I honestly think Ivey might be the dumbest thing we could do with that pick. We have two BIG holes at our forward position Ivey is 6’4 and will be considered “short” for a point guard when most guards will be 6’6+ in the coming years Morant looks like a DRose situation where all the high flying/driving into the paint is gonna grind those knees down
Literally every player on the roster could be gone 3 years from now. I see no reason to think KPJ would be an exception. That said, he's part of a 3 man young core along with Sengun and Green that SHOULD be more likely to stick around long term.
This opening premise is just so silly to me, as silly as people labeling Green a bust less than halfway through the season. Like seriously, haven't people learned by now? Giannis was picked OUTSIDE THE LOTTERY at 15. Jokic was picked in the 2nd round. Of the three "special big man" you are comparing DRAFT PROSPECTS to, only ONE of them was considered "special big" at the time. Giannis and Jokic weren't drafted as "special big men", otherwise they would have gone top 5. They BECAME "special big men" because players develop and most players need time to develop. Jabari for example, could just as likely become the next Klay Thompson and that would definitely have been worth a #3 pick IMO. Banchero could turn out to be the next Jokic.
You say as if its so easy to pluck bigs from the draft and FA and plug them in. That’s simply not true. That is why I am saying you undervalue bigs. Not all bigs are the same. Not all have the same skill, talent, or know how. You seem to conveniently lump them into one. Just as guards or wing players teams look for players that have certain skills and can fit in with other players within the team system. Now you mention Sengun and Wood. Neither of those guys are good in terms of interior defense. And we all know the long history of Wood and his inconsistent play and lack of effort. Wood is in a lame duck situation really on the last year of his contract and Sengun is still just a project and likely evaluated next season to see if he can be the starting center on this team. And you still haven’t explained how Ivey can play with Green.
What kills his entire argument is that 2 out of the 3 players he used as examples were considered "special" when drafted, otherwise neither of them would have been drafted outside the lottery. Hell, Jokic was drafted in the 2nd round. Only Embiid was proclaimed as special coming into his rookie season.
Nix aside, it's a fair argument. We know what we have with KPJ and to a certain extent, JC. The question then becomes, do we feel Ivey will be a sufficient improvement over both of them that we choose to draft him instead of filling out our biggest hole at PF/C with someone who has equal potential of becoming a star?
If we're going to even attempt to argue that Ivey would be an upgrade AT ALL over KPJ, I think that conversation should start with someone at least attempting to point out even one single thing that Ivey does better than KPJ. KPJ is a better shooter, he's a better ball handler, he actually has PG skills, he's bigger, he's a better defender, he's a better ISO player....I honestly can't think of a single thing there's even an argument for Ivey being better at. Even the athleticism and age is essentially a wash.
Yeah I definitely have a different perspective when evaluating these prospects for our current team (w/the goal of building a championship level starting core) but I respect yalls as well. So, I don't want to come off as what you're saying is wrong or anything. It's all just ball talk at the end of the day I'll attempt to apply your logic and ask you this: Is there a big difference between not picking Banchero because we have Sengun vs not picking Ivey because we have KPJ? ... or are you factoring the trio of KPJ/JC/Nix vs just Sengun?
The NBA is littered with guards who are overhyped as well, you do know that big men have been top 3 in the NBA the last 3 years right?
Jesus. I'm not labeling them as a bust. If anything, you are bolstering my position to not burn a top 3 pick based on the fact that they are "special big men" and we might even get that guy at #17. You never know who is going to be that impact player so to dismiss Ivey because he's a guard or because he doesn't fit the current team isn't justification to pass a franchise worthy player, if that is what you believe. Look, I'm just expressing my opinion that I don't think Smith or Balchero will ever be franchise players on a good team. I might be dead ass wrong ...but then again, so might you.
Sengun is more of a C, Banchero is a PF. So they don't play the same position. Green is a SG, KPJ is a combo guard, Christopher is a SG, Mathews is a SG, Nix is a SG, Queen is a SG Ivey is a SG. It's just a completely different situation.
I may have over-represented myself to suggest that it's purely a guard's league. I'm simply stating that there is no reason to pick a big man over a guard simply because of size. Teams with strong guards and serviceable bigs can be successful too. If you can pick a Yannis, Jokic, etc. then you do it. I just don't put Smith or Balchero in that category. I might be wrong ...but I doubt it. I didn't say Sengun or Wood are good defenders. I said they are both serviceable big men (and are both replaceable). Although we all hope that Sengun will continue to improve in his sophomore season. How many big men have rotated through Golden State?
The latter, we have only one real big that is in our long term plans unless the FO plans on keeping Wood.
Difference is that I am not chomping at the bit to declare anyone special or not special. We have no idea how the future will pan out. All for players however have things about them that can make them special.
I think the only player currently on this roster that is safe, for now, is Green. If a team offered a good package for KPJ, we take it. I don't think we entertain any offers for Green, as of now. If you look at the 2012-13 roster when we acquired James Harden, by 2016, the only player that remained with the Rockets was Patrick Beverley. Literally, the entire team turned over. It would be cool if KPJ and Green form a core but I doubt it. So yea, I don't really care so much about Ivey "fitting in" the current roster. I draft the best available player and you work it out. My opinion is that Ivey is better than Bachero and Smith. One opinion among many. All that said, I predict the Rockets will take whoever is left over of the big 3 available and pass up on Ivey. I also predict 10 years from now we'll be dreaming about what could have been.
