The 'new kids' in town. Any thoughts on them?

[gigantes]

Just looking over the roster, I find it remarkable how many key players either: 1) weren't here last season, 2) had some real question marks surrounding them, or 3) both.

Yet all these guys have done a nice job coming together as a group, collectively helping to keep the team afloat amidst all the injuries. Next man up, indeed.


Bruce Brown - who?
Chris Chiozza - good guy and hard worker, but also an afterthought.
Nic Claxton - who knows if he'll be healthy? Who knows what he'll bring on a regular basis?
Jeff Green - is he still in the NBA?
Blake Griffin - does he have anything left?
Mike James - didn't seem to be NBA material.
Alize Johnson - who?
Tyler Johnson - proved that he could start in the NBA after going undrafted, but beyond that? Hard to say.
Reggie Perry - Barely got drafted, but started contributing rather quickly. Not sure what the future holds for him, but I call that a win.
Landry Shamet - So nice to pick up a young, talented sniper to add to the arsenal. I don't know much about Saddiq Bey (#19 pick in 2020 draft), but I'm liking that Marks traded little more than the rights to Bey to get all three of Shamet, Brown and Perry. All near-immediate contributors to this contending team.


Any thoughts on this crew? To me, it's almost like having a new team compared to only a few months ago...

Miss you, Caris & Fro! :/

[Stone]

Bruce Brown.......He was thought to be defensive specialist getting a few minutes when needed. He turned into a starter. Some team is going to offer him a big paycheck next season. The biggest pleasant surprise of the season.

Cheese.....I was more impressed with Cheese last season than this season, but he has had limited minutes. I could see him back next season, unless he gets a better offer elsewhere.

Nic.....I am still going to use the word potential even though he has shown he is an NBA player. The reason why is because of his injury history. But the foundation is there, he could be a very special player.

Uncle Jeff....Another pleasant surprise, huge upgrade over last season Chandler. It might sound like a cliche but he is fearless leader.

Blake....An intelligent highly skilled player who makes good decisions. Will to do the dirty work and now leading the league in charges.

Mike James....Seems like a good fit so far.....Then dise pointed out that he looks sort of like Deron Williams, and now he is my doghouse....lol

Alize Johnson.....He was the bright light in the blowout loss we took from the Jazz. The Marksman looked him for the rest of the season that speaks volumes.

Tyler Johnson....He has been solid, but not in an above average way.

Reggie Perry.....At the beginning of the season when we lacked bigs, he gave us some decent minutes. I am not as high on him as others. But still to soon to tell.

Shamwow......Took him a while to find his rhythm. But he finally put it all together and it was worth the wait. He is doing more than just shooting 3's. He had some surprising defensive stops and has a knack of being at the right place at the right time.

[Sharcm1]

Bruce brown - he has been the heart of the team. His effort has made the difference not just on the defensive end. He was the role player that was needed.

Chris. - I thought he should get a little more playing time when harden went down. I don’t like shamet at the point guard position but now it’s needed unfortunately. Hope he comes back.

Nic. -damn glad he is healthy. Hope he kicks covid and gets back out there quickly. Shows what we all saw in glimpses last season. Gonna be a very good center in the future although I think he is more suited for the Pf position

Jeff Green - what can I say. Who knew he could still jump. Man has dunked on so many people this season. I didn’t expect that. I thought he would be good defense and spread the floor. But geez the hops were unexpected. Yay Jeff

Blake is exactly what I thought we would get.

Mike James I’ve never heard of. TBD on him

Alize is a good pick up for effort off the bench when we have players down

Johnson- his shot is so effortlessly it’s like it barely touches his hands. I’m impressed by his shooting ability

Perry is tbd.

Shamet. - I will give him credit for turning it around. Needs to be more consistent. He goes on streaks. Better defensively that I thought but still makes some stupid plays on both ends.

[Prokorov]

We knew Tyler Johnson could play, it was just a matter if he was healthy. He was great last year in the bubble and Marks tried to get him twice prior. Hope he stays healthy cause he provides more then his numbers and isnt scared of the moment.

Shamet is an elite shooter. to me i thought this was a fantastic trade. we bring in one of the few elite shooters who isnt just a stand still guy but drills them off screens/off balance and is a pest on defense. People talk about saddiq bey. to me that absurd. 1 there was no chance we would have drafted him. second, he isnt close to the win now contributor or the shooter shamet is.

