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Gig18 wrote:

Illmatic12 wrote:

nuposse04 wrote:Sato has explosive hops, but kinda needs a few steps to get going. Sato isn't particularly laterally athletic but compensates with good positioning.

I have no idea if Bonga has those same instincts, but it will be fun to watch and see.

This is the only comprehensive video I saw showing him against "NBA" competition (mostly NOPs bench scrubs but still)

Very quick and active player with good anticipation. But severely lacking in strength right now

Watch on YouTube

The other thing you see in those clips were also evident in his G league stuff. He has talent, but he gets so out of control when driving to the basket that he often ends up hurling absolute prayers up as shots. Maybe that can be cleared up by getting stronger and having more playing time. But it makes it look like he's prettttttty far away from being a regular contributor.

The Laker Kid wrote:Of those 3 players you guys received, I am most impressed with Jemerrio Jones and am sad to see him go. Dude is a rebounding machine. Does the dirty work and moves without the ball. All 3 guys are very raw, especially Bonga, but Jones could be developed into a very solid hustle guy.

The Laker Kid wrote:Of those 3 players you guys received, I am most impressed with Jemerrio Jones and am sad to see him go. Dude is a rebounding machine. Does the dirty work and moves without the ball. All 3 guys are very raw, especially Bonga, but Jones could be developed into a very solid hustle guy.

Illmatic12 wrote:When you look at someone like Sekou Doumbouya ,for instance, who we were considering using our #9 overall on .. I don’t think Bonga is any worse of a prospect than Sekou (I actually prefer Bonga bc he has legit ball skills and a better wingspan as well) and we just acquired him for basically nothing. Not a bad piece of business

prime1time wrote:Not really going to talk about Bonga or Jones because they both seem so incredibly raw...

prime1time wrote:...but I like Mo Wagner. You can never have enough 3-point shooting, and 3-point shooters that check other boxes are especially valuable. I don't think we should put too much stock in what happened last year. Lakers are not a well run franchise and they clearly put little value in developing players. Mo might always be limited defensively, but if he works hard and improves his b-ball iq he can make up for his deficiencies. He's shown some semblance of a low post game and can also put the ball on the floor every now and then. Put him on the floor with a player like Beal and he'll succeed just like Bryant did.

Mo projects as a role player initially, but there is nothing wrong with that. He'll bring spacing to the bench rotation, and his pick and pop game will generate easy points. He plays hard and has a passion for the game. And after his debacle of a rookie season I expect him to have a serious chip on his shoulder. If Coach Brooks uses him to his full extent, Mo can be a very useful piece for us. Calling it now, Mo will be a fan favorite.

payitforward wrote:

prime1time wrote:Not really going to talk about Bonga or Jones because they both seem so incredibly raw...

I don't think Jones is raw. Not at all. He just has a very unusual game. I think he could be an extremely effective player if he is on the floor with multiple shooters.

payitforward wrote:Yes, even in that case he will no doubt cause their percentages to go down a little -- but who cares? He's getting the offensive board on so many misses that the result will be positive not negative!

Not to mention his defensive rebounding. & above all his really outstanding man defense. Look at the video tweet of him shutting down Lou Williams (somewhere in this thread) & the podcast excerpt where Williams says the guy wouldn't allow him to score a single point in an entire quarter.

prime1time wrote:

payitforward wrote:Mo projects as a role player initially, but there is nothing wrong with that. He'll bring spacing to the bench rotation, and his pick and pop game will generate easy points. He plays hard and has a passion for the game. And after his debacle of a rookie season I expect him to have a serious chip on his shoulder. If Coach Brooks uses him to his full extent, Mo can be a very useful piece for us. Calling it now, Mo will be a fan favorite.

I hope you are right, & of course if he improves his BBIQ he'll improve as a player -- as will any player. Mo only played 446 minutes last year, so obviously there's no reason to write him off. But, he was pretty bad. For one thing, he managed 7.5 total boards per 40 minutes, & for another he turned the ball over 3.5 times in those same 40 minutes. Combine that with missing 9 of his 15.4 shots, & you can see he's giving the ball to opponent on a regular basis.

The numbers he put up as a rookie aren't good enough to keep him in the NBA for very long. But, he was a good 3-pt. shooter in college, & he had a good FT% both in college & last year. So, I think it's fair to give little attention to his low 28.6% on threes as a rookie (particularly problematic since he took 7 per 40 minutes!). If he gets good at threes, as I think he will, he should get close to his ceiling -- which I'd say is... a role player. As you say, there's nothing wrong with that.

But, he is nothing like Thomas Bryant! No way. Bryant had better college numbers as a Freshman than Mo did as a Junior.

NatP4 wrote:If I’m the coach, I’m finding a way to get Jones out there regardless. We can sit and talk about floor spacing and how teams will guard against us all day long, but he put up monster advanced numbers in the NBA and G league. Huge positive impact.

WallToWall wrote:Didnt find the dedicated Mo Wagner thread...is there one?
Does anyone think that Wagner can develop into something more than a one trick pony on D? He seems to have an affinity to drawing charges, but thats about the extent of his D. On O, he hasnt really shown much either. He is still only 23 y.o, and has some growth to be realized, but by now, he should have shown some flashes that would convince us that he is more than, at best, a journey-man F/C.

WallToWall wrote:Didnt find the dedicated Mo Wagner thread...is there one?
Does anyone think that Wagner can develop into something more than a one trick pony on D? He seems to have an affinity to drawing charges, but thats about the extent of his D. On O, he hasnt really shown much either. He is still only 23 y.o, and has some growth to be realized, but by now, he should have shown some flashes that would convince us that he is more than, at best, a journey-man F/C.