Seismic Shift in the East: Thomas Bryant a Wizard

[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I didn't know much of anything about this guy but I've been doing some background research. Looking at Bryant on the film, he's got a great frame and tools for his age. He isn't laterally fast, but can run the open floor very well in a straight line and he's vertically explosive for alley oops and rebounds. His 3pt shot mechanics look effortless, and he plays with an edge which is good since he lacks elite talent. There's a whole lot to like there for sure. If he fails, it'll probably be because he doesn't seem to have the footspeed to defend on the perimeter. But he's not as slow & awkward as say, Andrew Nicholson was - I could see a more athletic Gorgui Dieng-type as a model if Bryant develops into a useful rotation piece.

It sounds like the Lakers were pretty high on Thomas Bryant and were figuring him into their longterm plans, at least until the Lebron signing obviously accelerated their timeline. From earlier this summer:

Rob Pelinka on Thomas Bryant.

In particular with Thomas Bryant, we all know the game is about shooting bigs. It was just stretch fours at one point, now you’ve got to have stretch fours and stretch fives, and Thomas Bryant is a seven-foot stretch five. Gunnar Peterson and our weight staff have done an unbelievable job just getting him locked in to being an ‘NBA strong’ player. His body fat went way down under 10 percent, he’s eating clean and you can just see the wiry, strong way he’s growing into his body.”

He’s just an unbelievable, almost intoxicating 3-point shooter from the top of the key. It’s almost automatic. As he grows into his body and the pace of the NBA game you can see Lonzo coming off that high ball screen, you can see Kuz in the space that Thomas Bryant will open up for our cutters and our slashers. We do feel like he’s going to be a big piece of the future and how we want to play, and how we want to build this.”

LA was suddenly forced to cut him to clear capspace, and honestly it sounds like the Wizards were pretty lucky to find a young prospect (he's only 20 !) like Bryant available on the waiver wire. Players like this are exactly why we needed the DC GoGo - bring him in and develop him patiently. By midseason he could be getting spot minutes on the big club

The Lakers were high on Thomas Bryant but Moritz Wagner looks outstanding in summer league

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

Laker fan here

Had mild hopes for bryant.

Not freaking out that he was released like when the lakers released bazemore or nwaba

Kent Bazemore is a heck of a player and I believe in guava is getting better. From now on I'm going to leave my auto-correct errors as they are

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

The issue with Thomas Bryant isn't his size. Honestly, being a little lighter helps more than it hurts. He just doesn't see the game fast enough and isn't skilled enough by NBA standards. I hope he turns out, and he still might, but even if he does turn out, we're talking maybe 10th man or something.

Count me among those who disagree with the conventional wisdom that being lighter help. The very first basketball game I ever went to my dad took me to was in 1972. My dad took me to see West Unser and the bullets. Wes was so fat that when he threw an outlet pass I can see the fat jiggle. Hall of Famer West unsell

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[Chocolate City Jordanaire]

I think the bigger a guy is the more forcefully he can displace people which is why Shaq was so effective at his height. The man wait about 330 lb buddy ran like a deer

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[closg00]

Well-worth having him on our G-League team and seeing where it goes.

[TKainZero]

Laker fan here

Had mild hopes for bryant.

Not freaking out that he was released like when the lakers released bazemore or nwaba

Kent Bazemore is a heck of a player and I believe in guava is getting better. From now on I'm going to leave my auto-correct errors as they are

Sent from my LG-TP260 using RealGM mobile app

Lakers fans were mad when in guava left. Lol


Baze ended up with a huge contact. But nwaba left for the min I believe. Both of those 2 where quality guard defenders.

Thomas bryant hasn’t demonstrated any nba level attributes that will immediately make me sad he is gone.

But he certainly has potential

[nate33]

The issue with Thomas Bryant isn't his size. Honestly, being a little lighter helps more than it hurts. He just doesn't see the game fast enough and isn't skilled enough by NBA standards. I hope he turns out, and he still might, but even if he does turn out, we're talking maybe 10th man or something.

I agree that being lighter helps. I'm just saying that he compares to Cousins in the way that he moves, despite being 40 pounds lighter.

