NBA Rookie Discussion Thread 2023-24

[QPR]

Was that a shot by Gafford or just mishandling an alley oop?

[ForeverTFC]

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I hate to come across as a hater, but am I the only one that isn't necessarily impressed by this? Guy is 7'6" with 8 foot wingspan. It would be a huge let down if he wasn't doing this....

Why hasn't Gobert done it then? Why hasn't Bol Bol? What about KP? Why didn't Tacko Fall or Boban in the past?.

"He's tall so he should be doing that" is such a casual level take

Because he’s taller and lankier than all of them?

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Another strong Amen game though not sure if it should count given that it’s the Wizards

[MMyhre]

"Asked in French about contending for DPOY, Wemby responded : “I know that Rudy (Gobert) has a very good chance of winning it this year, and it would be deserved. Let him win it now, because after that it's no longer his turn". I love it.

Chet with 6 fga, very low production in recent games. I am feeling like there is some physical issue going on, based on his own reports of forcing himself to play every game this season, which is idiotic. OKC has zero shot at going far in the West with him scoring 11 pts and getting 8 rebounds and a block in 32 mins. Absolutely zero.

[MMyhre]

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Another strong Amen game though not sure if it should count given that it’s the Wizards

The potential of this kid as a driving force/menace on the glass is insane. He still doesn`t seem to know how utilize his athleticism on the ball, needs to work on all plants, driving all ways, handling all ways, but my god if he does he will become unstoppable driving to the rim, because he literally looks like he is jogging into head high dunks out there. Monster potential.. seems very calm and focused while playing too, ice cold. Fun player.

[Drakeem]

"Asked in French about contending for DPOY, Wemby responded : “I know that Rudy (Gobert) has a very good chance of winning it this year, and it would be deserved. Let him win it now, because after that it's no longer his turn". I love it.

Chet with 6 fga, very low production in recent games. I am feeling like there is some physical issue going on, based on his own reports of forcing himself to play every game this season, which is idiotic. OKC has zero shot at going far in the West with him scoring 11 pts and getting 8 rebounds and a block in 32 mins. Absolutely zero.

I can't believe we've reached the point where striving to play when you're not hurt to the point of being unable to play is idiotic lol. OKC didn't have much of a shot regardless this year. Let the kid play. It's commendable.

[The Servant]

"Asked in French about contending for DPOY, Wemby responded : “I know that Rudy (Gobert) has a very good chance of winning it this year, and it would be deserved. Let him win it now, because after that it's no longer his turn". I love it.

Chet with 6 fga, very low production in recent games. I am feeling like there is some physical issue going on, based on his own reports of forcing himself to play every game this season, which is idiotic. OKC has zero shot at going far in the West with him scoring 11 pts and getting 8 rebounds and a block in 32 mins. Absolutely zero.

He was 4 of 6 with an easy 11 points. I mean you can say that OKC won't go far with that being his production but in the same game SGA and Jalen Williams combined for 58 points on 37 shots. Even Giddey had 18 points on 12 shots, it seems like the offense was flowing efficiently and that Chet didn't have to force things for the sake of trying to win ROTY.

Pretty sure Wemby is going to win it being the only NBA caliber player on a 15 win team

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[DCasey91]

"Asked in French about contending for DPOY, Wemby responded : “I know that Rudy (Gobert) has a very good chance of winning it this year, and it would be deserved. Let him win it now, because after that it's no longer his turn". I love it.

Chet with 6 fga, very low production in recent games. I am feeling like there is some physical issue going on, based on his own reports of forcing himself to play every game this season, which is idiotic. OKC has zero shot at going far in the West with him scoring 11 pts and getting 8 rebounds and a block in 32 mins. Absolutely zero.

I can't believe we've reached the point where striving to play when you're not hurt to the point of being unable to play is idiotic lol. OKC didn't have much of a shot regardless this year. Let the kid play. It's commendable.

It isn’t it’s called malpractice

Long term injury the expectation is to miss games. Add on, first year, slight build, and being tall also no backup. That’s one each factor here, this is all of them on one.

How many fukn times have we’ve seen this especially with a big

OKC has gone way overboard here, this reeks of incompetence at its at the highest level.

Fatigue is numero uno in Sports injury and the outcome.

Should have had a rest before ASB (hit the wall prior) dude was cooked in the Blazers game and only got worse.

Stupid and dumb

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[thelead]

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that's a name I haven't heard in a long time

[BlzMwt]

I hate to come across as a hater, but am I the only one that isn't necessarily impressed by this? Guy is 7'6" with 8 foot wingspan. It would be a huge let down if he wasn't doing this....

Why hasn't Gobert done it then? Why hasn't Bol Bol? What about KP? Why didn't Tacko Fall or Boban in the past?.

"He's tall so he should be doing that" is such a casual level take

Because he’s taller and lankier than all of them?

Regardless of WHY he is doing it, the fact that he IS doing it is very impressive.

