165bows wrote:Hal14 wrote:Smart2Nesmith43 wrote:Relying on a late second round rookie to come in and provide anything is just about the clearest indication that a roster has structural issues.
I'm not saying Jackson-Davis won't have a nice career but there's like a 98% chance he's not even replacement level this season (and that might be optimistic). As a reference point, Andrew Nembhard was the only second rounder last year to play real minutes while Jaylin Willians is the only one (barely) that played better than replacement level. Both were picked way earlier (31st and 34th respectively). Late second rounders just don't come in and play well right away, even the rare ones that turn into real NBA players down the line.
There's only one way for the Warriors to be good this year and that's Curry continuing to play like a top 5 player. Yeah if you can guarantee he plays 75 games they'll be in the playoffs but if he's missing around 20 games as usual I'm not so sure.
TJD is not a typical late 2nd rounder. He was projected by pretty much everyone to go in the 26-38 range. It was a shock to everyone that he fell that far.
https://www.si.com/college/indiana/basketball/coaches-call-golden-state-warriors-trayce-jackson-davis-best-second-round-value-in-2023-nba-draftThis says "Jackson-Davis plans to sign a three-year deal with a team option in Year 3, a league source told Fieldhouse Files. And new Warriors general manager Mike Dunleavy Jr., a former Pacer, said Jackson-Davis will be part of the 15-man roster right away. That’s important because players selected after about 40 are typically signed to a two-way or non-guaranteed contract."
https://www.fieldhousefiles.com/p/warriors-buy-pick-draft-trayce-jackson-davisRumor has it, a few teams picking in the 30's and 40s were calling up his agent during the draft and asking if he would accept a 2-way contract. He said no, and that's why he fell to 57. The deeper we got into the draft, and into the 50's, those teams picking wanted the flexibility of being able to put that player on a 2-way. The warriors were the only team willing to give him a standard contract, and they traded with Washington to get that pick where the drafted him.
Lastly, TJD is not some young 19 yr old kid who is raw ad will need all kinds of development before he's ready for NBA minutes. He's 23 yrs old, will turn 24 during the upcoming season, played 4 yrs of college ball and was arguably the best college player in the country last season - he's polished, not raw. He certainly could be ready to contribute from day 1.
I was big on TJD coming into the draft, was on my list of desired picks - that said, if no one wanted to give him a second round deal that does say quite a bit. A standard second round deal would be for a lot more money and would lock him into a team control for 24-27, basically his prime years.
I do think GS is a great fit for him as they like passing bigs and probably have some playing time. I really do wonder if his defense is suspect though (GS was willing to give Trevion Williams a go after he couldn't hook on in Boston).
Only other better fit for him imo would have been Boston, since they have bigs handle/pass a lot but they also have shooting in the front court so he could have played a real hybrid 4/5 spot here.
Well, I think starting around pick 35, teams are gonna try and see if you will take a 2-way rather than having to commit a standard roster spot to a guy picked that late in the draft. So I don't really see it as a red flag. It happens every year where guys slip later in the 2nd round than anticipated (Jaden Hardy, EJ Liddell, Jabari Walker in 2022. In 2023 it was TJD, Rayan Rupert, Cissoko and GG Jackson).
TJD's defense is good. Solid for a big at switching out on the perimeter, good rim protector. His only issue defensively is being able to body up, muscle and defend really big guys like Zach Edey and Hunter Dickinson down in the low post, who had their way with him. But really big huge guys like that posting up on the low block is not a very common thing in today's NBA.
His fit with GS could be pretty good. Especially if the jumper comes along. He did not shoot much at all in college and when he did, they didn't go in, but he did look pretty good shooting jumpers at his Pro Day at the combine so we'll see if that translates..
TJD is much better defensively than Trevion Williams. Night and day difference there. TJD is also more athletic, more explosive, more mobile..was much more productive in college..