If you think a guy that is as long as Cousins and moves as fast as Cousins can be an effective defender from a physical standpoint, then you think Bryant can be an effective defender.

My point for bringing it up is that I personally think that Cousins is a bit too slow and plodding to be a really good defender. However, I think, with the proper mental focus and instincts, a guy with Cousin's length and mobility can be a mediocre defender, good enough to not be a liability on most nights. I'm just not expecting miracles. He's no Rudy Gobert.

[payitforward]

IMO, Thomas Bryant has a shot to be an extremely good NBA player. As well, I do not agree that he is "years away," as someone posted yesterday in the SL thread. Here's why I think so.

Lets compare him to Jarrett Allen for a moment. After the draft last year, a lot of people thought Jarrett Allen was "years away." Now, for context, Allen is 9 months younger than Bryant. He came out after his Freshman year & went #22. Bryant came out after his Sophomore year & went #42 in the same draft.

But, if you look at the two guys' numbers as Freshmen (Bryant in '15-16, Allen in '16-17) they are virtually identical in most ways. Rebounding, blocked shots, assists, steals & turnovers -- all very close.

But, they were not similar either in scoring or in fouls.

Bryant was by far a better scorer than Allen. He scored 21 points per 40 minutes at an amazing .701 TS%.

Allen fouled a lot less, however -- 2.6 per 40 minutes vs. Bryant's 5.

Overall, factoring in scoring & fouls, Thomas Bryant had meaningfully better numbers than Jarrett Allen. But, Allen played in a tougher conference. Still, I think that if Bryant had come out in 2016, after his Freshman year, he might well have been a lottery pick.

Bryant's Sophomore numbers went down some -- almost entirely b/c his scoring efficiency declined. But -- & this is important -- both his 3 pt. % (.383) & his FT % (.730) actually went up. & they were extremely good -- esp. for a pure Center like Bryant.

What happened was that Bryant's 2 pt. % went down to .519 (still not bad), reflecting the fact that he added more variety to his offense (i.e. he started shooting more jump shots). His TS% went down from .701 to a mere .601. That's as a Sophomore. & it's still very good.

For comparison, Mo Wagner posted .619 as a Junior. Omari Spellman was at .588 as a Freshman. Robert Williams was at .570 as a Freshman & .614 as a Sophomore.

IMO, this kid has a shot to be an extremely good NBA player. Before saying "he can't do this" & "he doesn't do that," you might want to think about all the bigs that passed through here, or whom we passed on in R2 or never took seriously at all b/c they went undrafted -- & who went on to be very successful in the league. Khem Birch might be the poster boy, but the league is full of them.

[payitforward]

The Lakers were high on Thomas Bryant but Moritz Wagner looks outstanding in summer league

Et tu, CCJ?

So far in 5 SL games, Moritz Wagner has gone 22 for 62. He's shooting 35%

So far in 2 SL games, Thomas Bryant has gone 11 for 17. He's shooting 65%

In fairness, Moritz Wagner has rebounded well -- beginning w/ his 3d SL game.

I don't doubt that Moritz Wagner will be an NBA player.

[Ruzious]

Looking at his highlights... it looks like he's running in clay. But he actually gets up and down the court pretty well - even though he looks stiff doing it. I like the pickup - even if he never becomes more than a 9th or 10th man. Kindofa poor man's Randle - who he played behind... actually sat behind. Randle's a better athlete, but Bryant's longer. He's going to have to show some improvement on defense if he's going to earn some PT.

[Kanyewest]

I didn't know much of anything about this guy but I've been doing some background research. Looking at Bryant on the film, he's got a great frame and tools for his age. He isn't laterally fast, but can run the open floor very well in a straight line and he's vertically explosive for alley oops and rebounds. His 3pt shot mechanics look effortless, and he plays with an edge which is good since he lacks elite talent. There's a whole lot to like there for sure. If he fails, it'll probably be because he doesn't seem to have the footspeed to defend on the perimeter. But he's not as slow & awkward as say, Andrew Nicholson was - I could see a more athletic Gorgui Dieng-type as a model if Bryant develops into a useful rotation piece.

