Wizards 2019 Draft thread. (Tank for Zion, or OTHER NAME HERE)

[prime1time]

If you keep Beal and manage to squeeze out enough wins to make the playoffs, your young ballers like Brown and Bryant will be developing and learning how to win...and you’ll still likely end up with a top 20 draft pick next season and Wall returning full-time for the 2020-21.

If you keep Beal and don’t make the playoffs, you’re a lottery team with decent odds of coming away with a top 5 pick in the draft and Wall returning full-time for the 2020-21.

If a true godfather deal comes along for Beal, you take it and run. But that deal would have to include a young player with all-star potential and a few high draft picks.

Those are all win-win situations for the Zards, imo.

Doc really nailed it with this great post:

Basically our only hope of a championship is the same as almost every other team: that Zion-like transformative franchise player (ZLTFP). Your feeling is we can only land him by swapping Beal for at most one or two extra bites at that apple. Maybe then we get better luck with a few % points better odds. And if not then we add talented players. Ok.

My feeling is: if we get lucky we get lucky. But. Trading Beal subtracts one skilled player who helps any young talent we do land to actually reach that potential. He is a good mentor. Plays hard on defense. Is coachable. Improving. Has learned to kick his skittles habit and fix his nutrition and conditioning. He passes the ball and rewards you with assists when you pass to him.

Swapping that out for a few young players who may develop. Or a couple more chances at that ZLTFP. Doesn’t seem like the best road to contention. In an era where mediocre teams are just about as likely as the bottom feeders to get the top ZLTFP in any draft.

If we keep Beal, in three years or so, we will have Beal plus an (X)% chance and another superstar. If we trade Beal, we will have no Beal and an (X+Y)% chance at a superstar. If Y was a really big number, I'd consider it. But it isn't. With the new lottery odds, Y is a fairly small number. I'd rather keep Beal. And if that X percent chance pans out, we will have Beal AND a superstar, which is the foundation for a championship team.

These are fine points if time weren't a factor.

Even a good looking rookie doesn't necessarily change the fortunes of this franchise immediately. I keep saying it but I think people are underestimating the bareness of the cupboard surrounding Mr. Beal.

Outside of Beal were basically a newly born expansion franchise except we have no cap room, no expansion draft from which to add talent and incredibly expensive remnants of a buffoon who led a decade & half **** show.


The optimism here is encouraging yet laughable. I appreciate it and I'm disgusted by it at the same time.

The real irony, is that you prove our point. Outside of Beal we only have young players. And Beal is 25. With Beal, we are likely to still be a lottery team - look at the Pelicans with Anthony Davis and the Lakers with LBJ. If Beal was 28 or 29 fine trade him. At 25, it's easier to keep him and build around him, than trading him and building around...well building around nothing. By all accounts Beal is only getting better. What's the big push to trade him this offseason? Especially in such a weak draft.

How many wins does this team get next year with Beal vs. without Beal? And when will we be competitive again after trading Beal? Just because the team is in a tough position, doesn't mean we should make a rash decision especially when it makes thins so pronouncedly worse. Adding Lonzo Ball or Kyle Kuzma or Ingram or Mitchell Robinson or RJ Barrett, makes a perennial bottom feeder team. And then we'll just hope that we can find a player that's as good as Bradley is now.

[payitforward]

If you keep Beal and manage to squeeze out enough wins to make the playoffs, your young ballers like Brown and Bryant will be developing and learning how to win...and you’ll still likely end up with a top 20 draft pick next season and Wall returning full-time for the 2020-21.

If you keep Beal and don’t make the playoffs, you’re a lottery team with decent odds of coming away with a top 5 pick in the draft and Wall returning full-time for the 2020-21.

If a true godfather deal comes along for Beal, you take it and run. But that deal would have to include a young player with all-star potential and a few high draft picks.

Those are all win-win situations for the Zards, imo.

Doc really nailed it with this great post:

Basically our only hope of a championship is the same as almost every other team: that Zion-like transformative franchise player (ZLTFP). Your feeling is we can only land him by swapping Beal for at most one or two extra bites at that apple. Maybe then we get better luck with a few % points better odds. And if not then we add talented players. Ok.

