Grantland Zach Lowe 33 Crazy Predictions for the NBA Season

[HurricaneKid]

No on MCW. He is 5 years older than Giannis and Jabari. Literally the same age as Bledsoe. And SOOooo many TOs. Bad court vision. And at 24 doesn't seem a likely candidate to improve suitably. Should continue to be a + defender at the PG.

[machu46]

No on MCW. He is 5 years older than Giannis and Jabari. Literally the same age as Bledsoe. And SOOooo many TOs. Bad court vision. And at 24 doesn't seem a likely candidate to improve suitably. Should continue to be a + defender at the PG.

He literally turned 23 a couple days ago lol. He is not 24. And it's not like this is the Knicks where by the time they've rebuilt, Melo will be 32 or 33 and declining. Even if Jabari and Giannis take a relatively long time to develop (let's say 4 years before they're all-star caliber players), MCW would be 27 by this point. Tony Parker is 32 now and still hasn't started declining. So you're taking about like a 3-5 year window of MCW at his peak with an all-star Giannis and Jabari. His age relative to them really isn't an issue if you think he will be a good player. If you don't, then his age doesn't matter then either because obviously we shouldn't trade for him if we don't believe he'll ever be good.

And it annoys me that people equate turnovers with having poor court vision. Scouts raved about his court vision despite turning it over at a high rate at Syracuse. People rave about John Wall's court vision and passing ability despite turnovers being an issue for him both at Kentucky and in the NBA. Turnovers at a young age are more indicative of a player simply trying too hard or not being on the same page as teammates.

[CanadaBucks]

On top of that, he finished the year playing his best ball, shooting just under 53% from the field and 43% from 3 over the last month of the year for a TS% of 59.3%. I don't think it's a mistake that this happened once he started forcing things less either. His FGA per game over the course of the year was somewhere between 15-16 shots per game, and he dropped it down to 12 per game over that last month, and went from shooting about 3 3 pointers per game to less than 1. He also cut his turnovers per game in half during that last month.

The last month was 8 games, hardly a meaningful sample. And it's not like he was on an upward trajectory before that as March was his worst month of his season (38% FG, 21% 3, 43.5% TS).

MCW certainly wasn't set up to succeed with the players around him and his efficiency was depressed a bit, but he's not that young and is further along his developmental curve than than almost all rookies, especially ones in major roles. If he had that production at age 20 he'd be a much better prospect, but then Philly probably wouldn't be looking to deal him. He's really not comparable to LeBron, Melo etc for that reason.

The 3 point % during those 8 games was based on 7 attempts

[Wooderson]

The 3 point % during those 8 games was based on 7 attempts

Those shooting figures were from March.

[HurricaneKid]

No on MCW. He is 5 years older than Giannis and Jabari. Literally the same age as Bledsoe. And SOOooo many TOs. Bad court vision. And at 24 doesn't seem a likely candidate to improve suitably. Should continue to be a + defender at the PG.

He literally turned 23 a couple days ago lol. He is not 24. And it's not like this is the Knicks where by the time they've rebuilt, Melo will be 32 or 33 and declining. Even if Jabari and Giannis take a relatively long time to develop (let's say 4 years before they're all-star caliber players), MCW would be 27 by this point. Tony Parker is 32 now and still hasn't started declining. So you're taking about like a 3-5 year window of MCW at his peak with an all-star Giannis and Jabari. His age relative to them really isn't an issue if you think he will be a good player. If you don't, then his age doesn't matter then either because obviously we shouldn't trade for him if we don't believe he'll ever be good.

And it annoys me that people equate turnovers with having poor court vision. Scouts raved about his court vision despite turning it over at a high rate at Syracuse. People rave about John Wall's court vision and passing ability despite turnovers being an issue for him both at Kentucky and in the NBA. Turnovers at a young age are more indicative of a player simply trying too hard or not being on the same page as teammates.

