Precious

[CoinTossRoss31]

I think Precious is in the long plans for Masai. Even if we have another 8 man playoff rotation in a couple years, he will be one of those 8.

[kj_]

That boy can play D but i feel like developing precious to be an inside scorer might be a longshot, he might have a shot at being a decent pick and roll player but on offense i think we need to mold him into a stretch big that can take bigs off the bounce and just rebound and set screens.

His strength will be receiving lobs as a roll man and dump offs in the dunker spot. Also taking slower bigs off the bounce. He dusted a Suns big the other night badly with an elite first step that caught the defender completely off guard…McGee???

He will never be a post threat and that’s okay. Would be great if he could develop some touch around the rim, but I’m not holding my breath. That Birch push shot would solidify Precious as a solid NBA starter.

Shot selection is the other big “work on” for him. He could “poor shot selection” himself right out of the league if he’s not careful.


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[-NSX-]

Given his athletic ability, size and relative age, I can see him being a building block for our future. What frustrates me the most Precious is his decision making ability. He will make a great steal or defensive rebound and instead of throwing the outlet pass, he tries and starts a fast break himself. This usually ends up with him dribbling into traffic and getting it stolen on the other end. Or his shot selection, I get that he is open and most times I am okay with him shooting open 3s but when your team is in clutch moments or down 1 or 2 possessions with 5 minutes left you are not an options on offense unless a dunk or lay up. "Know your role" -The Rock.

[InfraRedshaw]

I am starting to become pretty bullish on what he can develop into.... it's not like his faults are not (relatively) easy to correct IMO

He has a lot of the hard to obtain tools in his toolbox already (athleticism, hustle, good shooting form) he just needs to work on not smoking bunny shots and he's a legit player!

I echo other posters in saying THE KID IS 22

[GreatWhiteStiff]

48/20/62 shooting splits over his last 9 or so games. This is actually in line with his career percentages I think particularly the FG%. I think he needs to make fgs at closer to 50 than 40% and he has been. Simply finishing in line with his career percentages would be a nice boost. Obviously if he shoots 30% on his threes or whatever that would be nice, seems like it might be a ways off but I would guess he's working on it, hopefully purposefully.

[everdiso]

Given his athletic ability, size and relative age, I can see him being a building block for our future. What frustrates me the most Precious is his decision making ability. He will make a great steal or defensive rebound and instead of throwing the outlet pass, he tries and starts a fast break himself. This usually ends up with him dribbling into traffic and getting it stolen on the other end. Or his shot selection, I get that he is open and most times I am okay with him shooting open 3s but when your team is in clutch moments or down 1 or 2 possessions with 5 minutes left you are not an options on offense unless a dunk or lay up. "Know your role" -The Rock.

Honestly the 3s and the drives and the fast breaks don't bother me a bit. We want him to do that.

By far the most annoying/worrying thing about his game is his horrible finish AT THE RIM. That is just not something you can live with for very long from a center. He has to be better there (and to his credit seems to be getting better there, fingers crossed).

[GreatWhiteStiff]

Yeah but he was decent in Miami hence his 50+% FG%. If you wanted him benched for his start here...well you may be a short term thinker. Then again I could be wrong...but I'd bet he finishes much better than his start here.

[ATLTimekeeper]

48/20/62 shooting splits over his last 9 or so games. This is actually in line with his career percentages I think particularly the FG%. I think he needs to make fgs at closer to 50 than 40% and he has been.

His career is really short. For instance last year he shot 54% in about the same amount of minutes. Taking 3s is lowering his %s, as is some yips under the basket.

[GM89]

People need to relax about his finishing, if Fred "6-1" VanVleet can improve in that area then so can Precious.

[DelAbbot]

I miss the start of season Precious

leading fastbreaks, shooting like Steph, calling own iso

[LoveMyRaps]

One of his biggest fans. Love what he brings to the table. Though it might not be much, he's only 22 and most people here expect way too much out of a sophomore that was selected 20th overall in a weak draft. He's shown flashes of what he can eventually become.

All that matters to me is that he's made significant improvements from last season. Even as this has progressed, he's become more disciplined with the ball and is finding his groove on the offensive end. On the defensive end, he's great, I have no complaints whatsoever.

He's significantly improved his 3pt shooting this season, improved his FT shooting, fouls less, turns the ball over less, and to me that shows he's a hard worker that will continue to improve his game & it's what makes him an intriguing prospect.

