Officially Waived: The Kai Jones Thread

[SWedd523]

I think you have to grade Kai and the Plumlee trade in conjunction with each other. Kai on his own, having no vet presence to take pressure away has a tougher road to reaching his ceiling. Plumlee trade, on it's own, is nothing more than a short term stop gap and doesn't give us any potential star power to develop.

Put the two together and I really see a nice pairing. Kai already has the natural elite run/jump/fast twitch aspects to his game. We're hoping he can build on the face up game he's flashed at times. Plumlee does a very good job with a lot of the offensive things we want to get out of Kai.

Really just a master class on draft night. Even if Kai doesn't pan out, you can't really fault Mitch for making those moves. He set them up for success

[Lwcasu]

I thought this had a good chance to be the pick at 11 and probably would have given it a B minus there. Fits a need and has as much upside as anyone in the draft. I haven’t seen his combination of size, speed, and dribbling a lot. The instantaneous thoughts in my head are guys like Durant and Giannis, however let me make it clear I’m not comparing him to them. Small sample size makes this guy a difficult prospect to access, but he also played on a loaded team. If he can consistently knock down NBA threes I think he’s going to be very good. If he doesn’t he’s a role player who might emerge as a starting center (lots of lobs and running the pick and roll). At this draft pick I have this pick an A.

[JMAC3]

I know there have been some people who compare Kai and Thor as similar prospects because they are similar builds, flashy athletes and both decent outside shooters. However, I am here to tell you that they aren't that similar at all.

Kai is much more of a center than Thor. Kai played a lot in the dunker spot for Texas this year catching lobs and hitting some corner threes when he would fall back to space the rim. Thor on the other hand played pretty much exclusively on the perimeter as a stretch 4. Evidence of Kai shooting 1.3 threes per game, compared to Thor at 2.7 attempts per game.

Kai is the better athlete in transition as he is often seen running by guards to beat them to the rim for easy dunks. Thor is a good athlete, but he is often caught from behind in transition and tends to float more to the three-point line when Auburn had run outs. Kai was sprinting to the front of the rim for easy 2's.

Both have shown potential for weakside shot blocks, but Thor is a much better-shot blocker on the perimeter contesting jumpers whereas Kai is more a chase down blocker who attempts to embarrass the shooter often slamming the ball off the backboard or out of bounds, he needs to work on this.

Thor is great at playing the passing lanes with his length, whereas Kai is the better defender when switched onto guards. The hope is one day he will be a great switch defender like Giannis was in the playoffs where getting your point guard on the Center isn't an advantage at all on switches.

Neither one has really fully developed an off the dribble pull up game, as both are seen attempting to do so a few times this past season. I believe that Thor has a better chance of this as his jump shot is more fluid and he has a quicker release at this point when compared to Kai. I see Kai more as a stretch 5 with LaMelo who is able to float to the rim or pop out to shoot uncontested three pointers at the top of the break when 2 defenders go with Melo.

Overally I am happy with both picks. I think there will be times this season when we are screaming for Kai to be on the floor because of his energy he brings to both sides of the ball. Thor I think will be a guy who has his moments shooting the ball, but he needs to work on his strength and ball handling for him to be a real threat to be a PF who can beat players off the dribble.

[BigSlam]

Looks good on him:

Read on Twitter

[SWedd523]

Very, very bold to go with 23 on Jordan's team. Who was the last Hornet to do that?

[wilson115]

Read on Twitter

[SpearNMgicHelmt]

During the press conference, Kai Jones was clearly sincerely happy to be coming to play for Charlotte specifically. Draft picks generally give lip service to that, but Kai really seemed to mean it. I imagine he is envisioning all those lobs and full court passes he's going to get from LaMelo.

[BigSlam]

Very, very bold to go with 23 on Jordan's team. Who was the last Hornet to do that?

Jason Richardson would be my “maybe it’s too obvious” guess?

