smartcane wrote:TJD is not a lottery selection due to his age which has nothing to do with basketball skills!! In the lottery people are looking at potential what I am looking at is basketball ability now and TJD is more skilled than Bam when he came out of college and now
Bruh... I think you need to expand your scope of understanding skill. The complete deficiency TJD has of using his right hand is a major knock on any skills assessment. I know it looks nice to see old guys in college playing in a high usage manner, but most of that does not equate to translatable skillsets for the next level.
In regard to size Bam is 6'9 242 TJD is 6'9 232. They both have 7'1" wing span.
Bam measured in at 6'8.75" in height without shoes with a 7'2.75" wingspan weighing 243 pounds at the 2018 draft combine.
TJD measured in at 6'8.25" in height without shoes (-0.5") with a
7'1" wingspan (-1.75") weighing 240 pounds at the 2023 combine.
It's not a huge difference, but Bam is longer and bigger across the board, and even then, he gets by largely because of his strength and elite athleticism. I think TJD is a great athlete in his own right. But, if he's a little smaller and a little less explosive or mobile, then those little differences add up pretty quick. I don't expect him to be quite the versatile defender that Bam is. Casually expecting every big man prospect who shows any glimpses of switching on the perimeter to be equivalent to Bam as a defender is setting yourself up for disappointment (and to sound silly).
Also the combine shooting drill shows TJD is a better shooter than Bam as well. The only knock on TJD is that he is 23 which makes him perfect for where Miami is because he is ready to go. Oh, I forgot to mention his father is Dale Davis, so he knows how to be a pro. I am almost he will not get past Miami in the Draft.
Bam literally shot better on midrange jumpers as a 23-year old in the NBA than TJD shot on midrange jumpers as a 4th-year senior in college. You don't need to try to knock our players to prop up your fave draft guy.
I'm a believer in TJD as a prospect and would be happy for Miami to draft him. I think any disconnect we have is connected to 3 things:
1) Casually equating TJD's offensive skillset to Bam just because he plays in a high usage role against college competition--a lot of that won't translate or be a good playstyle for NBA teams.
2) Assuming TJD's defensive impact level equates to Bam--if you were indicating that Bam is a mold for him to work to try to become or he's a lesser version of Bam, I'd be with you.
3) Making a leap in logic to assume that a 23-year old who still only shoots FTs at 70%, doesn't shoot any 3s, and has never shown to be a good jumpshooter through 4 years in college will surely be a good 3-point shooter (and is a better shooter than Bam).
I hope you're right and we can steal another Bam-level player with pick #18 that can form an elite frontcourt for the future (with his 3-point shot!). But, forgive me for seeing some of the faults in that projection and being suspicious as to how this HIGHLY visible 4-year college star that you are projecting to become an all-NBA level player (DPOY candidate and all-star) is somehow flying under everyone's radar.
My concern is if he can't develop as a shooter (reason for concern despite one shooting drill), then we're just drafting a promising backup for Bam. That's not the optimal use of a 1st round pick IMO.
Again, I'm a fan of TJD as a prospect, but let's try to be realistic and not just hyperbolistic.