I'm excited for what the Raptors development team will be able to evolve him into.
I personally think he can be 15p/10r/2b type of guy that is a beast on the defensive end in a couple years time.

[MikeM]

I'm pretty confident we can turn him into a pop big. His shot is not broken. So far it's obvious that we've been just giving him free reign to do what he wants in hopes of developing something more.

But a pop big that can blow up PnRs defensively is extremely valuable and I'd honestly take that.

[Madhouse]

2020/21

offensive Raptor: -4.3
defensive Raptor: +1.0
total Raptor: -3.4
on/off: -8.0

2021/22

offensive Raptor: -3.2
defensive Raptor: +2.1
total Raptor: -1.1
on/off: +1.9

He is also in the top 5 percentile in defensive EPM in the NBA

[Madhouse]

I think Precious is in the long plans for Masai. Even if we have another 8 man playoff rotation in a couple years, he will be one of those 8.

He definitely is in the longterm plans. Either we stick to the current front court depth or acquire an impact starter (and Boucher walks) and he is coming off the bench for 20 minutes for now or we make changes for next year, he keeps developing and he gets back into the starting lineup by next year.

[Madhouse]

One of his biggest fans. Love what he brings to the table. Though it might not be much, he's only 22 and most people here expect way too much out of a sophomore that was selected 20th overall in a weak draft. He's shown flashes of what he can eventually become.

All that matters to me is that he's made significant improvements from last season. Even as this has progressed, he's become more disciplined with the ball and is finding his groove on the offensive end. On the defensive end, he's great, I have no complaints whatsoever.

He's significantly improved his 3pt shooting this season, improved his FT shooting, fouls less, turns the ball over less, and to me that shows he's a hard worker that will continue to improve his game & it's what makes him an intriguing prospect.

I'm excited for what the Raptors development team will be able to evolve him into.
I personally think he can be 15p/10r/2b type of guy that is a beast on the defensive end in a couple years time.

I think at a certain point he realized he can't dribble coordinated to the basket yet without turning it over and slows down and gives up the ball to FVV.

The biggest issue what I think you outlined well is that he has a longer way to go that most even at his age to reach his ceiling. Reason for that is that Precious did not start playing basketball at the usual age, so he might be 22 but he is more 17 or 18 in basketball age. I'm glad we got Precious and not Herro though. He has way more potential.

[bluerap23]

His 3 looks pretty good when he is wide open. He just needs to be more selective. Same with his drives. Comes down to decision making. I think he came out of camp overconfident because defences were more lax. He has improved though. He is definitely a rotation piece moving forward. I'd prefer that Khem be traded in a package for an upgrade and Precious be the backup long-term.

[pingpongrac]

8.3 PPG (50 TS%), 6.8 REB and more assists (1.3) than turnovers (1.1) since he missed a few games early in the season. His offence has definitely been getting better as the year goes on, but his defence has been extremely impressive. Opposing players are shooting 15% below their averages on ~5 shots per game at the rim against Achiuwa and his defensive impact numbers look extremely good (+6.3 defensive on/off, +2.2 D-RAPTOR, +1.2 D-LEBRON, +1.3 D-RAPM). He has arguably been a top 5-10 rim-protecting big that is also more switchable than most of the others in the upper echelon (Bradley, Allen, Claxton, JJJ, etc.).

[OakleyDokely]

The Bucks shot 2/14 against Precious last night. Giannis was 0/5

[OakleyDokely]

8.3 PPG (50 TS%), 6.8 REB and more assists (1.3) than turnovers (1.1) since he missed a few games early in the season. His offence has definitely been getting better as the year goes on, but his defence has been extremely impressive. Opposing players are shooting 15% below their averages on ~5 shots per game at the rim against Achiuwa and his defensive impact numbers look extremely good (+6.3 defensive on/off, +2.2 D-RAPTOR, +1.2 D-LEBRON, +1.3 D-RAPM). He has arguably been a top 5-10 rim-protecting big that is also more switchable than most of the others in the upper echelon (Bradley, Allen, Claxton, JJJ, etc.).

He's looking Bam-like in terms of his ability to defend in the paint but also out on the perimeter.

When his offense is just competent, he makes a big impact.

[alienchild]

Ben Wallace lite.