Malachi Flynn

[mdenny]

Flynn looks good. Getting a legit backup point guard with the 28th pick is a success and I'm confidant that this is his floor.

Without Kyle next year....our backcourt is looking good with Fred and Malachi.

For all the love he's been getting (it's been pretty hilarious tbh).....I bet he eventually becomes a relatively underappreciated player. Like Fred....he's not the type of guy who gets much fanfare from casual fans. But I'm betting he'll be a solid guy for us.

nobody wants a backourt with 2 6 foot guards. i have no qualms however with him being a backup pg but like i said his playmaking isn't what fans billed it as.

We won a chip with such a backcourt and finished second overall last year with it too.

I was more thinking Flynn would be our backup PG but this narrative about our small backcourt being a losing strategy is empirically incorrect. Our small backcourt is the best part of our team.

[HeadtopChunes]

Flynn is okay but i dont see much of a ceiling here, he has yet to beat a big off the dribble and he's already pretty polished. He can get a little stronger maybe. Will be a jump shot reliant pnr playmaker (good passer but too conservative to be elite)

Prob is gonna stay backup PG for his career. Comparing him to Fred is just raising needlessly high expectations for no reason (just like fans do with Fred and Lowry)

[bon]

People saying that Fred looked better than Malachi at the same age must not remember that Fred barely played in his first season and was far from NBA ready. He only appeared in 37 games that season and averaged 8 mpg, as he spent the bulk of his time with the 905 his rookie season. We can't underestimate the impact of not having the 905 to help develop Malachi is going to have in the short term.

The PG position was 4 deep in Fred's rookie year. Whenever he got non-garbage time minutes though he looked really solid. 905 was a factor but it's not like FVV spent the whole season there.

[Basketball_Jones]

Honestly I'm not super high on him like everyone else but he looks like he can be a solid player. I like his focus and effort on defense. Pretty limited offensively though, need to get him in some pick and roll action but otherwise I don't see him as much of a creator like everyone thinks he is.

[Reeko]

People saying that Fred looked better than Malachi at the same age must not remember that Fred barely played in his first season and was far from NBA ready. He only appeared in 37 games that season and averaged 8 mpg, as he spent the bulk of his time with the 905 his rookie season. We can't underestimate the impact of not having the 905 to help develop Malachi is going to have in the short term.

The PG position was 4 deep in Fred's rookie year. Whenever he got non-garbage time minutes though he looked really solid. 905 was a factor but it's not like FVV spent the whole season there.

He looked solid as a ball handler and 3pt shooter, yes. He was also in a more stable environment, surrounded by better players.

[Indeed]

Flynn is okay but i dont see much of a ceiling here, he has yet to beat a big off the dribble and he's already pretty polished. He can get a little stronger maybe. Will be a jump shot reliant pnr playmaker (good passer but too conservative to be elite)

Prob is gonna stay backup PG for his career. Comparing him to Fred is just raising needlessly high expectations for no reason (just like fans do with Fred and Lowry)

He showed better passing on the last game, making a touch down pass accurately. But as you said, my concern over beating off the switch or turning the corner has been questionable, plus his size may not make up for his scoring.

Meanwhile, I am not very high on him, and I am unsure he will be the backup PG when the league is going big at the guard spots. I think Davis maybe the better option. I was hoping to have an elite quickness at PG, and a big elite passer & shooter at SG. Now it is even harder to find a big elite quickness at SG.

As for defense, his man defense seems to be alright in the last game, but his rotation caused himself to be a -7 plus/minus. Shall see if that improves and if we can hide him on defense, but it seems he will not be played much in the playoffs, as his offense may not give enough to be the opposing team target.

[JN]

He's about what you would expect from a "solid" 29th pick. A player that seems fairly likely to be a rotation piece by his second year in the league, and with some starter potential. And many 29th picks don't reach those modest levels. Those expecting a top tier performer have been spoiled with our other late picks. Of course I could be wrong, but that is my early read -- he's not quite dynamic enough.

[HeadtopChunes]

Flynn is okay but i dont see much of a ceiling here, he has yet to beat a big off the dribble and he's already pretty polished. He can get a little stronger maybe. Will be a jump shot reliant pnr playmaker (good passer but too conservative to be elite)

Prob is gonna stay backup PG for his career. Comparing him to Fred is just raising needlessly high expectations for no reason (just like fans do with Fred and Lowry)

He showed better passing on the last game, making a touch down pass accurately. But as you said, my concern over beating off the switch or turning the corner has been questionable, plus his size may not make up for his scoring.

