That's his gym he goes to in Seattle. That's Jamal Crawford with him - another Seattle NBA hooper. I put the video earlier in this thread, but there's a youtube video called Banchero's Way from last summer that does a 30 minute look into his day so to speak.
basketball gods are more forgiving. go ahead blaspheme some more ... folks are declaring all sorts of things dead. philosophically, i'm from Missouri, show me. get the best players and let the chips fall where they may.
Christian Wood should be the archetypical example of how bad defense can make you less valuable than the sum of your talent if you're not an all-NBA level, even if you're absolutely ELITE efficiency-wise. Wood has played 109 games for the Rockets and has gone 19/10/1/1 on 50/39 shooting. If you looked at the box score only, he's an easy 9 figure contract guy next year turning only 28. Instead, I think most fans here would be happy trading him for nothing. The Pacers chose to keep Myles Turner over Domantas Sabonis, prioritizing defense over superlative but not team-carry-level offense. Julius Randle and Russell Westbrook are also great examples of the difference between true Alpha-level scoring, and alpha-level mentality, but a lack of talent to back it up. When these guys were at their peak, they were some of the most valuable players in the league. Take away a tiny bit of efficiency or athleticism, and they completely fall apart. Drafting for defense is always safer, and comes with a higher floor, because a guy who is elite defensively and questionable offensively is still extremely valuable, like Jaren Jackson Jr. or Aaron Gordon. So I understand why Paolo would be ranked at #3 behind two guys who are projected to be outstanding defenders for the Magic and Thunder; it does not make him a bad pick at all, but you have to have a ton of conviction that he is going to be a true level above Jabari and Chet to go that way. It's not dissimilar to choosing Jalen Green over Evan Mobley. If Jalen Green is anything less than an alpha scorer, he's probably going to ultimately be a less valuable contributor than Mobley and Barnes. If he is an alpha scorer and team carry, his skill set might be the most unique out of all the strong rookies from last year. That's a high burden to reach, though. The 2014 NBA draft was supposed to be one for the ages. Jabari Parker was one of the most decorated winners in high school basketball history. He chose to go to Derrick Rose's high school, and won four consecutive state championships while being the first freshman to ever start for the varsity team, and the first junior to be named Illinois Mr. Basketball. Then you have Andrew Wiggins, who people thought had better athleticism than LeBron, and Joel Embiid, who would have been the easy #1 pick if not for his injury issues due to his play at Kansas. The draft was supposed to be so loaded that it literally started "The Process"; Hinkie traded away his all-star PG for a guy he knew wasn't going to play his entire rookie year, and when that failed to produce a bad enough team, they traded all the other veterans and closed the year on a 2-31 streak, excepting two meaningless wins at the end of the year when they were already locked into the #2 best odds. And yet, by the time the draft rolled around, everyone was slightly less impressed with the class; Wiggins was slightly too passive at Kansas, and instead of a franchise cornerstone, was traded for Kevin Love, Jabari had been benched in an embarrassing first round upset at Duke, and Embiid had the same injury that had ended Yao Ming and Zydrunas Ilgauskas's careers. Evaluations can change pretty rapidly, and what was thought to be generational talent just one year earlier can be different later. Sometimes the guys with the best mindsets, who have been under immense media scrutiny since they were 14 years old, end up not being as successful as the guy who drinks pitchers of Shirley Temples, orders room service junk food while rehabbing, shows up out of shape every year, and trolls on Twitter in his off-time. Nothing about what we know of Embiid should have led him to be an MVP candidate and the best player from that draft, and yet here we are. Draft prospect evaluation is tough business, and I just don't think there's any one thing that can point to guaranteed success or failure, and that we should evaluate players based on a range of outcomes and the likelihood of achieving those ends.
I don't get the automatic dismissal of Sengun and Banchero being able to play together. Offensively I don't see an issue at all, especially if Sengun improves his 3 ball. Defensively, I think Sengun is a good enough rim protector IF Banchero plays defense more like he did in the tournament. I'd like to give KMJ a shot at the 3 spot, but a long 3&d player there would be ideal. Someone like Sochan...Tari Eason...or like I said...maybe KMJ Sengun - Average to above average defender Banchero - Above average to very good defender 3/D player - Very Good to Elite defender Green - Average to above average defender KPJ - Above average to very good, possibly elite
The problem with Wood is that he's too skinny for defense against NBA bigs. He would get hurt in a second if he tried to bang them out defensively.
Paolo at 3 and then trade up for Mark Williams. You do that and the team is so young and good that it doesn't matter what you do with Wood. You won't convince me that these guys don't fit together. This is my dream scenario and it's totally realistic. Draft Paolo at three. Trade 17 and Wood or Brooklyn's pick next year to move up and get Williams. If you don't trade Wood for the pick, what could you get for him? I'd still love to figure out a way to get Tyler Herro on the team. Can Wood, Gordon, and a pick do that?
Christian Koloko would offer similar rim protection with a better chance of being a 3pt threat in the NBA, but its cool to see some of you guys starting to see the vision overall.
Getting worried that the Kings really want Paolo and will offer a ransom to OKC to leapfrog Houston. I think all 3 guys are going to be good but Banchero is going to be the best.
Not shocking that Jaylin Williams is near the top of that defensive list. I've been pushing for us to draft him. He would be a perfect fit for us if we're serious about defense.
I agree with most of this except the Luka mentality, Luka is much more confident as a scorer and much more improvasional he has that it. My biggest question about Banchero is a bit of passivity but he showed he could overcome that in the NCAA tournament.
There were potentially 7 NBA players on Duke and 5 of them could conceivably be first rounders. He was successfully able to play a role where he fit with these guys. I can't fault him for that. It's encouraging that he found a way to fit seamlessly without the ball in his hands. Make no mistake, in the tournament when Duke needed a bucket, they went to him in the clutch and he delivered. Look at his game vs Chet and tell me of the two who looked passive. Paolo played a role for Duke and that role was better suited toward college imo. If you want to see what he looks like on ball go back to his high school tape. Passive on defense and settle for middies in college? Sure but I think its a little overblown. 95% of college athletes are passive from time to time. Just like NBA playoffs are more important than regular season, same can be said for NCAA. Great players step up in big games. Duke didn't win it but they still came pretty close and he hit some big shots to get them that far. Auburn was upset by Florida and didn't even make it to the sweet 16. Jabari scored 10 points on .188 (3/16) shooting that game... maybe Jabari becomes a taller Mikal Bridges and that would be sweet but those kinds of guys don't take over games. Big moments show who is passive and who demands the ball and finds a way to put the team on their back.
Banchero is the best post scorer in this draft he has the best footwork and post moves that have come out in a while and he is all of those. But but what about rim protection?