My feeling is: if we get lucky we get lucky. But. Trading Beal subtracts one skilled player who helps any young talent we do land to actually reach that potential. He is a good mentor. Plays hard on defense. Is coachable. Improving. Has learned to kick his skittles habit and fix his nutrition and conditioning. He passes the ball and rewards you with assists when you pass to him.

Swapping that out for a few young players who may develop. Or a couple more chances at that ZLTFP. Doesn’t seem like the best road to contention. In an era where mediocre teams are just about as likely as the bottom feeders to get the top ZLTFP in any draft.

If we keep Beal, in three years or so, we will have Beal plus an (X)% chance and another superstar. If we trade Beal, we will have no Beal and an (X+Y)% chance at a superstar. If Y was a really big number, I'd consider it. But it isn't. With the new lottery odds, Y is a fairly small number. I'd rather keep Beal. And if that X percent chance pans out, we will have Beal AND a superstar, which is the foundation for a championship team.

These are fine points if time weren't a factor.

Even a good looking rookie doesn't necessarily change the fortunes of this franchise immediately. I keep saying it but I think people are underestimating the bareness of the cupboard surrounding Mr. Beal.

Outside of Beal were basically a newly born expansion franchise except we have no cap room, no expansion draft from which to add talent and incredibly expensive remnants of a buffoon who led a decade & half **** show.


The optimism here is encouraging yet laughable. I appreciate it and I'm disgusted by it at the same time.

I don't know about "disgusted" -- maybe "annoyed" or, even better, "amused" would make the point easier to take -- the point being: the bareness of the cupboard.

Right now, in addition to Brad, we have exactly one player who is a forward-facing asset: Troy Brown. Plus the #9 pick in the draft. We also have the opportunity to re-sign Thomas Bryant & Tomas Satoransky. Unclear what that will cost us -- maybe more than most of us think.

Going forward we are also missing some R2 draft picks which, during our lean years, will be pretty high-value (say top 1/3 of R2). Meaning that we have fewer ways to add talent than most other teams.

That's it. Most everything else is trash. I mean... we just signed Jordan McRae, a certified non-NBA player who is 28 years old, for next year. Rinse & repeat with Tarik Phillips.

Bobby Portis has demonstrated that he is not someone to integrate into our core.

Jabari Parker is trash with a capital T. Look at the sum of everything other than scoring, & he's well below average for an NBA 4. Look at scoring & with us he posted a TS% nicely above average. Put the whole thing together, & he was still below average overall. Yet, his stint with us was the best of his career -- by a lot. For a few million dollars, keep him around with a year-2 option. For $10-12m...? Forget about it.

Sam Dekker is a useful journeyman. BFD.

That leaves Wall. Like everyone else I wish him the maximal recovery in every way. At his peak, he was a terrific player but never the superstar fans wanted to think he was. His contract is just awful. It was an overpay for John Wall at his best. He ain't coming back better than he was.

No matter how good he is when he returns, what chance is there that he lives up to that contract? Is there a 10% chance? I.e., if you want to be optimistic? 20% if you're the kind of guy who can't help but see a 2/3 empty glass as half full?

If you have a player with a 20% chance of being worth his contract you do what you can to dump the contract. Duh. Yes, you will have to pay somehow to do it, but you have a big incentive, b/c, you know, he has an 80% chance of not being worth the money he's paid. How is this not obvious?

That's where we are. Connelly turned over the Nuggets roster 100% in 4-5 years. Will he do that with the Wizards? Will it take him 4 years to build the roster he wants? Longer seems more like it....

[doclinkin]

The optimism here is encouraging yet laughable. I appreciate it and I'm disgusted by it at the same time.

I don't know about "disgusted" -- maybe "annoyed" or, even better, "amused" would make the point easier to take -- the point being: the bareness of the cupboard.

And then you go on to instruct everyone again on what we all know.

Yes we have nothing. We know. Well, we have nothing plus Beal. It's not much.

Nothing minus Bradley Beal doesn't really net us much. I don't see anyone willing to overpay us for him. I've seen deals floated from other fans and nobody is offering anything tempting.

To be clear. I don't think anyone here would characterize the 'keep Beal' crowd as rosey eyed optimists. It's not optimism, it's relief. Furlough. Parole.