Meanwhile, I am not very high on him, and I am unsure he will be the backup PG when the league is going big at the guard spots. I think Davis maybe the better option. I was hoping to have an elite quickness at PG, and a big elite passer & shooter at SG. Now it is even harder to find a big elite quickness at SG.

As for defense, his man defense seems to be alright in the last game, but his rotation caused himself to be a -7 plus/minus. Shall see if that improves and if we can hide him on defense, but it seems he will not be played much in the playoffs, as his offense may not give enough to be the opposing team target.

i think he'll end up a defensive positive at least positionally but his size may be a limiting factor, especially since he doesnt make up for it w/ elite strength like Kyle/Fred do.

I was hoping for a bigger gaurd too (Maledon was my main choice and hes been great in OKC) but looks like the FO decided to play it safe (probably for giannis reasons lol)

[T-d0t]

Flynn is okay but i dont see much of a ceiling here, he has yet to beat a big off the dribble and he's already pretty polished. He can get a little stronger maybe. Will be a jump shot reliant pnr playmaker (good passer but too conservative to be elite)

Prob is gonna stay backup PG for his career. Comparing him to Fred is just raising needlessly high expectations for no reason (just like fans do with Fred and Lowry)

He showed better passing on the last game, making a touch down pass accurately. But as you said, my concern over beating off the switch or turning the corner has been questionable, plus his size may not make up for his scoring.

Meanwhile, I am not very high on him, and I am unsure he will be the backup PG when the league is going big at the guard spots. I think Davis maybe the better option. I was hoping to have an elite quickness at PG, and a big elite passer & shooter at SG. Now it is even harder to find a big elite quickness at SG.

As for defense, his man defense seems to be alright in the last game, but his rotation caused himself to be a -7 plus/minus. Shall see if that improves and if we can hide him on defense, but it seems he will not be played much in the playoffs, as his offense may not give enough to be the opposing team target.

i think he'll end up a defensive positive at least positionally but his size may be a limiting factor, especially since he doesnt make up for it w/ elite strength like Kyle/Fred do.

I was hoping for a bigger gaurd too (Maledon was my main choice and hes been great in OKC) but looks like the FO decided to play it safe (probably for giannis reasons lol)

Maledon has been terrible so far. He's only 19 so at least he has time

[Indeed]

He's about what you would expect from a "good" 29th pick. A player that seems fairly likely to be a rotation piece by his second year in the league, and with starter potential. But those expecting a top tier performer have been spoiled with our other late picks. Of course I could be wrong, but that is my early read.

He has very limited starter potential due to the lack of strength and wingspan to finish and defend. His first step is just decent.
Some of us on the draft thread for half a year question why we don't take a low risk with a starter ceiling player, even though we assume we are championship team and want win now players on a weak draft.

[HeadtopChunes]

He showed better passing on the last game, making a touch down pass accurately. But as you said, my concern over beating off the switch or turning the corner has been questionable, plus his size may not make up for his scoring.

Meanwhile, I am not very high on him, and I am unsure he will be the backup PG when the league is going big at the guard spots. I think Davis maybe the better option. I was hoping to have an elite quickness at PG, and a big elite passer & shooter at SG. Now it is even harder to find a big elite quickness at SG.

As for defense, his man defense seems to be alright in the last game, but his rotation caused himself to be a -7 plus/minus. Shall see if that improves and if we can hide him on defense, but it seems he will not be played much in the playoffs, as his offense may not give enough to be the opposing team target.

i think he'll end up a defensive positive at least positionally but his size may be a limiting factor, especially since he doesnt make up for it w/ elite strength like Kyle/Fred do.

I was hoping for a bigger gaurd too (Maledon was my main choice and hes been great in OKC) but looks like the FO decided to play it safe (probably for giannis reasons lol)

Maledon has been terrible so far. He's only 19 so at least he has time

He hasn't been terrible watched him play a couple of times, too passive offensively for now but he's been a good playmaker (developed a strong 2 man game with Muscala) and has generally done well creating out the PnR

Defensively he's been poor at screen navigation like I expected but strong rotationally. Shown some flashes of high-level scoring we'll see if he can put that part of his game together.

Yeah he's a 19-year-old rookie playing with a bad bench so there are some growing pains, but he's shown top-shelf basketball IQ and shotmaking off the dribble and at the rim.

