I agree, but he does need to be a good secondary ballhandler/playmaker. He can't just be a shooter, not at his size. People keep throwing "But Steph Curry" around, without mentioning that he's a very good ballhandler and an above-average playmaker for others. It's a crucial skill for Sheppard.
Matas Buzelis.....with Sengun/Team......very intriguing.........can switch them both depending on matchup to C/ PF maybe at times.....also on their own with compliments such as Jabari or Tari could be fun as well.............and of course Jabari with Tari at times, together, will also only get better............ 4 HEADED MONSTER?...............who knows..........
Is that really a good comparision? Carter shot 38.9% and 39.3% his last two years in college. In the pros, he's been a 38.3% 3 point shooter. Sheppard shot 52.1% from behind the arc. That's a huge difference. To put it into perspective, the difference between Sheppard and Carter's 3pt shooting is bigger than the difference between current Steph Curry and Sengun's 3 point shooting. We're not talking about a pretty good 3 point shooter. We are talking about one of the greatest shooters in history. I think most of us agree that our biggest need is shooting. So, passing on a generational shooter is a good idea?
I think he will easily be a secondary handler/creator and a solid PnR option. Im just pointing out that the offense will be nicely setup to be layered.
I wasn't really trying to make a direct comp between Carter and Sheppard. I think Sheppard will be have the better career of the two. I was really just using Carter to illustrate a point about the importance of Sheppard being able to do more than just shoot and play good defense for his size. I'm also a little skeptical relying on the numbers here and projecting him as a "generational" shooter on that basis. Remember, he was a bench player on a college team. I do believe he is a very good shooter. But Sheppard was a bench player for a college team. He took 144 three point shots this season. For comparison, a rookie Tari Eason took 172 three point attempts. It is not a large sample size, nor was he necessarily playing against the best college players for all or even the majority of those minutes. I'm not saying he's not a good shooter--he very clearly is. I just want to be cautious about assuming he's going to be generational or among the best in the league. That's always really hard to project on skills like shooting.
I actually thought of Jevon as a possible floor (and cheap version of a decent shooting PG/combo if needed). Admittedly I don't watch a lot of Jevon (and I'm mostly just looking at some Youtube videos of Reed), but Reed definitely seems to excel in his "feel" more so than a lot of guys like this. If he didn't have that, yeah he'd probably just be another Jevon/Holiday, and I wouldn't really care *that* much about him. It is this stuff that is standing out to me, maybe more so than the shooting. Think I said this earlier in the thread, but even if he was just an average shooter, I'd probably rate him highly just on his feel. Not top 3 mind you, but likely 1st round (especially in this draft). I was watching Vecenie break down some clips of Jokic just making some ridiculous (just bonkers!) outlet passes just a bit ago. This was a bit funny to me since I've been gushing over some of the outlet passes I've seen from Reed on some highlights. Yes, they're highlights for a reason, but he definitely seems to have that special mapping ability in his head where he can just process the game so quickly and know where everyone on the court is. Maybe the results will be different in the NBA. It certainly will be different going against NBA talent and athleticism. If that feel stuff doesn't work out, then yeah he'd probably be like a Jevon, Holiday, or guys like that. I'm curious, which evaluators expressed doubts about his ability to play PG, and what was their reasoning? I can see some flaws in his handling (picking up the ball too early, not crafty enough/no "wiggle", self-creation, etc.), and he did seem to make mistakes under pressure (including telegraphed passes). But I'm not sure that would really stop him from playing effective PG minutes, especially if he can play off others with good self-creation ability. If you put Reed on the Wizards and just asked him to create (via iso), I think he'd struggle. But if you had him come off a DHO with Sengun with Jabari in the corner and Tari/Amen/Cam/etc cutting or things like that, I feel like he'd probably do just fine.
Is anyone suggesting that he just be a shooter? I'm also not sure that I would classify Curry as an above average playmaker for a PG. Sheppard rebounds (4.1), gets assists (4.5), steals(2.5) and amazingly blocks (0.7). Curry is certainly a flashy ballhandler but does his ball handling really help him set up others that much? John Stockton was as plain vanilla as it gets but he's the all-time assist leader. Curry averaged 5.6 assists his last year in college but that was with a crazy usage rate of 38.3.%. In contrast, Sheppard averaged 4.5 assists but with a usage of only 18%. And just to compare apples to apples, Sheppard shot 13.4% higher than Steph Curry from behind the arc in their last year in college. His 52.1% is 9.2% better than Curry's best year in college. The comparision to Curry is much more apt that comparisions to Fredette.
This “you can’t draft small” narrative is dumb, especially is probably the worst draft of this century. If this were a normal draft, there would usually be some legitimate consensus all star talent that you would draft at #3, that doesn’t apply here. Impactful 6’4 or smaller players still left in the playoffs Jamal Murray Mike Conley Kyrie Irving Isaiah Joe Lu Dort Jalen Brunson Josh Hart Deuce McBride Andrew Nembhard TJ McConnell Jrue Holiday Derrick White Payton Pritchard Are they as important as other positions? No, but this idea they don’t have a role isn’t right
Curry wasn't a great ball handler coming into the league. His play making wasn't anything special either. His one single elite skill was shooting. He worked on those skills for several years in the NBA. If Curry wasn't such a great shooter, he would just be an mediocre role player at best, like his brother Seth. Our own Jalen Green was a below average ball handlers and play maker in his first two seasons. He has improved in those areas with better coaching. It's not too far fetched to believe that most guards can learn those skills IF they have good BBIQ.
While I would take Sheppard, this is a weak draft for a reason. That reason is that every prospect has serious questions. With Sheppard, it's not what most have said, it's that Cal didn't start him. And while coach Cal isn't a strategist or schemer, he has historically had an eye for talent and played his NBA guys the most minutes, even if he used them poorly in those minutes (see bragging in his book about not letting KAT take 3's). That said, the other options are less-athletic Russ, the next Roy Hibbert, Serbian Michael Carter-Williams, and a guy who averaged a 10/4/1 in the 2nd best French league. So yeah, give me JJ Redick with good hands and a vert. Still, we should try and manage expectations with this one.
You're smart enough to know that there's lots of reasons that players come off the bench. Zach Levine, Zac Randolph and Russell Westbrook came off the bench in college. Devin Booker never started a single game at Kentucky. James Harden came off the bench at OKC while Thabo Sefolosha started , even though Harden was obviously better. What 50%+ three point college shooters didn't shoot well in the NBA? He can only shoot 80% as well as he did this year and he's still an elite NBA 3 pt shooter. I'd much rather count on a guy who has been elite at shooting at every level to continue being elite than to draft a guy with the hope that they can someday become respectable from behind the arc. If you're going to worry, worry about Sheppard jumping too high. I understand that can be very dangerous.
I think you're wrong on several accounts. Curry was an excellent ballhandler in college and a playmaker. All the skills he shows now, he showed then! He's just gotten more stronger and more proficient
I think most of agree Sheppard is the pick we want. At least that's what this poll says and I voted for him.
Yes, and it was. He went 13th in 2015. Like I said, I'd take Shep at 3. Honestly, I'd take him over Sarr on this team. Weak draft doesn't mean there won't be All Stars, it means that the guys who will be All Stars will have to answer more questions than most top tier prospects.
I guess this is technically accurate but it’s also technically accurate that Boban can probably guard Jokic better than Jrue Holiday can. I’m still comfortable saying Jrue defends better than Boban without that qualification.