Jeff Green to me was the next Wilson Chandler. a not quite cooked player who would have some moments but overall not provide much beyond nuetral or less value. Dude is putting people on posters like he is prime Vince and dropping threes like he is KD. Dude has been huge this year

Claxton i always liked, but the talk about him taking allens spot (when allen was still here) and being a center seemed crazy to me. but he proved he could be a center on BOTH ends of the court and seems like a cant miss all-nba defender. he LOVES to dunk and i love guys who get excited to dunk

Chiozza - hard worker but meh. Perry hard worker but meh.

Alize Johnson is low-key a nice signing. may not be any better then cheese or perry but he fills a much bigger need. he has that 6'8" ripped physique with a bulldog mentality. he develops a shot and you have a crowder-esque 3 & D guy.

Bruce Brown,,,, what can you say guy does it all. Steps up everytime we are short handed. has had some huge games for us and been a big part of a ton of short handed wins. great team guy, glue guy. awesome.

[ecuhus1981]

This entire roster merits Executive of the Year honors for Sean Marks.

The pedigree of the names you listed is one thing, but think about what we PAID for them?! This is a legitimate top-tier championship supporting cast with Dinwiddie and Harris, and we picked them up for almost nothing!

I'll be honest, I was really hoping we would get Bey. I'm not looking backward or pining, and Shamet is really turning into the right-now piece we need. Saddiq looks like a great future pro, but who knows if he would have been ready to contribute to a contender.

I also really wish we didn't have to include that late-2nd pick swap in the Brown/Shamet deal. I wanted Paul Reed at 55, I knew he was gonna be a stud. With him, Bey and Claxton our future frontcourt would have been set. The Clippers and Pistons juiced us a lil but there because they knew we had targeted Landry and Bruce. It was a tiny swap from 55 to 57 but it meant watching a great prospect fall one pick earlier to Philly. Reggie is crafty but I don't see him hanging on in the league.

Other than those quibbles, Sean has been brilliant.

[Shark]

This entire roster merits Executive of the Year honors for Sean Marks.

The pedigree of the names you listed is one thing, but think about what we PAID for them?! This is a legitimate top-tier championship supporting cast with Dinwiddie and Harris, and we picked them up for almost nothing!

I'll be honest, I was really hoping we would get Bey. I'm not looking backward or pining, and Shamet is really turning into the right-now piece we need. Saddiq looks like a great future pro, but who knows if he would have been ready to contribute to a contender.

I also really wish we didn't have to include that late-2nd pick swap in the Brown/Shamet deal. I wanted Paul Reed at 55, I knew he was gonna be a stud. With him, Bey and Claxton our future frontcourt would have been set. The Clippers and Pistons juiced us a lil but there because they knew we had targeted Landry and Bruce. It was a tiny swap from 55 to 57 but it meant watching a great prospect fall one pick earlier to Philly. Reggie is crafty but I don't see him hanging on in the league.

Other than those quibbles, Sean has been brilliant.

This.

Feels like a lot of the sports media has forgotten just how good of an executive Marks is. They'll whine and complain about how the buyout system is broken, but somehow overlook all of the smaller, sneaky good moves Marks has made to create this contending team.

[sashaturiaf]

Everybody you listed down has been great (other than the 2 2 way guys who haven't played enough). We aren't the first seed without the role players.

However in terms of importance and potential down the line noone there is close to Claxton. Defensively he is a game changer already just based off pure athleticism, and offensively he is extremely raw but has shown flashes of great skill for his size. Given him another season or two or seasoning and he is an all star and one of the better bigs in the league.

[Prokorov]

This entire roster merits Executive of the Year honors for Sean Marks.

The pedigree of the names you listed is one thing, but think about what we PAID for them?! This is a legitimate top-tier championship supporting cast with Dinwiddie and Harris, and we picked them up for almost nothing!

I'll be honest, I was really hoping we would get Bey. I'm not looking backward or pining, and Shamet is really turning into the right-now piece we need. Saddiq looks like a great future pro, but who knows if he would have been ready to contribute to a contender.