Prob has been a top 5 or so rookie so far.

[Ackshun]

Flynn is okay but i dont see much of a ceiling here, he has yet to beat a big off the dribble and he's already pretty polished. He can get a little stronger maybe. Will be a jump shot reliant pnr playmaker (good passer but too conservative to be elite)

Prob is gonna stay backup PG for his career. Comparing him to Fred is just raising needlessly high expectations for no reason (just like fans do with Fred and Lowry)

Well, he's played less than 60 minutes of NBA basketball.

Good thing none of our careers are defined by our first 60 minutes on the job.

[HeadtopChunes]

Flynn is okay but i dont see much of a ceiling here, he has yet to beat a big off the dribble and he's already pretty polished. He can get a little stronger maybe. Will be a jump shot reliant pnr playmaker (good passer but too conservative to be elite)

Prob is gonna stay backup PG for his career. Comparing him to Fred is just raising needlessly high expectations for no reason (just like fans do with Fred and Lowry)

Well, he's played less than 60 minutes of NBA basketball.

Good thing none of our careers are defined by our first 60 minutes on the job.

small sample /= no sample

and a lot of these are the same issues he had at the college level

[JN]

He's about what you would expect from a "good" 29th pick. A player that seems fairly likely to be a rotation piece by his second year in the league, and with starter potential. But those expecting a top tier performer have been spoiled with our other late picks. Of course I could be wrong, but that is my early read.

He has very limited starter potential due to the lack of strength and wingspan to finish and defend. His first step is just decent.
Some of us on the draft thread for half a year question why we don't take a low risk with a starter ceiling player, even though we assume we are championship team and want win now players on a weak draft.

I edited my post while you were typing to add two things:
1) Changed "good" to "solid". Solid is more of an apropos description as getting a rotational player is about expectations for 29th pick, and "good" implies above expectations.

2) Also noted the lack of a dynamic element in his game which limits his top side.

So I don't think we are far off.

[T-d0t]

Maledon has been given some opportunity. 20mpg, almost 2 TOs a game and 46 TS%. You can tell me he has potential sure but he has been terrible and been given a longer leash than Flynn

[johanliebert]

lol the expectations have come back down to earth. People thought he should eat at freds minutes cause of two pre-season games.

Now those same people will just move their attention onto why doesn't matt thomas get any PT.

[Johnny Bball]

lol the expectations have come back down to earth. People thought he should eat at freds minutes cause of two pre-season games.

Now those same people will just move their attention onto why doesn't matt thomas get any PT.

Every single guard, every single year, every single time FVV just outplays them all, and every single year they switch to another player.

Flynn will be ok. But it's going to take time. And he's seriously doubt he's going to be an allstar or even close.

[HeadtopChunes]

Maledon has been given some opportunity. 20mpg, almost 2 TOs a game and 46 TS%. You can tell me he has potential sure but he has been terrible and been given a longer leash than Flynn

Compared to other rookies?

Ball 49TS
Edwards 46TS
Wiseman 52TS

I don't see any point comparing him to Flynn at this stage stats-wise because like you said Flynn hasn't been given a leash but given that he's 2 years older than Maledon it's not exactly positive.

[Psubs]

Flynn is okay but i dont see much of a ceiling here, he has yet to beat a big off the dribble and he's already pretty polished. He can get a little stronger maybe. Will be a jump shot reliant pnr playmaker (good passer but too conservative to be elite)

Prob is gonna stay backup PG for his career. Comparing him to Fred is just raising needlessly high expectations for no reason (just like fans do with Fred and Lowry)

He's going to be Fred plus actually playmaking for others. He's only turned over the ball once. He's staying in his lane.

Lowry looked like he Mike Conley's backup in Memphis with a few starts and in Houston he was Aaron Brook's backup. Then Dragic came along who was the backup until they chose him over Kyle.

I don't mind them working him in slowly and not hitting the rookie wall. Let him earn his PT like Kyle and Fred. Raptors are also doing it cost effectively, so they don't have to pay him $18 million instead like a 2-3 year deal like Fred's amount.

Watch on YouTube

1:08 - Nice little bump on Holmes back to get the defensive rebound.
2:23 - His only turnover of the season was a nice pass that Yuta fumbled which would've been an easy layup (if not dunk) over Kyle Guy.

I think he has good habits and is slowly being acclimated to the pro level.

[anotherhomer]

he's a good solid backup PG....you can't complain about that with the 29th overall pick