Tatum and Brown, their best players, are two way players that are really good on defense. Smart was the dpoy. Absent a transcendent talent type - Luka pre draft absolutely fell into this category - pretty much every pick needs to consider both sides of the ball at this point. JG was not known as a good or great defender and he was the potential transcendent offensive player that might need to be hid on defense. Good news is the kid really wants to be great defensively and in many ways showed the ability to continue to build into that.
Dang my memory is getting BAD! I didnt remember Dream did it last year. Well hopefully Stone has some luck this year.
What if I told you that coming out of college one of Jayson Tatums bigger question marks was his defense and in particular "defensive intensity". Seems like he figured it out! There was also some philosophical changes in the C's system if Im not mistaken. Whole team bought in and its paid off.
I'd say this wasn't exactly true. Defense was a ?? for him in the sense that it wasn't clear how committed he'd be, and relative to his offensive upside potential. But if i recall - and a quick google confirms - general comments include a potential to be able to guard 1-4, and have defensive versatility, and ideally if he was drafted to a team that helped preached defensive principals. Look, if someone can provide some super in depth analysis of Banchero's defense, and defensive mentality that says this dude has A level defense in him at the next level... i mean, if that's true, he's hard to pass at #1. I still don't love that he has ball stopping tendencies on offensive - NOT ball hog tendencies, but stopping as in it slows the flow as he digests what he wants to do... can be super effectively offensively (see lots of greats - Harden, Luka, Tatum himself, etc.) but I'm hoping for more of a flow int he offense. BUT again, if his defense is less of a ?? than you have to go with Banchero. That said, relative to Tatum, hindsight is always 20/20, but hindsight, or just the comments noted in draft profiles... Tatum strikes/struck me as much more of a PF that can play significant if not entire games at SF, while being better defensively - better Drtg, DBPM, stl% rate, block% rate, defensive and total rebounding % rate - slightly better, but better. Whereas Banchero strikes me as 75% PF, that won't be as versatile defensively and not amazing defensively on the interior. But again, I am 100% open to have my mind changed, because if he can be B+ or better defensively, while i still think he is mostly PF, its a PF that can play like a SF (slightly different than Tatum who i think is just more legit a SF most of the time even if he is technically playing the 4) and be great offensively. And in any scenario, i will root for whomever they draft.
Thats kind of my point - some guys are given the benefit of the doubt to improve on perceived deficiencies and reach their projections and others arent for whatever reason. I think both of the players share a similar archetype to be a true lead option in the NBA. They showed it in college and were similarly high ranked recruits. While I agree that Tatum is lighter and with a quicker burst that helps him when switching onto guards NOW it was still a concern THEN. It offers me hope for a guy like Banchero who still has a chance to get better defensively as well as becoming a more consistent 3p shooter as they also had a near identical 3p% when looking at college. Their per 100 numbers are eerily similar. Paolo even had a higher DWS number than Tatum, but without going deep dive I'll have to assume its due to the supporting players each guy had. Paolo with almost a 2 to 1 difference in offensive win shares for what its worth and Paolo produced almost 200 more points for his team compared to Tatum while they had similar usage rates. Just some interesting observations. Im with you - Im perfectly fine with whoever Stone picks. He knows what he's doing and if that is Chet, Jabari, Ivey or Sharpe I'll be on board.
Problem is Banchero cant shoot 3s. In this offense you alreafy have JG in mid range and Sengun in the post to mid range, you still gonna have a mod rsnge specialist? If the Rox didnt have anyone Banchero kakes the most sense since you need an offensive motor. But on the Rox Infeel like these guys would get in each other's way.
