Reminds me of a throw back type because his fundamentals shooting the basketball and even with some of his cuts and dribbling are really raw and not consistent with NBA players who now have great coaching at a very early age. Tari looks like he learned on the playgrounds. Having said that his defensive upside is huge and he is already very confident and strong at locking guys down. He is going to excel on that side of the ball in the NBA because of his immense physical talents and effort. Offensively he isn’t as naturally good but he cuts well off ball and shoots well enough. He also is really aggressive getting to the basket. He and Smith are going to be a lot to handle defensively for other teams.
Thats nice to see. Keeps the D on their toes if theyre worried about him and Smith cutting/penetrating while also having to guard Jalen and rotate properly on Segun post-ups or penetration by the ball handler. A lot of pick and pop action too will be nice
Awesome pickup. He has that dog mentality and a skilled defender. The surprise is how well he is doing offensively and you can see he has a much higher ceiling than projected.
Tari is THE key to this draft. Our most important pick imo. Already the best rebounder and defender on the team.
High level role player from day one. And he has so much more room to grow. When he's in the game, good things happen. I would like to see him as a starter from day one, but he will most likely come off the bench until the trade deadline. Hopefully he gets good minutes regardless.
Well, OKC had two picks before Tari, the Hornets had two as well, and Houston made a pick before him too. So, really only 13 teams passed on him before he was picked by a team that passed on him.
He looks like a natural, his rebounding is outstanding, seems to just know where to be on the court. If you can slot him in at the three, and he can give you 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 2 steals a night, just on hustle, that's a real nice pickup.
There will be a learning curve - people here will curse him for stupid plays, turnovers and missed threes. But the hustle will be there, and there is no question about size, strength and athleticism. He looks like he takes improving his game serious. I will be in his corner rooting for him!
I would be happy to have picked him at #7 to be honest. Everyone says they have a chip on their shoulder, but Eason actually plays like it. I can tell there is going to be some over zealous defense and irrationally confident drives to the basket leading to turnovers. I can see his 3pt mechanics are as shaky as Jalen's when he was drafted. We'll fix all that in one season. As long as he's not getting into trouble off the court and in the locker room, we have a real steal here. Jabari and Eason at the 3/4 is a dream defensive pairing. KPJ played good defense last season and Green showed exciting growth on defense in the second half of last season. Sengun has no excuses: he's an odd NBA fit, and somehow the best complimentary defensive players you can imagine are sitting around him now. Green chases your PG around, KPJ/Eason/Jabari split the 2/3/4 assignments. I almost can't believe how good this looks on paper. I know I know. It's going to be painful watching these guys learn to share the ball and take all season to execute the team defense well. We sometimes forget, with young guys all else is NOT constant. People can have insurmountable attention problems. Off court issues. Out of control ego. Mental health problems. Two guys can be perfect compliments and just not get along. All those things can happen and we have to make sure our patience is in check. These guys should take 3-4 years to develop. We are cheering for it to be faster. I'm predicting we will be incapable of missing the playoffs from next season onwards. I think we'll win half our games after the ASB. It's going to be one of the most exciting seasons we've had since the championship years. Count your blessings guys. You could be the guy who considers himself unlucky for drafting Jabari Smith Jr at #3, and then you'll never be happy with anything in life with that mindset.
Just to add to these two post, Tari development is also critical. He can be more than a 3&D player and I hope he’s developed correctly. If he can get a better handle, like Jabari, having a big five from two drafts could speed up the rebuild and bring a dynasty. I would love for him to develop into Kawhi like I’ve said before he was drafted but with KPJ, Green, Jabari & Sengun (if they develop right) I would settle for Iguodala with a jumper.
Guy has great moves/fast can do some great things defensively and seen him putting in alot of effort out there on the offensive boards. Could he be open day starter at SF? Looks like a pro out there already.
Hitting on this pick at a position of need...after having Jabari fall to us...is huge. These guys will eventually move as one on D...and Tari will be the leader of that D...one of the leaders of this team. What was once our weakness, shall become a strength. Long, athleticism extending... *We still need at least one good sized guy with real athleticism in the mix at the 4/5. The Magic got Mo Bamba cheap @ 2 yrs 21.
No two players are the same, but I see Tari Eason as the merger of Kawhi Leonard and Patrick Beverly. Strong, physical player, huge hands, raw shooting fundamentals, aggressive, plays with an edge, excellent defender.
Well said. I actually think Sengun's defensive skills blends well with Jabari/Tari. He's not a rim protector, but he's also a solid fundamental player. What I really like is we've got a solid rebounding front line with those 3. They all block out (lost art), J/T have exceptional length, while Sengun positions and hustles for the ball really well. Agree the future is bright, while also being a work in progress.
He looks like he might play in the league for a decade or more. He just seems like he belongs already. I don’t think he will be a star, but someone you want on your roster for a long time.
