Why NBA teams should be interested in Mike James (update : signs with NETS)

[Paddy Brosso]

There are 50ish former NBA players in the Euroleague right now: Nikola Mirotic, Greg Monroe, Anthony Randolph, Chris Singleton, Omri Casspi, Alex Abrines, Cory Higgins, Sergio Rodríguez, Nick Calathes, Mike James, Shane Larkin... Imo the only ones who could be a solid starter (but not in a contender) is Mirotic. The others aren't good enough. Mike James a back-up PG for a lottery team? I don't think so

[UcanUwill]

To be honest, Khimki is the worst defensive team in Europe. Shved and McCollum the worst defensive duo ever.

I think in the NBA the key difference would be bigs, not perimeter defenders. He was just making Greg Monroe look stupid in the pick and roll, if you have big who cant guard pick and roll and switch, he is lethal as seen yesterday. Thats why guys like Greg Monroe are out of the league in 2020. Also top tier Rim protectors could stuff him often on his drives, but NBA guard defenders I dont think would make that much of the difference.

There are 50ish former NBA players in the Euroleague right now: Nikola Mirotic, Greg Monroe, Anthony Randolph, Chris Singleton, Omri Casspi, Alex Abrines, Cory Higgins, Sergio Rodríguez, Nick Calathes, Mike James, Shane Larkin... Imo the only ones who could be a solid starter (but not in a contender) is Mirotic. The others aren't good enough. Mike James a back-up PG for a lottery team? I don't think so

There are tens and tens of former NBA guys in Europe in general, not just Euroleague, but most of them fade in obscurity. Mike James is one of the biggest stars in a league were Greg Monroe, Derrick Williams are just average.
Its easy to say Mirotic is NBA guy because he proven, but its a lazy take with perception that x NBA guy cant improve, last time Mike James was in the NBA, he wasnt this good, thats my point.

I dont get how NBA fans get so exited around guys like Avdija or Doumbaya right out of the game, but when you bring a vet who is 5 times better than them in the league these guys played, people act like hes automatic scrub, cause hes not 20 years old anymore. If you dont get into the league at age 20 today, people will shut you dont like you are scrub, meanwhile NBA will pay overblown contracts to same old farts and always promising scrubs like Hezonja and jammall Crawford, because its easier than actually doing some interleague scouting and projecting. NBA GM job is the easiest gig in the world, just keep throwing millions at same old names like Jeff Green every summer and you are set.

[jwise44]

Rockets need a backup pg. sign him

[Bob8]

To be honest, Khimki is the worst defensive team in Europe. Shved and McCollum the worst defensive duo ever.

I think in the NBA the key difference would be bigs, not perimeter defenders. He was just making Greg Monroe look stupid in the pick and roll, if you have big who cant guard pick and roll and switch, he is lethal as seen yesterday. Thats why guys like Greg Monroe are out of the league in 2020. Also top tier Rim protectors could stuff him often on his drives, but NBA guard defenders I dont think would make that much of the difference.

There are 50ish former NBA players in the Euroleague right now: Nikola Mirotic, Greg Monroe, Anthony Randolph, Chris Singleton, Omri Casspi, Alex Abrines, Cory Higgins, Sergio Rodríguez, Nick Calathes, Mike James, Shane Larkin... Imo the only ones who could be a solid starter (but not in a contender) is Mirotic. The others aren't good enough. Mike James a back-up PG for a lottery team? I don't think so

There are tens and tens of former NBA guys in Europe in general, not just Euroleague, but most of them fade in obscurity. Mike James is one of the biggest stars in a league were Greg Monroe, Derrick Williams are just average.
Its easy to say Mirotic is NBA guy because he proven, but its a lazy take with perception that x NBA guy cant improve, last time Mike James was in the NBA, he wasnt this good, thats my point.

