Watched James closely in two of his better game (vs. Memphis, vs. Utah). Aside from hot shooting, here's some of the things I saw.
With James in the fold, I think I even like my trade idea from the other thread more: of trying to swap Oni for Ismail Wainright. James occupies more of the Oni/Hughes 2/3 track, and I think Wainright would give us more 3/4 versatility (and a legit physically strong player). Major thing that gives me pause is that, apart from centers, we don't have even an average rebounder for his position other than Royce, Gay, and possibly Forrest if Oni leaves. I don't think either James or Wainright would be particularly helpful there.
- No way he's 6-7. 6-6 is probably generous as well. He looks more like 6-5 (like Oni and Brantley, or so). Also thinner than either of them, and not particularly long. Seems more of a guard than a forward, but versatile enough to see some time in the front court.
- Pretty good athlete; can get up there on occasion. Decent quickness.
- Has legitimate skills as a pick & roll ball-handler, especially scoring but even passing. I suspect this was probably the number one thing that attracted the Jazz. With this skill, has actual scoring potential if he ever gets a consistent jumper. A bit like Ingles from a few years ago in this regard; I can't really see him creating his own jumpers, but if you use him as a P&R driver and a spot up shooter, there's some potential.
- Defense was very hard to evaluate, since the Kings played these weird switching schemes (and were terrible as a whole). But he had some good defensive possessions when locked in man coverage. Not great, but some potential, I think. Guarded all over the floor. Against Memphis, would usually start on the point guard (Morant, Jones, Melton), but often ended up elsewhere by the end of the play. Against the Jazz, generally would start his assignments against forwards (Bogey, Ingles, Ersan, Brantley), but by the end of the game was more often starting off on on Forrest and Oni. Overall, I liked his defensive versatility. Probably needs to learn more defensive discipline; I suspect being in Jazz system will help.
With James in the fold, I think I even like my trade idea from the other thread more: of trying to swap Oni for Ismail Wainright. James occupies more of the Oni/Hughes 2/3 track, and I think Wainright would give us more 3/4 versatility (and a legit physically strong player). Major thing that gives me pause is that, apart from centers, we don't have even an average rebounder for his position other than Royce, Gay, and possibly Forrest if Oni leaves. I don't think either James or Wainright would be particularly helpful there.
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