RealGM

just to preface the context of this post
1. i haven't watched him all year
2. i've only seen what he can do at ucla and he did really well with lonzo
3. im a lakers fan

i see he hasn't logged many minutes, but the pacers have been quite successful this year and have a lot of veterans that probably take up most of the minutes

are pacers fans still seeing him as a project they hope to keep or with oladipo's breakout year have priorities changed in trying to develop this guy at all or is he really just a bust from your perspective?

Thoughts on Leaf?

Is he still on this team?...JK, or maybe not.

Seems like a nice kid, and that he genuinely TRIES when he plays... But I'm not sure about his future. Not quite sure what kind of player he could even develop into with his skill set. How many quality minutes he could contribute on a night to night basis to be a full rotation player, let alone anything more. Still the same questions I had on draft night.

But that being said, I could be way off the mark and what I do know is that what he lacks in total game, he makes up for with bball IQ. I've seen a lot of split second decisions while on the court, just off the ball movement and some rotations, that had me feeling encouraged.

Needs to build a literal TON of muscle though, haha.

His offensive game doesn't look smooth all but is as good as it can be for a non lottery rookie.

Defensively he is a bit of a tweener to me. Too slow to guard 4s and not muscular/athletic enough to defend as a 5.

But he is still very young, so I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.

He can shoot, so there's an NBA player in there somewhere. Seems to be pretty smart and didn't shy away from opportunities as a rookie. Far from an NBA starter, and far from a bust, which means he's more or less on schedule so far.

Wished we would have drafted OG, who would have been the perfect future 3-D. Leaf could eventually become an 8 or 9th man if he becomes a consistent shooter and semi-capable defender.

Jermainevent wrote:Wished we would have drafted OG, who would have been the perfect future 3-D. Leaf could eventually become an 8 or 9th man if he becomes a consistent shooter and semi-capable defender.

If we are really going to have hindsight and wish I would go with Kuzma.

We won 48 games. We often came back from big deficits. He was a rookie. Thad Young and Sabonis and later Booker all were contributors. There weren't many 3rd unit minutes. He spent almost no time in the gleague which shows the coaches have confidence in him.

How will we do in the playoffs? Will we show the potential for an even bigger year or are there several teams ahead of us to the point that letting Thad and Book walk makes sense? I say it is a few weeks early to decide to go with Damos and TJ at the 4 next year as it'll cost wins even though it could be the long term plan.

Pacers_Freak wrote:

Jermainevent wrote:Wished we would have drafted OG, who would have been the perfect future 3-D. Leaf could eventually become an 8 or 9th man if he becomes a consistent shooter and semi-capable defender.

If we are really going to have hindsight and wish I would go with Kuzma.

OG, Kuzma, John Collins yeah TJ is not an NBA player right now. He has a lot of work to do and needs 20 lbs of muscle.

I actually like Leaf's offensive potential. I think he'll be a valued stretch big at some point in his career. Problem is, I see him as a 4/5, and we're kind of stacked at those positions. You never know about the future, but I think he'll struggle to get development time with the Pacers.

As for what he can do now, he can shoot for sure. But he hasn't shown a lot of that all-around game he had in UCLA.

Jermainevent wrote:Wished we would have drafted OG, who would have been the perfect future 3-D. Leaf could eventually become an 8 or 9th man if he becomes a consistent shooter and semi-capable defender.

Me too. The worst part of it was that we already knew before the draft that PG was on his way out. Getting a young SF (and a local kid at that) kind of seemed like a no-brainer.

Hasn't had much opportunity so far, but hasn't done much with the time he's had out there. Just looks a little awkward. I don't have super huge hopes, but hopefully someone calls him soft soon so he bulks up and plays more physical.

I still think he could be a solid player in the league. Seems like with consistent minutes he would be fine at the offensive end. Good shooter understands how to move the ball and looks to be a capable rebounder. Defense is the question. Doesn’t seem like he’s that bad of an athlete so I have hope he could develop into an average defender.

Right now OG looks like he would have been a better choice.

As many have already said, OG, J. Allen, Kuzma, John Collins would have all been better picks than Leaf. KP has done well for us except with the Leaf pick. I know hindsight is always 20/20 but we've been to the Leaf movie before.

Pacers_Freak wrote:

Jermainevent wrote:Wished we would have drafted OG, who would have been the perfect future 3-D. Leaf could eventually become an 8 or 9th man if he becomes a consistent shooter and semi-capable defender.

If we are really going to have hindsight and wish I would go with Kuzma.

Kuzma, OG, John Collins, Jarrett Allen.

I could end up being wrong but I had Leaf as a 2nd round pick, and nothing I've seen has caused me to go back on that. I don't think he's an NBA player.

Something that doesn't get mentioned a lot is that he gets a ton of rebounds. I also like it when he drives past his man. Smart, decent athlete, I think it all depends on his defense.

It is also kind of fun to watch Leaf and Holliday play together. They are definitely on the same page from their college days. It would be fun to watch them sub in together in the second unit.

also fun to see Leaf with Big Al's hook shots.

Sent from my phone.

Don't like him. Didn't like him before the draft. Haven't liked him since. He can spend all year in Ft. Wayne or he can be traded for a second round pick. I would've drafted OG and been thrilled. I would've taken the chance on Kuzma if OG was gone. TJ was the last guy I wanted to draft and I'd rather see Holiday, Ike, and Alize in the rotation before TJ.

pizza guy wrote:Don't like him. Didn't like him before the draft. Haven't liked him since. He can spend all year in Ft. Wayne or he can be traded for a second round pick. I would've drafted OG and been thrilled. I would've taken the chance on Kuzma if OG was gone. TJ was the last guy I wanted to draft and I'd rather see Holiday, Ike, and Alize in the rotation before TJ.

In all fairness, no one had Kuzma before that draft. At all. He was a mid to late 2nd projected. It wasn’t a Leaf or Kuzma debate. OG was debated then, but not Kuzma.