dckingsfan wrote:PDXKnight wrote:oldfishermen wrote:Agree with the consensus...
1- Deni
2-Toumani
After that, there are so many fuzzy logic directions to go in.
Bottom line. Too many questions remain after last season. The rapid transitions left too small of a sample size. Even the top 2 "could" change next season.
The most difficult player for me to rank today is, Scoot.
This. It's super hard to guess his trajectory currently
Yep.
For me it is hard to project Camara and Clingan as well.
First Camara - I would say he had a breakout year on the defensive end. His blocks, steals and drawing charges were up while taking the best player on the other side of the ball. Now, can he become a defensive all-team guy? That would be his next step.
On the offensive side of the ball he was just more efficient putting the ball in the basket and helping to spread the D with his .375 3PT% all while upping the percentage of 3pt shots. He did take a bit of a step back on taking more 3-10 foot shots and only hitting .401 of them and that decreased the number of FT attempts.
So, my question is does he become an all-defensive player and can he figure out how to draw more fouls and get to the hoop more often. And over the next couple of years can he tighten the handles and become a distributor as well (note, that is what the Blazers asked him to do).
For Clingan, will he be able to gait the fitness to stay on the court for 30+ minutes. I think the fitness would also decrease the fouls he picks up. No question that he can already rebound the ball and rim protect. Can the fitness also translate into quickness as well? That will be what he needs to become a truly solid C, IMO.
The offensive side of the ball is a bit different. Right now he is a pick 'n roll guy - pretty much one dementia. He shoots the ball well at the rim, now can he take it out a bit further and hit those shots? I dunno... his .596 FT% doesn't indicate that but... it doesn't look like a broken shot. Conditioning? He started off shooting FTs at around a .750 clip... then it fell off a cliff. He really needs to hit FTs to take it to the next step. He really wants to be able to move out to the 3-point line. A pick 'n pop would be awesome in his arsenal if he could add it in the next couple of years.
Why those two. Because I don't think the winning streak was a freak. I think it was driven by D and those two and Thybulle could really change the makeup of this team next season. Add Deni who is a solid defender as well and I think they can hang their hat on D to compete.
Now coming back to Scoot he went from a turrible defender his first year to a meh defender in year 2. Can he take that next jump? Is he even big enough to take the jump?
The offense will come if he can knock down the 3 at an elite level. Do we see that happening?
Either way, if Camara and Clingan breakout and Thybulle stays healthy - it could be really interesting.
Agreed, Camara's breakout was a complete suprise. How much can he develop on O? Will it be a sudden breakout, or, a slow improvement process?
I have a wild crazy gut prediction on Clingan. He will gradually develop, adding to his solid foundation of skills. In 3 or 4 seasons. He will be a serious candidate for allstar consideration