Grade the Stewart pick!!!

[whitehops]

love the improvement we've seen from stewart in these few short months.

three point shooting
after being considered a complete non-shooter in the pre-draft process, he started the season by shooting 5 threes in the first 34 games, going 1/5. he has shot 9 threes in the last 7 games and he's hit 5 of them. i don't expect him to shoot 40% or anything like that but the fact that he's starting to take them (without hesitation) so early in his career shows he wasn't nearly as much of a non-shooter or "project shooter" as most thought. he's also taking mid range shots when given space whereas early in the year he didn't really.

rim protection
there was concern when stewart was coming into the league that he would struggle to protect the rim. he was only 6'9 and didn't have much vertical explosion. but what stewart does have is a really strong frame, a long wingspan and good feet to move with players that are driving, keep a body on them and then go straight up. instead of trying to out-elevate guys he essentially forces them to stay at his level (not letting them explode over him) and then contesting the shot. his defensive FG% (not a be-all, end-all stat mind you) is 54.5%, which ranks 14th in the league on 4+ attempts per game. that might not sound overly impressive, but some big names above him are joel embiid, clint capela, rudy gobert, myles turner, jarrett allen, etc. players that were supposed to have great rim protection potential like mitchell robinson, wendell carter jr., james wiseman, etc. are all below 58%. young bigs famously struggle defensively in their early careers so stewart picking up the techniques and being able to hang with the pros this early is great.

discipline
he was in foul trouble early and often to start the season but he's come a long way. by month:
january - 2.6 FPG in 17.5 MPG
february - 2.6 FPG in 19.2 MPG
march - 1.7 FPG in 21.9 MPG

between this and the three pointers it seems like things started to click for stewart in march.


he still has a lot of developing to do though, i'm not trying to make him sound like an imminent all star. one of the reasons big men are important defensively is that they are on the back line, they see all the action in front of them so it's super important for them to be able to see what's coming and communicate that to their teammates. it helps keeping rotations synchronized so the defense can at least keep up with the offense, if not be one step ahead. this ability simply takes time to develop but the fact that stewart has picked up the individual technique so quickly is a positive sign to me that he can be a successful communicator.

and while he does mix in with and against starting players for stretches, he largely goes against backups. as he progresses he'll have to show that he can hang with starters for extended minutes and still have a positive impact.


all in all, i like watching him play and i'm glad we picked him.

[vic]

Can’t say he didn’t warn everybody

https://hoopshype.com/2020/10/23/isaiah-stewart-nba-draft-sleepers-washington-huskies/

[Snakebites]

What do people think his offensive ceiling is?

He’s got more game on that end than I thought but I’m skeptical he’ll ever be a major plus player on that end.

Still very happy with the pick. With his defense and rebounding, even being a neutral offensive player makes him a good mid-round pick.

[Sort]

I think it will come down to how he develops with his passing and whether or not he can take his man to the basket off the elbow. He's just solid down low and is showing advanced understanding of angles for getting his shots down there (and challenging them on the other end) while also having the three. I'm not seeing an intuitive passing big man, but even if he's never a playmaker, playmakers will love him.

Plus when he's a vet and the leader on the team, there will be no slacking. Some of his stuff is just intangible.

[Billl]

What do people think his offensive ceiling is?

He’s got more game on that end than I thought but I’m skeptical he’ll ever be a major plus player on that end.

Still very happy with the pick. With his defense and rebounding, even being a neutral offensive player makes him a good mid-round pick.

He's going to be much better than neutral. Over the last 10, he's putting up 12/11 in only 25 mpg. That pace would already put him in the top half of starting centers offensively. And he's still 19. A top 5 scoring center this year is just over 15ppg. I think that is certainly achievable.

[DBC10]

He’s either the next Tony Mitchell or a manimal and Trezz hybrid. I actually don’t mind his height not being the usual 6’10. He plays bigger than he looks and we’re not exactly going up against Hakeems every night in this era anymore anyways.

So this was written before reading the articles about him on draft night. From those articles alone he's not Tony Mitchell. He's definitely a high energy guy but definitely can play defense and post defense rather than Trezz or Manimal ever did

Looks like I'm predictable in being optimistic on non traditional sized centers though, so many on the first page didn't like it!

I honestly think he's got a solid starter type level all over him. Hard to see him being an all star though

[DetroitSho]

What do people think his offensive ceiling is?

He’s got more game on that end than I thought but I’m skeptical he’ll ever be a major plus player on that end.

Still very happy with the pick. With his defense and rebounding, even being a neutral offensive player makes him a good mid-round pick.

Emeka Okafor/Alonzo Mourning

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[bstein14]

Interesting comments from Casey about him recently in post game pressers.

#1 Troy Weaver told him on draft day that this kid was going to be a huge part of the culture reset with his work ethic.