That and a realistic view that as bad as things are right now we have a chance to head in the right direction. Under Ernie we were assured of year after year of carefully crafted mediocrity. Now, yes, we suck, and the cupboard is bare. But at least we have the hope of smarter decisions being made in the future.

I think what folks react to is Dat and other's certitude that we will either be unable to keep Beal and we will lose him in 2 years, or in their mind, worse, that we will be forced to sign him to a contract that keeps us on permanent house arrest. And therefore we ought to be desperate to ditch him before it is too late.

If you read optimism, to me its as a balancing act to the prophet-of-financial-armageddon mindset that says we are doomed unless we jettison Beal immediately. I say we are doomed regardless of whether we eject him. And I am willing to give up on the despair we had to carry under Ernie and say: even the doom sayers have no better crystal ball on the future than those suggesting we be patient and let things develop a bit.

I for one don't think Beal will be all NBA this year. 3rd team or no. Maybe next year, but probably not. These votes tend to reward players on winning teams. And nobody voted for Brad for the ASG he was a last minute sub in. We earned damn few sportscenter highlights and Brad's game doesn't lend itself to top 10 lists. He's a coaches' player and a home team fans' player. Respected by people who know the game or who see how hard he works. But opponents don't vocally fear him, and while he is good enough to get talked about or coveted by teams like LA, nobody is desperate to overpay for him. The offers you see in other media markets tend to make you mildly snort in derision then scroll on by.

What else reads as optimism? That John Wall will come back and be able to play eventually? That there's a chance he comes back a changed player and not all the changes are to the bad?

Look we have been complaining for a while that he seemed lazy on defense and off the ball. Come to find out he was playing in pain from bone spurs the entire time. Go back and re-read articles when he had his heel shaved talking about how long he must have been dealing with the problem and playing in paid. We have seen a locked-in John Wall play maximum security defense, just not consistently. Against teams who are alpha dogs, not bottom feeders. Can he play defense? He can. This year he didn't. But can he improve if he is able to play without pain? What's laughable about that? We know he can play better if he just gives more consistent effort. The best defenders in the league are not the best athletes but the ones who give consistent effort. John is not going to get stupider as he matures. Commonly players improve as defenders as they mature.

Okay he may never earn his $40+m contract. Not much we can do about that. But we can give him the benefit of the doubt that he will try. We know he isn't lazy. He loves the game and will sell out his body to play it. John played hurt. 40 +minutes a game many nights. On surgically repaired knees. 17-18 he played 32 games, due to injury. He played 40+minutes in 9 of those games. Because he had NO competent back-up playing behind him. SO yes, we will suffer from his supermax contract because only a small handful of players can deserve that sort of contract at the time they are signed. That said the way this league works there will be players who sign pricier contracts in future years, and at some point Wall's contract gets lapped and passed, possibly by worse players if he does come back with a focus to muzzle naysayers. Look at his history. When he has been counted out he came back determined and did what he could to quiet his doubters. So, yes, his cap hit looks like a problem right now. But nobody expects us to do much right now anyway. So, we have less pressure, a little more time to get creative and probably a few more high lottery picks to add talent.

Meanwhile we get to watch young talent develop and watch young motivated front office try to get crafty to build a winner out of scraps and magic tricks. Cool. Should be fun. I'm saying it is far more hopeful than it has been the past decade and a half, and I for one don't feel the desperate urgency to burn our single asset immediately. He hasn't said he wants to leave, says he wants to retire in a Wizards jersey. No idea what he believes behind closed doors, and its a gamble that we can re-sign him I suppose, but to me I think we will probably get better value out of Beal if we are able to keep him than if we jettison him now thinking we are never going to get anything better than the pu pu platter that LA would try to send us.

[Illuminaire]

panic
fear
panic moves
panic
doom prophets

Loaded languages is loaded.

I usually love your takes, Doc, but you've been consistently using negative emotive language to represent a position that is largely devoid of emotion.

You can do better.

[doclinkin]

panic
fear
panic moves
panic
doom prophets

Loaded languages is loaded.

I usually love your takes, Doc, but you've been consistently using negative emotive language to represent a position that is largely devoid of emotion.

You can do better.

Nawp. I can't and won't. I'm a fan. A passionate partisan. I will use whatever damn language I please to express it.

