If the Rockets already had a sure-fire star player on the Roster, I'd go with Smith #1. Still on the Chet bus due to upside and the fact that Sengun and Green haven't shown enough to build a team around yet. Get the Superstar, then build around that.
Smith looks real good I would take him over Chet too Chet did himself a disservice going to a school where he’s not even an offensive option, it’s hard to compare. Paulo and Smith are the go to guys on their teams and we can see how they are doing. Then again maybe Chet could be doing the same if he had those offensive skills? I say Banchero 1 Smith 2
Chet is getting 14 points a game with an incredible EFG of 77%..... he is shooting efficiently from inside and outside...... he isn't shooting a high volume, but he really doesn't need to..... not many players get 14 points on 8 shots a night.
He isn’t shooting high volume because he can’t, if his EFG is 77% then he should be the number 1,2 and 3 option on offense. He isn’t. What that tells you is the same thing you can plainly see, which is he’s getting put backs and opportunistic buckets because the defense is keyed on Timme the #1 option. Now that doesn’t mean he can’t be a number 1 option, we’re just not seeing it, and that usually means that it’s because he’s not good enough for it right now?
He isn't shooting a high volume because he is on a team that is very balanced and he is playing next to Drew Timme that takes priority on shots. Gonzaga as a TEAM is shooting 67% on two point shots because they are so dominant inside. That is #1 in the country. Also Chet isn't just getting put backs, as 1/3 of his shots have been from behind the arc. A look at a distribution of his other shot attempts show that he has quite a few off screens and lobs. He does get a good number of shots within 2 feet of the bucket though, where he is shooting 100% from the field this year, which is best in the country. So we really cannot really draw anything from all of this other than Chet can do what is needed of him to win basketball games on the offensive end..... defensively he has been a monster, he is by far the best defender on his own team.... when he is on the floor teams only score 79 points per 100 possessions.... about 10 points less than his teammates. If you want to say that you believe that Chet will not score well at the NBA level or doesn't deserve to be the #1 choice..... so be it...... but his performance in college has thus far overall been exceptional.... not "okay" or "good", but flat out exceptional.
I think everyone's making salient points here. You can acknowledge Chet has the skill and talent on both ends of the court to be dominant, and at the same time acknowledge his game/body isn't at the level where you can give him the ball at the top of the key every possession. Not a lot of players like that. Even the prospect with the more NBA-caliber body (Banchero) is having to adjust to the rigors of college ball. Its a pretty big deal when a true freshman comes in and dominates, because its so rare. There's also the fact that he's joining an established March Madness contender thats returning a bunch of starters. Gonzaga has a system and style that works. They're not going to change that for Chet.
The great Karl Anthony Towns only averaged 10/6 at a Kentucky team that nearly went undefeated. Jahlil Okafor 17/8 on a team that won the title that year. Bol Bol averaged 21 per game and hasn't done **** either. Anthony Davis only averaged 14/10 while Zion averaged 22/9. Assessing a player by his college numbers alone doesn't tell you anything.
I love Jabari, but I think Banchero's and Chet's ceiling is higher and still think he's a very close #3. The former could be a Blake Griffin-esque point forward/primary creator/primary scorer and the latter can be more of wing version of KG. Jabari seems like Bosh 2.0 with more playmaking/passing. They all seem to have great/elite BBIQ and a tenacity. It's still early and maybe Jabari can pull into the #2 pick, but I just think the potential of Banchero running an offense and being the primary scorer sets him up for #1.
He is very skilled but I would like to see him going to the basket more a bit too much finesse in his game for me. With that said I have not watched him play an entire game and he does seem to attack rebounds so he is not entirely passive, he does have a great shooting stroke.
I think Chet could do a lot of those same things if called upon but I think it's a plus and a minus. plus that he is a team player and minus that he does not want to assert himself more but let's see if that changes during the season. Need to see some alpha in him especially when they are behind.
No, you are reading him right. He isn't someone that is going to put the ball on the floor and drive like Harden or even Lillard. He is more like Paul George. He can likely get over 20 a night in his prime because of his outside shot and athleticism and size. Having said that.... if he defends well, he rebounds, he hits threes... and gets out in transition, well that isn't super star level play but it is all star level performance... and maybe he has a gear that we don't know about yet. I personally want to see the Raptors draft him and put Smith and Barnes together as wings...
