The other guys! Some were very important to note, some are deep GL bench and have no hope of NBA careers. Find out who makes the cuts below.
Jaden Shackleford
+ Shooting Guard
+ 16/4/3, 35% 3pt in the Showcase / 16/4/4 Regular Season 35% 3s, and 11/2/2 Playoffs on 38% 3s
+ Quality shooter, was leading GL in 3pt %age for a while.
Season Grade and role in NBA: A, slim
Comparison ceiling?: Cole Anthony
A 6'3 guard, who really floated PG and SG at many times this year. Was reduced in role for Flager, who is a better defender later in the season but kept this team going for much of the year. Won this team a handful of games on his shooting, had a great season all things considered. Great season for him. Unsure if he's NBA caliber because of the defensive side, but he is a solid shooter.
Jahmius Ramsey
+ Combo guard
+ 18PPG averages, upped his rebs and asts in the playoffs to 4/4. RS, shot 39% from 3 on 6 attempts, and playoffs 44% on 5 attempts.
+ Excellent at driving, and has good straightline speed
Season Grade and role in NBA: A+, SG#2 or 3/bench initiator
Comparison ceiling?: Benedict Mathurin
Ramsey has to consider this year a massive success. Helped our team offensively with Shackleford in the first 30 games (Showcase and RS). He was signed to two 10-day contracts with Toronto when they needed some late season help, so he got a real NBA contract. He then returned to our team and played a little more in control, helping us as a bench spark. He is not a great defender overall. His name is out there, and maybe he can carve a career out. He has lots to work on but this has to be a good sign for him.
Hunter Maldonado
+ 16/5/5a in Showcase cup, 10/4/4 in Regular Season, 11/5/5 in Playoffs
+ hard nosed defender and hustle guy, big minutes player
- played worse in playoffs
Season Grade and role in NBA: B+, slim chance as wing-bench player
Comparison ceiling?: Caleb Martin
Maldonado had a lot of rough moments, especially shooting, but he did soak up minutes and improved in the regular season. He was pushed out by Dieng's big play in the playoffs and I think that was a good decision. Cleaned up a lot of random points around the rim.
KJ Williams
+ Big bodied forward, bruiser
+ 14/8 Showcase cup, 10/9 Reg season, 7/4 playoffs
+ GW 33ft 3pt-shot in the Showcase cup
Season Grade and role in NBA: C+, 10-day contract for an injured team
Comparison ceiling?: Trey Lyles
Not like we need more Williams...But maybe we do need more
KJ Williams had a good year, really stabilized our front court without Sarr early on. It was mostly Williams and Starkey holding it down. He provided timely offense and toughness, though still had some shaky games shooting and contributing. Big time GW shot from DEEEP was his highlight of the year, you'd have to say it was successful overall for him. However his production dipped big time later in the year, and was out of the rotation. I'm not sure he's an NBA forward, but he did have an incredible stretch of games early on before hitting the wall.
Caleb McConnell
+ 9/6/3.4stocks in Showcase / 8/6/2stocks in Regular Season
+ Hustle, defense, good size and movement, instincts
- Not a great offensive player
Season Grade and role in NBA: B, none
Comparison ceiling?: Michael Kidd-Gilchrist with a little bit better jumpshot
Worked hard at defense throughout the year and is called "The Blanket" for his defense. That being said he got very little PT in the playoffs because he is not a shooter. However for his season, I'm giving a generous B because he's on the map now early in his career.
Logan Johnson
+ athletic guard, quick
+ 6/3/1a RS, ~20GP
Season Grade and role in NBA: D, slim-chance
Comp? Dion Waiters without a jump shot.
Having hops does not mean you are an NBA player. Maybe if he improves his all court game. Was sparingly used in playoffs.
Miller Kopp
+ Shooter (39% in showcase cup / 31% from 3 in RS, garbage time only in playoffs)
+ 11/3r in Showcase cup, 6/2 in Regular Season
- Had a TO to lose a game in true Shaqtin fashion, tripping on his own foot, losing the ball, and the other team got a steal to win the game. Sigh..
Season Grade and role in NBA: D+, none
Comparison ceiling?: a shorter Davis Bertans. Lindy Waters III's career would be a dream for Kopp
Kopp was bad at defense all year, but tried hard. He shot poorly for a while, but exploded for some 20+pts games in a row in the showcase cup leading to TWO wins. Good job. Then reverted to ineffective again the rest of the year with declining minutes.
Noah Starkey
+ Bruiser, Screen Setter
+ 6/4r in 22 games in RS
+ 5/7r in Showcase cup
Season Grade and role in NBA: C+, none
Comparison ceiling?: Cole Aldrich
Starkey is a solid, tall, man. He knows basketball fundamentals and does dirty work to get rebounds and points, but he has no vertical and no range. He is a 'plumber', but I'm sure he's a good dude, just not an NBA player.
Abdul Gaddy
+ Pass-first PG
+ 15 games of 6/6a in showcase cup
+ Signed with a Romanian team
Season Grade and role in NBA: D, none
Gaddy had been on our squad for a while and is not an NBA level player. He's a good passer and hesitant shooter, though has a nice form. He gets guys shots, that's his role.
Sam Daniel, Kong Kong, and Troy Baxter Jr [12 appearances between all 3]
Season Grade and role in NBA: F, none
I don't remember seeing them play at all, and they didn't do much.