[SpearNMgicHelmt]

I have looked at Knicks fans reactions, and they hated trading #19. The don't like the protections on the pick:

2022: Top-18 protection
2023: Top-16 protection
2024: Lottery protection
2025: Lottery protection
Will turn into two future 2nds if not conveyed.

Plus the 16th pick trade was for two protected firsts.

[MPM]

I have looked at Knicks fans reactions, and they hated trading #19. The don't like the protections on the pick:

2022: Top-18 protection
2023: Top-16 protection
2024: Lottery protection
2025: Lottery protection
Will turn into two future 2nds if not conveyed.

Plus the 16th pick trade was for two protected firsts.

The Dude abides.

[wilson115]

Gotta hand it to Coach. This is yeoman's work.

Watch on YouTube

[BigSlam]

If this kid actually gets even close to his ceiling, he’s going to be a HUGE fan favourite.

Not only because of his game play, but because of the young man he appears to be.

Read on Twitter

P.S, That’s a bloody nice looking left arm. Can’t wait until it gets some more NBA meat on it.

[Liver_Pooty]

If this kid actually gets even close to his ceiling, he’s going to be a HUGE fan favourite.

Not only because of his game play, but because of the young man he appears to be.

Read on Twitter

P.S, That’s a bloody nice looking left arm. Can’t wait until it gets some more NBA meat on it.

I thought he was all bones. That arm looks like some Ivan Drago **** off rocky 4. Wonder how his calves are

[Snidely FC]

Jonathan Tjarks of The Ringer thinks Jones has unique upside:

Meet the Most Interesting Sleeper in the 2021 NBA Draft
Jones is the latest in a long line of NBA big men to play for Shaka Smart at Texas, following Jarrett Allen, Mo Bamba, and Jaxson Hayes. Smart wasn’t able to maximize any of them, and was forced out in March after six up-and-down seasons. What separates Jones from his predecessors is that Smart used him mainly as a stretch 4 because he was playing next to another potential NBA center in senior Jericho Sims.

That’s where the intrigue starts with Jones, who might be the Longhorns’ best NBA prospect since Kevin Durant. He’s an elite athlete with the size (6-foot-11 and 220 pounds) to be a rim-running center who also has the skill to play on the perimeter on offense. There are glimpses of that skill in his stats. He shot 38.2 percent from 3 on 1.3 attempts per game last season, and 68.9 percent from the free throw line on 2.8 attempts per game. Those aren’t great shooting numbers, but they show that he has potential. They are even better than those of some of the perimeter players projected to go ahead of him.

But it’s only when you watch film of Jones that you truly appreciate his talent. Jones does one or two things a game that are legitimately shocking for a 6-foot-11 player.

His touch is the most encouraging sign for his potential as a shooter. It’s incredible that Jones shot so well from 2-point range considering how rarely he was used as a roll man. He was much more efficient than Bamba and Allen despite having a more difficult role in the offense.

There’s more to being a stretch 4 than spotting up on the perimeter. Jones usually began most possessions at the 3-point line and would have to wind his way to the basket on drives and cuts. That requires the ability to put the ball on the floor, finish from difficult angles, and read the defense on the move. Most big men would be fish out of water in that scenario. Jones made it look easy.

He has a natural fluidity with the ball that is impossible to teach. There are plays when the big man looks like a guard, He even has a Eurostep. There’s a bit of flash to his game that stands out in this class.

What makes Jones even more intriguing is that he can play on the perimeter on both ends of the floor. Jones can get in a defensive stance, slide his feet, and stay in front of elite guards. Texas played Oklahoma State three times this season, so he wound up guarding Cade Cunningham, the likely no. 1 pick, fairly often. Cade sizes up Jones in isolation and decides that he can’t take him

Jones has the talent and the athleticism to be a 6-foot-11 guard. Players like that don’t come around often. They basically don’t exist.

It’s fair to ask why he didn’t do more at Texas. There were a couple of things going on.

