Tyler Ulis News, Discussion and Highlights

[NTB]

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[DRK]

In the last month, Ulis has been putting up:

15PPG, 3.5RPG and 8.5APG on 43% from the field.

Loving this kid more and more. Travesty that he didnt get more playing time before the All Star Break. Much like Big Sauce he isnt the most athletic or biggest player, but he makes up for it with his basketball smarts and positioning

[jcsunsfan]

I am now convinced that Ulis has what it takes to be a starting pg. His overall effectiveness will depend heavily on who is around him. He is NOT a lead guard in the mold of today's NBA. If he improves his shooting he can be very, very effective.

[ATTL]

Are we high enough on ulis to trade bledsoe and start Tyler next year? Even if we dont draft a pg this year?

If we draft ball or fultz, they Are both big enough to play alongside Tyler in the backcourt

[NTB]

Are we high enough on ulis to trade bledsoe and start Tyler next year? Even if we dont draft a pg this year?

If we draft ball or fultz, they Are both big enough to play alongside Tyler in the backcourt

I don't know.

I think so.

[jcsunsfan]

Are we high enough on ulis to trade bledsoe and start Tyler next year? Even if we dont draft a pg this year?

If we draft ball or fultz, they Are both big enough to play alongside Tyler in the backcourt

Not sure. I don't think so. The offense on the rest of the roster has to improve before we could do that.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Are we high enough on ulis to trade bledsoe and start Tyler next year? Even if we dont draft a pg this year?

If we draft ball or fultz, they Are both big enough to play alongside Tyler in the backcourt

Not sure. I don't think so. The offense on the rest of the roster has to improve before we could do that.

I can only say that I prefer Ulis to Bledsoe. I hope the draft gives us cause to trade Bled.

[bigfoot]

The Suns boosted their assists per game from around 18 to 22 in the later part of season ... about 55 games or so into the season. This correlates with Ulis taking Knight bench minutes. The assist numbers stayed the same when Ulis moved to the starting lineup and when Bledsoe sat. It's clear Knight is a ball stopper and doesn't play team ball.

What is intriguing is how Ulis and Chandler might work the pick-n-roll. Chandler really never meshed well with either Knight or Bledsoe. Booker seemed to get the best lobs to Chandler out of the guards. Ulis and Chandler in the pick-n-roll could cause absolute nightmares for opposing teams.

If Ulis could hit 3's at a near 40% clip he could be a legit starter in this league.

[ATTL]

Rookie of the month. At worst ulis will be a good backup point guard.

[Zelaznyrules]

Rookie of the month. At worst ulis will be a good backup point guard.

I don't see backup in his future at all. I've said all along that he's a starting point guard in this league and I've seen nothing to make me change my mind. If he doesn't start for us, he won't be here on his second contract.

[itlnsunsfan]

He can start in this league. Is he our starter?

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Rookie of the month. At worst ulis will be a good backup point guard.

I don't see backup in his future at all. I've said all along that he's a starting point guard in this league and I've seen nothing to make me change my mind. If he doesn't start for us, he won't be here on his second contract.

He can start in this league. Is he our starter?

Ulis passes my eye test, as well as the stats test. I think he should start if we don't draft Fultz or Ball - even then, I want Ulis playing 34 MPG.

[itlnsunsfan]

Rookie of the month. At worst ulis will be a good backup point guard.

I don't see backup in his future at all. I've said all along that he's a starting point guard in this league and I've seen nothing to make me change my mind. If he doesn't start for us, he won't be here on his second contract.

He can start in this league. Is he our starter?

Ulis passes my eye test, as well as the stats test. I think he should start if we don't draft Fultz or Ball - even then, I want Ulis playing 34 MPG.

Perhaps Jackson is the guy then. I'm not sure how well a Ball Ulis backcourt would work. Ulis is already a good distributor.

[Zelaznyrules]

He can start in this league. Is he our starter?

I think so. Keep in mind, he's just coming off his rookie season. It's not like he's peaked or anything and he's likely to fill out some too. Had we opened the season with him playing serious minutes, we'd have removed all doubts about his ability to start as his progression has been remarkable IMO.

[NTB]

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[Saberestar]

[bwgood77]

I don't see backup in his future at all. I've said all along that he's a starting point guard in this league and I've seen nothing to make me change my mind. If he doesn't start for us, he won't be here on his second contract.

He can start in this league. Is he our starter?

Ulis passes my eye test, as well as the stats test. I think he should start if we don't draft Fultz or Ball - even then, I want Ulis playing 34 MPG.