Yeah, i am not opposed to players getting better, lol. But that "lightness" is absolutely my concern with Paolo defensively - just harder for him to guard on the perimeter.... which would be fine as a more dominant interior defender, but he hasn't really shown that either... but it's just really hard to gauge imo. Comparing: Paolo - defense? Jabari - offense aside from spot-up shooting Chet - skinniness I lean Chet because well it's the one that's not skill related, albeit could also be the one that is the biggest risk. But in a world where the 2023 draft is looking like the MUCH better draft, I am ok taking a giant swing with Chet. if it doesn't work, you suck again! if it does work, you got that one dude from 2023, are better but still not close to a playoff team, and can fill in maybe a 6-9 pick in 2023 that can have great potential as well while your guys you're already developing can "taste" the upside (which to me, is important - you can only be the absolute worst - or bottom 3 - for so long before it becomes a real culture issue). Others have said this and while i get its not anywhere close to 100% fair, the comparison between Banchero and CWood seems somewhat apt. It's not fair because Banchero as noted can definitely prove to be a decent defender, AND if he reaches his upside case will be a better (much?) offensive player. Whereas Wood is what, already 26/27. I get that. But if the defense doesn't materialize its a BIG BIG problem. Whereas, with Chet, i think as long as health doesn't become an issue, he can literally replace CWood day one and already be more impactful in terms of wins. In some ways, getting 3rd solves the problem for you, lol.
I expect if the Rockets draft Chet, Wood slides to PF, and Sengun stays the backup big. I don't like that alignment, but it seems very Rockets. If the Rockets draft Jabari, Sengun moves to starting center, and Wood to bench. If the Rockets draft Paolo, Silas will likely jump for joy until Lucas reminds him they have to find a way to play defense.
Totally fair and valid. I dont think any less for guys wanting the absolute highest possible ceiling/outcome(s). In my fantasy land outlook I'd hope Banchero could LOSE some weight and get to around 230 super lean. That should really help him with bounce and ability to slide. In that scenario Banchero may be able to play the 3. You could still run Sengun at 4 and find that 'rim protector' to clean things up. I dont really take CWood into account with any roster building decision making because he's not long for this roster anyway. My biggest thing with Chet is will he ever be a guy who can take over a game? Lets pretend its playoff time like with the Bucks. They lose Middleton (Jalen Green) will Chet be able to be Giannis? Ever? Thats what you want to identify when drafting so high and missing on such a high pick is going to hurt. Some of the other guys just "feel" safer. Everyone needs to remember that ONE GUY is not going to change the defensive culture. Chet will instantly improve the help defense and rim protection to a certain extent, but the team as a whole would still be bad more than likely. At that point how much would Chet improve the offense? Fantasy Roster Building Hour! KPJ Green Banchero Sengun Koloko (just a quick rim protection guy that may be there at 17) could be Kessler - add whoever you'd like there. Im down with Leonard Miller, Duren if he drops or even Kamagate), Thats going off the assumption Banchero can lose the weight and play 3-5, but here you have 4 guys on the court at once who can go get their own shot or set up one of their teammates for easy buckets. Thats hard to stop. Bring in a better coach who can install smarter defensive concepts and these guys could learn to play with each other and cover space and give opponents matchup nightmares in closely contested games. But ... thats just like my opinion man!
I know odds don't work this way but I'd gladly take #5 this year if it meant getting #1 or #2 next year
I do think that Wood will be on this team when the season starts and no way will he come off the bench. If all we get Ivey or Sharpe and can’t maneuver for Eason we should tank another year. If we get Jabari, Wood still starts, but there is no way we will be able to tank unless someone gets hurt or Silas is a complete idiot on his rotations.
It will be nice to know where the Rockets pick, but it's kind of stressful to think about other teams getting picks ahead of them lol. Top 2 would be awesome. 3-4 is great too. 5 might be a leverage play .... we would need Sharpe to be that 5th high ceiling guy.
As much as I think we're all hoping for that top 2-3 pick tomorrow night, the fact that we don't have to stress about not having that top 5 pick at all is amazing compared to last year. Last year, the lottery felt like it could legitimately doom the franchise for the next decade. Already having a likely franchise guy in place and knowing that they're guaranteed a top 5 talent in the draft is a damn good place to be. If we went back a calendar year and said "You're only going to get the No. 5 pick a year from now, but you get to draft second in this draft, and you're going to fall in love with Jalen Green by the end of his rookie season," we'd take it in a heartbeat.
#5 is a real quandary. If Sharpe is a shooting guard I don’t see how drafting shooting guards with back to back picks in the top 5 makes any sense; especially if the team likes the upside of KPJ and Christopher. I have similar concerns about drafting Ivey, although he’s a much better prospect and would slot in as the primary ball handler next to Green. I think If the Rockets get the #5 pick we should do everything we can to trade back. There is no player outside the top 4 worth picking at #5 IMO.