The biggest was the roster around him. Sims was the Longhorns’ best player, a senior who paid his dues behind Bamba and Hayes before finally getting the chance to man the middle. He’s a smart and experienced player who is both extremely athletic and built like a tank (6-foot-10 and 245 pounds). Most NCAA centers could not handle him. Sims is a likely second-round draft pick whom Smart had to emphasize. There was no way Jones was playing in front of him, no matter his NBA talent.

He also shared a frontcourt with Greg Brown III, a potential first-round pick this year in his own right. Brown was a highly touted five-star recruit from the Austin area. His dad played football at Texas. Signing him was a recruiting coup for Smart, who was already on the hot seat coming into the season. He gave Brown every chance to succeed. Jones spent most of the season coming off the bench behind Brown until it became obvious that he was the better player.

Texas didn’t have the guards to utilize its big men, either. Smart started three—senior Matt Coleman III and juniors Andrew Jones and Courtney Ramey—and gave them a permanent green light on offense. They never justified his faith. That became clear after a shocking upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament to Abilene Christian, in which the trio combined to commit 15 turnovers.

That loss was the last straw for Smart in Austin. He wasn’t “fired” because he was owed too much money, but he was encouraged to look for other jobs and wound up at Marquette.

Jones averaged 8.8 points on 58.0 percent shooting, 4.8 rebounds, 0.6 assists, 1.4 turnovers, 0.8 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game this season. There is nothing remarkable about his stats. They aren’t impressive in comparison to the other big men in the draft. But it was a minor miracle that he showed anything given all that was happening around him.

He’s still learning the game, and can already do things that the vast majority of big men his age can’t.

What makes Jones special is that he could be more than a big man. He could be a guard with the size of a center. That’s the thing to keep in mind when reading about the knocks on him. If there weren’t concerns, he would be a top-five pick. The chance to get a player with his talent in the teens, where he’s currently projected to be picked in most mock drafts, is exceedingly rare. The rewards far outweigh the risks. It’s just a question of who wants to roll the dice.

https://www.theringer.com/2021/7/15/22576835/meet-the-most-interesting-sleeper-in-the-2021-nba-draft

[UNCNYC]

Maybe we can call his thread

Malibu Fin - The Kai Jones Thread

Instead of Malichi Flynn, Mali-KAI.

[BigSlam]

If this kid actually gets even close to his ceiling, he’s going to be a HUGE fan favourite.

Not only because of his game play, but because of the young man he appears to be.

P.S, That’s a bloody nice looking left arm. Can’t wait until it gets some more NBA meat on it.

I thought he was all bones. That arm looks like some Ivan Drago **** off rocky 4. Wonder how his calves are

I mean, he's cute - but let's be honest.........he's no Chandler Parsons.

[JMAC3]

I like our potential at the center position with Kai added to the mix. Obviously need to see Kai in the summer league but something like this would make sense in the early going...

5- Plumlee (22 mpg)- PJ (6mpg)- Kai (20 mpg)
4- PJ (26 mpg)- Miles (22 mpg)
3- Hayward (32 mpg)- Miles(10 mpg)- Bouk (6mpg)
2- Rozier (32 mpg)- Bouk (14 mpg)- Graham (4 mpg)
1- LaMelo (32 mpg)- Graham (16 mpg)

Minute Totals
LaMelo 32 mpg
Hayward 32 mpg
Rozier 32 mpg
PJ 32 mpg
Miles 32 mpg
Plumlee 22 mpg (Zeller Mins)
Graham 20 mpg
Bouk 20 mpg (Monk Mins)
Kai 20 mpg (Biz Minutes)

McDaniels would be our super sub 10th man who can play 20 mpg in a pinch or fill into a number of roles if we have an injury.

[BigSlam]

Gotta hand it to Coach. This is yeoman's work.

54 seconds into the video and here’s a softball for you SWedd:

Spoiler:

[SWedd523]

I mean seriously! The (penis) jokes write themselves

[yosemiteben]

Definitely saw the same thing