But I'm responding to this and similar posts:

These are fine points if time weren't a factor.

...

The optimism here is encouraging yet laughable. I appreciate it and I'm disgusted by it at the same time.

I disagree with the sentiment that we have two years and then we are ruined. That now is the best or only chance we have to trade Beal, while he is at some supposed peak. And that trading him is our only hope. And that he will either leave us because he wants a winner. Demand a trade thus his value will fall. Or if he signs it is only because of a SuperMax that will ruin our franchise.

I also find it detestable that people jumped to push the ejection button on John as soon as he suffered an injury. As a fan I am on the side of any player who is in that uniform, and am keenly aware of the human beings we cheer for. John did nothing to hurt fans. He got injured, was played way too many minutes, and then suffered a setback. Players have come back from this injury and worse. John has upside to his game that he hasn't tapped or maybe been able to tap because of playing thru pain. Making a virtue of necessity I prefer to wait and see on his injury instead of assuming he is ruined as a player and counting him out. I've seen laughable trades trying to offload his contract. Giving away assets we don't have, or impossible in any respect. Since he is untradeable without even worse pain, seems to me pointless to give up on him before he has any chance to retool and return. Especially since some of the frustration we have had with his game may be simply that he was killing himself to stay on the court and the team lacked the leadership to rein him in. Hell I have called in sick when I drank coffee too late and had insomnia typing about this mess. Playing on bone spurs? Having them shaved down? No. Nope.

So. I will loudly and hoarsely add my voice to those who say: Beal is not a problem on this team if he is willing to sign an extension. And I am not counting out Wall either. His rehab may have upside. But given that we may well struggle over the next few years, we have an opportunity in lowering our expectations and stockpiling cheaper assets without the false urgency that we had under Ernie. If we as a franchise are basically in recovery and rehabbing our team from the front office to the bench to the G league then I myself am willing to be patient. I'm eager to see what is next. Been a long time since I was able to say that.

[TGW]

Read on Twitter

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

Read on Twitter

Wow. He showed a lot in that video. Good handles, a quick, smooth release, movement without the ball.

Videos can be deceptive... but I’m more than intrigued.

[Ruzious]

Boston probably wouldn't mind consolidating their 3 1st round picks.

I'd love to get 14, 20 and 22 for 9. Unfortunately, we got nuttin to add as sweetner to convince Boston - not even a stinkin 2nd rounder. Not even a Devin Robinson or a Christian Wood.

I never assumed or suggested the Wizards could acquire all 3 picks.

I'm suggesting a simple 9 for 14/20 swap for which there is historical precedent.

Lol, I never said or suggested you did.

[payitforward]

The optimism here is encouraging yet laughable. I appreciate it and I'm disgusted by it at the same time.

I don't know about "disgusted" -- maybe "annoyed" or, even better, "amused" would make the point easier to take -- the point being: the bareness of the cupboard.

And then you go on to instruct everyone again on what we all know. ...

Remind me not to say anything nice about you again for a while. Seems to make you think you can instruct me....

[payitforward]

panic
fear
panic moves
panic
doom prophets

Loaded languages is loaded.

I usually love your takes, Doc, but you've been consistently using negative emotive language to represent a position that is largely devoid of emotion.

You can do better.

Nawp. I can't and won't. I'm a fan. A passionate partisan. I will use whatever damn language I please to express it.
...

Absolutely!

But maybe you could start giving the latitude you'd like to be given? What's the phrase? "Can dish it out, but can't take it?" Might be worth at least trying it on for size....

No criticism intended. Don't respond with a screed. As I wrote yesterday "How great to see Doc posting so much again!" Genuine response.

[Ruzious]

Spoiler:

Read on Twitter

Wow. He showed a lot in that video. Good handles, a quick, smooth release, movement without the ball.

Videos can be deceptive... but I’m more than intrigued.

I think he'll go before the Wiz pick - having the effect of moving someone else down - possibly Bol - to the Wizlets.

[payitforward]

I disagree with the sentiment that we have two years and then we are ruined. That now is the best or only chance we have to trade Beal, while he is at some supposed peak. And that trading him is our only hope. And that he will either leave us because he wants a winner. Demand a trade thus his value will fall. Or if he signs it is only because of a SuperMax that will ruin our franchise.

