cjbulls wrote:TheSuzerain wrote:cjbulls wrote:
Motivated Whiteside was impactful. Look at his 15-16 or 16-17 season before he got paid to get a sense of what a focused version can do.
You’re ignoring that Whitesides biggest deficiency is the mental side of the game. There aren’t those same issues expected for Wiseman.
They kind of are the same issues? Wiseman has had red flags around motivation/focus for a long time now.
And even early Whiteside never looked impactful in the +/- or on/off sense.
Taken straight from his Ringer profile on Wiseman: "High-character person who works hard on and off the court. He’s intelligent, too; These are positive personality traits that could aid his development."
However, there are some different character concerns. Someone did post a recent note (I don't remember where from) that stated he wanted to be more like AD and Giannis. I agree this is a problem. This kid has been hyped as a top prospect since day 1 and will be selected very high. It's not clear how well he will take to being a rich man's DeAndre Jordan or Hassan Whiteside. That is a real issue to investigate.
As for Whiteside, he was the top Heat player on Simple Rating each of 2015-16 through 2018-19 seasons (PER vs. Opponent PER + plus/minus). And he's always been a positive plus/minus player.
http://www.82games.com/1516/1516MIA.HTM
Probably not the best time to be talking about how impactful Whiteside was for the Heat...
Overall, I do think Whiteside is a pretty good starting center. But his impact has always trailed well behind his box-score numbers.
I also think Whiteside is a pretty reasonable projection for what Wiseman will become.
I think there's a safeness to picking Wiseman. But I am unconvinced of the upside case for a guy who is a non-shooter and non-passer.