Did you ever see the new Jumanji? This reminded me of Kevin Hart saying “my weakness…is strength? How can strength be my weakness?”
Agreed. I think his handle reflects the size and strength issues, which were my main concerns drafting him. It will simply take Reed a few offseasons to get his body to true NBA form, if he gets there ever. That may sound a bit pessimistic, but I'm still optismtic Reed will become a NBA rotation player as it will just take a bit longer. I also never really viewed him as a primary ball handler, just someone more like Derrick White or even FVV where he can initiate or keep the offense moving while hitting 3s. Hopefully Reed can get those 16 MPG and quickly learns how to navigate those Adams and Capela screens for some basic PNR actions.
Reed Sheppard will not be ready for big minutes. He is still having trouble dominating G and Summer league competition.
Reed Sheppard is in an ideal situation. Primarily because he will have Durant and Sengun who will be the primary scorers. Not even the biggest Reed fans are expecting him to become a franchise player this year. If Reed can hit his open shots he will easily average 15-18 points as a 3rd, 4th, or even 5th option. As opposing team defenses will have no choice but to respect Durant’s shooting, Reed will be able to thrive. And it’s quite obvious that his shot is calibrating quite nicely for NBA 3 point distances. Durant, Sengun, Vanvleet, Thompson, Smith, Sheppard. A lot of talented scorers there in that group.
Both Udoka and Stone have strongly endorsed Sheppard for the upcoming season to the media, putting a lot of faith in him publicly. They haven't hedged their bets at all by trying to bring in a veteran playmaker or shooter at the guard position. He must be killing it in practice. There should be very few reasons for Reed to struggle this season. He's going to get playing time and our offense should be stronger with the addition of a primary scorer in Durant. I don't even want to hear about how FVV is in his way because FVV himself had to play behind an excellent Kyle Lowry on a very competitive and deep Toronto team. There is plenty of room to excel in a reserve role.
Despite Ime refusing to play him last season, there's not any combination of 2 players from his draft class I'd trade him for. Now that doesn't say THAT much given how weak that draft class is, for example, there's not a combination of 4 players from that class that went to other teams I'd trade Amen for. Still being able to add a top draft pick in a complimentary bench role should be a big boost to the team now that he's finally going to be getting the minutes he should have been given last season.
Am I misreading that or not understanding? You would not trade Amen Thompson for Victor W, Brandon Miller, Cason Wallace, and Auser Thompson. Bold take….
The Reed haters overthink it too much. He's not going to be a #1 and doesn't need to be. But the kid will just **** out 15-20 point games because his overall offensive game is so damn sound and smooth. And if you put him around much more dangerous and physically imposing players (of which we have FOUR of in the starting lineup) it makes him incredibly dangerous.
