The Rockets worked him out before the 2022 draft - I would love to know what their notes and scouting report said about him.
I think Scottie Pippen is a legit comparison for J-Dub, except on offense his ceiling is much higher. Anyone who watched just the Finals plainly saw J-Dub is a better defender than Dort. After game 1, almost nobody on the Pacers attacked him early in the shot clock. Instead, they used good sense and passed the ball. Secondly, off the ball, his combination of length and anticipation put him near the level of Amen. The amount of disruption he caused in the 2nd half of game 7 was crazy. He, Caruso, Dort and SGA on the floor at the same time is the best perimeter defense I've ever seen in the NBA. (Honorable mention to Cason Wallace, who is a work in progress and will eventually replace Dort). Assuming he continues improving on offense, J-Dub might make 2nd team All-NBA next year. Down the line if he grows into an alpha, he might be the next Kawhi.
Yeah hoping they sign him to a max as well.. Three max players will reduce their roster flexibility and yes I fully realize they have many draft assets to plug in but every bit of help we can get is good.
Dort, Hartenstein, and ultimately Chet can be traded. (in 4-5 years depending how they fare) Ultimately I think Dort leaves first. I would keep Shai and Jay Dub as long as possible. Don't make the mistake of trading Harden before Westbrook again. Keep Sorber, Cason Wallace, Aaron Wiggins as long as possible. Anyone else can be talked about.
They won a championship, so at least they have something to show for this now. If they want a dynasty, going to get hard, but like you said they have a ton of draft capital to work with, although what happens when they are hard capped and have to sign one of their high FRPs?
Not now of course, looking into the future, someone like Chet in the eye of the 2nd Apron is a tad too injury prone and sometimes inconsistent in the thick of the Playoffs, small nitpicking but flaws nonetheless. They are not going to keep everyone under the financial situations and in the market they are.....that is just not realistic. They would likely have to pivot as the Warriors did with signing Durant, getting someone older ....probably not as good as Durant. More like signing Jimmy Butler type.
Shai with his drive can at least play 10 years at a high level........this will determine when Presti plans his next rebuild..... I think he is in his 40s, he can still stomach 2 complete rebuilds. He is the same age as Ime Udoka. Udoka 3 months his senior.
Love this dude and again never judge a book by its cover as I always thought he looked too goofy and a bit spaced out to be a legitimate dog. This man is definitely Pippen 2.0 and it’s a great success story along with OKC winning this with all these drafted players and selling a star for a young guy in Shai as well as fleshing it out with some trades for Hartenstein and Caruso.
