2018/19 ROY/Rookie Discussion Thread (III)

[burek3]

It’s amazing that Bagley is a walking 20/10 machine already when he’s nowhere near his ceiling right now.

The kid is going to be special soon.

Bags is awesome. I hope he adds some ambiguity(?) to his game in the offseason. Teams can be fairly sure he's just looking to score/create for himself.

Nothing wrong with that per se. It just would be a waste of talent if he won't add breadth to it in the future. Though that is also dependent on the system in which a player plays.

[TheNewEra]

If we agree on Doncic, trae, and ayton, give me who gets the last 2 and I will counter.

Bagley easily, Mikal, SGA, and JJJ all deserve first team over him. Remember all rookie isn't by position.

Mikal? 8/3/2? Really? Sexton is 16/3/3.

“Vying for those final two spots (as you consider this, keep in mind that a player’s position on the court is not taken into account), then, should be Sexton, Sacramento’s Marvin Bagley III, Memphis’ Jaren Jackson Jr., and the Clippers’ Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

None of them is playing as many minutes or scoring as many points as Sexton. Jackson was shut down at the All-Star break with a quad injury and hasn’t played since. His 13.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game are not enough to make up for appearing in only 58 games, given the overall strength of the class. Bagley’s also missed considerable time (he’s played in 55 games to Sexton’s 76), though his 14.7 points and 7.3 boards are notable.

Gilgeous-Alexander, meanwhile, is the starting point guard for the playoff-bound Clippers. His numbers are solid, but not standout-ish (10.4 points, 3.2 assists), but he’s the only rookie playing this kind of a role on a team headed to the playoffs. Then again, he’s playing just 26.2 minutes; when the chips are down, the Clippers turn to Patrick Beverley and Lou Williams.”

Gilgeous-Alexander has been a closer majority of the season. When he was coming off the bench to begin the season his poise and ability to get his own shot had him running with the starters. The impact alone the clippers would be nowhere near close to what they are without SGA because even when they struggled with SGA/Bradley combo it was nowhere near as bad as Beverly and Bradley duo. Since the break and Bradley being traded SGA has been a monster scoring and improved playmaker and has returned to his role as closer.

[Zombiesonics]

SGA averaging 15 & 5 with a .631 TS% and a 128 ORtg in the month of march (14 games). He was quite impressive yesterday vs the cavs, and i still am having a hard time coming up with a player comp for him. Not an athletic marvel, but extremely skilled offensively and has great size for the pg position. he competes on defense and is nifty navigating screens while contesting with his 6'11 wingspan.

Right now he has a low usage and looks like a high end role player, but again isnt even 21 yet. His January and February stats are atrocious ... I wonder how many minutes he plays in the playoffs too.

[koyotee]

Young not having his best first half.

[Johnny Firpo]

Huerter had a rough March, but I'm still very high on that kid. Call me crazy but in his best games I see a multiple All-Star. Then again, everybody is a talent in this league, and you have to be consistent. There is just no way around it.

[koyotee]

Trae was 2/4 from 3 in the first half, he is now 2/9. Fatigue? Or just not falling in? Has 14ast tho

[benhillboy]

I know Luka is a beast. I know. But I wished fans all
over the league could watch Trae nightly. Besides the horrendous 30 foot heaves he is basketball. Those who knock his defense (with good reason) have to realize how hard he tries to help his team in any way he can, notably hitting the glass harder than anyone his size should. 16 assists and 1 turn?

[LeftHandThriller]

Trae Young hits "another" game winner. He is ruining the Hawks tank efforts.

[zonedefense]

Trae was off all night long and after making his first two 3s he basically missed 15 shots in a row only to make two super clutch shots in overtime and hits the game winner. Takes a special mindset to have the confidence and take over in the clutch after a bad shooting night like this.

[afectar]

Trae with a bad shooting game, but the bucks were literally trying trap and zone him to prevent him from scoring. The only problem is he can affect the game with his passing at a high level, making people like Justin Anderson look like an offensive superstar lol.