Perhaps Jackson is the guy then. I'm not sure how well a Ball Ulis backcourt would work. Ulis is already a good distributor.

Ideally Ulis is a back up, and a very good one. He doesn't shoot well enough, at 26% from deep and 42% overall. Obviously he has a tough time getting to the rim. He can be a pesky defender on point guards, but switching will often cause obvious problems as well. I love his playmaking skills, but he lacks in some other areas. Of course he should be able to improve, and potentially be a passable nba starter, but he's not likely a playoff basketball type starter.

Comparing him to Tyus Jones, who is a year younger, who I have mentioned before I think would be a great make up, Jones is a far better 3 pt shooter, has a better ast/to ratio, and better offensive and defensive rating.

Now I think Tyus Jones could be a passable starter as well, but probably not top tier. He will certainly be here for his second contract if we want him. We will own his rights and it's not like some other team is going to overpay him to be a starter with so many good PGs in the league and the influx this year.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Ulis passes my eye test, as well as the stats test. I think he should start if we don't draft Fultz or Ball - even then, I want Ulis playing 34 MPG.

Perhaps Jackson is the guy then. I'm not sure how well a Ball Ulis backcourt would work. Ulis is already a good distributor.

Ideally Ulis is a back up, and a very good one. He doesn't shoot well enough, at 26% from deep and 42% overall. Obviously he has a tough time getting to the rim. He can be a pesky defender on point guards, but switching will often cause obvious problems as well. I love his playmaking skills, but he lacks in some other areas. Of course he should be able to improve, and potentially be a passable nba starter, but he's not likely a playoff basketball type starter.

Comparing him to Tyus Jones, who is a year younger, who I have mentioned before I think would be a great make up, Jones is a far better 3 pt shooter, has a better ast/to ratio, and better offensive and defensive rating.

Now I think Tyus Jones could be a passable starter as well, but probably not top tier. He will certainly be here for his second contract if we want him. We will own his rights and it's not like some other team is going to overpay him to be a starter with so many good PGs in the league and the influx this year.

Only because I know how you love precision, Tyus Jones is 4 months younger than Tyler. I'm also a fan of him, FWIW. But a player's rookie 3FG% shouldn't really be assumed to represent how they will shoot for their careers. Kawhi was supposed to be a terrible shooter, and look now. So when you point to DJJ's % or Tyler's, I tend to roll my eyes. It would be a different deal if they were in their fourth years.

[bwgood77]

Perhaps Jackson is the guy then. I'm not sure how well a Ball Ulis backcourt would work. Ulis is already a good distributor.

Ideally Ulis is a back up, and a very good one. He doesn't shoot well enough, at 26% from deep and 42% overall. Obviously he has a tough time getting to the rim. He can be a pesky defender on point guards, but switching will often cause obvious problems as well. I love his playmaking skills, but he lacks in some other areas. Of course he should be able to improve, and potentially be a passable nba starter, but he's not likely a playoff basketball type starter.

Comparing him to Tyus Jones, who is a year younger, who I have mentioned before I think would be a great make up, Jones is a far better 3 pt shooter, has a better ast/to ratio, and better offensive and defensive rating.

Now I think Tyus Jones could be a passable starter as well, but probably not top tier. He will certainly be here for his second contract if we want him. We will own his rights and it's not like some other team is going to overpay him to be a starter with so many good PGs in the league and the influx this year.

Only because I know how you love precision, Tyus Jones is 4 months younger than Tyler. I'm also a fan of him, FWIW. But a player's rookie 3FG% shouldn't really be assumed to represent how they will shoot for their careers. Kawhi was supposed to be a terrible shooter, and look now. So when you point to DJJ's % or Tyler's, I tend to roll my eyes. It would be a different deal if they were in their fourth years.

Kawhi's rookie year, he shot 37.6% from 3. This year he shot 38.1%. Last year he had kind of an outlier year at over 44%. Kawhi wasn't that bad. I guess I forgot to post the comparison with Tyus Jones. He didn't shoot great from 3, at 35.6%, but much much better than Ulis at 26.6%.

http://bkref.com/tiny/F01zg

I think guys can improve their shooting, but I think when a guy shows he is a good shooter at a young age, that's better than a guy not showing it. Maybe that sounds crazy but I don't think so. My guess is that 9x out of 10, a guy that shoots a lot better at a young age than another guy will still shoot better down the road.