It sounds like the Lakers were pretty high on Thomas Bryant and were figuring him into their longterm plans, at least until the Lebron signing obviously accelerated their timeline. From earlier this summer:

Rob Pelinka on Thomas Bryant.

In particular with Thomas Bryant, we all know the game is about shooting bigs. It was just stretch fours at one point, now you’ve got to have stretch fours and stretch fives, and Thomas Bryant is a seven-foot stretch five. Gunnar Peterson and our weight staff have done an unbelievable job just getting him locked in to being an ‘NBA strong’ player. His body fat went way down under 10 percent, he’s eating clean and you can just see the wiry, strong way he’s growing into his body.”

He’s just an unbelievable, almost intoxicating 3-point shooter from the top of the key. It’s almost automatic. As he grows into his body and the pace of the NBA game you can see Lonzo coming off that high ball screen, you can see Kuz in the space that Thomas Bryant will open up for our cutters and our slashers. We do feel like he’s going to be a big piece of the future and how we want to play, and how we want to build this.”

LA was suddenly forced to cut him to clear capspace, and honestly it sounds like the Wizards were pretty lucky to find a young prospect (he's only 20 !) like Bryant available on the waiver wire. Players like this are exactly why we needed the DC GoGo - bring him in and develop him patiently. By midseason he could be getting spot minutes on the big club

The Lakers were high on Thomas Bryant but Moritz Wagner looks outstanding in summer league

Sent from my LG-TP260 using RealGM mobile app

Funny thing is Bryant is slightly younger than Mo Wagner. Since NBA.com doesn't appear to be aggregating their stats- here is a comparison of their stats from a few google search results

Thomas Bryant (2 games): 13.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, two assists and one steal in 30.5 minutes per game. Shooting 65 percent from the field.

Mo Wagner (3 games) (as of July 6th): 14.7 points and eight rebounds while shooting 5-of-16 (31 percent) from 3.

[Ruzious]

And if he shows he can play, the Wiz could even think of dumping Mahinmi. Ernie's a genius!

Actually, the possibie viability of stretching Mahinmi remains.

[payitforward]

The issue with Thomas Bryant isn't his size. Honestly, being a little lighter helps more than it hurts. He just doesn't see the game fast enough and isn't skilled enough by NBA standards. I hope he turns out, and he still might, but even if he does turn out, we're talking maybe 10th man or something.

You know... I'm sure you didn't mean to be dismissive of a player you probably haven't seen that much of. I'm sure you didn't mean to hint that Bryant is "dumb" by saying that he "doesn't see the game fast enough." But, that's how your post came across to me.

As you can tell, this kind of thing ticks me off. That's on me, & I'm not looking to accuse anyone of anything. But, I am sensitive -- no doubt too sensitive -- to any language that hints that a big black kid is "dumb" ("...doesn't see the game fast enough...") I'm sure you meant nothing of the kind.

I can't help wondering how well you know Bryant as a player. How much you've watched him. I wonder whether, right now w/o looking it up, you can say where he played his college ball. Maybe you can, but it would be no surprise if you couldn't.

I wonder about that, because you are pronouncing not just on the few minutes you have seen Thomas Bryant play for us in SL but on the guy altogether -- & in an unabashedly final way too! He doesn't this & he isn't that. & he can maybe be a 10th man....

In fact, I wonder what anyone could possibly know -- about Bryant or even about basketball -- that would qualify anyone to make pronouncements of this kind about a kid whom it would be very very unlikely any of us have seen play much?

Personally, from my exposure to Bryant, which like yours is reasonably limited -- although, aside from watching Bryant in our two games, I've also spent the time to review as much G League footage as possible (in fairness you do mostly see a guy's highlights, which in Bryant's case were considerable, as he played extremely well in a lot of G League minutes last year), looked closely at his G League numbers, & both examined his numbers in college & also analyzed them against comparables -- I see a very different player from the one you see.

Now, I certainly don't see enough to pronounce on him definitively the way you did. But, nothing in all the time I've spent on him tells me that Bryant "just doesn't see the game fast enough." Nor does anything I see indicate that "he isn't skilled enough by NBA standards." Not beyond what you'd expect to see in a kid his age.

In fact, I'd say his court awareness is very good; his feel for the game is solid. He moves well & knows where to move too.

