalen predraft was that if you are not going to be an elite playmaker then you have to be an elite defender (Harden vs Kawhi), if you are neither then your ceiling is capped. Cade has the potential to be elite playmaker and a very solid defender, his ceiling is capped by his scoring but he is a better player today and most likely in the future.
Yes, because the majority of this bottom feeding team are losing players - that’s why they are a bottom feeding team. With the exception of a very good player - Sengun. While the majority of a 50-60 win team are good players - that’s why they win 50-60 games - with the exception of some crap players at the end of the rotation. This isn’t that hard to understand.
I only mentioned It because you mentioned a young Kobe alphabet numbers improving when it was clear as day he improved just going from 7ppg to 15ppg and by fan vote was a starter in all star game (but not for Lakers) which had like 3 other Lakers in that game with him, so those numbers you posted weren't really impressive at all
What you were trying to say was that “alphabet numbers” - what you denigrate advanced stats as - are positive for everyone on a 50-60 win team because the team is good. What I’m telling you is that is the chicken vs the egg, they are only winning 50-60 games because they have good players - which is what the alphabet numbers are showing. There’s are still negative players on good teams. And positive players on the worst team. That’s the point of advanced stats, to give you an idea of who is which. I mean it should be easy to see how good Sengun is even with the eye test, and the numbers back it up. Same thing with young Kobe. Similarly with Green, but…opposite.
Jalen is never going to develop into an elite playmaker, that just does not happen at this stage and is mostly innate. However he has for sure shown growth in passing. Just that simple pocket pass to Sengun is something he rarely did last year and has been drilled into his head this year. It’s a simple play that will generate a bunch of assists for him going forward so I give him credit for that.
Ant didn't look very good the first 30 games of the season and LaMelo was injured a ton. There was no telling if they improved that much from previous seasons.
He doesn't have to become elite at playmaking. Just adequate. Last year he couldn't run a simple PnR. That pocket pass wasn't in his bag last year. He would hardly attempt it. He's gotten better at throwing lobs too. I'm just looking for any growth as a passer. He still doesn't respond well to being trapped or doubled. For me that's the next step for him in regards to playmaking. Seeing the floor, and finding the open man when teams send help. If players like Harden, Luka, or Lebron are the bar we set for an elite playmakers, then I agree that he may probably doesn't reach that level. If he can master the PnR and recognize where the help defense is coming from, that is good enough for me. This isn't going to happen overnight. But I do see some progress.
I have see Green do everything: I've seen him move well w/o the ball and cut, defend well 1-on-1, make correct reads, etc. The biggest issue for me is defensive awareness, he gets lost A LOT on D. Everything else is a matter of effort and drive, and that has been frustratingly ON and OFF, and mostly OFF.
