PrimeThyme wrote:Kent wrote:
Yeah. Because WeHam is responsible for another man's injury.
They didn't draft guys who were injury-prone anyway.
There are superstars who are "injury-prone" that front offices would target and not be given a side-glance.
Blake Griffin, Anthony Davis, Paul George, hell, Kawhi.
I'm not saying our guys are superstars or will even come close.
Guys get injured. It's sports.
Our incompetent medical staff and the mishandling of injuries under Weltman has been well documented on these boards. We are pretty widely considered a laughing stock In that aspect, so in that sense I think you could blame them for injuries.
Also, there are reasons why guys like Bamba, Chuma, && Cole were at the spot they were. Injury concerns (Chuma, Cole, Isaac) and their under developed bodies (Bamba, Isaac) was partly to do with that. It’s not like they are getting awful luck with fully developed young players who had no injury concerns when they were drafted.
All of them did, && many of us have pointed it out for years. They’ve intentionally gone after specific type of “high” ceiling players who fell to them for reasons outside of their ceiling. Mostly being the fact that they brought along injury risk or were in fact injured when drafted like Chuma was.
Picking "undeveloped" guys is wrong?
We can go down the list of draftees who were "undeveloped" physically. That's typical of 90% of guys who get drafted, let's be real.
I hear you. You make valid points. And yes, Isaac and Bamba were "toothpicks" at ages 19 and 20 respectively.
I'll say that again. At 19 and 20.
Of course they're still developing.
But you don't draft a guy for how good he is at the time of selection just like you don't pick a guy for his physical maturation in that moment.
You get a guy with a ceiling as well as physical potential.
I see nothing wrong with getting a guy who has room to grow physically as well as skill-wise.
I also have no issue with rolling the dice on guys with high ceilings if you're the Magic FO.
I don't have to tell you we almost have to when you factor in our lack of ability to sign marquee free agents from our current position.
Okeke was a projected lottery pick prior to his injury. WeHam gets him on the bet he would recover and we get a steal in the middle of the first round.
Look at Michael Porter Jr. as an example of that kind of move paying off.
Even better... Look at Giannis being drafted at #15 by, yep, John Hammond. Did you see how skinny and frail he was?
In other words, the strategy is effective.
I'm not saying you're wrong for having a different strategy, that is, drafting more physically developed players with no recent injuries.
But to point at Okeke's bone bruise as the reason we mismanage developing guys, picking the wrong player, and mishandling their health is off-base.
You and I can get a bone bruise knocking our leg into the coffee table.(After this lengthy reply, I kinda wish I just started and ended with the coffee table remark...)