I also find it detestable that people jumped to push the ejection button on John as soon as he suffered an injury. As a fan I am on the side of any player who is in that uniform, and am keenly aware of the human beings we cheer for. John did nothing to hurt fans. He got injured, was played way too many minutes, and then suffered a setback. Players have come back from this injury and worse. John has upside to his game that he hasn't tapped or maybe been able to tap because of playing thru pain. Making a virtue of necessity I prefer to wait and see on his injury instead of assuming he is ruined as a player and counting him out. I've seen laughable trades trying to offload his contract. Giving away assets we don't have, or impossible in any respect. Since he is untradeable without even worse pain, seems to me pointless to give up on him before he has any chance to retool and return. Especially since some of the frustration we have had with his game may be simply that he was killing himself to stay on the court and the team lacked the leadership to rein him in. Hell I have called in sick when I drank coffee too late and had insomnia typing about this mess. Playing on bone spurs? Having them shaved down? No. Nope.

So. I will loudly and hoarsely add my voice to those who say: Beal is not a problem on this team if he is willing to sign an extension. And I am not counting out Wall either. His rehab may have upside. But given that we may well struggle over the next few years, we have an opportunity in lowering our expectations and stockpiling cheaper assets without the false urgency that we had under Ernie. If we as a franchise are basically in recovery and rehabbing our team from the front office to the bench to the G league then I myself am willing to be patient. I'm eager to see what is next. Been a long time since I was able to say that.

Wow...

Easy on the moral superiority, please.... Who pushed the eject button on John Wall? Who here hasn't expressed a hope that he returns to form or better? He's a terrific young man, & aside from basketball we've kind of gotten to see him grow up as a man over his years here. If he never plays the game again he still has a big life before him; I'm no expert, but from all I see he will fill it with generous & significant action. Yet, of course he'll come back; of course he'll play the game again. How well, who knows, & it's pointless to speculate.

But, none of that changes the fact that his $170m of guaranteed salary represents a problem for a new GM trying to rebuild a team.

Anyway, it's one thing for you to put yourself on John Wall's side. It's another to turn that into a cudgel to beat on other folks' heads with.

Ditto Beal. Who said Brad Beal is "a problem?" Discussing whether to trade him or not isn't a judgement on him. It's perfectly normal -- & typical for that matter of a period like the current interregnum! What in hell else is there to discuss? We didn't get Zion. We've already filled in every possible blank on God's questionnaire about DeAndre Hunter! Ditto Brandon Clarke.

Me, I want to draft Goga so he can play for the Gogos. There... is that better?

[payitforward]

I'd love to get 14, 20 and 22 for 9. Unfortunately, we got nuttin to add as sweetner to convince Boston - not even a stinkin 2nd rounder. Not even a Devin Robinson or a Christian Wood.

I never assumed or suggested the Wizards could acquire all 3 picks.

I'm suggesting a simple 9 for 14/20 swap for which there is historical precedent.

Lol, I never said or suggested you did.

Oh come on.... Danny Ainge is known to be a generous fellow. He'll do that deal; I know he will!

[DCZards]

Easy on the moral superiority, please.... Who pushed the eject button on John Wall? Who here hasn't expressed a hope that he returns to form or better? He's a terrific young man, & aside from basketball we've kind of gotten to see him grow up as a man over his years here. If he never plays the game again he still has a big life before him; I'm no expert, but from all I see he will fill it with generous & significant action. Yet, of course he'll come back; of course he'll play the game again. How well, who knows, & it's pointless to speculate.

A number of posters on this board have indeed been overly negative about Wall’s future as an NBA player. So I know exactly where Doc is coming from.

A few weeks back a poster wrote that Wall would be “useless” even after he returned from his injury. I didn’t respond to that comment because I considered it “senseless.”

[doclinkin]

Loaded languages is loaded.

I usually love your takes, Doc, but you've been consistently using negative emotive language to represent a position that is largely devoid of emotion.

You can do better.

Nawp. I can't and won't. I'm a fan. A passionate partisan. I will use whatever damn language I please to express it.
...

Absolutely!

But maybe you could start giving the latitude you'd like to be given? What's the phrase? "Can dish it out, but can't take it?" Might be worth at least trying it on for size....

