Sure he can.....like Ben Simmons. Ben Simmons was guarding everyone on the court and something like 2nd in DPOY one year and out of the league the next.
He can be that, for sure, but I worry that we’d be doing him a developmental disservice by not getting him as many guard reps as he can handle. He needs to have heavy, heavy usage in the near future, because he shows the ability to make his teammates better than they are. We need to cultivate that.
He can't have a silky 3pt shot and run point. He will need a real PG, like Amen, to set it up and get him those shots.
Tari has had lots of time to work on his 3, I wouldn't be surprised if he's improved quite a bit by next season. A 38% shooting Tari would almost have an OG Anunoby type impact. Look at Knicks record with Randle sitting and OG playing (I think they won 80% of their games). Those types of players have all Star level impact without doing much on offense but make open 3's.
Yeah once you realize there's not much money left over after your top 2-3 guys are paid, you know the best thing you can possibly spend on is 3&D or rim protection. Cleveland is a classic example where they're stupidly overspending on double the rim protection they need which leaves no money for 3&D. Would be nice to have a star at every position or a multi-skilled player everywhere but it's not feasible. Point/assist generators, 3&D players and a rim protector >> that's pretty much all you need and all you can realistically afford. I'm always so surprised that people are surprised that these players get paid well. If we talk about pure preference, I think a team should have 2-3 of them to win a title without overspending.
That has been the blueprint for the better part of a decade now. Our collection of non conformists HERE think that we will suddenly reinvent the wheel.
Don't forget, TS% is king so we should play 5 centers. No wait, it's the "advanced metrics" that rank John Stockton as a greater player than Kareem Adbul Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. 5 centers and a short unathletic dude who averages 13ppg, the key to a championship!
