Of one guy that can’t shoot (but can do everything else) surrounded by skilled basketball players?
2021 NBA Draft Preview (new thread)
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jom2003
Well-Known Member
Lopez, Middleton, Tucker and Holiday are all good athlete for their position. Allow them to play good defense, rebound and contribute in different ways.
No Bojan/JC/Niang type who's basically useless on the floor when they aren't making shots.
But you seem to think that those moves were driven by some weird philosophy that was primarily about athleticism, and if we're to look at Orlando as an example, then also to the exclusion of other key attributes, such as shooting/spacing.
Brook Lopez fell out of the sky for them. As did Khris Middleton.
I just think using the success of Milwaukee as justification for your narrowly-defined attributes is half-baked at best. The Bucks are good at basketball and the Magic have routinely decided to stack raw athletes on top of raw athletes.
But maybe to your point, before the Bucks figured out that spacing/shooting was important, their rosters were a total mess.
Loco for Roko....
jom2003
Well-Known Member
i've never said we should only tackle one area and ignore others. In fact, that's the exact opposite of what i've been saying all along.
Because of the one-dimensional approach by DL, we are unable to build a championship winning team after so many years.
You can't only look for raw athlete who aren't good at basketball. likewise, you can't only focus on skilled players who aren't NBA athletes either.
But at least it's easier to teach raw athlete basketball skills than to teach skilled players athleticism, which is why we need to prioritize athletes in NBA draft because most of the players in the draft aren't skilled enough players anyways.
In FA or trade market, yes, we can look for established guys with proven skills(which DL still didn't do).
In your last paragraph, those are players that are rarely traded without a premium attached or don’t want to come here, point blank.
And yes, I think basketball talent is a real thing. While it is possible to get a raw player to acquire skill, I think it is more often the case that people are surprised that players that are really good at basketball but without supreme/idealized physical attributes succeed in the NBA,
Ultimately, if you’re using the Bucks before their rosters made sense or the Magic for the past 9 years as an example of how to build a roster, I’m gonna say the results disagree wildly.
jom2003
Well-Known Member
not really......
Brook Lopez signed with Bucks for a vet min in 2018. That's before Giannis became the back to back MVP too. Milwaukee isn't a very big market.
Pat Connaughton too. A proven rotation piece in Portland signed with Bucks for a vet minimum. Had a great game last night too.
In the same window we brought back Dante for 3 year 30mil......
And we did have the necessary trade assets to acquire those players, but we just wasted them all on PG rentals and salary dump(like the five second rounders that DL burnt just so we can still pay the LT).
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Wow, what a revelation. I hope the 29 other NBA teams arent thinking the same thing or this could get hard.
Keefe
Well-Known Member
We just need guys better than Okobo and Jacob Evans though. Some moron on this site loved those dudes.
LoPo
Well-Known Member
Ineptimusprime
Well-Known Member
Would 100% draft if available. No hesitation. Won’t be around, I’d guess.
He'd be a dream pick. No way he gets to 30 though
I think Roko should be in the same draft range as Jalen Johnson and Franz Wagner. Maybe just a touch below. He's a late-lottery / mid-1st guy for me. Easily top 20. I think he has a very high floor, similar to Rui Hachimura. The fact that he's 3 years younger entering the draft gives him more upside.
I think he may be the guy for me outside the lottery, although I'd also like to see what the Jazz could do with Garuba.
I think he may be the guy for me outside the lottery, although I'd also like to see what the Jazz could do with Garuba.
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Garuba has more handle and passing than I thought. He's only 19 years-old, he's a plus athlete and a brute defender. He also has some upside as a small-ball 5 who can create a bit--think Xavier Tillman. He won't last to 30, but he's a really interesting player if he falls outside the top half of the 1st round.
He could drop if teams don't think he'll figure out how to shoot.
He could drop if teams don't think he'll figure out how to shoot.
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Keefe
Well-Known Member
Okay, where is Roko projected? Cause the kid looks insane offensively. Extremely skilled. Great handle. Explosive as ****. His shot is awkward as **** but he did connect on 39% of threes…and that’s the intl 3, not the college 3. Really good length. Like wtf. Is the guy a chair on defense or something? At 18 years old, how is this kid not a surefire lottery pick?
Won't be there but I again suspect we're going to be hearing a lot of "how did this guy go so late in the draft?" for a while.
I'm not convinced Roko is any bigger now than Bojan is. Bojan is listed as 6'8", somehow, in the new barefoot height era of the NBA; Roko is 6'7.5". Roko's wingspan is 6'11", nothing special for his position. Bojan's is unknown, though just guessing maybe an inch or two less than Roko? Their weight these days is similar, though Roko could fill out; so is their athleticism, I'd say. Although I'd expect a little more strength/toughness out of Roko by the time he fills out, I have real questions whether he'll turn out to have any more defensive lateral mobility than Bojan does.
And, of course, his shot is nowhere near what Bojan's ever has been (who himself was a second-rounder).
For those on the length/athleticism train, you should be all over Greg Brown rather than Roko.