I like Ulis, but I'm not going to ignore the facts and pencil in guards that are 26% long distance shooters in as surefire future starters, particularly when they are vastly undersized. As a matter of fact, Ulis has tended to trend down as a long distance shooter as he gains more exposure and gets older. It will be difficult for him to get shots off at times, so it might not be easy to improve or be respected defensively if he doesn't have the ball.

Ulis appears to me to definitely be a long term rotation player and solid backup pg. He's definitely a great pick at where we got him and looks a lot better than other point guards we've tried like Goodwin, Marshall, and even Knight, but I look at the starters across the league, and I'm not sure I see him getting there. Most of the really good point guards can also shoot well, and the guys like Rondo and Rubio or are great at assists but can't shoot are often liabilities.

I definitely wouldn't mind seeing Ulis start one year while our players are getting better since he is purely a pass first guy and I think he would help our other players get better by giving them opportunities. It would also give us time to assess if he could start long term. If we draft Jackson or another SF and end up trading Bledsoe or he gets injured.

[ImNotMcDiSwear]

Ideally Ulis is a back up, and a very good one. He doesn't shoot well enough, at 26% from deep and 42% overall. Obviously he has a tough time getting to the rim. He can be a pesky defender on point guards, but switching will often cause obvious problems as well. I love his playmaking skills, but he lacks in some other areas. Of course he should be able to improve, and potentially be a passable nba starter, but he's not likely a playoff basketball type starter.

Comparing him to Tyus Jones, who is a year younger, who I have mentioned before I think would be a great make up, Jones is a far better 3 pt shooter, has a better ast/to ratio, and better offensive and defensive rating.

Now I think Tyus Jones could be a passable starter as well, but probably not top tier. He will certainly be here for his second contract if we want him. We will own his rights and it's not like some other team is going to overpay him to be a starter with so many good PGs in the league and the influx this year.

Only because I know how you love precision, Tyus Jones is 4 months younger than Tyler. I'm also a fan of him, FWIW. But a player's rookie 3FG% shouldn't really be assumed to represent how they will shoot for their careers. Kawhi was supposed to be a terrible shooter, and look now. So when you point to DJJ's % or Tyler's, I tend to roll my eyes. It would be a different deal if they were in their fourth years.

Kawhi's rookie year, he shot 37.6% from 3. This year he shot 38.1%. Last year he had kind of an outlier year at over 44%. Kawhi wasn't that bad. I guess I forgot to post the comparison with Tyus Jones. He didn't shoot great from 3, at 35.6%, but much much better than Ulis at 26.6%.

http://bkref.com/tiny/F01zg

I think guys can improve their shooting, but I think when a guy shows he is a good shooter at a young age, that's better than a guy not showing it. Maybe that sounds crazy but I don't think so. My guess is that 9x out of 10, a guy that shoots a lot better at a young age than another guy will still shoot better down the road.

I like Ulis, but I'm not going to ignore the facts and pencil in guards that are 26% long distance shooters in as surefire future starters, particularly when they are vastly undersized. As a matter of fact, Ulis has tended to trend down as a long distance shooter as he gains more exposure and gets older. It will be difficult for him to get shots off at times, so it might not be easy to improve or be respected defensively if he doesn't have the ball.

Ulis appears to me to definitely be a long term rotation player and solid backup pg. He's definitely a great pick at where we got him and looks a lot better than other point guards we've tried like Goodwin, Marshall, and even Knight, but I look at the starters across the league, and I'm not sure I see him getting there. Most of the really good point guards can also shoot well, and the guys like Rondo and Rubio or are great at assists but can't shoot are often liabilities.

I definitely wouldn't mind seeing Ulis start one year while our players are getting better since he is purely a pass first guy and I think he would help our other players get better by giving them opportunities. It would also give us time to assess if he could start long term. If we draft Jackson or another SF and end up trading Bledsoe or he gets injured.

I think it's likely that Ulis is not a starter in the league. I just don't think it's wise to render judgment. Same with DJJ. Players improve.

Taking a look at your theory, I chose 10 prominent guards and wing players at random (3FG):

Isaiah Thomas - 37.9% rookie year; 37.9% this year
Jimmy Butler - 18.2% rookie (low volume), 38.1% sophomore; 36.7% last year
Paul George - 29.7%; 39.3%
Jeff Teague - 21.9%; 35.7%
George Hill - 32.9%; 40.3%
Gordon Hayward - 47.3%(!); 39.8%
Derrick Rose - 22.2%; 21.7%
Jrue Holliday - 39%; 35.6%
Mike Conley - 33%; 40.7%
Goran Dragic - 37%; 40.5%

You're more right than I would have expected. The bad news is that Devin Booker's a 34% 3FG shooter