I didn't watch the entire game on Saturday but the announcers in the first half noted that Yabu seemed to have, errr, less than ideal conditioning.
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I'll give Ainge a pass on those decisions because in the first case I am reasonably certain that they weren't intending on keeping Olynyk long term. (I had it from two separate people, one of them a blogger out in Minneapolis that Kahn & Company loved Olynyk in that draft and planned on taking him with their second pick. So my suspicion was always that Boston drafted him for the day when Love went on the market. It just backfired when they fired Kahn before then.)
In the Yabu case, as others mentioned, Boston needed guys that would agree to be stashed overseas because they were hunting for Horford and Durant and that was the only way to clear two max slots.
Sadly, given the praise that Durant's heaped on Antetokounmpo, had Boston gone with the high upside pick over the "accumulate assets for a Kevin Love trade pick", they likely would have landed Durant that summer.
Do you want to know the really hilarious part of that deal? The Clippers' first round pick that the Grizzlies traded for those two #2s was the pick that LA traded them for Jeff Green, whom the Grizzles acquired from Boston for a future first of their own.
He's right. He'd a plus NBA 3 and D. But he's not a plus NBA shot creator or an NBA facilitator. If he focused on ball handling and passing at 85% effort he'd get something out of it without a ton of risk.
He played very well at both ends. I thought Yabu, Semi, Utoff and Lloyd also played well, and Martin did some good things in limited minutes.
On the other side, Bridges looked good but Devonte Graham did not (6 turnovers).
Young is like night and day from those first two games you can see him much more comfortable and in control. Having said that it still boggles my mind how professional evaluators choose Young over Knox.
I was flipping channels last night and caught the 4th quarter of that Atlanta-Indiana game. That end-to-end pass by Young was gorgeous.
The Celtics almost let one slip away this afternoon but redeemed themselves. Pierria Henry, who I panned yesterday, played well down the stretch. Bird was up and down: some nice plays but 2-3 dumb turnovers.
Mitchell Robinson, the 7 footer who left college, showed surprising promise for the Knicks.
Mitchell Robinson, the 7 footer who left college, showed surprising promise for the Knicks.
You are not the only one who has done it. I wanted to make sure we actually weren't doing it
If you watched the broadcast, you were told that every about 2.2 minutes. Did you know this guy could be AD? If you drank every time Frachilla mentioned AD and Robinson together, you'd be stupid drunk.
Semi really shut him down. Got in his airspace, moved his own feet well. Didn't look fair most of the time.
I usually mute the sound when watching NBA broadcasts, even Gorman and Heinsohn. I find most of the commentary useless and annoying.
Having said that, it was pretty obvious that the kid was playing well, and Knicks fans don't have much to cheer about these days. I'm not a big fan of Kevin Knox.
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My goodness Josh Hart looks like a really, really good player. Are the Lakers really going to let KCP and Lance cut into minutes for Hart and Kuzma?
27 ppg as a freshman in what was likely the nation’s best conference (top to bottom — no one besides KU was elite, but everyone besides Ia. St. had more than a puncher’s chance every night). That’s not enough to vault Young ahead of the genetic freaks (Ayton, Bagley, JJJ)— or ahead of Doncic, who had similarly impressive results in Europe and a game that more obviously translates. But only a supremely self-confident scout would stake his reputation on spotting something in someone else’s game that would outweigh Young’s ridiculous, measurable results. We’ll never know for sure, but I’ll bet Young was #5 on most teams’ boards.
That said, Young is going to be useless as a rookie — because he’ll be as confused as every other rookie, and he can’t compensate with sublime physical gifts in the way most top-5 picks can.
@ConigliarosPotential is going to have to wait two years to have any inkling whether his Hawks pulled a coup or shot themselves in the foot (again).
KCP is extremely overrated because he plays in LA and got two fat contracts in a row that he didn’t deserve because of who his agent is. He’s completely average at everything and Kuzma and Hart are very likely to better going forward.
I think KCP is extremely underrated. Yes, he got two large contracts that he probably does not deserve (which was a combination of who is agent is and the cap situation for the Lakers). But I am not sure there are many people walking around who consider him a very good basketball player. However, he is an excellent defender, shoots decently, doesn't need the ball to be effective, and is extremely durable.