I dont get how NBA fans get so exited around guys like Avdija or Doumbaya right out of the game, but when you bring a vet who is 5 times better than them in the league these guys played, people act like hes automatic scrub, cause hes not 20 years old anymore. If you dont get into the league at age 20 today, people will shut you dont like you are scrub, meanwhile NBA will pay overblown contracts to same old farts and always promising scrubs like Hezonja and jammall Crawford, because its easier than actually doing some interleague scouting and projecting. NBA GM job is the easiest gig in the world, just keep throwing millions at same old names like Jeff Green every summer and you are set.

Greg Monroe might be the worst pick&roll defender in Euroleague. I don’t know how Khimki was able to throw away that much money this year, but they are really bad, especially in D. They had bad luck with injuries and Covid in the beginning of the season, but last 6 games, with more or less full roster, they allowed, 3 times 100+ points and once 96. This are unbelievable bad numbers for Europe. Nba defenders might have problems with Mike, but they’re still light years better that Shved&co.

I agree that Mike looks good this year. I agree his better than many Nba players, the problem is, he needs to have the keys of the team. He needs a ball in his hands to be effective. Nobody will give him that position in NBA.

[RSP83]

There can only be one

Indeed. Mike Legend.

[Mirotic12]

Who is Mike James as a player, think of him as Jordan Clarkson, Lou Williams clone, a guy who would fit 6th. man role instantly right now. And even tho those type of players are far from my favorites or that I value them much, but we just know that Jordan Clarkson will get paid like 12-14 million a year after this bubble, while Mike James who I think is very similar caliber player if not better, is getting 3 Millions in Russia. Thats the only reason I made this thread. I rant a lot how lazy NBA GMs are and how they overpay for familiar names, instead of putting an actual work and trying to find guys like Kleber, Theis, Boban, etc. for the fraction of the cost. You get the idea, I say do not in fact sign Jordan Clarkson for 14 million, sign Mike James for 4 million.

Yeah, but remember that in Europe the salary numbers are listed as the net income, after all taxes, player deductions (like union fees and retirement fees), and agent fees are already taken out. So that $3 million is net income. That's at least $6 million in NBA money, if not even probably more.

The NBA lists the salary numbers before any taxes, player deduction fees, and agent fees are taken out, which is an enormous difference in how the salaries are listed. So actually, James' salary in Russia would be more than $6 million per season, in how the NBA counts salary.

There are tens and tens of former NBA guys in Europe in general, not just Euroleague, but most of them fade in obscurity. Mike James is one of the biggest stars in a league were Greg Monroe, Derrick Williams are just average.
Its easy to say Mirotic is NBA guy because he proven, but its a lazy take with perception that x NBA guy cant improve, last time Mike James was in the NBA, he wasnt this good, thats my point.

I dont get how NBA fans get so exited around guys like Avdija or Doumbaya right out of the game, but when you bring a vet who is 5 times better than them in the league these guys played, people act like hes automatic scrub, cause hes not 20 years old anymore. If you dont get into the league at age 20 today, people will shut you dont like you are scrub, meanwhile NBA will pay overblown contracts to same old farts and always promising scrubs like Hezonja and jammall Crawford, because its easier than actually doing some interleague scouting and projecting. NBA GM job is the easiest gig in the world, just keep throwing millions at same old names like Jeff Green every summer and you are set.

It's extremely obvious why. It's because the NBA marketing gimmick narratives of "every one of the best players in the world play in the NBA", "the worst player in the NBA is better than the best player in any other league", or my personal favorite of "the best player outside the NBA isn't good enough to make an NBA roster, otherwise they would of course obviously be in the NBA already"...........

Not a single one of those fake, false, untrue marketing gimmicks the NBA created would hold up even a couple of months, if the NBA actually started signing all of the real, actual best players in the world.

If they draft players and sign as free agents guys that were scrubs in secondary level European leagues, and that very likely couldn't even make the rotation of a good EuroLeague team (which is like 90% of the actual draft picks and signings the NBA does from Europe), then the myths can live on forever.

It helps make the NBA appear so much more superior, when they just keep taking scrubs, or even when they take 11-13 men from EuroLeague teams, and draft them in the top 5. It helps promote that myth false narrative, as people that only follow US sports say, "look at that, the best player from Europe can't even get off the bench in the NBA".

