1. Putting him on the perimeter takes away what made him special at Gonzaga. He needs to play the 5 in drop coverage. 2. Does anyone actually believe he can defend wings in the NBA? 3. Noone is questioning his ability because he is white American.... That's idiotic.
Absolutely he can defend on the perimeter in the NBA. He is a good NBA caliber athlete with elite length and instincts. It really isn’t even a question.
Covington lead our team in blocks and he was out on the perimeter half the game. A good weakside defender doesn't need to be in the paint to protect it.
I think he can affect the game just as much on the perimeter. They will either attack him or he will be on the weakside anyways. Can always swing down and block shots from the weakside like Covington did for our small ball lineup. That's what's good about his mobility he can cover ground fast.
I'm not sure how that invalidates what i said. I didn't say he wouldn't get blocks. I said he wouldn't solve the rim protection issue. Blocks aren't the only thing when it comes to rim protection. Covington is also several inches shorter and 15 pounds heavier... much thicker frame... Even so, Covington had career high blocks and rebounds; which is largely explained by small sample size of only a quarter of a season. Again, not saying don't take him. He's in my top 5... just saying the weight is something that needs to be addressed which adds to the risk. How many nearly 7 footers have success in the nba at about 200 pounds?
Funny thing is years ago when Yao was coming into the league there was an article about how 7 foot and up guys that were over a certain weight were historically saddled with foot, knee or leg issues. Yao was considered by some as to weak. He bulked up (which he needed to go against Shaq) and played well until the foot broke. I'd say Chet should be the guy for the Rockets if possible because he has instincts you don't teach esp. on defense. Dream had those same instincts in college. I'm NOT say Chet willl be Dream like. But he can close out with his length. He will no doubt add some grown man weight over time and he needs more strength to play against most front court NBA bigs however I would caution rushing him with too much mass at once. His frame could easily take a Capela like route. 15 pounds the first year then another 10. maybe another 5.
If Brogdon wasn't made of glass I would like to trade for him. Maybe some type of sign&trade Wood/Nwaba for Brunson/Powell straight up. Mavs have plenty of guard coverage lacking in frontcourt.
He can't do that all the time. Quicker and smaller players will be able to blow by him from time to time. He will be forced to rotate to block them. He can do that, but he will run out of gas. What the Rockets need is rim protection against Giannis, Embiid, Jokic, AD, KAT. Chet can't get huge, but he needs more lean hard muscle, for offense and defense. We will need another bigger 7 ft center too for defensive purposes. Perhaps Mark Williams might fall to us at 17. Garuba is barely 6'9 in shoes despite his length and girth.
Positional defense, switching, communicating, disrupting passing lanes, rotating to help are all areas that Chet would immediately upgrade for Rockets. And shot blocking does not only happen in paint. There is a thing called weakside shot blocking, shot blocking on closeouts, recovery shot blocking and altering shot attempts. Not to mention that Chet is 39% from 3P so would INCREASE Rockets ability to space floor allowing Green and KPJ more room and more options to score. Chet would complement Sengun as well for same reasons. Chet is literally a 7 foot 3-D player.
I agree that Rockets need a traditional rim protector at 5 even with Chet. But I am concerned with the inadvertent standard you have imposed on Chet. He will not be infallible and he will get beat on perimeter and at rim. Because there has never been a player who has never been beat sometimes even the defensive GOATs. The difference is that Chet will hustle his ace off on both ends of the court. He may lack strength but he certainly does not lack toughness or physicality. And he may be skinny but he doesn't quit. Stamina issues usually affect the bigger guys more than the lighter guys. Chet doesn't cramp out of games or conserve his energy just for offense.
With Jabari though you have a defender you're going to throw at Giannis, Tatum, Brown, Durant, etc. He takes out top scoring threats. On the other side of the court, he can torch these guys if they don't chase him around the 3pt line or respect the midrange, it's not easy to guard Jabari. It's like having Klay Thompson but he's 6'10, athletic, huge wingspan. That's crazy firepower on both sides of the court. We ALWAYS encounter the issue of lacking multiple stars to win a title but also trying to find ones that aren't at each other's throats for the ball and playing style. It would be awesome to have one of these guys that all champions seem to have: guys who bring MAX-worthy production off the ball on both sides of the court never needing the ball much. That's a rarer necessary piece among franchise cornerstones, in my humble opinion.
I'm really confused why you keep agreeing with me but seem confrontational about it... Can he help more on defense than Wood, sure... he's not going to be the rim protector they need playing weakside because he'll often be too late playing from behind. Wood shot 39% from 3 and had a block and 10 boards per game... chet would likely be a slight upgrade from that eventually. So i don't know how much spacing he adds. We would be helped better by his rim protection covering for Green and Porters mistakes... to do that he's going to need more weight in the paint. I would hate to see him get switched onto jokic or vucevic... sounds like 5 fouls in 12 minutes to me...
Houston Rockets Trade Breakdown Change in Team Outlook: -9.7 ppg, +6.9 rpg, and -2.5 apg. Incoming Players Clint Capela 27 year old, 6-10, 240 lb PF from Chalon-Sur-Saone (France) 11.1 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 1.2 apg in 27.6 minutes in 2021-2022 Onyeka Okongwu 21 year old, 6-9, 245 lb PF from USC 8.2 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 1.1 apg in 20.7 minutes in 2021-2022 Jalen Johnson 20 year old, 6-9, 220 lb PF from Duke 2.4 ppg, 1.2 rpg, 0.1 apg in 5.5 minutes in 2021-2022 Outgoing Players Eric Gordon 33 year old, 6-3, 215 lb G from Indiana 13.4 ppg, 2.0 rpg, 2.7 apg in 29.3 minutes in 2021-2022 Christian Wood 26 year old, 6-10, 223 lb PF from UNLV 17.9 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 2.3 apg in 30.8 minutes in 2021-2022
Chet put up almost 4 blocks a game from 4 spot in college. He will improve our rim protection on DAY ONE. And he will do it as a FOUR and small ball 5. Same as Mobley did his rook season with Cavs.
I'm not putting that extremely high standard on him. Powerful and much more explosive bigs can injury him. Of course this can happen even if he gains 20 lbs more than his current 190 lbs. He does need to get stronger in my opinion. He can be pushed down or stopped by getting physical with him. You can see that in videos. Yao did get stronger with time even before his injuries. On the other hand, Chet stood up fine to the 6'11 250 lbs Duran. I know he's not a quitter. I have him at number 1 on my list.