[benhillboy]

Trae with a bad shooting game, but the bucks were literally trying trap and zone him to prevent him from scoring. The only problem is he can affect the game with his passing at a high level, making people like Justin Anderson look like an offensive superstar lol.

The timing on his passes, whether super-early or late enough to the point he can wait for cuts, has proven to be damn near indefensible.

[Buzzard]

Trae with a bad shooting game, but the bucks were literally trying trap and zone him to prevent him from scoring. The only problem is he can affect the game with his passing at a high level, making people like Justin Anderson look like an offensive superstar lol.

The timing on his passes, whether super-early or late enough to the point he can wait for cuts, has proven to be damn near indefensible.

If he keeps up his passing and just learns when not to shoot, Trae will average 10 assist a game for a few seasons.

[sunsbg]

The claims that Doncic carries the Mavs on his back look stupid now. If I'm not mistaken they have won more games without him in the lineup since the trade. Just a good coached team that plays hard.

[King Ken]

Huerter had a rough March, but I'm still very high on that kid. Call me crazy but in his best games I see a multiple All-Star. Then again, everybody is a talent in this league, and you have to be consistent. There is just no way around it.

He hasn't been consistent all year outside of defensive effort.

[King Ken]

The claims that Doncic carries the Mavs on his back look stupid now. If I'm not mistaken they have won more games without him in the lineup since the trade. Just a good coached team that plays hard.

Since the trade, he slows down this personnel grouping too much and they fit better without him than with him. I actually like watching him play now. While the guys before didn't fit Luka, these guys clearly don't and likewise.

[Golden Knight]

The claims that Doncic carries the Mavs on his back look stupid now. If I'm not mistaken they have won more games without him in the lineup since the trade. Just a good coached team that plays hard.

I know. Those are very impressive wins against the Cavs and the playoff bound Thunder who shot 11-43 from 3. The Mavs are better off without Luka.

[Johnny Firpo]

The claims that Doncic carries the Mavs on his back look stupid now. If I'm not mistaken they have won more games without him in the lineup since the trade. Just a good coached team that plays hard.

I don't think it's smart to draw such conclusions from tiny sample sizes. The team could be 100% without him, and it could still be true that he carries them. Not saying he does or doesn't, just that it's not smart to draw this conclusion.

[sunsbg]

The claims that Doncic carries the Mavs on his back look stupid now. If I'm not mistaken they have won more games without him in the lineup since the trade. Just a good coached team that plays hard.

I don't think it's smart to draw such conclusions from tiny sample sizes. The team could be 100% without him, and it could still be true that he carries them. Not saying he does or doesn't, just that it's not smart to draw this conclusion.

Just giving credit to the Mavs role players and Carlisle as some Luka fans forgot to do it before and after the trade. Personally as a Suns fan I will trade Kokoskov for Carlisle before I trade Ayton for Doncic, if it was possible.

[Archx]

The claims that Doncic carries the Mavs on his back look stupid now. If I'm not mistaken they have won more games without him in the lineup since the trade. Just a good coached team that plays hard.

I don't think it's smart to draw such conclusions from tiny sample sizes. The team could be 100% without him, and it could still be true that he carries them. Not saying he does or doesn't, just that it's not smart to draw this conclusion.

Just giving credit to the Mavs role players and Carlisle as some Luka fans forgot to do it before and after the trade. Personally as a Suns fan I will trade Kokoskov for Carlisle before I trade Ayton for Doncic, if it was possible.

C'mon man, even if you're not trolling you know this ain't true.

Bench scored 57 points, more than the first lineup that was without Luka. Means that one or two guys from the bench went nuts. Happens from time to time.

Early in the season when they still had a full team and were close to being in playoffs, Luka had many games when he had to bail them out in the 4th Q. They wouldn't have been even close to the playoff race without him. So yeah, he did some heavy lifting in games that mattered, but right now, he said himself that these games don't mean much, so i would assume his motivation dropped significantly.
So i don't believe that Mavs are better without him.

And Doncic has much higher trade value than Ayton, he is basically un-tradeable, so you're right about that

[Johnny Firpo]

Kokoskov is an excellent coach btw, he will prove himself, give him time.