Are we really going to do this right now. Draft day report- -Better college career- Morris -Better size to play the 4 if he couldn't transition to the 3 - Morris -Better shooter coming out of college- Morris -better defense - Leonard -better athleticism - Leonard The reason, I believe, he was chosen over Leonard was because I would be willing to guess that the Rockets didn't see Leonard being able to develop his shooting & ball handling well enough to be a 3 in the NBA, and saw him as being too small to be a starting caliber 4. They probably thought that if all else fails, Morris could still be a stretch 4 type. They had no idea that Leonard would develop the way he has in the pros. Good for Leonard and the Spurs. The Rockets still made a half way decent draft pick as Morris in his 2nd year did at the very least drop back into the role that the Rockets projected him to be if he didn't develop enough to be a big SF in the NBA. I have no idea why fans are so hard on the Rockets for the Morris draft pick. As the 14th pick in the draft, he's still going to have a very long career as a specialist. That's more than you can say about alot of other 14th picks in the draft.
Batum is 25 still. And he's >>>> Parsons. CP isn't close to the other two in terms of overall impact.
People who say Parsons has done more than Kawhi either are homers or just watch the stats or both. - Parsons plays no D or very little and his D has regressed from Rookie year to Sophomore year to Third year - Kawhi is an elite defensive player or will be shortly - Parsons stats are inflated by playing in a fast paced system and having Harden and Howard taking a lot of the attention and Parsons having the priviledge to take a ton of shots as 3rd option - Kawhi can score but is not required to. He is not amongst the first 3 scoring options for the Spurs (Parker, Duncan, Ginobili) and he may not even be 4th with Green or Beli in there. But the guy can score when needed. Difference is right now Kawhi is almost elite on D and average on O with tons of room for improvement on O while Parsons is above average on Offense and almost topped out while below average on D not to mention a few years older. Make no mistake, Parsons was a great great pick for the 38th pick and possibly one of the best 2nd round picks ever but Kawhi is a slightly better player today and the gap will only get wider as we move forward.
LeBron and Wade were asked last night if Chandler Parsons was better than Kawhi Leonard and here's their response: Spoiler
Kawhi has more talent than Parsons and more athletic. The thing that people don't notice him much is: 1). He's got the personality of a rock - quiet and introverted 2). He plays for the Spurs. They have a very structured system in which they slowly nurture their young players until they are ready to take over. As long as the Big 3 are still there, Kawhi will always play second fiddle until he is ready to for prime time.
Completely agree here. Also Leonard makes plays that almost no one else can make. He has fantastic anticipation offensively and defensively. It's a hard to quantify attribute. It's what makes Ginobili and Diaw so good as well. They can just make plays that others can't and often don't attempt.
As far as the Morris vs Leonard pick goes, Morey and Rockets staff were shooting for the sky hoping to get a perennial all/star / superstar player. Leonard was always the safe bet and would fit in well to an already established team with stars and 90% Morey would have drafted Leonard ahead of Morris with the cast the Rockets have today. Morey saw Morris as the bigger top end potential and went for the gamble.
Actually the Rockets took what probably would be a complete bust on pretty much every lottery team, gave him a year to develop, and then completely altered his game to make him a specialist who is going to have a long NBA career(unless Phoenix reverses that development). The Spurs probably would have made Morris into something special, but that doesn't mean the Rockets should be dismissed in their efforts to turn him into something very valuable in the league.
And yet, if Hou would have won that game, Pops would've been fired and no chips would be with him, and you wouldn't be saying this. Coaches need players, players need the right coach. The game is all about fit.
Based on the team we have now, it would have to be Kawhi. With Howard and Harden always wanting the ball, would PG be willing to take a lesser role on offense? Kawhi doesn't seem like he needs to score and wouldn't complain about much. Only knock on Kawhi is that he's too quiet. I don't see how he can be the future leader of the Spurs if he doesn't speak up. He's a good soldier, but I question his leadership.
That is pretty ridiculous. Chandler is more athletic and a way better playmaker than those 2 guys who were pretty much only outside shooters Chandler hate on here is a little ridiculous. Kawai average 12 ppt this year, he isn't some kind of offensive star, he is a player that tends to get hot in huge playoffs. In terms of just the regular season, he hasn't proven to be any better than parsons, he just always steps his game up in the playoffs
LOL I do think Chandler is somewhat overrated on this board, but he's a far different player from those guys. Those guys are pure shooters with little athleticism. This is just like in the NFL where every white WR is a "good route runner" or has "great hands" because the perception is that they are not as athletic. Chandler is not an athletic freak but he is very athletic. If you want to compare him to a white player, maybe a younger Brent Barry without the elite shooting.
Exactly. Thats why Kawhi would be a good fit. He is opposite of what you just said. He definitely does not seem to be the goofball type and he is an elite defender.
