2019/20 Pre-Season Grades

[BigSlam]

What 'cha got? Here's mine:

PG
Terry Rozier = A
If, when we traded for him, someone had told me Terry was going to average 15/4/5 on 49%/46%/100% shooting for the preseason I'd have said to them that they need to check themselves before they wreck themselves. I've been so pleasantly surprised and happy to be wrong about Terry up to this point. I thought I would HATE watching him play (in the same way I hate watching Monk play) but Terry actually plays a really controlled, well thought out, enjoyable style of basketball. Hope his preseason play becomes the new norm in the regular season. Oh, and I love his finger rolls - they're pretty AND effective. I would like to see him get the FT more though.

Devonte' Graham = B
Cold to start the preseason, Devonte has had himself a nice close of the preseason to warm up for the regular season. As I said when we drafted him: I still see him as a Jarrett Jack clone - a dude who can be a high end back up and hold down the starting PG position if needed - just not someone you are going to build a team around. He had a solid, if unspectacular, preseason IMO.

SG
Dwayne Bacon = C+
After a fairly imapctful SL I thought I'd start to see the next evolution of his game in the preseason - becoming more of a facilitator, picking and choosing his spots, being a little more creative, working more within the flow of the offense more - but I haven't. He still kinda plays bully ball and seems to force the issue. He reminds me of a SG version of Brooke Lopez (who I also don't like watching play) in that he is a dude who as soon as he makes his mind up he's going to try and score, he's going to try to score no matter what - but not in a "Kevin Durant I can score whenever I want in a multitude of different ways" type of way, more in a "straight line drive, head down, watch out I'm coming" type of way. I think that if Bacon is our leading scoring we'll lose more games than we win.

Malik Monk = C
We were told that he sat out SL and was AWOL all summer because of this new body he was going to unleash on us that was toting this 20lb of additional muscle........but I just don't see it. Kid is still a toothpick. I would have preferred Monk with the same body as last year but with added basketball IQ and ability this preseason from playing with his teammates over the summer Vs this new jacked up Monk (?) who still has the same negative net value when to comes to basketball IQ and ability. Kid is TOTALLY lost on D and for the most part except for popping out for the occasional 3pt shot, seems just as lost on offence (other than the Fats special - which he rarely executes well). On a team full of crappy shooters he stood out on occasion with a nice feathery 3pt shot but outside that flash in the pan final game, I'm just not sold on him. I wish he wouldn't over complicate so many things and instead just kept it simple. That said, I think he has significantly more upside than Bacon (although Bacon is safer) so I'd rather invest time in trying to figure Monk out and give him opportunities (on a very, very short leash).

Nicolas Batum = F
In his defense, he only played 1 1/2 games, but oh what an underwhelming 1 1/2 games it was!! I get needing/wanting some vets around the younger players to keep them straight - but when the vets are turning the ball over as much as the kids and making as many (if not more) dumb decisions than the kids then I just don't see the purpose of the vets!! With Kemba gone there was never more of an opportunity/need for Bats to prove the naysayers wrong and become some sort of a floor general, but as long thought he just doesn't seem to have that in him - or at least we didn't see it during his 1 1/2 preseason games. Again.

Cody Martin = N/A
Hard to tell anything given he only played 10mins then got hurt for the balance of preseason.

SF
Miles Bridges = C
I was SO thrilled when we drafted him and so high on him last season, but I was really disappointed with what I saw over this preseason. He didn't seem to take a step forward at all compared to last year, in fact I think he regressed in some areas. His shot selection in particular was bothersome to me - appearing to take 3's at times just to take a 3, not because it was the right thing to do. He has such awesome athleticism and effort levels. I love how ambidextrous he is. But if he can't combine that with a better understanding of the game, picking and choosing his spots and playing to his strengths I'm worried about what he might top out as.

Caleb Martin = B-
Twin #2 was a bit of a surprise for me. Kid can play. Relative to how we acquired him (UFA) I thought he did a good job. Plays full out and with loads of heart. Seemed to have a little tunnel vision at times and forced the issue, but that can be expected I guess as at the moment he is just fighting super hard to try and make the roster - so likely looked for his own a little much.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist = F
Maybe the only thing more sad and depressing than Batum in the preseason was MKG in the preseason. At least, although he was terrible, Bats got to see the court. MKG hardly got that opportunity.

PF
PJ Washington = A
What more can be said that hasn't already been said? 12/5/2/1/1 on 63/50/82 shooting. More than the numbers though, he looked like he REALLY belongs on an NBA floor getting NBA time and NBA opportunities. Love the way he played within the flow of the game. Love the way he initiated the break when he pulled down a defensive board. Love he seemed to know the right places to be at most times. Would like to see him seal off and work in the post on offence, but things look promising for the rookie.

Marvin Williams = B-
Full disclosure: I love Marv. I just think he's everything you want in a teammate and the type of player you want on the team you root for - and this preseason was no different for me. Seems like a lovely guy off court and plays with all heart on it. He's 7 billion years old and he is diving for loose balls in game #2 of his 14th preseason. He doesn't really hurt you, can help you with some high IQ defense and the occasional 3. Just a fantastic mentor for PJ.

C
Cody Zeller = C+
Cody looked like he was cooked to me for most of the preseason to me, but maybe he just took it easy. He was pushed around, a lot, wasn't running the court super well and seemed like he was playing his 82nd game, not his 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th preseason games. I also didn't think he had great chemistry with Terry - like he wasn't setting those awesome screens we'd become accustomed to, but maybe that is just a timing/familiarity thing that will come the more they play together. Terry and Walker have very different dribbling and driving styles.

