RealGM

So, ESPN has been doing their season preseason forecasts and previews for the NBA. You can say what you want about them, but it's just another forecast. Since it's a pay article, I'm not linking it, but I will put some stuff out there that is interesting:

John Hollinger of espn.com wrote:Jeff Teague
Projection: 13.7 pts, 3.6 reb, 7.0 ast per 40 min; 12.16 PER
• Shoot-first point guard with quick first step who likes to drive to basket.
• Outstanding college shooter who struggled to adjust to pro 3-point line.
• Hyper, high-risk, gambling defender; blocks shots but fouls far too often.
The mutterings from the Hawks after the season were that Teague needed to play more, but I wonder if we were watching the same guy. While he certainly showcased the talent to create shots and defend the position, and he distributed the ball decently enough, he couldn't put the ball in the basket.

Uh, ouch. Can't say that it isn't accurate for the minutes he played, but I'm still hoping some extra minutes will settle him down some. More than anyone else on the team, his ability to play up to the other PG he was drafted around (Jrue, Lawson, Collison, Maynor) will determine if we can be better than last season or not.

The other "ouch" comment from there was that Joe Johnson would have the 3rd best PER after Smoove and Horford. So the guy who got possibly the last $120+ mil contract wouldn't even be better than the guy who's about to be an RFA... 2x ouch.

Anyway, I don't want to rewrite the entire article here, but if there's any particular person that you want a quick synopsis of, I don't mind putting it out there...

May I see Josh Smiths por favor?

Just the highlights, not the whole writeup.

John Hollinger of espn.com wrote:
JOSH SMITH, PF
Projection: 17.5 pts, 9.1 reb, 4.6 ast per 40 min; 19.23 PER | Player card
• Long-armed, elite leaper provides spectacular shot blocks and transition finishes.
• Underrated ball handler for his size who can lead break and make correct pass.
• Southpaw developing left-block post game, but outside set shot rarely connects.
Smith produced his best season last year and it was outrageous that he didn't make the All-Star team; while Joe Johnson was the go-to guy on offense, Smith was the team's best all-around player.

Btw, projected Joe to have the 3rd highest PER shouldn't be surprising, he was behind Josh and Al in PER last year as well before he got the big payday.

evildallas wrote:Btw, projected Joe to have the 3rd highest PER shouldn't be surprising, he was behind Josh and Al in PER last year as well before he got the big payday.

Didn't notice that. Looking it up though, all 3 are projected to have a drop in the same stat this year. I guess that would be a 3x ouch.

I saw that, and maybe he was not the best the previous year.
But what is more important is that Joe was for two years in a row far lower in PER than Smith and Horford once in playoffs.

And the guy got $124M... he should simply have got the same contract than Josh, or in worst case the same than his last salary.