Are the stats really that bad on Reed's defense? I seem to recall him holding his own for the most part. And he showed he has very quick and smart hands.
Obviously we'll be running a ton of offense through Sengun. I'll be picking him up relatively early in fantasy drafts. His assist numbers should increase. The good news is we have 82 games to figure something out. There's no doubt we'll be active at the trade deadline.
I'd hope most of the uneducated, unwashed masses wouldn't be that pathetic, but I'm sure some are. The numbers are the numbers though, and it's best to formulate opinions grounded in the numbers rather than subjective foolishness.
Amen is now our starting PG, not Reed. Either way, is Amen ready to be a true ballhandler? He was drafted as PG and has shown great court vision... but the ball handling hasn't been up to a pg level yet.
A couple of additional considerations to what's already been said and debated. - Shep's bbiq is one of his superpowers and being underestimated and not really discussed. The young man makes the right decisions the majority of the time and that should fit in well with our Big 3. - We've struggled with entry passes to Alpi, Reed can recognize and makes those routine. - He'll fit well when our big lineup (Alp/Aquaman) are on the court. - It's been mentioned, but his outlet passing will play well with Amen and Tari streaking down the court and get us some easy baskets. - While he's not a defensive stud, he doesn't have to be the way our team is built. He can be a disruptor with his hands and quickness to ignite more easy baskets. Like @Will said he'll likely have more growing pains early, but the potential for more exciting times will come with his growth and court time. I understand the skepticism, given the pedigree the #3 pick carries and like many I’m an inpatient MFer as well. But he's given us some glimpses of why we drafted him so high and I'm hopeful he steps up into an important part of our rotation.
Sheppard is the next Steve Nash, but hitting 3’s instead of those corner of the key jumpers. Minus the old Phil Collins hair style.
Amen's issue is not just handling. I think he has improved and I expect him to be much better this season. The one thing he needs to take a leap, IMO, if he is going to be our starting PG is the ability to organize offense. He has court vision. But he has not shown that he understands how an organized offense develops. Most of his passes are bailout passing when he has nowhere to go at the rim. The good thing is that he can quickly scan the court and make the right pass even after he jumps in the air. But that's not good enough for a floor general. He needs to know what his options are BEFORE he makes a move to initiate a play.
