Deeeez Knicks wrote:Sam Vecenie released a new big board...Ball #1 with the highest upside...Agree with that take
Having said that, if Ball reaches his ceiling, he has the most potential to be an absolute difference-maker. He's the one with the most upside. He plays a critical position of value that is tough to find as a lead guard. Simply put, in terms of positional value, there is not a center worth taking at No. 1 overall in this draft. Due to how easy it is to find those players on the market, the only centers who should be taken at No. 1 are those who have a high likelihood of being All-NBA representatives. I don't really believe Wiseman is that guy. And as you go up the positional spectrum, defensive value becomes more important. Toppin doesn't quite meet that defensive threshold for me, barring a couple of teams potentially winning the lottery. Avdija and Killian Hayes aren't quite athletic enough to be counted on to be creators at a high level, and creators are by far the most important players you can get in today's NBA.
Wait...I thought shooters were.On the other side, Ball's shooting woes and dereliction of duties defensively also give me pause. But unlike with Edwards, I don't really have much concern that Ball is going to be able to gain separation and create offense. His wiggle with ball in hand is elite. He can change pace and direction at a high level, and he collapses defenses with ease. And once he does that, he's also elite at making plays for others. Ball is a good enough passer that it's my opinion he'll enter the league as one of the 10 or so best passers and playmakers for others from Day One. He's terrific at breaking down defenders, forcing help to come to him in order to open up the passing window, then connecting with his teammate. Oh, and he can also nail tight-window passes, too. A lot of these skills are just things you can't teach. The kid just has great feel for the game.
And that's the key difference between Ball and Edwards.
Edwards was hyped as this super explosive athlete that can create shots any time he wanted to coming into college. Like a mini-Lebron. He's really not that. Folks that actually watch him play at Georgia would know that. Edwards does struggle putting the ball on the floor to create shots against better defenses and defenders in college. Results in him settling for long ill advised jumpers A LOT. So that would be absolutely a pause if we are talking NBA and the expectation is that Edwards can create easy shots for himself at the next level. Now Edwards does have a nice overall game and he can do varying degrees of everything but I wouldn't say anything he does is exceptional. It's why I've call him the "safest" pick at no.1 but his ceiling as an elite impact talent IMO isn't as high as Ball and Ball's ability to create shots in just about every way is far superior. Honestly, Edwards is kinda like a SG version of RJ Barrett in many ways (I still believe Barrett is best suited as a SF). That's both good and bad the same way the Knicks ending up with RJ has had both good and bad to it (RJ does a lot of things, many well, but nothing I would really call elite).
Shooting and lackadaisical defense is what Ball brings that is a concern. But I'm not worried about his shooting as much since his own brother has shown that that odd looking Ball family shooting form can be relied on to shoot 3's (and I was a huge critique of Lonzo Ball's shooting translating coming out of UCLA). Defense? If the issue was that he simply did not have the physical tools to do so, then I'd be more concerned but that's not Ball's problem. Ball is tall, he's got long arms, he's extremely bright (I don't care if he comes off as arrogant or cocky, this isn't the boy scouts) and can read plays easily. Consistent focus is his problem. Can that be changed? Not sure. But we need to realize that none of these guys are perfect. You can cover Ball's weaknesses by having shooters and/or defenders (that's not a difficult task...teams do it all the time...it's why you have "3 and D" being so popular). But to offset jump shooters and defenders by plugging in an elite shot creator? That's a significantly harder task. Just take a look at the Knicks (they actually have jump shooters and defenders but suck cause they don't have an elite shot creator). The one thing they've been unable to find (other than maybe for 2 weeks many seasons ago) in like forever is an elite shot creator that can create easy shots for himself and others.
Which I guess is why Sam Vecenie said what he said that I highlighted in the previous paragraph, wholeheartedly agree with and have said over and over again. The impact of having a guy like Ball creating super easy shots for guys like Robinson and Barrett simply cannot be overstated as to how HUGE that would be for this team. But what about shooting? You got AT LEAST 2 other spots in the roster to find guys that can shoot to play. So if Christian Wood and his shot is real then go after him to play PF next to Robinson. Then you look for a SF that can shoot 3's. Wait...the Knicks actually have one already...Reggie Bullock. Honestly they actually also have Damyean Dotson. But even if not, there are more "3 and D" guys in the NBA than just about any other type of player. In fact, if I were running the Knicks player development, of particular focus for me would have been to have Barrett work on his shooting above all else. It's A LOT easier to become a better shooter than to become a better shot creator. Have him take 500 3's a day. Barrett as a better 3 point shooter would skyrocket his value and ability to contribute to this team and is A LOT more realistic an expectation than for him to turn into an elite shot creator for himself and his teammates.
You don't need one freaking guy that does everything. Those types of guys you can count on one hand (hint: a hand has 5 fingers).
