LOL wut? The most valuable thing you can have is the ability to get good shots in the playoffs, there is nothing Smith does that would more valuable than what Banchero could do as a scorer and playmaker.
The Orlando have a ton of high picks playing i didnt realize until now. Players picked 1, 1, 8, 7, 19 in the starting lineup tonight. Bench wise: 25, 15, 8, 5, 6 Good lord that is a lot of talent (predraft perceived or not) Also... this isnt in reference to anything discussed just pointing it out. Magic has been tanking/losing FOREVER. Probably add one more top 10 pick this year lol One last thing, only 4 of those 10 players above was actually drafted by the Magic.
All true. And they may continue to win infrequently for years to come yet! However, it does appear as though they picked up the best player in both of the drafts for the last 2 years. And those players are both oversized 6'10 wings. We'll see where to from here - no doubt they can screw it up
in my crappy opinion i think F Wagner has less than a 5% chance of being the best player from 2021. Top 5 certainly though.
Paolo is really good but honestly what would he be doing here? He would not get nearly as many touches or opportunities to score and would have offensive numbers closer to Jabari than his Orlando numbers. Honestly I would not be surprised if Jabari would have numbers closer to Paolo (Orlando version) than Houston version Jabari if he played with Orlando too I think based on what we have on our roster and how Jabari can be effective even when getting inconsistent shots, I still like him on the team.
No. Night and Day when you compare the 2. Paolo is much much bigger physically and height wise. He handles the ball well and honestly shoots better at this point. Paolo can get his points without the offense feeding him.
Yes, agree. Paolo is very good, but his TS% is only 54.6% compared to the league average of 57.7%. That doesn't mean an average player can do what he does (first options generally take harder shots than role players), but it does mean that extrapolating his play to a true #1 option has a lot of caveats. There is a massive gap in his efficiency compared to established star frontcourt players like Jokic, Tatum, and Luka, mostly due to his weak 3pt shooting. To improve his efficiency he'll most likely have to become a significantly better 3pt shooter. If he can't then his more natural role on a championship team would be as a very good #2 option, which is nice but much less valuable than a #1. It's still early. He might be able to do it -- will be fun to see.
Is that why Jabari shot 3/19 in his one tournament appearance and led his team to an embarrassing upset loss? Paolo put his team on his back and led them to a final four appearance. His efficiency improved when the pressure was at its highest. That’s what you’d expect from a guy who has led his team to multiple state titles in multiple sports. Jabari has won absolutely 0 in his basketball career. What are you basing this off?
He’s creating his own offense as a rookie. And shooting the same % from 3 as Jabari Smith. What are you expecting? Why does Seth Curry have a much better TS% than Steph? Could it do with usage? Paolo’s outstanding court vision makes him an ideal candidate to be a focal point in an offense regardless of his rookie year TS%. Come on now…
If he had Paolo the more likely outcome is KPJ would be playing more off-ball. His ability to actually generate an offense + shiny new pick syndrome will ensure it. For as bad as Jabari is playing, he is getting absolute free reign to jack up shots with no repercussions. The reason Jabari is just a role player in our offense is because he can't do anything other than miss. We're not just going to chuck Paolo into a corner if we had him lol.
It's true. Johnny Juzang and Adam Morrison have set the NBA ablaze after their noteworthy NCAA tournament performances. Jabari and Chet project as plus defenders which are a premium in the *playoffs*. I don't care how much offense you produce, the buck stops at what you can do in the playoffs. Paolo could magically turn into a plus defender....though he probably wont. He just doesn't have the defensive acumen of a Jabari or a Chet. Jabari is a 3 and D wing that can guard in space, has elite lateral movement, an unblockable jump shot and was efficient with it for the majority of his life. He's in the NBA now and is learning/adapting to it's spacing. He's going to be at minimum an integral piece to a playoff team. Banchero is going to be the #1 option on a playoff team. That much is true from what we've seen. But can he produce more points on offense than his presence gives up on defense? Folks here are ready to catapult Sengun to the moon due to his defensive issues when Paolo is very similar. He isn't even as quick as the likes of James Harden. He's going to get dragged into space and abused. I've seen this story before. Hopefully the Magic surround him with plus defenders because he is not one. I guess watching Harden for 10 years and lose over and over again to the Warriors has taught me that offense only heliocentric players that can't play sound defense aren't necessarily the best strategies for winning titles. Like the Yankees and the Phillies relying on the long ball to get them through the playoffs. When they take that away from you what else do you have?
Yeah, that's why I laugh when people keep saying the rebuild should be over after this year. It seems they finally got lucky with Wagner ang getting the #1 to Draft Banchero everybody else is a guy.
I don't think people are saying that the rebuild should be over after this year. Tanking should be over because of the draft picks situation. You don't stop rebuilding after you stop tanking. Tanking is only one aspect of rebuilding.
past few weeks i see teams constantly trying to get him on switches defensively and then use him like bbq chix
