Imagine if Precious/Banton had been a top 10 pick...

[Fairview4Life]

Players like Banton are a dime a dozen. I don't see him in the league 3-5 years from now. There are plenty of Banton's in the g-league right now. What he has going for him is being Canadian on a Canadian team.

What Banton has going for him is being a very tall PG and a good ball handler who can slash and score well.

[ConSarnit]

These types of threads are reminiscent of Weems, Johnson and Derozan.

Only 1 player of the three is a legit starter in the league.

Also reminiscent of Poeltl (top 10 pick) vs Siakam (27th pick reach) vs FVV (2nd round pick to undrafted bet on himself).

Two of those players have made all-star teams, one is two time all-nba, and neither is the consensus top 10 pick (who is still a good player mind you).

To the point of the poster, and I think it's been brought up already, precious was a projected lottery pick (mid-lottery), so not all that different from Scottie. He slid a bit in the draft, while Scottie rose.

I'm high on him. Banton is a wild card. I like the flashes, but he's not, and has never been a lottery prospect. The other two are, and have the production to back it up.

Players like Banton are a dime a dozen. I don't see him in the league 3-5 years from now. There are plenty of Banton's in the g-league right now. What he has going for him is being Canadian on a Canadian team.

Precious can further develop but he's a role player. I predict this year his efficiency will fall dramatically as teams are now more aware of him. He was never all that efficient to begin with.

I hope I'm wrong but based on what I've seen and taking away bias I think this is the reality.

I don’t get what people are seeing with Banton to get this hype? Almost all of his scoring in the pre-season was at the rim (and much of that was in transition). He didn’t hit a single 3 and he wasn’t creating for anyone else. So we have:

-a guard/wing with defensive versatility
-can get to the rim
-still can’t create for anyone else
-still can’t shoot outside of 10 feet

He still has almost no half court game whatsoever. I don’t see how he really helps this team at all this year. He flashes potential but that’s all it is right now, potential.

[HumbleRen]

Honest question, how hard is it to develop better scoring at the rim? It seems like a much easier thing to develop vs. 3 pters. If Precious has been working hard on the 3 to get it to where it is, I wonder why his rim % is still so low? Is he not working on it as much, or is it truly just a matter of scoring at the rim being harder for some people?

It seems so weird to me that he's so bad at it. It's not for lack of size or athleticism. And his dribble suggests that he doesn't have stone hands. So what is it?

He has terrible touch around the rim. Pretty much sums it up lol.

For what it's worth, his percentages at the rim did get better as the season progressed.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/shooting.fcgi?player_id=achiupr01&year_id=2022&shot_distance=0-3

People started respecting his shot more which opened up more lanes for him to dunk.

His hook shot, floater and lay up touch is still pretty below average for a center. More reps and better shot selection should help him out.

[OakleyDokely]

Honest question, how hard is it to develop better scoring at the rim? It seems like a much easier thing to develop vs. 3 pters. If Precious has been working hard on the 3 to get it to where it is, I wonder why his rim % is still so low? Is he not working on it as much, or is it truly just a matter of scoring at the rim being harder for some people?

It seems so weird to me that he's so bad at it. It's not for lack of size or athleticism. And his dribble suggests that he doesn't have stone hands. So what is it?

He has terrible touch around the rim. Pretty much sums it up lol.

But even that improved.

Shooting %s, less than 5ft from basket:

Oct/Nov/Dec: 52.5%
Jan/Feb/Mar/Apr: 60.1%

Over the last 15 games of the season, he shot 75% within 5ft.

Basically, everything about his offense improved pretty dramatically as the season went on.

[HumbleRen]

Also reminiscent of Poeltl (top 10 pick) vs Siakam (27th pick reach) vs FVV (2nd round pick to undrafted bet on himself).

Two of those players have made all-star teams, one is two time all-nba, and neither is the consensus top 10 pick (who is still a good player mind you).

To the point of the poster, and I think it's been brought up already, precious was a projected lottery pick (mid-lottery), so not all that different from Scottie. He slid a bit in the draft, while Scottie rose.

I'm high on him. Banton is a wild card. I like the flashes, but he's not, and has never been a lottery prospect. The other two are, and have the production to back it up.

Players like Banton are a dime a dozen. I don't see him in the league 3-5 years from now. There are plenty of Banton's in the g-league right now. What he has going for him is being Canadian on a Canadian team.

Precious can further develop but he's a role player. I predict this year his efficiency will fall dramatically as teams are now more aware of him. He was never all that efficient to begin with.

I hope I'm wrong but based on what I've seen and taking away bias I think this is the reality.

I don’t get what people are seeing with Banton to get this hype? Almost all of his scoring in the pre-season was at the rim (and much of that was in transition). He didn’t hit a single 3 and he wasn’t creating for anyone else. So we have:

-a guard/wing with defensive versatility
-can get to the rim
-still can’t create for anyone else
-still can’t shoot outside of 10 feet

He still has almost no half court game whatsoever. I don’t see how he really helps this team at all this year. He flashes potential but that’s all it is right now, potential.

