It's much, much easier to go from bad to average than it is to go from good to all-time great. This is true not just in sports, but in everything in life.
I really like Brandon Miller…I always have love for a skilled wing player that can shoot I enjoy watching him play I do acknowledge there is a chance he could disappoint there are guys taken in the top 3 the past 2 drafts who shot it really well in college, but we haven’t seen it yet in the NBA of course it’s early so can’t make concrete judgements yet but Cade Cunningham was a 40% 3 point shooter in college…he has shot 31% from deep to start his career we all know about Jabari who shot 42% from deep in college, but was brick central as a rookie Brandon Miller would be an excellent option as our long-term SF and that would be a nice, well-fitting core of Green, Miller, Bari, and Sengun…we would need someone to break out as a legit #1 scoring option
I watched Miller a lot last year and I just not see him perform well against talented teams. I think his handles are not at an NBA level to be more than a spot up 3 pt shooter. His defense was just ok and he is not a great rebounder. He will be an ok NBA player in my opinion, but not worth the 4th pick. I would prefer Jarace or Cam if Scoot?/Amen are not available. I see a better rebounder, defensive playing Aaron Gordon in Jarace. Cam has the greater upside, but Jarace would be the safer pick to me and would be a really good fit with Jabari and Sengun.
I will say that I'm optimistic about Brandon Miller's transition to the NBA being easier than Jabari's, simply because he's older. I generally believe a year makes a pretty big difference when guys are age 19-22. But I also think Miller's upside is fairly limited. He will never be good enough to be the best player on a championship contender. I don't see Paul George/Jayson Tatum kind of potential, those guys are stronger and more athletic. That said, I think the Rockets will just take whoever falls to them between Scoot (highly unlikely), Amen, or Miller. The likelihood of trading the pick is low because it's hard to satisfy both parties in those deals, the likelihood of them picking a guy like Cam Whitmore or Jarace Walker is also low given that the consensus is that they're lower-ranked prospects, and this front office generally seems to fall in line with consensus near the top of the draft. So all these arguments we're having on the board are probably going to be kind of pointless. It's not like the Rockets realistically get to choose between these guys. Consequence of falling to #4.
Handles are not at an NBA level to be what? A bonafide #1 option with 35% usage? Ok, sure. But to the point where he’ll just be a spot up 3 point shooter? C’mon Hemingway I know u saw what Mikal Bridges was doing down in BK. Are we gonna say he has amazing handles? I think Miller can be pretty damn good in the NBA if his jump shot is for real…I think he can give u similar offensive production to what Mikal was doing this past season, but of course with worse defense
Paul George was a stick figure when he was drafted, and he was selected 10th in a meh draft…Paul George is more of a skill player this is all pure skill that he developed over the years…If that was your 1st time watching PG, would u be thinking he’s some athletic beast? Idk why people talk like athleticism is the be-all end-all or most important thing the chances that anyone we take at 4 will be the best player on a championship team are so small that it’s not even much of a factor for me…I can’t see Amen ever being the best player on a championship team with a jumper that broken…How many times has a PG who relies on athleticism with a busted jumper not just from 3, but from midrange and the line as well, led a team to a title?
Obviously if this is the outcome he won't be the best player on a championship team. No prospect comes into the league fully-formed. Amen will have to develop more offensive skill to become a superstar. Fully agreed. If he somehow never develops much more of a shotmaking bag, I think the vision for a championship team with him as starting PG would probably look closest to the 2008 Celtics with Amen in the Rondo role.
spacing didn’t matter that much in 2008…teams were still playing 2 non-shooting bigs at the same time and launching from midrange Rondo would kill the offense in 2023 not being able to shoot a lick while handling the ball that much…not to mention there were 3 HOFers on that team it’s not hard to imagine Brandon Miller being the starting SF for a contender if we’re using 08 Rondo who was like the 4th best player on that Boston team
the ability to completely kill an offense remains the same Is Amen just gonna get to the rim like Giannis? wouldn’t be surprised if we see clips like this Lebron is completely ignoring him
…but take all that you said and apply it to Amen and your left with Ben Simmons at best. At least Scoot has a very polished set of skills. Amen is the definition of unrefined talent.
I think if Brandon Miller gets drafted by Portland he will be an All-Star and if he gets drafted by Houston they will decide to implicate him in that murder.
Yeah but Ben Simmons could have had a long career if he didn't go crazy. Scoots gonna be injury prone and gonna have a short career due to his style of play.
With due respect I want to see with my own eyes if Miller got limited potential or not, in actual NBA games and seasons.
Ben Simmons didn’t go crazy - he can’t shoot and teams refuse to guard him away from the hoop to the extreme that he is no longer an effective player because his defender just doubles other players…that’s a very likely situation for Amen as well. …plus whatever health data you are pulling from is badly skewered. He did get injured a few times last year and at least some of the games he missed were in abundance of caution because the games didn’t have consequences - but it’s not like he missed most the season. You will see what you want to see out there but “health concerns” is something not a single scout is saying about him. I’ve watched many of the analysis videos on him in podcasts, videos, articles, etc. literally you are the only person anywhere screaming about what a blatant health risk he is. I mean - the only one??? You’ve managed to outsmart almost every other basketball scout? I doubt it…
He didn't go crazy--he quit. He gave up. He refused to attack and at least try to make something happen. Reports were that he refused to even participate in practice. There were plenty of public scouting reports that mentioned issues with his competitive drive, determination, and work ethic leading up to his draft. It's all out there if you want to go Google them. We have no evidence of these kinds of issues with Amen Thompson.
But I’m not comparing Amen’s scouting report to Simmons -I’m just saying the blueprint for how teams defend athletic passing guards with crazy athleticism but poor range is already out there and it’s pretty difficult to construct a winning team around guys like Simmons and Westbrook. This has been proven - and they are the BEST case for that extreme because they can at least be effective in other ways despite that fatal flaw…most guys of that ilk just fade into hyper athleticism obscurity.