No criticism intended. Don't respond with a screed. As I wrote yesterday "How great to see Doc posting so much again!" Genuine response.

That's not me. I'm happy to read your screeds or anyone else's. I'm not the one who critiques a guy then puts him on block for a week. I'm the guy who created the insults thread specifically so that you can insult me all you want if you have the urge and gumption. And championed SD20 and hands since they did stir the pot. Content is king, even content I disagree with. Just so long as you understand I might get feisty about it. And you might have to read my screed.

Or I suppose hide behind your block filter. Whatever works for you, old man


To whit:

Wow...

Easy on the moral superiority, please.... Who pushed the eject button on John Wall? Who here hasn't expressed a hope that he returns to form or better? He's a terrific young man, & aside from basketball we've kind of gotten to see him grow up as a man over his years here. If he never plays the game again he still has a big life before him; I'm no expert, but from all I see he will fill it with generous & significant action. Yet, of course he'll come back; of course he'll play the game again. How well, who knows, & it's pointless to speculate.

And yet many on here have. If not you, then no point saying "not me". Hear nothing say nothing. But feel free to re-read the thread when his Achilles injury hit the news. Fans were racing to throw him under the bus. And seriously you frequent the trade thread, you've seen some of the garbage trades people offer just to do anything they can to dump him.

If I were a competitive and sensitive Pisces with a chip on my shoulder and my fans gave any other response than: "Aww hell John, you been killing yourself for this team and now this? Sorry man. Get better fast, we're on your side." I would be a bit salty with the fanbase that already fills the area to cheer for other teams. John has many friends in the league. The front office is not the only reason this is not a prized destination for free agents. Lackluster fan support is part of it. Boston has loud furious fans. Golden State even when they were losing. Sacramento for years had the loudest fans in the league. San Antonio treats their team like family. OKC and Memphis are loud.

We are lumped in with teams like Atlanta and Orlando and Miami unless they are winning. Our fans show up late leave early and stay on their cell phones through the game. Or cheer for the other team.

Or carp and bitch and nitpick and critique. But that's the fun part. That's why we are here.

And to be fair, to be a long time fan we have to actually like complaining or something because what other fun has this team consistently given us over the years. Seriously? Connelly is staying in Denver? Nice. Nice Ted.

Who said Brad Beal is "a problem?" Discussing whether to trade him or not isn't a judgement on him. It's perfectly normal -- & typical for that matter of a period like the current interregnum! What in hell else is there to discuss? We didn't get Zion. We've already filled in every possible blank on God's questionnaire about DeAndre Hunter! Ditto Brandon Clarke.

Me, I want to draft Goga so he can play for the Gogos. There... is that better?

Dat who I have as much respect for as anyone who posts on this bishh suggests that our only hope is to ditch Beal before his 2 years are up. Many concur. I'm happy to add a contrarian viewpoint. Thassall.


As for the topic. What else is there to discuss:
What teams are likely to sell 2nd rounders? Who has a roster that lacks flexibility or is overloaded with young players. Who has extra picks to spare?

I like the idea of swapping 9 for Boston's picks, but I don't know that they want that.

I also like the idea of trading up for Garland if he slips close enough to make it plausible. I think he adds an element we have been missing. An "I got this" scorer with significant range who can play off the dribble, or the catch and shoot. I like the idea of growing our own CJ/Dame pair to take pressure off players like Troy and (a re-signed) Sato who are better facilitators than go-to scorers. The synergy with Beal as his AAU coach and mentor and role model seems like we might catch lightning in a bottle and surprise some people.

[Dat2U]

Let's see, Wall has a torn achillies and hasn't played well in the regular season since the 2016-17 season.

How dare people be negative or skeptical regarding his super max and the quality of player that will be playing under that!

Sorry doc, there's no shade of lipstick you can smack on this pig that's gonna make it look any prettier.

[Illmatic12]

Samanic reminds me a lot of the Brooklyn Nets rookie - Rodions Kuruc. He was the 40th pick and played really well for them, he was selected to the rookie-soph game iirc. ...

Kurucs was expected to be a typical floor spacing big, but the aspect of his game that got overlooked was his underrated athleticism and quickness. He’s able to take other bigs off the dribble when they run him off the 3pt line. And on defense , it turns out that he can actually switch and slide his feet with guards so he makes for a useful small ball C.

