[The Ringer] Finding the Next Kent Bazemore (KJ related)

No one in the league wants a thin 6'6 wing who's a nonfactor on the perimeter. That's not a Rockets thing, it's an NBA thing. But teams are willing to grab otherwise intriguing young players and hope they can develop something of an outside game, which is why the Rockets acquired KJ. If your premise was correct - that the Rockets only look at role players with good shooting skills - then we never would have traded for KJ.

 

Lmao montrez is a beast on the bike

 

Ughhhhhh stop with all the KJ love he has proven nothing in the NBA yet so many continue to think he's the next Jordan !!!!!

 

The KJ McDaniels hype train reminds me of the Terrence Williams hype train. I'd probably be on board (just like I was with TWill) if I'd actually seen anything to make me believe he's going to be a good defender. The assortment of blocks and steals I've seen from his time in Philly are great but so far with his limited time on the floor for the Rockets he has been a liability on defense.

 

It's obvious to me that this plug for McDaniels was paid for by Morey and Co. to get some buzz going about him since he is more than likely close to worthless on the trade market. Comparing him to Crash is such a stretch it's laughable unless you are calling him a beggars version (a poor man's is too generous). Morey needs to get something out of this investment and he is hoping that some execs assistant will stumble across this article in their digging for undiscovered gold, which is how they portrayed him, and come knocking on the door for a chance at pulling a Morey on Morey. No one Morey 's Morey. Not Cuban, nobody. Let's keep our fingers crossed that there is a sucker out there looking to unload a pick or some cash.

 

Which player(s) drafted under morey has been a sharp shooter or offensive force?

 

He has had enough time, he is an NBA scrub.

DD

 

Harrell's bright red dread tips look like ghetto garbage lol.

 

Damn bro you went in. It's true though.

Crash had just barely turned 19 a month prior to the NBA draft and you knew he'd be a player in the league for a long time. I don't wanna say he turned out just like I thought he would because he actually turned out better than I imagined but he showed more than just raw athleticism and hustle. He showed that he had good basketball IQ, court awareness, instincts and he improved each year. He was also on a stacked contending Kings team with a bunch of seasoned Vets to learn from. Reminds me of Jermaine O'neals career as well. Super raw but you could tell he was talented and would pan out to be a stud one day. Couldn't crack the Blazers roster because they were stacked and contending with Sabonis, Sheed, Brian Grant, Dale Davis.

KJ came to the league 2 years later. 21 is not old but unless you're a big man he should show more signs of development/improvement. He hasn't gotten better at anything and he still looks lost and makes the wrong rotations. It's not like we were contending and had a deep rotation at the 2/3 spots so it's especially telling that he couldn't take more of Brewer's minutes regardless of JB's infatuation and affinity to playing CB like a starter.

There's gotta be dramatic improvement this year or else he'll be out of the league soon. I want him to do well and make it happen but it's hard to imagine.

 

I wouldn't say he looked terrible. I would say Harrell looked terrible. Lost defensively, conceding rebounds, anarchical ofensively... McDaniels struggled with the jumpers, but even his 3pt shooting was not that bad (33%), still too small of a sample to trust any %s, 5 games. Every time McDaniels struggled it was at trying to do things more typical of a go-to-guy than of a role player. There was not too much talent on that SL team... McDaniels wants to give that next step as a player and show that he can be more than the defensive guy that you put on the corner offensively, but he showed he's not ready to create things at NBA level, he showed he can't consistently create shots for himself, he still shows lack of handles, lack of touch in the mid range.... he tries it and shows some talent, but he's not there yet technical wise.

What I like about him is his attitude. Even when he was struggling with his shot he showed he can help the team at different fields. He was our best individual and helping perimeter defender, he can help you at rebounding, he can give you points at putbacks, fastbreaks...and shows some progress at 3pt shooting. Right now I would bet on Dekker over him to be on the rotation, Dekker is by nature more adapted to the hypothetical role needed, he was drafted for that role. But I wouldn't give up on KJ, he's still 23, he still has very little NBA experience, but definitely has the talents and the proper attitude and work ethic to succeed in the NBA one day.

 

There are two difference between Bazemore and Kj.
a) bball iq and touch. Kj is very deficient in that area and that was apparent even in his rookie season.
b) Lack of improvement which is a major red flag.
You can't be 22 and have barely improved if at all in your second year.

A defensive wing it's nice to have but defence alone is not enough. You also want one of shooting or playmaking/ballhandling.

second most horrible looking nba hair after Smart's new haircut imo.

 

Dam that pic of Montrezl on the bike while the team does their thing is very telling about priorities..... If his focus isn't there he will never reach his potential

 

So I was looking up Smart's new haircut and in an article about it I saw this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KSK77Asxhpo

Kj just needs to keep his hair closer to his head. Problem solved.

 

If KJ had gotten play with the rockets last season, not some token, garbage time, I would agree that KJ is likely to be a bust.

 

Kj Mcdaniels is a poor mans von wafer, with dunk ability. Who needs it.

 

Von wafer could shoot the 3 well and has suspect defense.

Not really a great comparison.

 

K.J has proven he can play D. something PB,Brewer can't. His decision making is above those two by a large margin too .he is a better fits as well next to harden , this team is no GSW, he should 'd easily significant PT last year

 

He played horrible but from the games I've he slowly improved his performance each succeeding game, in fact in his final game he played great and if he played that way from the start people would be hyped about him.

Maybe Mcdaniels isn't as motivated because he's been around for like 5 years now, as a 5 year maybe he doesn't take SL seriously anymore and just treated the entire experience as a warm up, so a lot of his shots didn't go in and he was a step slower in terms of reactions on the court. We'll see what he can do this year, hopefully he gets significant minutes to show what he's got.

 

I'm actually cautiously optimistic about McDaniels in a D'Antoni offense. I disagree with the view that his form is not up to scratch, he has a very fluid one motion release. Just needs to keep working on it.

 

KJ is so close to being a serious player. This article nails it though. His mental lapses on defense and lack of a serious 3 point threat are holding him back. You'd hope that playing with Ariza would bring out the defensive intensity, but it just hasn't happened yet.