Fischella wrote:GimmeDat wrote:Fischella wrote:Uber athletic? He can't jump for god's sake and is 175 at nearly 6'4 what are we talking about?
Talk about exaggeration
Can't jump? Sure thing.
off one foot? he gets no elevation in traffic whatsoever, if you add that up to his slight frame/lack of strength (little to no 0 improvement there from his frosh year), and his fluky pull-up, you get a guy that is going to have trouble been efficient/good at finishing, even with his nice and cute arm extensions
he can jump fine off two or when he has space to load up, like... almost every NBA player? the important part is been quick off the floor and been able to elevate off one foot while driving, and he can't
also, he is physical and tries, but he is a damn ball-watch on D and with his lack of strength he is gonna get buried, competitiveness is fine and I wont fault him much due to the offensive load he carries, but he projects as a big negative on D
I am not downing Ja, he is just a project and likely a guy that you want to get 4 years into his NBA career and not as a rookie, so it's hard to attach much value to him in the draft since he is most likely a 2nd team type guy, esp considering his physique and shooting woes
Strength is so freaking underrated
I agree he has his athletic flaws, like most do, but I think overall it's still hard to watch him and say he's not a ++ athlete. Agree he's better off 2 (of which he's in the top few %tile), and I think that has it's merit functionally, but I also think I've seen positive examples of him off 1 foot in space, I think it's more the physicality of the traffic that he struggles with. It is a legitimate concern, and physically he is absolutely a project in that sense, but I would hope that in a few years he's filled out and can compete physically more. If he can do that, I believe he's functionally athletic, and skilled enough as a finisher, to be efficient at the rim.
He ball watches, I'll give you that, but there's a lot of young guys with bad defensive tendencies, I think he's got enough going for him on that end that he potential on that end. If he doesn't improve his habits on that end, sure, he'll be a liability, but if that's the biggest knock we can put on him outside of his frame, then I don't think it's the worst flaw.
All in all, I agree, he's a project, but given the (lack of) strength of the draft in terms of upside, I think he slides in to the top 10, especially given the lack of PG's. He's got a small frame but I think he can build it up in time, at least be like a Dennis Schroder-esque physique, which is on the lean side but passable imo. Also re: the shooting, I feel pretty optimistic - he's not there yet, but so far from what we've seen he's made great strides from last season, and he looks comfortable off the dribble. Verdict's still out but I like what I've seen so far, just gotta be consistent.
I get the 2nd contract argument, but I think there's enough value heading in to the end of his rookie deal, as well as the leverage that you have moving forward in retaining or dealing a player, that I still rate him highly draft wise.