Moreover, Bryant seems to have understood what skills he's going to need to enhance -- that's why, for example, his 3pt. % shots went up rapidly as a Sophomore & was good in the G League as well.

Now, the G League isn't the NBA, obviously. But, it's the next best thing. & Thomas Bryant absolutely killed it last year in the G League. At this point, he's a slightly below average rebounder. Otherwise his production was fantastic.

In short, Thomas Bryan is a very promising young player indeed.

Note that Moritz Wagner & Thomas Bryant entered college the same year & both played a lot of minutes as Sophomores. Bryant came out last year, but Wagner went back to school. Have you compared their numbers as Sophomores in 2016-17? If so, what did you see?

[payitforward]

...he compares to Cousins in the way that he moves...I think, with the proper mental focus and instincts, a guy with Cousin's length and mobility can be ...good enough to not be a liability on most nights. I'm just not expecting miracles. He's no Rudy Gobert.

I don't know if Bryant can or can't be a good defender, but I do not see him as physically similar (movement or anything else) to Cousins.

I don't suppose you mean static physical measurements (outstanding for both guys), & in any case, how much do physical measurements of that kind mean? Something, obviously -- you have to have size & length to play C. But, Brook Lopez (also outstanding) is a close match to Cousins in size, wingspan, reach, etc.

Not exactly similar kinds of players! In fact, physically, I'd compare Bryant to Lopez before I compared him to Cousins. Doesn't mean he'll be a similar player to either of them.

Nor is Bryant slow or floor-bound -- though he's not a great leaper, don't get me wrong! But, he's comparable to Tony Bradley & some other young guys who look they'll be quite successful players. Not to mention to many players who we know were terrific.

Of course, as the guy said, "the game is called basketball; the game is not called running & jumping." Frank Jackson way way out-leaps Donovan Mitchell. Anyone tempted to trade Mitchell for Jackson?

[NatP4]

The issue with Thomas Bryant isn't his size. Honestly, being a little lighter helps more than it hurts. He just doesn't see the game fast enough and isn't skilled enough by NBA standards. I hope he turns out, and he still might, but even if he does turn out, we're talking maybe 10th man or something.

You know... I'm sure you didn't mean to be dismissive of a player you probably haven't seen that much of. I'm sure you didn't mean to hint that Bryant is "dumb" by saying that he "doesn't see the game fast enough." But, that's how your post came across to me.

As you can tell, this kind of thing ticks me off. That's on me, & I'm not looking to accuse anyone of anything. But, I am sensitive -- no doubt too sensitive -- to any language that hints that a big black kid is "dumb" ("...doesn't see the game fast enough...") I'm sure you meant nothing of the kind.

I can't help wondering how well you know Bryant as a player. How much you've watched him. I wonder whether, right now w/o looking it up, you can say where he played his college ball. Maybe you can, but it would be no surprise if you couldn't.

I wonder about that, because you are pronouncing not just on the few minutes you have seen Thomas Bryant play for us in SL but on the guy altogether -- & in an unabashedly final way too! He doesn't this & he isn't that. & he can maybe be a 10th man....

In fact, I wonder what anyone could possibly know -- about Bryant or even about basketball -- that would qualify anyone to make pronouncements of this kind about a kid whom it would be very very unlikely any of us have seen play much?

Personally, from my exposure to Bryant, which like yours is reasonably limited -- although, aside from watching Bryant in our two games, I've also spent the time to review as much G League footage as possible (in fairness you do mostly see a guy's highlights, which in Bryant's case were considerable, as he played extremely well in a lot of G League minutes last year), looked closely at his G League numbers, & both examined his numbers in college & also analyzed them against comparables -- I see a very different player from the one you see.

Now, I certainly don't see enough to pronounce on him definitively the way you did. But, nothing in all the time I've spent on him tells me that Bryant "just doesn't see the game fast enough." Nor does anything I see indicate that "he isn't skilled enough by NBA standards." Not beyond what you'd expect to see in a kid his age.

In fact, I'd say his court awareness is very good; his feel for the game is solid. He moves well & knows where to move too.

Moreover, Bryant seems to have understood what skills he's going to need to enhance -- that's why, for example, his 3pt. % shots went up rapidly as a Sophomore & was good in the G League as well.

