The Rockets have the 16th pick in tomorrow's draft

D-rock · Nov 18, 2020

zeeshan2 said: ↑

bimathug was first on it

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Throw in 2020 SRP and it's a deal.

Rockets need a big, why use not Poirer/Enes for now. Flip them later in Russ package.

D-rock · Nov 18, 2020

saleem said: ↑

A very good question. I'm more inclined to pick and trade him in a package with RW.
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I'd rather keep Poku, especially if Rockets are rebuilding soon.

Keep young assets and develop. Good thing Rockets have HC renown for player development.

Especially good with shooters and most recently shooting bigs with guard skills.

Match made in heaven, even in this hell of an offseason.

jakedasnake · Nov 18, 2020

zeeshan2 said: ↑

bimathug was first on it

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Would love this kind of a move. I hope Stone can pull off some moves tonight. Morey seemed to shy away from draft day trades the past couple of years which Clutchfans hated. We all love the draft around here!

zeeshan2 · Nov 18, 2020

D-rock · Nov 18, 2020

Sooty said: ↑

STRENGTHS: The strengths are elite, and the weaknesses are concerning. And to be frank, basically everything at this stage is theoretical because the quality of competition is just not particularly strong in second division Greece. Having said that, this is a genuinely unique player. There isn’t really anyone who has presented this combination of skills at this level at this size and weight. That isn’t to say they’re the best, just different. At 7-foot tall with a 7-foot-3 wingspan and over a 9-foot standing reach, he has NBA center size measurements and length. That is particularly impressive because Pokusevski also moves around the court like a wing. His coordination, fluidity and speed is not that of a 7-footer. He moves exceedingly well, and has tremendous balance coming off of high-level offensive actions.

Pokusevski is a legit perimeter player at this size. That is his skillset. This a 7-footer who can legit run off of screens, set his feet and fire. Olympiacos used him basically as a wing coming off of baseline and pin-down screens. He hit just 32 percent from 3, but those attempts were fairly high-degree difficulty in the actions that he would run. Everything about his release is fluid. Has a bit of an exaggerated ball dip, but a very compact shot that has a very clean release coming out of his hand. The level of shot diversity he has is pretty staggering for his size. He made shots like side-step, pull-up step-backs to the right, fadeaway shots to his right on the move, pull-ups going around ball-screens, step-back, relocation shots off of flare screens to his left. It’s just kind of wild.

In large part, he’s capable of all of this because of his coordination both without and with the ball. Pokusevski is comfortable putting the ball on the floor with either his right or left hand, especially out in transition. Can execute somewhat advanced footwork and crossovers at reasonably high speed. Can eurostep and change angles at the basket to finish with finger rolls and touch. More than that though, Pokusevski is a pretty exceptional passer for his size. He’s not Nikola Jokic or anything, but he makes really high-level reads and executes high-degree-of-difficulty passes. Can make them off of a live dribble with dump-offs to guys in the dunker spot or with either hand on cross-corner kickouts. Or, can stop and survey the court and make whip passes or touch passes from a standstill. His passing and general unselfishness might be his best skill.

Finally, it’s worth noting how active and reactive he is defensively. He’s a terrific weak-side shot blocker who gets a lot of blocks from behind or rotating as the secondary rim protector. Gets a ton of deflections coming over from the weak side because he sees the game and is more athletic than most players in that second division of Greece. His blocks and steals metrics are among some of the best recorded in recent draft years. He makes a ton of plays happen because his feel for playing basketball is really high.

WEAKNESSES: Honestly, one of the most bizarre, difficult-to-project players I’ve seen, in large part due to relatively limited sample size. Teams only have 35 games and about 700 minutes to evaluate over the last three years, and very little of that tape comes against high-level quality of competition. Even the typical one-and-done freshman in college has two-to-three times that amount of tape. To put it into perspective, NBA teams have been able to wrangle more tape of James Wiseman in AAU and high school settings than they have of Pokusevski. Teams will be picking Pokusevski without much certainty.

He is extremely skinny right now. It wouldn’t be a stunner if he was under 200 pounds at 7-foot tall. He gets moved and pushed around even in the Greek second division at times. The production is not as elite as you’d anticipate it to be for the competition level. The highlights look great, but the fact of the matter is that he’s still a guy averaging about 11 points while shooting 40 percent from the field in second division Greece. The overall tape when you watch it is a bit less than the sum of its parts. The flashes are great, but the consistency just hasn’t quite been there yet. Then again though, he’s 18 years old playing against professionals. Is it valid to complain about him lacking consistency?
The real, biggest concern, though, is that he’s also not overly explosive. Much more fluid than he is quick-twitch. Struggles to elevate over the top of players around the basket and isn’t really so quick that he can just blow by defenders in isolation-type situations. If he gets bumped at all, it slows down his momentum in a real way. It is exceptionally difficult to play in the NBA if you can’t play through contact. This is why he doesn’t finish nearly as well at the rim as you’d expect. Only made about 53 percent of his shots at the basket in the halfcourt, a number more in line with a guard who is strong at finishing. In general, he has not had any boundaries put on his game. It’s helped his skill level improve and develop at a young age, meaning it’s going to benefit him in the long run. But in the short term, Pokusevski has a tendency to make some wild passing reads where he thinks he has a window, and it’s really just a five percent chance at completing the pass. Goes for the flash over the smart play sometimes. Also can over-dribble a bit.