Because the people saying that don't realize that same player either couldn't get off the bench in EuroLeague, or was a below average player in a secondary European league. Also, with many average rotation players in the NBA that came from Europe, people in the US think they were superstars in Europe, when most of them (the vast majority) were also average role players in EuroLeague.

Think about it, if these untrue claims get pointed out in places like these forums, the next thing that happens in US sports media starts claiming totally made up and untrue things like, "everyone knows it is a fact that all European teams automatically bench any good young player to prevent the NBA from seeing them play". The whole ridiculous made up nonsense we got about guys like Bender and Hezonja, etc. That nonsense is everywhere now in US sports media and draft sites and videos for every European prospect and stashed draft pick that isn't playing and/or producing in Europe.

Of course not only is that completely untrue, but the exact opposite is actually true. In general, European teams are much more open to playing young players than NBA teams are. And if a player is good enough to play at any age, even like 15, he will play. So the narrative from the marketing gimmicks is the exact polar opposite of reality in that case. They had to come up with some way to explain why these high draft picks didn't play and/or had anemic production in Europe.......the "of course everyone knows no European team ever lets anyone under age 25 play" nonsense started.

If the NBA was actually in the business of signing the actual real best players in EuroLeague, then the league couldn't keep up the false pretense that it has now, that "all the best players in the world are in the NBA". That false pretense works when you are signing guys like Deividas Sirvydis (is he even a EuroCup / BCL level player right now?), but it will burst totally if you start regularly signing guys like Mike James instead.

[UcanUwill]

Hey, according to Euro media, my advocated Mike James is signing with the Nets. We had rumors of Knicks being interested, and I think that would have been more interesting fit, now he is stuck between 2 superstar scoring PGs, while being scoring PG himself, but lets see how he does.
His character issues basically burned all the bridges in Europe, so now Mike's NBA career and my personal credibility lies on Mike balling the rest of the season, good luck to him.

[queridiculo]

That's the Mike James I pictured when I saw this topic

[KGtabake]

Panathinaikos fans loved him here in Greece. I'm a fan and i can tell you that him and Calathes were a great backcourt for us. He can score with ease and he can do it under pressure. He is a player that can deliver on big moments and he's always at his best when he plays for a fanbase that admires him and love him as he is. With his flaws.
I agree with you on the second part. Except that he has always been like this. Along with Larkin he was the best scoring option in Europe in the last few years imo.
I think it's a good option for the Nets in order to have someone capable of scoring when they are resting their stars.

[TheNG]

A few things worry me.

He's a 30 year old, 6'1 tall scoring point guard.
He just signed a 3 year deal (so buyout)
He's a career 33% shooter from 3 who shot 30% last year and is suddenly shooting 42% this year. Did he figure something out or having a hot shooting year?

I'd worry he'd need the ball in his hands a lot to provide value but that value wouldn't support him having the ball in his hands.

I definitely debated myself am I jumping gun too fast, I mean this season could just been a very hot streak and he comes bak with his 53TS% chucking, I mean he does chuck now, but its falling. That said, I feel like there are far less talented players in the NBA, I think this guy definitely deserves a real shot now.
And please, I know its funny and easy to to fish for and ones by making no thanks Im good jokes, but I could have made this thread about Patrick Beverley in 2012, or Anthony Parker in 2005, and you would have said the same thing.

While not disagreeing with your main idea, there's one big difference between Anthony Parker and Mike James. The difference is related to their personality and attitude. Anthony Parker never had a single issue (that I know of) with his coach/teammates. James is like the complete opposite of that... One of the reasons many stars from Europe don't succeed in the NBA, is because they're used to be the "Alpha" in their teams, and in the NBA, their expected role is more of a "complimentary". The ones who can handle this have a successful NBA career and the others don't (That's why the NBA don't have all the best players from Europe, but only the ones that fit their new role). James never proved he can co-exist with other stars in Europe. But this whole Nets team is filled with players which are one big HR headache, so maybe he will fit there seamlessly

[UcanUwill]

A few things worry me.

