Game 43: Wizards (14-28) @ Heat (30-13) Wed, 1/22 @7:30 PM

[payitforward]

To be fair there wasn't much there. A lot of last year's drafts were unknowns. Sir you could have dropped back a couple spots and probably still pick rui and get another pick. But that's splitting hairs. Plus he's a god character kid with good offensive potential. How work ethic is good and you can teach a willing student. So if he's willing he will one day be a serviceable defender

I think rui has the tools to defend he just needs to learn.

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He has the tools but why would you draft a kid who is 21 and has no clue how to defend in the first round? He's just long. He also doesn't have a three-point shot and is an undersized four, which would be fine if he had the first attribute. I have to admit, I was impressed at first because we've had so many first-round busts in the past. He's not a bust. Just not sure what his ceiling is.

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Whether Rui will become a good NBA player is unknown.

Whether Rui was a good draft pick (i.e. was the decision to pick him @ #9 a good decision?) is a completely different question, to which the answer is known.

No. It was a poor decision.

edit: as "...there wasn't much there," sorry that's not at all the case.

[DCZards]

I don’t buy this view that having a good midrange shooting game like the one Rui appears to possess is somehow useless in today’s NBA. That's analytical poppycock, imo.

Kawhi and LaMarcus Aldridge have been able to use their great midrange games to the advantage of the teams they've been on. There’s no reason why Rui can’t do the same.

And there’s certainly no reason why Rui can’t become a much better 3pt shooter. Many players have gone from being below average 3pt shooters to good 3pt shooters. Blake Griffin and TJ Warren to name two.

It’s waaayyy too early to tell how good a player Rui can or will become—on both ends of the court.

[payitforward]

I don’t buy this view that having a good midrange shooting game like the one Rui appears to possess is somehow useless in today’s NBA. That's analytical poppycock, imo.

Kawhi and LaMarcus Aldridge have been able to use their great midrange games to the advantage of the teams they've been on. There’s no reason why Rui can’t do the same.

And there’s certainly no reason why Rui can’t become a much better 3pt shooter. Many players have gone from being below average 3pt shooters to good 3pt shooters. Blake Griffin and TJ Warren to name two.

It’s waaayyy too early to tell how good a player Rui can or will become—on both ends of the court.

This is absolutely correct. But, it's also & equally correct to say that he hasn't been particularly good so far.

The problem comes when a person says one of those things but denies the other.

Btw, although Rui's mid-range game might be the best thing about his offense to date, it hasn't been all that great. You can't point to it & say, "look, Rui has shown that he's really good at something."

Now, if he develops an outstanding mid-range game, then (not now) it's fine to compare him to Kawhi. Then (not now) you can say that like Kawhi or Aldridge he helps his team with his outstanding mid-range game.

If you want to highlight what Rui has done best, then point at his FT% -- 86.7%.

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

ducler is posting/starting threads earlier this season. Need to get threads up ASAP after a win.

To be honest, his threads should be insta locked anyway.

He's not really participating on the board and just self-promoting his twitter page essentially.

I'm barely participating myself. Somewhere in the vast RealGM empire there is a thread where team mods various ducler proposals. In the end, we decided to do nothing, since he drops in existing game threads (if they exist), and some fans like his contribution.

Still, it undermines the Wizboard winning thread maker tradition. Close game, maybe he jinxed a loss. If you're on a winning thread streak, just make the thread anyway, ducler or no ducler.

Hey man, thanks for being there when my Dad died. I will always appreciate you for that.

I hope in a couple years this team turns it around and can be something to get us all fired up about. In the meantime, I just wanted to say I noted your absence...

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I don’t buy this view that having a good midrange shooting game like the one Rui appears to possess is somehow useless in today’s NBA. That's analytical poppycock, imo.

Kawhi and LaMarcus Aldridge have been able to use their great midrange games to the advantage of the teams they've been on. There’s no reason why Rui can’t do the same.

And there’s certainly no reason why Rui can’t become a much better 3pt shooter. Many players have gone from being below average 3pt shooters to good 3pt shooters. Blake Griffin and TJ Warren to name two.

It’s waaayyy too early to tell how good a player Rui can or will become—on both ends of the court.

This is absolutely correct. But, it's also & equally correct to say that he hasn't been particularly good so far.

The problem comes when a person says one of those things but denies the other.

Btw, although Rui's mid-range game might be the best thing about his offense to date, it hasn't been all that great. You can't point to it & say, "look, Rui has shown that he's really good at something."

Now, if he develops an outstanding mid-range game, then (not now) it's fine to compare him to Kawhi. Then (not now) you can say that like Kawhi or Aldridge he helps his team with his outstanding mid-range game.

If you want to highlight what Rui has done best, then point at his FT% -- 86.7%.

If you want to look at Rui's upside, I'd say somewhere in between Caron Butler and Antawn Jamison. He's going to be a proficient offense player, nothing more. Period.

Could he be an all star some day? Sure, if he gets to the point where he gets 20-25 shots a game.

Will he be a great player in this league? I doubt it. NO WAY does he possess what Kawhi has. He doesn't rebound it well. He doesn't have the motor at both ends. He's not a ball hawk. He's not instinctive on defense. In short, look at guys like Julius Randall and Tobias Harris. Are they impactful? Not that much IMO.