I brought up age due to the improvement curve. I don't mind bringing in a 23 yr old. But there seems to be some implication that he has a lot of improvement coming and I just don't think he does. And he is a country mile from a starting PG much less contributor on a championship level team. He is a compliler on quite possibly the worst team ever assembled.

Shot 26% from 3.
55% at the rim
3.7 TOs/36min
1.78 asst/to

I mean, what are his strong points? He is long? We are starting a 6'11" PG tonight.

[AussieBuck]

Old rookies tend to be much closer to their peak than young ones. You want your 22 year old rookie to be a good player, MCW played like your typical one and done athlete.

[CanadaBucks]

The 3 point % during those 8 games was based on 7 attempts

Those shooting figures were from March.

I was trying to add on what you said about April, I take no stock in those 8 games either.

[Wooderson]

I was trying to add on what you said about April, I take no stock in those 8 games either.

Ah makes sense, you were referring to the % in his post.

[machu46]

No on MCW. He is 5 years older than Giannis and Jabari. Literally the same age as Bledsoe. And SOOooo many TOs. Bad court vision. And at 24 doesn't seem a likely candidate to improve suitably. Should continue to be a + defender at the PG.

He literally turned 23 a couple days ago lol. He is not 24. And it's not like this is the Knicks where by the time they've rebuilt, Melo will be 32 or 33 and declining. Even if Jabari and Giannis take a relatively long time to develop (let's say 4 years before they're all-star caliber players), MCW would be 27 by this point. Tony Parker is 32 now and still hasn't started declining. So you're taking about like a 3-5 year window of MCW at his peak with an all-star Giannis and Jabari. His age relative to them really isn't an issue if you think he will be a good player. If you don't, then his age doesn't matter then either because obviously we shouldn't trade for him if we don't believe he'll ever be good.

And it annoys me that people equate turnovers with having poor court vision. Scouts raved about his court vision despite turning it over at a high rate at Syracuse. People rave about John Wall's court vision and passing ability despite turnovers being an issue for him both at Kentucky and in the NBA. Turnovers at a young age are more indicative of a player simply trying too hard or not being on the same page as teammates.

I brought up age due to the improvement curve. I don't mind bringing in a 23 yr old. But there seems to be some implication that he has a lot of improvement coming and I just don't think he does. And he is a country mile from a starting PG much less contributor on a championship level team. He is a compliler on quite possibly the worst team ever assembled.

Shot 26% from 3.
55% at the rim
3.7 TOs/36min
1.78 asst/to

I mean, what are his strong points? He is long? We are starting a 6'11" PG tonight.

I believe if you surround him with competent teammates, you have an elite motor, rebounder, and an 8:3 assist:TO guy with average at best efficiency, at least for now. And probably average man defense with elite ball hawking and the potential to grow into a great man defender.

[EastSideBucksFan]

If Dudley can stay healthy and be effective, we might have a decent piece for the trade deadline in Feb.

IMO I don't think he comes back as a player. I view him like Ersan. One of those really nice glue guys who worked his way up to a good contract and 3-4 seasons of good role player production but who ultimately isn't talented enough to last in this league beyond age 28/29 before his play falls off a cliff.

I made a list of these guys a few weeks back in the Ersan thread, but forgot all of them. It included guys though like Brian Skinner, Etan Thomas, Brian Cardinal, UCLA 3-pt specialist Raptors signed, Desmond Mason, Vladomir Radmanovic, etc. If I had a listing of prior players and their salaries the last 20 years, you'd see the list of these type guys is massive.

Playing past age 30 as an effective NBA player is a tough assignment. Once your decline starts, you don't come back.

Shooting is always valuable.

Dudley 3-3 from three in the 1st quarter.

Not thinking we'll get a 1st for him, but I think a 2nd or something could be had if he stays healthy.

[worthlessBucks]

Simmons' previews so far are great. Takashet Onnorfanz.

[mattg]

I don't care about MCW having good vision, his decision making is trash tier. His turnovers stem from the fact that he just isn't smart about when and when not to do things. Negates any of the positive impact his vision would give him.