Now, the G League isn't the NBA, obviously. But, it's the next best thing. & Thomas Bryant absolutely killed it last year in the G League. At this point, he's a slightly below average rebounder. Otherwise his production was fantastic.

In short, Thomas Bryan is a very promising young player indeed.

Note that Moritz Wagner & Thomas Bryant entered college the same year & both played a lot of minutes as Sophomores. Bryant came out last year, but Wagner went back to school. Have you compared their numbers as Sophomores in 2016-17? If so, what did you see?

[payitforward]

It sounds like the Lakers were pretty high on Thomas Bryant and were figuring him into their longterm plans, at least until the Lebron signing obviously accelerated their timeline. From earlier this summer:

Rob Pelinka on Thomas Bryant.

In particular with Thomas Bryant, we all know the game is about shooting bigs. It was just stretch fours at one point, now you’ve got to have stretch fours and stretch fives, and Thomas Bryant is a seven-foot stretch five. Gunnar Peterson and our weight staff have done an unbelievable job just getting him locked in to being an ‘NBA strong’ player. His body fat went way down under 10 percent, he’s eating clean and you can just see the wiry, strong way he’s growing into his body.”

He’s just an unbelievable, almost intoxicating 3-point shooter from the top of the key. It’s almost automatic. As he grows into his body and the pace of the NBA game you can see Lonzo coming off that high ball screen, you can see Kuz in the space that Thomas Bryant will open up for our cutters and our slashers. We do feel like he’s going to be a big piece of the future and how we want to play, and how we want to build this.”

LA was suddenly forced to cut him to clear capspace, and honestly it sounds like the Wizards were pretty lucky to find a young prospect (he's only 20 !) like Bryant available on the waiver wire. Players like this are exactly why we needed the DC GoGo - bring him in and develop him patiently. By midseason he could be getting spot minutes on the big club

What Pelinka says sounds more like the Thomas Bryant I've seen in video, live play, & numbers.

Bryant played 1300 G League minutes last year, & overall he was just tremendous. He posted a .678 TS% on almost 26 points per 40 minutes. 2 blocks & 2.8 assists per 40 minutes. He didn't foul much or turn it over much. The only sub-par note was 9.8 boards per 40 minutes.

If he posted those G League numbers in the NBA (which -- of course! -- I'm not saying he would have, will, or can), he'd be one of the top Centers in the league.

Thomas Bryant is still 20 years old. Barring injury and/or personal problems, he looks like a prospect for a long NBA career, perhaps much of it as a starter.

[gtn130]

I have watched zero minutes of Thomas Bryant and zero minutes of the Wizards summer league thus far - does Bryant look like someone who can actually defend and switch on pnr?

Being able to hit an occasional trailing 3 as a modern 5 means very little if he can't defend.

[NatP4]

A handful of posters have been watching and posting about the games in the summer league thread, all concluding that Bryant is very poor defensively, this is the same thing that lakers fans were saying. If you watch the games, it’s pretty obvious he’s not a good defender.

But you can believe PIF who literally pays no attention whatsoever to the defensive side of the ball and just called another poster racist for claiming that Bryant has a poor feel for the game defensively (which he does) all because he has a nice TS% from the g league last year.

Your choice!

[NatP4]

He has a poor motor and feel on D, subpar lateral quickness, this goofy type of athleticism kind of like Andrew Nicholson. He tries much harder on offense.

I don’t think he’ll ever be much of a switch option, but who knows

[80sballboy]

A handful of posters have been watching and posting about the games in the summer league thread, all concluding that Bryant is very poor defensively, this is the same thing that lakers fans were saying. If you watch the games, it’s pretty obvious he’s not a good defender.

But you can believe PIF who literally pays no attention whatsoever to the defensive side of the ball and just called another poster racist for claiming that Bryant has a poor feel for the game defensively (which he does) all because he has a nice TS% from the g league last year.

Your choice!

Huh? I don't think anybody (including me) said he was a good defender. I was impressed by his hands and touch on offense. I did say he has potential to get better because he has great length, but he doesn't seem to be as concerned with that side of the floor as he is with the offensive side.