The Jaylen Nowell Thread

[Jedzz]

That works too.

[minimus]

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It is interesting how Nowell will be able to impact the game in NBA. His 3pt shot will fall at some point. But here in the video, I like how hard he ran in transition, also he executed perfectly a cut to the basket. Apart from rookie mistakes in defense, he played very active defense. In his gleague videos, I noticed how he well he moves off the ball for a rookie. These skills will help him to earn playing time once he starts to hit those open 3s. I hope we will have a solid backup PG who can run offense, so Nowell gets some chemistry on the floor. Hopefully, it will be JMac, or even multiple quality ballhandlers.

[KGdaBom]

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It is interesting how Nowell will be able to impact the game in NBA. His 3pt shot will fall at some point. But here in the video, I like how hard he ran in transition, also he executed perfectly a cut to the basket. Apart from rookie mistakes in defense, he played very active defense. In his gleague videos, I noticed how he well he moves off the ball for a rookie. These skills will help him to earn playing time once he starts to hit those open 3s. I hope we will have a solid backup PG who can run offense, so Nowell gets some chemistry on the floor. Hopefully, it will be JMac, or even multiple quality ballhandlers.

I think of Nowell as a SG not a PG.

[Jedzz]

Well, still late in the game but a solid chunk of playing time was nice to see, hitting a few shots, looked solid rookie-ish. Which is not something we've often seen. Nice to see some of the shots working out finally, as I had pushed so much to see last year. Was surprised the team even brought him to the game.

Wondering if he'll get more chances or not. Liked what I saw. Wish he would have had more early chances last year to warm into this and been able to show what he did Saturday night. The game wasn't as close in score without him playing.

13 minutes. 22 points (highest on team for game)
Only one rebound however. Couple passes could have been assists I think if shots were made by others. But wasn't otherwise doing much else either. Useful as bench scorer if nothing else, and looks like the team will still need those.

[winforlose]

Well, still late in the game but a solid chunk of playing time was nice to see, hitting a few shots, looked solid rookie-ish. Which is not something we've often seen. Nice to see some of the shots working out finally, as I had pushed so much to see last year. Was surprised the team even brought him to the game.

Wondering if he'll get more chances or not. Liked what I saw. Wish he would have had more early chances last year to warm into this and been able to show what he did Saturday night. The game wasn't as close in score without him playing.

13 minutes. 22 points (highest on team for game)
Only one rebound however. Couple passes could have been assists I think if shots were made by others. But wasn't otherwise doing much else either. Useful as bench scorer if nothing else, and looks like the team will still need those.

Assume MB misses some time with legal trouble suspension. That creates minutes at the two which he could fill. Rubio, Nowell, Edwards, JH, and Reid is a decent lineup. If Rubio can shoot and Nowell can shoot like he did in the G league (we would run plays to get him open.) then we would have a lot of opportunities for 3s. I agree it is too early to give the kid more than a pat on the back. That said, if he can get over his mental issues I see him as a Beasley in the making. Especially if he can improve with minutes and experience.

[Jedzz]

Well, still late in the game but a solid chunk of playing time was nice to see, hitting a few shots, looked solid rookie-ish. Which is not something we've often seen. Nice to see some of the shots working out finally, as I had pushed so much to see last year. Was surprised the team even brought him to the game.

Wondering if he'll get more chances or not. Liked what I saw. Wish he would have had more early chances last year to warm into this and been able to show what he did Saturday night. The game wasn't as close in score without him playing.

13 minutes. 22 points (highest on team for game)
Only one rebound however. Couple passes could have been assists I think if shots were made by others. But wasn't otherwise doing much else either. Useful as bench scorer if nothing else, and looks like the team will still need those.

Assume MB misses some time with legal trouble suspension. That creates minutes at the two which he could fill. Rubio, Nowell, Edwards, JH, and Reid is a decent lineup. If Rubio can shoot and Nowell can shoot like he did in the G league (we would run plays to get him open.) then we would have a lot of opportunities for 3s. I agree it is too early to give the kid more than a pat on the back. That said, if he can get over his mental issues I see him as a Beasley in the making. Especially if he can improve with minutes and experience.