I also really wish we didn't have to include that late-2nd pick swap in the Brown/Shamet deal. I wanted Paul Reed at 55, I knew he was gonna be a stud. With him, Bey and Claxton our future frontcourt would have been set. The Clippers and Pistons juiced us a lil but there because they knew we had targeted Landry and Bruce. It was a tiny swap from 55 to 57 but it meant watching a great prospect fall one pick earlier to Philly. Reggie is crafty but I don't see him hanging on in the league.

Other than those quibbles, Sean has been brilliant.

This reminds of when people were like "you traded the 6th pick for gerald wallace, that pick turned into lillard". But we wouldnt have drafted lillard. Same here, we wouldnt have drafted Bey. We took him because thats who the pistons wanted, Marks was going to draft RJ Hampton if they kept the pick.

The other point, While Shamet is a piece to help win now, he is 24 years old and part of the future as well.

Bey is kind of a underwhelming player too. He is hailed as a 3 & D guy but his defense is pretty mediocure. there is a reason he went way outside the lotto. Also he shoots 38% from three in a league where the average is 35% And he does it hitting wide open shots for a terrible team, no fans, and no pressure.

Bey from three
Wide open (no one within 6 feet) - 3.2 attempts per game
Open (nearest defender 4 - 6 feet) - 2.5 attempts per game
Tight (nearest defender 2-4 feet) - 0.4 attempts per game
very tight (nearest defender within 2 feet) - 0 attempts per game

He basically only takes open shots, stand still catch and shoot with no one around, in low leverage situations, with no fans.

super over hyped. low ceiling.

[sashaturiaf]

This entire roster merits Executive of the Year honors for Sean Marks.

The pedigree of the names you listed is one thing, but think about what we PAID for them?! This is a legitimate top-tier championship supporting cast with Dinwiddie and Harris, and we picked them up for almost nothing!

I'll be honest, I was really hoping we would get Bey. I'm not looking backward or pining, and Shamet is really turning into the right-now piece we need. Saddiq looks like a great future pro, but who knows if he would have been ready to contribute to a contender.

I also really wish we didn't have to include that late-2nd pick swap in the Brown/Shamet deal. I wanted Paul Reed at 55, I knew he was gonna be a stud. With him, Bey and Claxton our future frontcourt would have been set. The Clippers and Pistons juiced us a lil but there because they knew we had targeted Landry and Bruce. It was a tiny swap from 55 to 57 but it meant watching a great prospect fall one pick earlier to Philly. Reggie is crafty but I don't see him hanging on in the league.

Other than those quibbles, Sean has been brilliant.

This reminds of when people were like "you traded the 6th pick for gerald wallace, that pick turned into lillard". But we wouldnt have drafted lillard. Same here, we wouldnt have drafted Bey. We took him because thats who the pistons wanted, Marks was going to draft RJ Hampton if they kept the pick.

The other point, While Shamet is a piece to help win now, he is 24 years old and part of the future as well.

Bey is kind of a underwhelming player too. He is hailed as a 3 & D guy but his defense is pretty mediocure. there is a reason he went way outside the lotto. Also he shoots 38% from three in a league where the average is 35% And he does it hitting wide open shots for a terrible team, no fans, and no pressure.

Bey from three
Wide open (no one within 6 feet) - 3.2 attempts per game
Open (nearest defender 4 - 6 feet) - 2.5 attempts per game
Tight (nearest defender 2-4 feet) - 0.4 attempts per game
very tight (nearest defender within 2 feet) - 0 attempts per game

He basically only takes open shots, stand still catch and shoot with no one around, in low leverage situations, with no fans.

super over hyped. low ceiling.

I think Bey would be useful for us. Sure he's mostly just a glorified spotup shooter but open 3s is all he will get on this team. The fact he's 6'8 and solidly built helps our switching D as well.

However let bygones be bygones. Shamet and BB are part of the rotation and for this year at least I'd rather have that depth than Bey. In the playoffs a 6'8 switchable shooter is always useful...

[andrewww]

Personally, Id have both Mike James and Tyler Johnson ahead of Shamet on the guard depth chart.

Here’s hoping Dinwiddie comes back.

[Prokorov]

Personally, Id have both Mike James and Tyler Johnson ahead of Shamet on the guard depth chart.

Here’s hoping Dinwiddie comes back.

Shamets been great the last 2+ months. solid on both ends and great shooting. he won us a game or 2.

James is more a ball handler and TJ a G-F on defense. all play somewhat different roles. there is room for all 3