I don't ever factor college production in my future evaluations. It's a completely different game played under different rules against much less athletic players. I don't hate Young, I think I had him 9th in my mock and think he'll ultimately be a useful NBA player, but he figures to have many struggles ahead of him defensively in switches and against physical defenders. Hey, I'm confident both Knox and Bamba will be much better players but am simply more than surprised that Atlanta would project Young higher than not just one but both!
Yes. This is a matchup league and Young will be sought out like Isaiah was here. It is simple in today's game to force switches resulting in diminutive guards isolated against LeBron, DeRozan, Durant, and other big scoring wings.
I forgot about Bamba. I’m sure a lot of teams had him among the aforementioned genetic freaks and had Young at #6.
But I stand by my belief that few teams had Young rated lower than that. The college game is different, but on some level basketball is basketball. For sure, a 23-year old like Shabazz Napier who excels against much younger competition isn’t going to wow the scouts, but doing what Young did as a 19-year old is something we’ve not seen since at least KD, and probably since Carmelo Anthony. Young won’t approach what those guys have done in the NBA — he doesn’t have the physical tools. But I think you’re too lightly dismissing what he did do, which was a lot more impressive than your garden-variety “best player on the floor most nights” that’s fairly common among one-and-done prospects.
A prototypical big wing in today's NBA.
Solid 6'9" that's 18 - still growing and will continue to fill out.
Coached by Calipari at Kentucky, was #1 option on that team.
1st team All-SEC.
Good shooting stroke (77% FT)
Can shoot from the 3.
No off the court issues.
No lingering injury issues.
Father played in the NFL
What's not to like?
I'd exchange Sac pick for him today.
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Knox is ok, like Jeff Green is ok. Knox doesn't seem to do any one thing particularly well and doesn't play with much fire. Yes, he's the prototypical wing in today's game.
I would have taken Gigeous-Alexander over him and Mikal Bridges too, but they are all really young, so I'm not pretending to make a definitive judgment at this point.
I thought the two teams that really nailed this draft given where they were picking were the Clippers and Pistons. Khyri Thomas is good and I thought the Celtics were going to take Bruce Brown. I have no idea who was calling the shots in Detroit's draft room-- it might have been Ed Sefanski who was fired by the Sixers--but I thought they did well.
I would have taken Gigeous-Alexander over him and Mikal Bridges too, but they are all really young, so I'm not pretending to make a definitive judgment at this point.
I thought the two teams that really nailed this draft given where they were picking were the Clippers and Pistons. Khyri Thomas is good and I thought the Celtics were going to take Bruce Brown. I have no idea who was calling the shots in Detroit's draft room-- it might have been Ed Sefanski who was fired by the Sixers--but I thought they did well.
I agree with you strongly here, and it's a big reason I'm low on Young even though I like his offensive game. However, I'd push back slightly and note that his measurements are much more comparable to Kyrie's, Steph's, and CP3's than they are to IT's. If he gains a bit of strength and is good enough offensively, you have some options to limit the damage in a way that the Celtics really couldn't with a player who was 6 inches shorter (!!!) than Young.
That said, Knox is so much easier to build a team around offensively (especially with an elite shot creator like Porzingis on board) and use as an asset defensively, rather than a problem to hide. I'd snap-take Knox if there were a redraft today.
Exactly. Atlanta took one hell of a gamble with the guys that they left on the board, no doubt. But Steph is a hamster dick taller than Young and has to buy a bigger mantle for his MVPs and rings. Not everyone has to be 6'7".
I'm assuming it's a choice of whom to pick #5 or so. Jackson obviously has looked great and probably should have gone higher.
Robinson is a complete project. He was finishing oops and cleaning up garbage around the hoop. Fran made it sound like he’d be making meaningful contributions to the Knicks this year. He’d better rent an apartment in Westchester because that’s where he’ll be this year.
You’d give up the chance to draft a Barrett/Reddish/Little for Knox? I wouldn’t. If the Kings pick is top 5 any of those players are better than Knox and I like him.
This was 100% Atlanta's thinking. My only issue with it is that for the thinking to work, your 6-3 guard has to be somewhere in the neighborhood of Kyrie offensively for the tradeoff to be a clear win, and at Steph's level to be a massive plus. The offensive threshold to clear is a lot lower for a playmaking long athletic wing, which is why I'd prefer Knox.
Young has some chance to be an elite offensive player, but he has a long way to go in developing the mid-range game and rim finishing that really push Kyrie and Steph to the next level.