Agree, except I don't see him playing similar to Beasley. He doesn't or at least hasn't shown the kind of full game energy that Beasley churns up. Of course we haven't seen him with that chance in the NBA for that much time. But even in college he seemed more like a controlled player just being in the right position for most of games and would click up a notch in the 4th of games when his teams would lean on him more. Beasley's just constantly burning his calories and the guy's next to him. But I agree, he could be used as a bench SG for bench scoring and with Rubio could do well. Even looked good with Hagan next to him. I was surprised he looked pretty confident carrying the ball up this year more than last. But he was also dumping off a pass early in the possession and then assuming SG/wing roles.

[Klomp]

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Tipping our hand, perhaps?

[winforlose]

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Tipping our hand, perhaps?

Or making an honest and sincere attempt to apologize to Nowell for his flagrant mistreatment last year. Nowell proved himself to be found money and Finch treated him like a misbehaving child who couldn’t quite stay out of timeout even when he was behaving perfectly. Nowell probably wants to go somewhere where they will give him 20+ minutes a night and let him grow into a starter. Can you blame him?

[shrink]

Well, I think it’s good for Finch to acknowledge Nowell’s improvement, but he was in a tough spot here. Guard minutes had to go to Ant, PatBev and DLo last year for team chemistry. Malik needed more minutes too for our 3PA-style, and the team ran so well when McLaughlin was out there. Overall, we were pretty healthy too, all thing considering,

All these players are back next year, so far, so unless a DLo trade creates some opportunities, I don’t see who’s minutes you take away to give to Nowell. His defense wasn’t doing us any favors. If we can’t find minutes for him, we should trade him for our sake and his.

[winforlose]

Well, I think it’s good for Finch to acknowledge Nowell’s improvement, but he was in a tough boat here. Guard minutes had to go to Ant, PatBev and DLo last year for team chemistry. Malik needed more minutes too for our 3PA-style, and the team ran so well when McLaughlin was out there. Overall, we were pretty healthy too, all thing considering,

All these players are back next year, so far, so unless a DLo trade creates some opportunities, I don’t see who’s minutes you take away to give to Nowell. His defense wasn’t doing us any favors. If we can’t find minutes for him, we should trade him for our sake and his.

It is time to trade Beasley and give his minutes to Nowell. Beasley is a 1 level scorer who can occasionally rebound or defend when he feels like it. Nowell is a 3 level scorer who given the same number of shots as Beasley might be able to do what Beasley does. He can also attack close outs, get to the free throw line (getting other teams in foul trouble,) playmake for others and score in bunches even when not given consistent play time.

[Nick K]

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Tipping our hand, perhaps?

Or making an honest and sincere attempt to apologize to Nowell for his flagrant mistreatment last year. Nowell proved himself to be found money and Finch treated him like a misbehaving child who couldn’t quite stay out of timeout even when he was behaving perfectly. Nowell probably wants to go somewhere where they will give him 20+ minutes a night and let him grow into a starter. Can you blame him?

I like Nowell as you do but Finch has said before that defense has kept him off the floor.

Maybe more minutes will help him develop there.

[Dewey]

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Tipping our hand, perhaps?

Or making an honest and sincere attempt to apologize to Nowell for his flagrant mistreatment last year. Nowell proved himself to be found money and Finch treated him like a misbehaving child who couldn’t quite stay out of timeout even when he was behaving perfectly. Nowell probably wants to go somewhere where they will give him 20+ minutes a night and let him grow into a starter. Can you blame him?

I like Nowell as you do but Finch has said before that defense has kept him off the floor.

Maybe more minutes will help him develop there.

Meh, replaceable. But ya if Beasley (the rifleman) and Okogie are not back, that would be his best chance.

[Baseline81]

From today's presser:

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[Klomp]

From today's presser:

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Woah...

[winforlose]

From today's presser:

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MCD defending without fouling, Ant getting healthy, and Nowell being given his proper role. Sounds about right to me.

[MN7725]

From today's presser:

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love it

I've been all in on Nowell since that stretch he had in Jan/Feb 2021, and then he confirmed it last season when he got his infrequent opportunities

give him backup primary ballhandler role, and in closing lineups

[Nick K]

From today's presser:

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Is that revealing... Or what?

