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[vege]

Jahlil Okafor and Mario Hezonja's 4th year options NOT picked up. #3 and #5 from the 2015 draft.

Wow

[MotownMadness]

I'll still take a shot on Hezonja not expecting much

[Pharaoh]

I'd take a chance on both Okafor & Mario.

So much of finding success in the NBA is about fit and they simply got drafted into the wrong situation

Maybe their work ethic is poor as well but when you're not playing much and don't look like ever getting a "fair" chance it's easy to shutdown.

If Mario is smart he'd do everything possible to get to San Antonio

Okafor...Atlanta or Chicago would give him a chance over the next couple of years.

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[zeebneeb]

The bucks without the Greek are NOT a good team. He is what makes that team plain and simple.

He's obviously turning into something special but man, they need to add pieces badly.

[vege]

I'd take a chance on both Okafor & Mario.

So much of finding success in the NBA is about fit and they simply got drafted into the wrong situation

Maybe their work ethic is poor as well but when you're not playing much and don't look like ever getting a "fair" chance it's easy to shutdown.

If Mario is smart he'd do everything possible to get to San Antonio

Okafor...Atlanta or Chicago would give him a chance over the next couple of years.

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I don't know, to me that sound like bull. How much playing time Butler got when he was drafted by Chicago (8 mpg and only played in half of the games), and when he got PT he was asked to do so little, but he worked his ass off to improve. Rip used to make fun of Butler's shot and look who Butler is now.

Both Mario and Okafor do not have what it take to succeed, they were in a bad situation, but they didn't help themselves. I would not waste a roster spot on them, I rather have guys like Stanley and Moreland who are less talented but will try hard.

[Pharaoh]

I'd take a chance on both Okafor & Mario.

So much of finding success in the NBA is about fit and they simply got drafted into the wrong situation

Maybe their work ethic is poor as well but when you're not playing much and don't look like ever getting a "fair" chance it's easy to shutdown.

If Mario is smart he'd do everything possible to get to San Antonio

Okafor...Atlanta or Chicago would give him a chance over the next couple of years.

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I don't know, to me that sound like bull. How much playing time Butler got when he was drafted by Chicago (8 mpg and only played in half of the games), and when he got PT he was asked to do so little, but he worked his ass off to improve. Rip used to make fun of Butler's shot and look who Butler is now.

Both Mario and Okafor do not have what it take to succeed, they were in a bad situation, but they didn't help themselves. I would not waste a roster spot on them, I rather have guys like Stanley and Moreland who are less talented but will try hard.

To the bold: which part is bull?

People love to use Jimmy Butler as the poster child for what can happen after a terrible rookie year

He's a anomaly!

Generally players need to play to develop.

There's a fine line between giving them undeserved playing time and giving them developmental minutes

I see coaches playing their kids in garbage time, which to me is counterproductive

I want my younger guys out there in legit situations, playing with & against the top guys in order for them to see, hear and learn.

I don't wanna see Kennard out there in a blowout for the last 3 minutes being the #1 scoring option. I want him in there with Dre & RJ during the first half instead.

IMO both Mario & Okafor have certain skills. They have poor work ethic and are in poor situations

Moving to a better situation where they'll get the message quickly is their best hope for a career

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[vege]

They didn't develop because they didn't put the work, and Butler is the ultimate example of a guy who worked his ass off to develop and evolve as a player. I can use another example, a closer one for us, Ben Wallace. He wasn't talented, and was undersized, he molded his game after Charler Oakley, worked really hard on his body and on his game and look at what he accomplished.

Okafor was out of shape and fat, people praise him this season for being in shape, WTF. He is a fail because he didn't put the work to succeed, like I said he is in a bad situation, I agree, but he didn't do anything to change that.

I did not want Ellenson getting minutes while he was a blackhole on defense, neither Stanley playing big minutes when he was a black hole on offense (they both improved, Ellenson is better on defense and Stanley have solid numbers on offense after a terrible start).

[Kilo]

[bballnmike]

wow Cleveland lost again, 3rd straight

[MotownMadness]

wow Cleveland lost again, 3rd straight

They look like crap, They still think they don't need to play defense and are suffering from it after losing Kyrie on offense.

[GreekAlex]

wow Cleveland lost again, 3rd straight

They look like crap, They still think they don't need to play defense and are suffering from it after losing Kyrie on offense.

How mad will Dan Gilbert be when LeBron and IT2 take off next season and they're back to the lottery?

[Pharaoh]

Think Gilbert is prepared for it hence acquiring the Brooklyn pick.

Lebron & Thomas walking would be just the beginning

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[GreekAlex]

Watching this Lakers game tonight, Kyle Kuzma is more likable every time I see him play.

How did so many teams miss on him?

[Snakebites]

Yeah, I'd imagine Cleveland has been operating under the assumption that Lebron will leave for some time now.

And Isaiah leaving is no biggie in that case. Might not be a biggie regardless. We don't know what he's going to look like when he comes back. He was always the third most significant piece they got for Kyrie.

[Pharaoh]

When you look at the Cavs:

How many of those vets would you NOT want around rookies?

JR?
DRose?

And anyone wanna take a guess on Lue's future?

Or is that tight with Lebron he'll see out the year regardless?

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[tmorgan]

I swear, the Cavs sucking is as much DRose as anything. That guy brings an unavoidable stink to a team.

(looks like he's actually shot well... but I'm sure he's a huge part of the horrible defense issue)

[GreekAlex]

Does anyone here catch Utah games?

How does Mitchell look?

His numbers are solid and I've heard his defense is strong.

[tmorgan]

Does anyone here catch Utah games?

How does Mitchell look?

His numbers are solid and I've heard his defense is strong.

I've watched some. He's impressive and troublesome at the same time. Completely out of control on offense a good portion of the time. A gambler on defense, which sometimes works and sometimes doesn't.

[Pharaoh]

Does anyone here catch Utah games?

How does Mitchell look?

His numbers are solid and I've heard his defense is strong.

Typical high potential rookie based on the 2 games I watched.

Has incredible highs when it's all clicking and terrible lows where he's trying to dictate the game offensively...

Over time he should learn to let his defense feed his offense and work within the flow of their system

Long term O: I really see him being a quality scoring PG that can attack with and without the ball.

Long term D: should be extremely disruptive at the point of attack where his size and wingspan give him a advantage over a lot of guys.

Everyone said the same thing about RJ though so Mitchell's mentality is what will help/hurt him the most:

if he's more concerned with getting his name in bright lights than playing the right way he could be a problem in a lot of situations.

It's up to the Jazz to keep him grounded and as a organization I think they have a good history of that (Jingles, Exum, Gobert, Favors, Hayward haven't been issues off the floor to my knowledge)

And yes, I still have dreams of a Mitchell, KCP/AB, SJ perimeter D - especially now we're moving the ball better offensively

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[ElectricMayhem]

The big fear right now is that Cleveland is only one game out of the seventh seed. If they manage to slip in, with IT back, they can give us much more headaches than we need in the first round - could even take us to 6 or 7 games.