To be fair, preseason is the time to be overly positive about our rotation players so I don't fault anyone for that but make no mistake the jury is still out on him leading the bench as a legitimate back up PG.

[ConSarnit]

Players like Banton are a dime a dozen. I don't see him in the league 3-5 years from now. There are plenty of Banton's in the g-league right now. What he has going for him is being Canadian on a Canadian team.

What Banton has going for him is being a very tall PG and a good ball handler who can slash and score well.

He can’t score well though. Almost all his points/efficiency come from scoring in the paint off of transition or turnovers. He can’t shoot at all. He’s near useless in any half court setting.

[OakleyDokely]

Players like Banton are a dime a dozen. I don't see him in the league 3-5 years from now. There are plenty of Banton's in the g-league right now. What he has going for him is being Canadian on a Canadian team.

What Banton has going for him is being a very tall PG and a good ball handler who can slash and score well.

There aren't many 6'8 ballhandlers running around in the gleague. Banton handles it very well for his size and that's pretty rare.

[Fairview4Life]

Players like Banton are a dime a dozen. I don't see him in the league 3-5 years from now. There are plenty of Banton's in the g-league right now. What he has going for him is being Canadian on a Canadian team.

What Banton has going for him is being a very tall PG and a good ball handler who can slash and score well.

He can’t score well though. Almost all his points/efficiency come from scoring in the paint off of transition or turnovers. He can’t shoot at all. He’s near useless in any half court setting.

He can slash and score well at the rim.

[brownbobcat]

He has terrible touch around the rim. Pretty much sums it up lol.

For what it's worth, his percentages at the rim did get better as the season progressed.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/shooting.fcgi?player_id=achiupr01&year_id=2022&shot_distance=0-3

People started respecting his shot more which opened up more lanes for him to dunk.

His hook shot, floater and lay up touch is still pretty below average for a center. More reps and better shot selection should help him out.

I'm not sure if that was the only reason. His 3P% was still pretty bad through to the AS game. I know he's young, but it's one of the weirdest in-season turnarounds I can remember from a player.

[brownbobcat]

I don’t get what people are seeing with Banton to get this hype? Almost all of his scoring in the pre-season was at the rim (and much of that was in transition). He didn’t hit a single 3 and he wasn’t creating for anyone else. So we have:

-a guard/wing with defensive versatility
-can get to the rim
-still can’t create for anyone else
-still can’t shoot outside of 10 feet

He still has almost no half court game whatsoever. I don’t see how he really helps this team at all this year. He flashes potential but that’s all it is right now, potential.

Like you said, it's potential. If he could do all of those things then he'd be an All Star already. Even if he only ever does 2 (with regularity), he'd have a long NBA career.

[OakleyDokely]

Players like Banton are a dime a dozen. I don't see him in the league 3-5 years from now. There are plenty of Banton's in the g-league right now. What he has going for him is being Canadian on a Canadian team.

What Banton has going for him is being a very tall PG and a good ball handler who can slash and score well.

He can’t score well though. Almost all his points/efficiency come from scoring in the paint off of transition or turnovers. He can’t shoot at all. He’s near useless in any half court setting.

If we're still saying this after year 3 or 4, you're right. But he was a 2nd round rookie who didn't play consistently.

His gleague stats last year were very encouraging, especially when it comes to shooting.

[NBA Sheady]

Precious while is amazing on defence, is still one of the least efficient centers in nba history.

Precious scored efficiently the second half of the season. He was very inefficient the first half, but the Raptors were still effective with him as starting center and no Siakam.

FVV-Trent-OG-Barnes-Precious 109.0/100.6/+8.4 in 158 minutes (mostly against starters)

The stats and eye test show Precious brings impact on the defensive side of the ball. We just need to continue to curtail his offensive decision making and have him play within his skillset; he's pushing the limit a bit here in preseason, but one can hope that's just experimenting in preseason. The thing is, if he wants to be a starter, but he's the 5th best option offensively, he can't be having those possessions that Zach Lowe refers to as Precious' adventures.

He can be a very good player, but not sure I ever see him more than an opportunistic scorer when he sees a matchup he can take off the bounce, attack in transition, or attack a closeout or hit a shot. Needs to play that Shawn Marion do everything role. My prediction is that maybe early on he's a little too eager to prove his offensive and overall development and may not be super efficient to start the year, but like last year, will figure out his spots and be a much better player at the tail end of the year for us. Him being so confident and aggressive, while being a double edged sword, is a lot better than an issue of passiveness.

Like Jack says he prefers errors of commission VS omission.

[ConSarnit]

Players like Banton are a dime a dozen. I don't see him in the league 3-5 years from now. There are plenty of Banton's in the g-league right now. What he has going for him is being Canadian on a Canadian team.