Finally, has real issues guarding in space when on the ball. Just hasn’t really done it at either the international or club level. Really, really poor defensive stance. Can get driven easily on close-outs. Doesn’t fight through screens when deployed as more of a perimeter player. Doesn’t always make the solid rotational read, and instead will go ball-hunting. Much better as a floater away from the ball where he can wreak havoc with his length as a rim protector and passing lane ball-hawk. Kind of a riverboat gambler, too.

Ultimately, the big question here is what exactly is his role? He’s a mismatch magnet right now on defense because he’s not strong enough to battle inside against bigs, and not a good enough perimeter defender to play out in space. Even though he’s excellent and active away from the ball, teams would just involve him right now in every single action and force him to guard ball-screens in space, play solid gap defense as a drop guy, or get posted up.

SUMMARY: Genuinely the most interesting player in this draft. Has skills that are honestly just totally elite and unlike anything in today’s NBA. It is so incredibly easy to sell yourself on Pokusevski having more upside than almost any player in this class. His ability to shoot at that size is rare. His fluidity at that size is even rarer. His passing ability both from a standstill and on the move is pretty bananas. But he also has flaws that could completely crater him as an NBA player if they don’t work themselves out. He doesn’t really have a defensive role at the moment. He can’t really play through contact on offense efficiently. So where does that leave him? Honestly, I have no idea. You could sell me that a team with a strong developmental track record could take him in the top-10 and I wouldn’t bat an eye. You could also sell me that he should go outside of the top-20. I’ve split the difference here at No. 15. I’m not totally sure I can sell myself on using a lottery pick on him, but the upside is so great that it’s tough for me to go lower. You could tell me Pokusevski ends up like Jan Vesely and out of the NBA quickly, or you could sell me he turns into an All-Star. The sample size we’ve seen so far isn’t representative or big enough to have any degree of certainty with Pokusevski. But what I do know is that there are real tools here, and his career is going to be one of the most interesting to track in this draft going forward.
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Could be a 7 foot version of Rob Covington.

D-rock · Nov 18, 2020

zeeshan2 said: ↑

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Hayes would be a miracle if available at 16.

Still swinging for fences and taking Poku.

D-rock · Nov 18, 2020

dc rock said: ↑

Precious could be Capela-level good.

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He's 6'7, more like Faried.

omgTHEpotential · Nov 18, 2020

D-rock said: ↑

He's 6'7, more like Faried.
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Damn 6'7... A couple inches too tall to be the next Barkley.

saleem · Nov 18, 2020

D-rock said: ↑

Throw in 2020 SRP and it's a deal.

Rockets need a big, why use not Poirer/Enes for now. Flip them later in Russ package.
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We don't have a 2020 second round pick. I like the idea of packaging Russ with Enes. Poirer will be okay too. Will TF spend money for all this? I doubt it.

D-rock · Nov 18, 2020

saleem said: ↑

We don't have a 2020 second round pick. I like the idea of packaging Russ with Enes. Poirer will be okay too. Will TF spend money for all this? I doubt it.
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SRP is from Boston to Houston.

FRP for Kanter, SRP for Poirer, is what I'm proposing.

zeeshan2 · Nov 18, 2020

From espns latest mock:

they have us picking precious

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/st...aft-our-latest-intel-most-likely-picks-trades

jakedasnake · Nov 18, 2020

I don't know much about him but I want Jalen Smith. Whether we keep Harden, Westbrook or trade Harden for Simmons, an athletic stretch 5 with rim protecting, rebounding ability is the way to go.

zeeshan2 · Nov 18, 2020

vjohnson · Nov 18, 2020

D-rock said: ↑

And losing in 1st round?

Unless Harden traded, then forget the postseason.
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sometimes you have to take a step back to take a leap forward

Rockets FTW · Nov 18, 2020

zeeshan2 said: ↑

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Love it. Why not move a few spots back, collect those assets...

JayZ750 · Nov 18, 2020

probably the only pick that would piss me off tonight would be Poku.
hope it doesn't happen.
if it does, hope im an idiot and wrong.

cmoak1982 · Nov 18, 2020

JayZ750 said: ↑

probably the only pick that would piss me off tonight would be Poku.
hope it doesn't happen.
if it does, hope im an idiot and wrong.
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Just because of the bust factor?

Rudyc281 · Nov 18, 2020

Cassius Winston later in draft please

D-rock · Nov 18, 2020

zeeshan2 said: ↑

From espns latest mock:

they have us picking precious

https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/st...aft-our-latest-intel-most-likely-picks-trades
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Too predictable. Safe role player but no upside to be a star.

I want the boom (or bust) pick. I want the unicorn, draft Poku and let's ride.

JayZ750 · Nov 18, 2020

cmoak1982 said: ↑

Just because of the bust factor?
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yeah, i think he is more likely to be out of the league in a few years than a really good player...

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The Rockets have the 16th pick in tomorrow's draft

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The Rockets have the 16th pick in tomorrow's draft

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