Gotta agree with crispee, that was an excellent post by The Cat. I would recommend anyone saying anything about Griffin reread it. I was gonna post something similar, although not nearly as complete and comprehensive and persuading. In fact, think about it a little in relation to Stevie Franchise too. Isn't this his 3rd year? I believe he turned pro after his sophomore season. Now, he has been a solid starter, but those expecting and wanting a superstar need to remember what every other young early entry player (including Kobe) has had to go through, a big learning curve. Mobley should be through all that what with spending 4 years in college and being a pro for 4 years, so his expectations should be different, but I think he also exceeded at least my expectations for him this year. So I'm not worried about him. If we are really gonna make a big time run in 2-3 yrs, which should be when it all comes together, we have to get a veteran in the draft or forego the draft altogether. If we were to draft someone like Amare Stoudamire, there is no way he is ready in 2-3 yrs when we need him. Out of the guys around for our first two picks from nbadraft.net (Ming, Wagner, Williams, Woods, Gooden, Wilcox, Jeffries, Borchart, Butler, Rush, Stoudamire, Marcus, Ely, Haislip), I think we would stay away from Woods, Wagner, Jeffries, Stoudamire because of age. Butler probably would fall in that list too, but from what I have read, he just might have the game to be ready to rock and roll in two years and seems to fit our team pretty well. The same case might be made for Jeffries, but in my limited time watching him, I have not been nearly as impressed as others have. I think if we get a top 3, we do everything in our power to get Ming. In fact, depending on who has #1 and who they would take, for me that includes offering #3, #14 and KT for the #1 overall. This is not Shawn Bradley. He is 7'5" 280+ lbs with a jumpshot. The talent difference will mean he will struggle his first year, but this is a game changer. I know there are a lot of risks with Ming, but he is worth every one of them IMO.
Ming might be the real deal, but it seems like guys that big have foot or knee problems very bad. Thats not to say its not a gamble with everyone else, but look at Sampson,Illguskaus?, Smits and Mureasean. It just seems like those guys 7'4-7'5 have lower leg problems. I doubt Ming would be there for the taking anyway. I still have my eyes on the prize anyway, Duncan in 2003.
I really don't mind seeing Griffin learn the three for a bit. If it helps him improve his ball handling, speed and foot work and range then I'm all for it. Add that to a post up gam he'll develop later after he masters control of his feet, ball handling and all aspects to be versatile, I'm sure we'll have a similar drone ala Dream or Young Rein man Kemp or Garnett now with more of a shot. We're building a machine. Rudy has his Frankenstein. Let's watch it grow.
