bwgood77 wrote:Blonde wrote:Give Rubio a PG to mentor for the next two years. It will be the most valuable thing Rubio can do for this team during his contract (not meant at all as a slight against Ricky). If all of Hayes, Lewis, and Haliburton are off the board I might rethink this. But I am still relatively high on other PG prospects in Cole Anthony, Terry, and Maxey who would be available.
Less keen on non-initiator types like Bane or Nesmith, and even less interested in most of the bigs in this class. I could be sold on Bane in the mid teens.
There is a good chance you know this, but I think of Bane as an able initiator. He did avg almost 4 ast per 36, 1 less than Lewis...I think he'd be a little more of a Brogdon type next to Booker (or Rubio) or a Beal type....a guy who can really shoot but also initiate the offense if need be...make plays for others..but also is very good defensively and does the little things.
I do think of Lewis as more of a score first PG, and while some feel that's the way PGs should be these days, I do really value a guy who looks for others a bit more.
Hayes has a really good shot to assist ratio...only a little over 1.5. Haliburton is about 1.75, Lewis is about 2.8....so definitely looks to score a lot more than the other guys,and is the smallest, so he definitely would play PG..on top of that he is the worst shooter of the bunch...his quickness probably allows him to get to the rim, but despite him being worse from 3, he is also worse from 2 (less than 50% career) compared to Haliburton (over 62%) and Bane (over 54%).
Now back the shot to assist ratio, Bane shoots over 3x as many shots as assists, but he is also a SG who will typically not be the primary initiator but more of a secondary one who still averaged 3.9 apg in college.
I think my problem with Bane is that he's not a great ball-handler, and doesn't have a great first step. When you're 6'5 with a short wingspan, if you want to be a creator / initiator, you'd be better be a very good ball-handler or have a great first step. Sure, he's a high IQ player and moves the ball really well, but I seriously doubt that he'd come into the NBA and carve out a role for himself as a secondary creator / initiator. I think his role in the NBA is primarily going to be as a 3 n D player, defending 1s and 2s and spotting up. That should be a nice player, but I just don't think we'd be doing enough justice to the #10 pick. I'm fine taking him with a later pick if we're trading down.
Like I've mentioned, my favoured prospects at the #10 are Haliburton (no brainer if he's available), and then Saddiq Bey. I have far greater faith in Saddiq Bey turning out to be a superior initiator at the NBA level, simply because of his size. I think 6'7 or 6'8 is a swing height in the NBA, and if you have the ability to handle the ball or create at that size, you're going to be successful, especially if you can shoot. His maturity and defensive switchability are major pluses too.
If we're hell-bent on getting a PG, I think Kira would be my pick from the lot of Kira, Cole, Terry, Maledon and Maxey.
Cole is too much of an enigma (even though clearly the most talented).
Terry I just can't see replicating someone like Trae or Steph whom he often gets compared to. He's a great shooter, but what sets Trae and Steph apart is their absolutely elite ball-handling and ability to create separation. With Trae, you also have elite passing ability. Terry I think is a fairly limited ball-handler and an average playmaker. I think he'll be more of a secondary guard in the NBA in the mould of a Seth Curry. I also think he'll be a complete liability on defense - just a very poor frame, and below average length.
Maledon intrigues me, especially given the Tony Parker mentorship, but I frankly don't know enough about him.
I like Maxey's potential as a scorer, but his efficiency was pretty poor.
All things considered, Kira is the one I'm most confident in projecting as an NBA player. Now Kira isn't the most polished prospect , but I really am confident in his speed standing out in the NBA. I mean if a player as limited as Ish Smith can carve out a role in the NBA based on nothing but pure speed, Kira's going to make it. Whether it's going to be as a Dennis Schroder type 6th man, or a high-level Fox type starter, I'm not sure. But if his floor Schroder, that's frankly good enough.
