I haven't seen a ton of Portland yet, but from what I've seen Clingan certainly doesn't look to be without potential to be a starter at some point. He's had some good games where I think one game he had 8 blocks. I think this is definitely a draft where we'll see alot of serviceable bigs that have staying power. None of which I see Shaq or Hakeem like dominance, but solid rotation bigs. Even Filipowski is looking like a solid rotation big. The Rockets already have Sengun, Adams, and Jock so I get why they would rather take the highest rated PG in the draft, but I think Portland will be happy with Clingan in their rotation for sure. I probably would prefer taking a guy like Filipowski with a late 1st/early 2nd in a draft like this to be your 3rd stringer center, but Clingan does have some upside some of the other guys don't I guess.
I liked Clingan too, but that means that you are really having doubt about Sengun having a future on the team. I don’t think that either Sengun and Clingan could move over to PF, they lack the lateral quickness necessary. And even if they did manage, Jabari is blossoming in very nicely; sure there are growing pains but the dude is going to be one of the elite careers of his draft class. Reed Sheppard is playing it safe, but his shot is starting to look really good. We can all see the quick hands, those will garner him lots of steals. Also his ball handling looks solid, he’s had some turnovers, but his brain has to calibrate to the elite world class speed of the NBA. And he has great effort and intensity playing defense. Let’s not forget that Reed was originally tabbed to go around 9 -14 in pre draft mock drafts. It’s just that the class overall is very average. The Rockets needed elite shooting, and Sheppard promises elite shooting in his repertoire. Clingan offers an elite defensive anchor in the middle. But I’m not so sure how effectively he can be offensively, besides putbacks and blown defensive assignments.
This goes to show you. These so-called draft experts are garbage. None of the top 3 picks were worth a top 3 pick. Most of the later lottery picks were.
It's been 15 games lmao Edit: And regarding Reed, I don't understand how you can make any assessment yet. He's not playing many minutes while playing for a demanding coach that doesn't give rookies much leeway.
for a, supposedly, very weak draft, many rookies have flashed quite nicely: Clingan, Castle, Knecht… The #1 pick Ricasher also had moments. Our guy’s problem is that we’re winning and he can’t’ get the garbage reps that the guys on the losing teams get
They knew the coach was demanding when they hired him. They should have drafted accordingly. I can make these assessments based on the facts that he is being outplayed by numerous late lottery picks. It's always up to him to show and prove that he deserves those minutes and it shows that he doesn't yet. They're really doing him a favor by giving him Holidays minutes. He should not be playing over Holiday who fits in our win now scheme. Reed is a gamble the organization took and are currently losing on.
We made the right pick. As he loosens up and gets used to the pace, his confidence will grow and the shots will start to fall. It's still early and his percentages and minutes are underwhelming, but I like what I see. The guys that have an advanced feel for the game tend to become great players, and he has it. He's the ideal FVV replacement and it's great that he can learn from Fred while he's adapting. I'm fine with the org taking it slow with Reed. It will pay dividends later on.
The people who wanted Clingan are the same people who wanted to see Bruno Fernando start. For the same reason.
Exactly. The FVV role is crucial and is the one we’ll need to fill in a couple of years. Sheppard knows this, and it’s probably why he’s looking to pass when we all want him to shoot. He wants to work on running the offense.
There’s not a single player we could have drafted that would be getting significant minutes on this team right now.
He's not.playing many minutes because he hasn't earned them yet. I don't see a star in this draft class, just role players
I think Knecht (6'6), Carrington (6'4), Mccain (6'3), Wells (6'8) can play more than 15 mins a game or have a better impact than Reed
I believe Clingan or Edey would have carvred out good minutes backing up Sengun early seeing as Adams was always a maybe.
This is the guy certain posters were clamoring for? Really? He looks like a career backup. So glad we picked Reed over him.