Kurucs was a terrific pick at #40, no doubt. & he has potential. But, tho he started the season well, I'd say "played really well" is an overstatement.

I'm not dinging the guy! For example, he had one outstanding game vs. the Sixers in R1 of the playoffs. Plus he played 1300 minutes for the Nets as a 20-21 year old rookie. A bargain pick w/o a doubt.

I also think he's got to wind up more of a wing than a big. If you get 7.5 boards per 40 minutes, it might be hard projecting you at Center.... But, he shot 31.5% on 3-pointers. That made for a TS% well below average.

I mention this only b/c of your comparison to Samanic -- whom, like you, I really like. But Samanic is a good bit bigger than Kuriucs, he's 6'11" & already at 220 lbs -- Samanic is a 2 full years younger than Kuriucs -- just turned 19 in January -- so he might well grow a bit more.

I have to think Samanic is even earlier in his development than Kuriucs. Watching him, it's hard for me to imagine he's ready to play big minutes in the NBA.

I thought I remember seeing Kurucs he was shooting near -40% on threes earlier in the season. Maybe he tailed off towards the end (which would make sense for an NBA rook) not exactly sure.

But I know BKN is pretty happy with him thus far and they had a first round grade on him. What's interesting is that his team in Europe, FC Barcelona, was intentionally holding him back and didn't give him playing time because they were afraid he'd showcase his talent and leave for the NBA.

https://nothinbutnets.com/2018/07/12/brooklyn-nets-rumors-rodions-kurucs/
https://www.eurohoops.net/en/nba-news/794116/rodions-kurucs-after-three-years-im-finally-enjoying-playing-basketball/

[nate33]

Easy on the moral superiority, please.... Who pushed the eject button on John Wall? Who here hasn't expressed a hope that he returns to form or better? He's a terrific young man, & aside from basketball we've kind of gotten to see him grow up as a man over his years here. If he never plays the game again he still has a big life before him; I'm no expert, but from all I see he will fill it with generous & significant action. Yet, of course he'll come back; of course he'll play the game again. How well, who knows, & it's pointless to speculate.

A number of posters on this board have indeed been overly negative about Wall’s future as an NBA player. So I know exactly where Doc is coming from.

A few weeks back a poster wrote that Wall would be “useless” even after he returned from his injury. I didn’t respond to that comment because I considered it “senseless.”

I will proudly state that I was pushing to trade Wall before the injury. I was trying to trade him during his very good 2018 playoffs run. I just knew the ceiling of the team was limited by his salary and his inability to play efficient basketball.

For me, it was the "everybody eats" phase of the 2017-18 season that convinced me to trade Wall. It's not that I thought it proved that the team was actually better without Wall, but I think it proved that the team wasn't all that much worse without him. Saving the money would help far more than losing his production would hurt.

[payitforward]

Easy on the moral superiority, please.... Who pushed the eject button on John Wall? Who here hasn't expressed a hope that he returns to form or better? He's a terrific young man, & aside from basketball we've kind of gotten to see him grow up as a man over his years here. If he never plays the game again he still has a big life before him; I'm no expert, but from all I see he will fill it with generous & significant action. Yet, of course he'll come back; of course he'll play the game again. How well, who knows, & it's pointless to speculate.

A number of posters on this board have indeed been overly negative about Wall’s future as an NBA player. So I know exactly where Doc is coming from.

A few weeks back a poster wrote that Wall would be “useless” even after he returned from his injury. I didn’t respond to that comment because I considered it “senseless.”

I don't see that anyone has any ability to predict John Wall's play once he returns. There's no point in being negative -- but there's no point in being positive either.

But, there are two unrelated issues relating to John; the one I just mentioned & also his contract. I don't know what the guy you thought was being senseless actually meant, but I think it must obvious that his contract is a serious problem.

But, in honesty, I also sort of agree with you -- though in a different sense, maybe: I don't like the idea of putting out any negative vibes in the guy's direction.

I am an old ex-hippie you know. Just ask Doc....

[tontoz]

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Wow. He showed a lot in that video. Good handles, a quick, smooth release, movement without the ball.

Videos can be deceptive... but I’m more than intrigued.

Count me in the sekou fan club.