Assuming the shot blocking translates against bigger and stronger players. I don't think you're necessarily wrong, but not playing him in the paint negates much of the improvement he can give us.
Again, he did not play as much in the paint at Gonzaga either since Timme was the center and primary low post defender. And Mobley defense translated to NBA just fine.
I think Chet will be just fine, I actually think he doesn't need to gain weight, aside from what is natural development. The argument that he will be destroyed in the paint by larger players is overblown. If a team wants to post up a big man all game, be my guest. The entire league has gotten away from this because it isn't as efficient as having a large volume of 3's. I would much rather take my chances with Chet guarding the paint, than a Jokic, Kanter or Gobert guarding the perimeter. On a side note, I think Sengun and Chet would really develop each other in the practice. Sengun needs someone that will swat his post ups so he can learn tricks to being an undersized center, and Chet needs someone that wants to back him down on every play.
Yeah...it's such an inefficient way to score since wings and guards can easily disrupt the flow of the post-up offense nowadays.
Yep, and eveyrbody pretends like Chet has to play in the 90's where every team has a banger at the Center position. If you look at the top 28 scorers this season, only 3 were centers, KAT, Joker and Embiid. All 3 of these guys are considered "stretch 5's", and they score the majority of their points off 3's and free-throws. Again, I am fine with Chet letting the Steven Adams and Vucevics of the league get a few extra dunks a game if it means we have Evan Mobley like D on the perimeter against the other 99% of the league.
Mobley has 20 pounds on chet. My point is best case chet bulks up and can play 5 given his rim protection skills... using him like mobley wastes some of his talent... not all, but the part we need most...
I'm more concerned about the physical play for rebounds... he's more likely to get hurt as well as cone up with the ball... Teams may also exploit weaknesses... bad defenders can make the post up an efficient option if you have the personnel; which is only a quarter of the league probably.
That's fair... Again, i have no problem taking him but he's probably #3 instead of #2 on my board for the weight concern... We should reasonably want double digit rebounds and 3 blocks from him with spacing on offense if he's going top 5. Not sure he can do the first 2 with that frame. Maybe he goes 7 boards and 1.5 blocks... not horrible, you just have higher hopes that high of a pick....
Mobley and Chet are very different Quick twitch and body mass (!) in Mobley's favour Chet more capable as a face up guy How many Gonzaga games did you watch? For me, not all of them, but Chet camped in the paint as primary rim protector from what I saw? Chet is a hard pass for me. He might be amazing and break the NBA. But too much stress. Better getting Jabari Smith and having him dribble the ball 5 hrs a day - everything else already checks out. If he gets a face up dribble game he is a massive Jason Tatum, or a thick Durant (ie he breaks the NBA). Worst case is that he is a really solid face up 4 who can switch anything. We probably end up with pick 5... bahhh
I don't get why people have some idea that Jabari is some kinda one on one lock down defender. You can't throw him at Chet much less Giannis, Tatum, Brown ect .... Video says otherwise .... Mobley's a very good shooter .... but he's getting too much credit for other things like drives to the basket & dunks. He had 14 dunks all year. He got 35% of his shots in the paint blocked and those handles are vastly over rated. Jabari is a one trick pony - a long shooter. There's only one advanced metric where Jabari ranks ahead of Chet and that's 3 point percentage. In every other metric its Chet by leaps and bounds ahead of both Jabari & Banchero.
I'll concede that his appearance is concerning for a #1 pick. I'm no scout, and I'm wrong probably just as much as I am right regarding player projections. It's harder today to forecast a player's ceiling than ever. Allow me to play Devil's Advocate to address your concerns, which are all valid. I'll take a player with good timing vs size any day of the week. This is what allowed Rodman to be the best rebounder of my lifetime. Yes Rodman wasn't a twig like Chet, but he was giving up about half a foot just in height, nevermind Chet's advantage in wingspan(7"2 vs 7'6). Chet has proven to have some of the best timing and instincts around the rim that we have seen in a long time, and I think that that the same timing and instincts that he has mastered for shot blocking could make him an average rebounder at worst. Also, he can't get any skinnier. Chet's dad filled out pretty nicely in college, so he could just be very KG-esque as he matures. I will link a video of KG at 19 working with McHale, and while he does seem to be stronger and bigger than Chet, it's not by much. Let's talk about Chet getting hurt now. Name one big man that got injured a lot because he was too skinny. Maybe Ralph Sampson, but he wasn't THAT skinny, about the same as Kareem. Maybe Walton, but just like with Sampson, more weight wouldn't have helped him avoid leg injuries. The only player that I can think of right now whose skinniness ruined his career was maybe Shaun Livingston, and he was a guard that had arguably the flukest injury in league history. Even still, Livingston came back later in his career and killed the Rockets title hopes with his mid-range jumper with Golden State. I honestly can't think of one single player who was just too skinny to stay healthy. Now on the other hand, many NBA players like Zion and Yao shortened their careers by thinking that more weight is better. We even saw Kobe later in his career deliberately lose 15 so he could play lighter with less wear and tear. Time will tell, Chet is one of the hardest players to project in my lifetime.
No he is generally right. Based on his preference or mine. I have been doing too much finance the last few years and am risk averse. Could I have put in $10000 into Amazon a long time ago yeah but it’s an online bookstore no thanks. Jokes aside he is right and you are right. Because the rockets very likely will not be #1. So we will all be happy with either one of these guys and hope for the best.
Houston Rockets Trade Breakdown Change in Team Outlook: +1.2 ppg, +3.2 rpg, and +1.2 apg. Incoming Players Jakob Poeltl 26 year old, 7-0, 240 lb C from Utah 13.5 ppg, 9.3 rpg, 2.8 apg in 29.0 minutes in 2021-2022 Keita Bates-Diop 26 year old, 6-8, 230 lb SF from Ohio State 5.7 ppg, 3.9 rpg, 0.7 apg in 16.2 minutes in 2021-2022 Outgoing Players 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
I watched almost every single Zags game, multiple times some games. Chet shaded towards the paint because that's the college game, pack paint. But Chet also played closer to paint even as 4 because his exceptional length allowed him to make up the distance on closeouts to the perimeter. This unique length and closeout ability will translate to NBA.
That's interesting but in general, Jabari is a safe bet to be a good to great NBA defender. People get that impression because they've watched a larger sample of his games.
The good thing I see is that we're really gonna have a Sellers market in a few weeks when the season's over. Already, I can see close to a dozen teams that will be eager to make moves: the Hawks, Knicks, Nets, Jazz, Pelicans, Cavs, Hornets, Timberwolves, Grizzlies, Lakers, and Blazers all should be looking to make upgrades, especially for two-way players that can help them fill voids and improve in the playoffs. Should make for a good market for Christian Wood, Eric Gordon, Jae'sean Tate, and others on this roster.
