He made plays that only a handful of players could do in this league last year. For his position he has real potential to be truly elite as a defender and he already has elite athleticism. I think he's also a very good rebounder for his position too(especially offensively). I don't think it's too ambitious to say he could eventually be a cross between Brewer(good open court player) and Ariza(lockdown defender) but with more athleticism than both of those guys. Just watch this video and tell me he doesn't seem like a promising young player(watch what he does to Draymond Green). Look up KJ McDaniels Block and you see him swatting people like he is a 4 or 5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5w8wAtjgxT0
Kind of off subject, but can anyone decipher this Doc Rocket-esque riddle from KJ? <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">My people keep Tryna pick me up <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/imakeepitinfam?src=hash">#imakeepitinfam</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/imdownG?src=hash">#imdownG</a></p>— K.J (@KJMcDaniels) <a href="https://twitter.com/KJMcDaniels/status/621891602168942592">July 17, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Embedded for you. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5w8wAtjgxT0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Excited to see this kid play for us.
Thanks! Didn't realize when I posted it that the block highlight reel was at the end. That's a real treat. The kid just does NOT give up on plays. Before he was a Rocket I would tune into Sixers games to watch him and he didn't get a highlight every play, but it seemed like he would wow you with some move every few minutes at least. Excited indeed...
What? He couldn't shoot? He shot over 40% with Washington and Wall, he shot 35% last year with us. Granted, he shot more and made more. He's a hell of a defender. He's a blanket.
I stopped watching him after I dropped him in fantasy LOL. Hard to tell definitively from this clip, but it looks like he's fairly aware of his limitations. Routinely turning down a jumpshot in favor of getting to the basket (where he obviously has a huge athletic advantage) gets a thumbs up from me.
You think Trevor's first team was the Wizards? He has played for A LOT of teams and shot 23% from 3pt as a rookie (based on a small sample size) - in fact he was such a bad shooter he was discouraged from shooting for his first 5 or 6 years in the league. You should try to look up the facts before spewing your opinion.
With enough reps, I don't see why KJ can't be an average shooter. For all who doubt him, realize that the Rockets gave up Canaan and a 2nd to get his rights, let Josh walk to the clippers, and passed on several free agents in order to preserve the MLE so they could guarantee that they could bring back KJ. The Rockets obviously think he's worth it. And to be honest, you don't invest that amount of resources into someone unless you think they can be a high quality starter.
K.J. McDaniels is 22 and shot 29% from three this past season. For comparison, Ariza was a 23% three point shooter his first season in the league and did not have a season shooting above 33% until he was 27. Similarly, Kyle Lowry spent much of his first four seasons in the NBA shooting below 30%. Shooting is a skill that can improve with practice, but it's not common.
The form on his 3s was a lot better than I expected. You can see what he could become, and what he could become is a beast. Has it already been discussed somewhere in this thread what the Max contract he could receive would be? If so, rep to anyone who points me to that post #. Or just tells me what the Max contract offer he could receive would be.