Willy Hernangomez = B-
I have such a hard time working this dude out. Sometimes I dig him, most of the time he drives me nuts - and it seems to change almost from possession to possession. Like Monk, I thought he had that 1 really good preseason game. He was physical and quick and showed great hands. He is a massive liability defending the P&R though and once again this preseason was caught out of position. A lot.

Bismack Biyombo = C+
I actually thought Biz played pretty well when given PT in the preseason. He was the recipient of some really terrible passes (Bacon in particular putting the ball in places that not even prime Duncan would haul it in) because we know bounce passing the ball to Biz in traffic at knee height is rarely going to turn out well. I thought he and Terry worked well together and had better timing on their P&R/P&P than Terry and Cody did. Biz seemed to be going up quicker and not taking as much time to gather himself before going up as he has done in the past.

[Chapelchilla]

Nice write up, mostly spot on too. We are gonna be bad but at least watching PJ and Rozier will be fun and hopefully Miles gets in gear and starts throwing down nasty dunks to keep it entertaining. I would play Monk heavy minutes early (as the 6th man) and see if he has anything in him as well as buff his trade value up. 50/50 PT with Bacon starting as he is more rugged.

[_tijo_]

I suppose an A for PJ is fair. I don't know what else he could have possibly done for the A+

Here's mine. Like anyone cares:

A+: PJ
A:
A-: Rozier
B+: Graham
B: Marvin
B-: Monk (really saved himself a B grade with that last game)
C+: Caleb Martin
C: Willy Hernangomez
C-: Bacon, Cody Zeller, Biz
D: Miles
F: MKG
Incomplete: Batum, Cody Martin

It's not really great that I give 5 players on our entire roster an A or B grade. Never liked the Miles Bridges pick, is it possible that our 2nd rounders pre-2019 (Graham, Bacon) outshine our lotto picks (that we made) that we have on our roster (Bridges, Monk, not to mention Zeller, MKG, Biz). Kinda sad. Also shows that all the years that we sold/threw away 2nd round picks... we probably should have made those picks.

[amcoolio]

If Miles and Bacon don't improve we are looking like a lock for the top 4 in the lottery. I like Rozier's chances to redeem his contract however and average 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 6.5 assists for the season on 43/35/90 shooting. And Washington is legit. Leaning towards hoping to draft Anthony Edwards over James Wiseman. Hoping we can get good value for Marvin and get Cody off our books.

[BigSlam]

I suppose an A for PJ is fair. I don't know what else he could have possibly done for the A+

Welp, Zion put up 23/7/2 + 1.5 steals in about the same amount of PT while looking like a dominate force (although he is broken now) - so that sort of line would have landed PJ an A+ in my grades!!

Here's mine. Like anyone cares

I do!! Thanks for posting them, they are interesting to me.

As is your point re: Only giving 5 players a B or higher. I think that says a lot.

[Bassman]

Slam, great write up and evaluations. I tend to agree on most. MKG doomed himself by coming in with no energy, commitment or effort towards playing. Is he a complete head case? Maybe. Is he among the biggest draft busts ever? So far, yes.

Bridges is, frankly, the player I thought he was coming out of college. Athletic yes, but underwhelming in so many areas. He can get better, but you want to see big steps between year 1 and year 2. Let’s see where he is at the end of this year, but early he is pressing and regressing.

[MasterIchiro]

The grades don't concern me as much as the PT does. I'd take Miles with a D over Marvin with a B and so will Borrego. The vets on their way out will sit (MKG, Batum, Marvin) and the C prospects like Monk will inherit playing time as the team considers them for the future. Our stated goal is to develop and entertain fans.

Kupchack can flip Rozier easily. It was a strong scouting job that displays his ability to establish solid contingency plans.

I too want Cody off the books. Kupchak entered sweepstakes for Drummond, Gasol and likely Capela (doubt they talked about the junk Morey tried to move). So what is the backup plan there? I think Kupchak saw all his plans at the C position fall off the board in a shutdown that damaged our playoff run. What are we gonna do about Cody? I expect activity at the deadline. Maybe we can turn Bacon into Mo Bamba.

I don't like Bacon. I agree with the assessment. He has a scorer mentality yet a hard limit on his toolkit. He doesn't facilitate at all or work within the flow. He's an iso player and the scouting will catch up to him. Lamb is a 6th man. Bacon isn't because he plays for the Hornets. But he should be.

I believe Monk will win those minutes. The dude has a bad rap for his work ethic. But he's working on his handles, his shot, his drives, his dishes. He has a toolkit. He will gain confidence with minutes and quite frankly we can afford for him to make mistakes and not have Tony Parker chew his ear out about a playoff race.

[316Hornets]

We aren't going anywhere so all you have to do is show up and you get an A.

Batum gets a C and MKG gets a F.

[MasterIchiro]

Marvin + MKG + Batum + Cody. Those 4 starting alongside Kemba are the reason he's no longer here yet they still are despite ownership trying to move them since Cho's final trade deadline before dismissal.

They all get F's.

Love that PJ + Miles + Bacon/Monk have replaced all but Cody. I want him gone badly. I want him benched like the others. But Kupchak wasn't able to land a center. He tried repeatedly.

[BigSlam]

Preseason grades.

The thread is about preseason grades....


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