#2 Other "veteran" big men on the team hated going against him in practice because he doesn't have any mode but go hard whether it's a game or practice.

Wouldn't be surprised if #2 led to Blake getting shut down early. It's bad if you have to tell your rookie to take it down a notch against your $30 million franchise player. That doesn't change your team culture. Battling and getting better does.

[DetroitSho]

This is my first time seeing his college picture and he's chiseled there. Who tf was crying and calling him fat on draft night? What was that about? I thought maybe he was chubby in college and got cut during draft prep. But dog been a brickhouse from jump.

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[Snakebites]

What do people think his offensive ceiling is?

He’s got more game on that end than I thought but I’m skeptical he’ll ever be a major plus player on that end.

Still very happy with the pick. With his defense and rebounding, even being a neutral offensive player makes him a good mid-round pick.

Emeka Okafor/Alonzo Mourning

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

So like Alonzo Mourning only not as good?

[Han Solo]

Some of the posts in here are brutal.

[tmorgan]

This is my first time seeing his college picture and he's chiseled there. Who tf was crying and calling him fat on draft night? What was that about? I thought maybe he was chubby in college and got cut during draft prep. But dog been a brickhouse from jump.

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

It was from headshots, Sho. He has chubby cheeks for whatever reason. That and people are dumb.

[DetroitSho]

What do people think his offensive ceiling is?

He’s got more game on that end than I thought but I’m skeptical he’ll ever be a major plus player on that end.

Still very happy with the pick. With his defense and rebounding, even being a neutral offensive player makes him a good mid-round pick.

Emeka Okafor/Alonzo Mourning

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

So like Alonzo Mourning only not as good?

Or like Alonzo Mourning but better. TF?

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

[DetroitSho]

This is my first time seeing his college picture and he's chiseled there. Who tf was crying and calling him fat on draft night? What was that about? I thought maybe he was chubby in college and got cut during draft prep. But dog been a brickhouse from jump.

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

It was from headshots, Sho. He has chubby cheeks for whatever reason. That and people are dumb.

I'll take people are dumb for 1000.

Sent from my SM-N975U using RealGM mobile app

[DBC10]

What do people think his offensive ceiling is?

He’s got more game on that end than I thought but I’m skeptical he’ll ever be a major plus player on that end.

Still very happy with the pick. With his defense and rebounding, even being a neutral offensive player makes him a good mid-round pick.

He's going to be much better than neutral. Over the last 10, he's putting up 12/11 in only 25 mpg. That pace would already put him in the top half of starting centers offensively. And he's still 19. A top 5 scoring center this year is just over 15ppg. I think that is certainly achievable.

He's also fouling at a pretty high rate at 4.6 per 36. The limiting factor in his scoring is his ability to stay on the court by not committing silly fouls. That and he doesn't really have a bevy of scoring moves yet which intrigues me if he can develop it besides the pocket pass catches & dunk, put backs, and or the wide open 3s. If he can develop a tighter handle, that'll open up a lot for him

But also may be asking too much out of him and his production may stagnate or decline. He's fine as is IMO, we just need a scorer next to Grant and Stew can just play next to their strengths.

[FloridaMan78]

Stewart is displaying he can shoot the three in pressure moments. What’s more encouraging is that Casey is calling his number to shoot the three in important winning moments. If he shoots 2-4 threes a night his numbers and his effectiveness will definitely increase. If opponents have to guard him out to the three point line the lane will open up and cutters will be open. He will need to work on his reads and passing, but sky’s the limit. His work ethic will determine his ceiling.

[440BB]

His work ethic will determine his ceiling.

That work ethic is why I'm optimistic that he'll continue to show improvement. It's a source of pride for him.

[NYPiston]

Honestly, sky is the limit with him if he can hit that 3 with some regularity. He's already a solid defender, is a really good rim runner and is a great, not a good, a GREAT rebounder.

Keep in mind, he's one of the younger guys in the draft so there's lots of room for growth with him and his work ethic is off the charts so I wouldn't limit his potential. Not saying he'll be as good defensively but he's like a Ben Wallace who can step out and hit some threes if he pans out. I never thought he had that ability watching him in college. He, not Bey, has been the most pleasant surprise for me this season.

[A_dub06]

Man I honestly need to eat some massive crow with this pick. I bagged the hell out of it with such fury that we didn’t draft Pok and while I still feel really like Pok as a prospect and think he can become a much better player Stewart has shown he deserved being taken this high and I really like him as a player. His intangibles and short term growth has been astounding. I still think I would’ve preferred Pok but at this point you can’t be mad with the guy we have. Looking forward to watching his development.

[Mr Peanut]

Not that I'm even remotely suggesting they're the same player, but found some of these stats eerily similar...