Precious can further develop but he's a role player. I predict this year his efficiency will fall dramatically as teams are now more aware of him. He was never all that efficient to begin with.

I hope I'm wrong but based on what I've seen and taking away bias I think this is the reality.

I don’t get what people are seeing with Banton to get this hype? Almost all of his scoring in the pre-season was at the rim (and much of that was in transition). He didn’t hit a single 3 and he wasn’t creating for anyone else. So we have:

-a guard/wing with defensive versatility
-can get to the rim
-still can’t create for anyone else
-still can’t shoot outside of 10 feet

He still has almost no half court game whatsoever. I don’t see how he really helps this team at all this year. He flashes potential but that’s all it is right now, potential.

To be fair, preseason is the time to be overly positive about our rotation players so I don't fault anyone for that but make no mistake the jury is still out on him leading the bench as a legitimate back up PG.

Why? He’s not doing anything great. He’s getting like 90% of his points in the paint so his fg% (52%) isn’t that great. If it’s not transition or a turnover he can’t score. He’s getting the easiest points you can get and doing literally nothing else. This is just setting a guy up for disappointment when teams aren’t playing 3rd stringers and transition opportunities (and turnovers) dry up.

I would argue this pre-season is a bad sign for Banton. He’s getting the easiest points against guys who may not even make the league and he’s not even all that efficient at it.

[DelAbbot]

Precious maybe. Banton? Don't chug the Kool aid

[ConSarnit]

I don’t get what people are seeing with Banton to get this hype? Almost all of his scoring in the pre-season was at the rim (and much of that was in transition). He didn’t hit a single 3 and he wasn’t creating for anyone else. So we have:

-a guard/wing with defensive versatility
-can get to the rim
-still can’t create for anyone else
-still can’t shoot outside of 10 feet

He still has almost no half court game whatsoever. I don’t see how he really helps this team at all this year. He flashes potential but that’s all it is right now, potential.

Like you said, it's potential. If he could do all of those things then he'd be an All Star already. Even if he only ever does 2 (with regularity), he'd have a long NBA career.

What type of role outside of an 11th man is there for guards who can’t shoot or create offense for others?

I don’t want to rag on Banton but people are acting like he’s got a real role with this team locked down already.

[ConSarnit]

What Banton has going for him is being a very tall PG and a good ball handler who can slash and score well.

He can’t score well though. Almost all his points/efficiency come from scoring in the paint off of transition or turnovers. He can’t shoot at all. He’s near useless in any half court setting.

If we're still saying this after year 3 or 4, you're right. But he was a 2nd round rookie who didn't play consistently.

His gleague stats last year were very encouraging, especially when it comes to shooting.

I agree his G league stats are encouraging but he didn’t put any of that into practice in the pre-season (limited sample size). He hit zero 3’s. I honestly don’t know if he hit a shot outside of the paint.

Pre season scoring: 11ppg

PITP: 7.2
FT points: 2.2

If we are going by pre-season as a reason to get excited I don’t get what people are watching out there.

[brownbobcat]

What type of role outside of an 11th man is there for guards who can’t shoot or create offense for others?

I don’t want to rag on Banton but people are acting like he’s got a real role with this team locked down already.

I don't think he has a rotation spot locked down yet. However, Eric Bledsoe exists, so does Thybulle. You can find a place in the NBA if you have size and bring 1-2 skillsets to the table.

[kalel123]

Precious has a chance to be good and certainly a quality prospect. He's got the defense down pat and he's already one of the best on this team on that end. Offense still a work in-progress. He'll never get there if he shoots like he did in preseason.

Banton is interesting but certainly won't be anywhere near top 10 in any re-draft any time soon. I'm not really sure what his role or even position will be on this team but as long as you manage your expectation, I don't think you'd be disappointed. I expect him to be a career bench player and he's got a chance to forge out a decently long career at that spot. He still needs to learn to shoot but I certainly don't expect him to fizzle out in 3-5 years.

[OakleyDokely]

He can’t score well though. Almost all his points/efficiency come from scoring in the paint off of transition or turnovers. He can’t shoot at all. He’s near useless in any half court setting.

If we're still saying this after year 3 or 4, you're right. But he was a 2nd round rookie who didn't play consistently.

His gleague stats last year were very encouraging, especially when it comes to shooting.

I agree his G league stats are encouraging but he didn’t put any of that into practice in the pre-season (limited sample size). He hit zero 3’s. I honestly don’t know if he hit a shot outside of the paint.

Pre season scoring: 11ppg

PITP: 7.2
FT points: 2.2

If we are going by pre-season as a reason to get excited I don’t get what people are watching out there.

The preseason is such a small sample though. He only took 42 shots overall and only 6 3s total. Not the environment to draw any firm conclusions.

[Clay Davis]

These types of threads are reminiscent of Weems, Johnson and Derozan.

Only 1 player of the three is a legit starter in the league.

Amir was legit ! #IRollWithAmir