[fattymcgee]

Well, I think it’s good for Finch to acknowledge Nowell’s improvement, but he was in a tough boat here. Guard minutes had to go to Ant, PatBev and DLo last year for team chemistry. Malik needed more minutes too for our 3PA-style, and the team ran so well when McLaughlin was out there. Overall, we were pretty healthy too, all thing considering,

All these players are back next year, so far, so unless a DLo trade creates some opportunities, I don’t see who’s minutes you take away to give to Nowell. His defense wasn’t doing us any favors. If we can’t find minutes for him, we should trade him for our sake and his.

It is time to trade Beasley and give his minutes to Nowell. Beasley is a 1 level scorer who can occasionally rebound or defend when he feels like it. Nowell is a 3 level scorer who given the same number of shots as Beasley might be able to do what Beasley does. He can also attack close outs, get to the free throw line (getting other teams in foul trouble,) playmake for others and score in bunches even when not given consistent play time.

Except he doesn't get to the FT line and he's not a great playmaker. He wasn't good at running the offense or getting the others involved which is why McLaughlin started getting more run and Jordan made Prince and Beasley better getting them rolling.

If he improves his defense and does a better job getting others involved he could be very valuable.

[shrink]

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Wow. This is big. Lumping Jaylen in with Ant and McDaniels is a huge show of confidence, particularly since this is coming before the team engages him in contract negotiations!

It’s not unwarranted. Here are Jaylen Nowell’s PER36 numbers

FG .475, 3P .394 on 5.9 3PA, RB 4.5, APG 4.8, 19.5 PPG

I have never seen him as a replacement for Beasley. Malik shot a ridiculous 11.6 3PA PER36, at .377. If a player is shooting this many, these aren’t the easier catch-and-shoot. Beasley’s gravity is greater as well, because he’s one of only 5-6 players in the NBA who are a significant three point threat on the run. I’ve always seen Nowell as more of an Ant backup than a Beasley backup, and that one particular skill is important.

However, it sounds to me that Nowell is getting an endorsement from Finch over Beasley, and it wouldn’t surprise me to see Malik traded to find more minutes for Nowell. Hopefully DLo’s absence will give Jaylen more opportunities as well.

[winforlose]

Well, I think it’s good for Finch to acknowledge Nowell’s improvement, but he was in a tough boat here. Guard minutes had to go to Ant, PatBev and DLo last year for team chemistry. Malik needed more minutes too for our 3PA-style, and the team ran so well when McLaughlin was out there. Overall, we were pretty healthy too, all thing considering,

All these players are back next year, so far, so unless a DLo trade creates some opportunities, I don’t see who’s minutes you take away to give to Nowell. His defense wasn’t doing us any favors. If we can’t find minutes for him, we should trade him for our sake and his.

It is time to trade Beasley and give his minutes to Nowell. Beasley is a 1 level scorer who can occasionally rebound or defend when he feels like it. Nowell is a 3 level scorer who given the same number of shots as Beasley might be able to do what Beasley does. He can also attack close outs, get to the free throw line (getting other teams in foul trouble,) playmake for others and score in bunches even when not given consistent play time.

Except he doesn't get to the FT line and he's not a great playmaker. He wasn't good at running the offense or getting the others involved which is why McLaughlin started getting more run and Jordan made Prince and Beasley better getting them rolling.

If he improves his defense and does a better job getting others involved he could be very valuable.

Nowell played 975 minutes last season and attempted 92 free throws. By comparison JMAC played 902 minutes and attempted 40 free throws. Beasley played 1976 minutes and attempted 60 free throws (a number of which were technical free throws.) Pick a player, we can discuss their free throw per minute rate. Nowell did well for us at getting to the line.

You say he was a bad play maker, Beasley had 116 assists the whole season, while Nowell had 130. 130 for a SG who also shot 39.4% from 3, 52.6% from 2, EFG of 55.1% and free throw rate 78.3%. For a guy who doesn’t regular minutes that impresses me. By comparison a play making PG in JMAC only had 180 while shooting 31.8 from 3, 53% from 2 an EFG of 50.8%, and a free throw rate of 75%.

The biggest problem for Nowell was he wasn’t shooting enough and was deferring to the other offensive players instead of attacking. JMAC passes well, and has the little ninja hands, but he allows his defender to cheat off of him
and make the drive more difficult while also making defensive rebounds easier. JMAC is a good passer, but not much else.

Edit to add: Nowell is effective even when the big 3 aren’t available. Beasley creates space but he also needs space to get his 3s away. Nowell creates offense off the dribble and can generate his own shot as well as passing to others so they can get theirs.