Sheppard, Topić, heck even Clingan I can be talked into, but if we take Buzelis I am starting a riot. Hopefully this is not based on any inside info and just Kelly’s own horrible evaluation.
I'd be OK with Topic, given that the injury checks out. The more guys you have who understand and can influence the geometry of the floor the better. Of course, it'd be great if some of them could shoot from distance, but having really smart players playing together is going to create stress on the defense regardless. Sengun, Amen, Fred, Topic. That's four guys with Fred being the most experienced but ultimately least talented. Should be able to keep at least two on the floor at all times. That's not the final version of a team, but it is something you can build around and fine tune.
A little over a week ago (May 21): “Here’s how I would rank the upcoming prospects from a Rockets point of view:” 1. Zaccharie Risacher | 6-8 wing/forward | 19 years old | JL Bourg 2. Matas Buzelis | 6-9 wing/forward | 19 years old | G League Ignite 3. Stephon Castle | 6-6 wing | 19 years old | Connecticut 4. Dalton Knecht | 6-5 wing | 23 years old | Tennessee 5. Ron Holland | 6-7 wing | 18 years old | G League Ignite “In my next tier, I would have Alex Sarr, Sheppard, Nikola Topić, Rob Dillingham and Clingan.” Today 1. Nikola Topić | 6-6 lead guard | 18 years old | Crvena zvezda 2. Matas Buzelis | 6-9 wing/forward | 19 years old | G League Ignite 3. Stephon Castle | 19 years old | 6-6 wing | Connecticut 4. Donovan Clingan | 20 years old | 7-foot-2 center | Connecticut 5. Reed Sheppard | 20 years old | 6-2 guard | Kentucky (1)Risacher and (6)Sarr removed (doesn’t think they’ll be available) Topic jumps from 8 to 1 Buzelis stays at 2 Castle stays at 3 (4)Knecht and (5)Holland removed (probably because they aren’t taking them) Clingan jumps from 10 to 4 Sheppard from 7 to 5
Yeah, both Murray and Maxey can shoot. So it's not any shot creator. It's shot creator who can shoot. Ricky Rubio is a prime example of a guy who is a great creator and a good defender. But he can only be an okay role player because he can't shoot.
Based on the shot chart Topic shot 37 percent on top of the key 3s and mostly struggled with above the break 3s.
Matas is very intriguing plays good team/help defense Very young and could still grow? 6’10/6’11 in shoes possibly Great athlete and great at cutting Very crafty player for such a young age Draft and stash for a year
Decent summary of Risacher. Basically shorter Jabari Smith Jr that's generally worse than Jabari at almost everything.
Topic as well Game is very mature for his age Can still grow 6’7 /6’8 in shoes possibly Topic and Sengun Pick and Roll Draft and stash
Furthermore, WTF does it matter which player Spurs are interested with? We pick before them. If Stone and Co. don’t think they can make the right pick, they shouldn’t be in this business. **** the Spurms.
If Topic hadn't been injured and had played more, he might have been higher on everyone's board. He's never had to develop his outside shot as a big guard because he could always get to a point-blank shot at the rim. And his playmaking seems solid. But there are many question marks: can he get in a stance and play D, what's his outside shot going to look like, will he lose part of the year to injury recovery, etc? Castle shows all the proper measurements and the stellar D; his shot is probably improving, but can he set the table as a playmaker? Either of these guys could become a solid contributor on the Rockets.
I rarely agree with Kelly Iko's takes on the Rockets. This one is no exception. He was as much anti-Sengun as Clutch. Sheppard all the way. Topic would be my second choice, I guess.
I think whether they pick Sheppard or Topic......Spurs are going to win this.....too many prospects that are decent ..... Even Castle or Dillingham are no slouches either. Knecht and McCain are also dark horses for me..... To me they have too many options to really screw this up......now they might get a lesser player who still has a high floor but then they would have added a great role player again. I think this is more like Amen vs Ausar vs Brandon Miller vs Jaquez....there are differences and some are better but not that much that you can say they are a bust.
100% not true. He is better than Jabrari at about everything. Try doing some research before blindly posting garbage like that.
If he can move fluidly then he is already going to be better, while Bari is not a stiff he is surely not moving like Tmac and not like Chris Bosh.
I like Topic a lot in a vacuum, but at some point, you do need to think about who else you have on your team. If it's an empty roster / early rebuild situation, I would take Topic maybe 1 on my board assuming the medicals are ok, but this isn't what the Rockets are working with. The Rockets have very few players that works well with Topic IMHO, several of the younger core actively doesn't work well with him (Amen most notably, Jalen too, Alpy maybe as well.) We do need to acknowledge diminishing returns, there are only so many on-ball guys you can put out there especially if none of them are good off-ball shooters. The catch with Topic is that if he's not on ball what does he even do?