To answer your question... yes, you're one of the few not impressed. Sometimes when you find yourself in the minority of opinions you might want to be critical of why you are thinking in such a manner.

[WestGOAT]

Looks like both Chet and Wemby are hitting the rookie wall hard (again).

Very curious to see what OKC' developmental plan is for Chet going forward. He has the capacity for a bigger role on offense, but he obviously needs reps to develop that and learn through his mistakes, but not sure if there will be enough oxygen in the room with SGA and the other young talents on OKC ascending.

With Wemby it's the opposite actually, he has too much on his plate. I don't think it's possible in the modern NBA to have a single player anchor both your offense and defense AND be perennial contenders. We would have to go back to maybe Duncan and Hakeem, but the game is just too different now, especially with the amount of space on defense that needs to be covered.

[cupcakesnake]

Looks like both Chet and Wemby are hitting the rookie wall hard (again).

Very curious to see what OKC' developmental plan is for Chet going forward. He has the capacity for a bigger role on offense, but he obviously needs reps to develop that and learn through his mistakes, but not sure if there will be enough oxygen in the room with SGA and the other young talents on OKC ascending.

With Wemby it's the opposite actually, he has too much on his plate. I don't think it's possible in the modern NBA to have a single player anchor both your offense and defense AND be perennial contenders. We would have to go back to maybe Duncan and Hakeem, but the game is just too different now, especially with the amount of space on defense that needs to be covered.

Fortunately for the Thunder, Daigneault offense manages to support Shai's mega usage without isolating other creators. With so much drive and kick, Chet and J-Dub are getting touches on most possessions, and not just standing around when they're off the ball. I agree though... watching Chet (and Jalen) it's very obvious that he could do a ton more, but unclear how much more the Thunder need him to do. His efficiency on drives is elite, but his reps are average.

They look like the next great trio though, in terms of talent and fit. Following in the lineage of Steph/Dray/Klay, Duncan/Manu/Parker, Bird/McHale/Parish.

You're right about Wemby too. The Spurs are still a blank slate and we have no idea what core pieces will be around him. Vassell and Sochan fit just fine, but their ceiling is a bit unclear. The Spurs perimeter playmaker of the future is not on the roster yet, and there's no guarantee the Spurs find a high-end version of that.

[RollingWave]

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The Rockets have been playing probably their best or second best stretch lately and Amen's a huge part of it (he was out hurt and sick during the first one.)

The potential of this kid as a driving force/menace on the glass is insane. He still doesn`t seem to know how utilize his athleticism on the ball, needs to work on all plants, driving all ways, handling all ways, but my god if he does he will become unstoppable driving to the rim, because he literally looks like he is jogging into head high dunks out there. Monster potential.. seems very calm and focused while playing too, ice cold. Fun player.

His defense turning into offense in it self is probably already going to keep him in the league for a long time, exceptional nose for hte ball and steals guy both on and off ball, and great instincs as a leaker / cutter / extra pass connecter etc.

The jump shot looks like it'll be years it if ever gets there, but at least he needs to make some progress to where he's not useless outside of the paint (he did do that a little at the start of the year but now he's basically a dunks and layups only guy.) the handle is something that looks worse than people thought it would be coming in but potentially more fixable and it would open a lot of things for him, he has that Lebron / Luca whip pass in his bag but needs to actually be a threat going to the basket for that to be useful.

The combination of him / Sengun / Jalen seems pretty rough at this point though, it's not a full blown this will never work disaster but at this point at least they add up to less than the sum of their talent usually, let alone really magnify each other's strength. They can probably get away with playing Amen more as a 6th man at least for a year or 2 more but after that they really need to make some hard decisions if this is still kinda the problem.

Jalen Green proving either he is definitively good or bad instead of this continued dance of see-saw between the two extremes would help a lot in clarifying what the Rockets need to do, though guys like Jabari Smith and Tari Eason seems like pretty great fits on almost any configuration which helps a lot.

[Harry Palmer]

Assume his brother is the same…haven’t see him enough to say, but Amen moves unlike anyone I’ve seen before. It’s like he’s gliding, hovercraft style, even laterally. He jumps without seeming to flex much, just lifts. It’s weird, but impressive. I’ve seen a ton of amazing athletes and I am not necessarily saying he’s a better athlete than like a Vince Carter or w/e, just…different. Like another species, or a movie effect.

[The Servant]

Wemby with 33/15/7/7. Wild

[NoDopeOnSundays]

Assume his brother is the same…haven’t see him enough to say, but Amen moves unlike anyone I’ve seen before. It’s like he’s gliding, hovercraft style, even laterally. He jumps without seeming to flex much, just lifts. It’s weird, but impressive. I’ve seen a ton of amazing athletes and I am not necessarily saying he’s a better athlete than like a Vince Carter or w/e, just…different. Like another species, or a movie effect.

Ausar moves the same, think Amen has a slightly better handle, but they both sort of glide around on the court. They're like a mix of Shawn Marion's quick second jump in the body of like young Iguodalas.

[G R E Y]

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