He's a 30 year old, 6'1 tall scoring point guard.
He just signed a 3 year deal (so buyout)
He's a career 33% shooter from 3 who shot 30% last year and is suddenly shooting 42% this year. Did he figure something out or having a hot shooting year?

I'd worry he'd need the ball in his hands a lot to provide value but that value wouldn't support him having the ball in his hands.

I definitely debated myself am I jumping gun too fast, I mean this season could just been a very hot streak and he comes bak with his 53TS% chucking, I mean he does chuck now, but its falling. That said, I feel like there are far less talented players in the NBA, I think this guy definitely deserves a real shot now.
And please, I know its funny and easy to to fish for and ones by making no thanks Im good jokes, but I could have made this thread about Patrick Beverley in 2012, or Anthony Parker in 2005, and you would have said the same thing.

While not disagreeing with your main idea, there's one big difference between Anthony Parker and Mike James. The difference is related to their personality and attitude. Anthony Parker never had a single issue (that I know of) with his coach/teammates. James is like the complete opposite of that... One of the reasons many stars from Europe don't succeed in the NBA, is because they're used to be the "Alpha" in their teams, and in the NBA, their expected role is more of a "complimentary". The ones who can handle this have a successful NBA career and the others don't (That's why the NBA don't have all the best players from Europe, but only the ones that fit their new role). James never proved he can co-exist with other stars in Europe. But this whole Nets team is filled with players which are one big HR headache, so maybe he will fit there seamlessly

Thats definitely true about Mike James, tho Alpha thing never was a thing really to guys translating, outside of maybe Spanoulis. The problem is often just playing style, like I am not exited over Scottie Wilbekin coming over to the NBA, he is for sure one of the better guards in Europe, but he excels as number one option, and he just wouldn't be that in the NBA, so I dont see his game translating, its no alpha ego, its just playing style. Will always be higher on guys who will only play better with better teammates, like Campazzo.

You can say that I am contradicting myself here for liking Mike James. James is definitely like Wilbekin, but I just think he is good enough to be a scorer in the NBA, guy can just play, I really be surprised if he is not similar to Rose or Jordan Clarkson, a good scorer off the bench.

[OrangeBlueSkies]

After Knicks reportedly were interested as well


Good for this young man he’s a decent player

[Wallace_Wallace]

I thought you mean this Mike James

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_James_(basketball,_born_1975)

I was thinking, isn't he a little old

[ken6199]

Even for this "younger" Mike James, kid born in 1990 is turning 31

[binjumper]

There can only be one

Some say you can still hear him yelling "Mike James, Bitch!" on every jump shot.

[RoyceDa59]

I’ll never forget the season Mike James was an unstoppable scoring all-star for the Raptors in a contract year.

[kamaze]

Makes sense for Brooklyn if they're waiving Chiozza and signing this guy as a 2 way.

[VancouverRaps]

There’s only one relevant Mike James

[DarkXaero]

Makes sense for Brooklyn if they're waiving Chiozza and signing this guy as a 2 way.

There's a roster spot open with LMA retiring, no one has to leave.

[jwise44]

Hey, according to Euro media, my advocated Mike James is signing with the Nets. We had rumors of Knicks being interested, and I think that would have been more interesting fit, now he is stuck between 2 superstar scoring PGs, while being scoring PG himself, but lets see how he does.
His character issues basically burned all the bridges in Europe, so now Mike's NBA career and my personal credibility lies on Mike balling the rest of the season, good luck to him.

Yeah I read he was suspended right now for going off on the coach, has he been tossed out of other teams for character issues?

If so this seems like a low reward high(ish) risk move for the nets...get a 3rd string pg with a bad attitude when they could just get a guy like Lin or some g-leaguer

If he comes in and becomes a great 6th-8th man, then I guess I see it, but does he have that kind of potential?