RealGM

http://www.realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/61546/20090911/knicks_sign_gabe_pruitt/

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh announced today that free agent guard Gabe Pruitt has been signed to a contract.

Per team policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Pruitt, 6-4, 170-pounds, has career averages of 2.0 points and 7.4 minutes in 62 games over two NBA seasons with the Boston Celtics. The Los Angeles, CA-native was selected by Boston, following his junior season at the University of Southern California, in the second round (32nd overall) of the 2007 NBA Draft.

Pruitt averaged 2.1 points in 15 games as a rookie in 2007-08, but was inactive for the Celtics during the playoffs and NBA Finals. He averaged 2.0 points and 7.8 minutes in 47 games last season and appeared in four games for the Celtics in the first two rounds of the 2009 NBA Playoffs.

I'm glad he signed somewhere. I liked Gabe. He was so smooth.

Can somebody give a scouting report of him?

He has a lot of potential IMO, could end up being a Mike Bibby type id he puts two and two together. He's very smooth when the ball's in his hands and can hit a J from almost anywhere. He's a combo guard, but is a better scorer than distributor.

I really liked him, but he wasn't gonna crack the rotation here unless he improved fast, which he wasn't doing.

I posted more on the Knicks board about him, but I think he'll be a very good point guard in the run and gun. He doesn't have the PG skills to really run the half court, which is why he's normally a combo guard (who has a good shot, but it just wasn't falling here), but he's great at running with the ball and finding an open man (him and Eddie last postseason).

Great move for the Knicks imo. I expect and hope for him to excel there.

^^^ thanks guys, I'll look forward to seeing him play. How is he as a defender? and his 3pt form/shot?

Paeds wrote:^^^ thanks guys, I'll look forward to seeing him play. How is he as a defender? and his 3pt form/shot?

He's a pretty good defender and can hit the 3pt shot as well. He was projected to go in the early 20's in the 2007 draft, but fell to us for some reason.

Good athleticism and D, but passive offensively. This could be due to just deferring to his superstar teammates, but even in the summer league he wasn't exceptional. When he played as a starter last year in the preseason he played great against Devin Harris. Coincidentally, Harris plays like what his game could be if he gains some confidence and he was compared with Harris while in college.
Near triple double & highlights
http://www.nba.com/games/20081019/NJNBOS/boxscore.html
Another solid showing versus Harris.
http://www.nba.com/games/20081016/BOSNJN/boxscore.html

Paeds wrote:^^^ thanks guys, I'll look forward to seeing him play. How is he as a defender? and his 3pt form/shot?

He's a good defender. Not a lock down, but he has the athleticism and motivation to more than hold his own.

His form on his shot is solid. I expect him to be a really good shooter at some point, but it just wasn't falling for him here. I know his 3 point shot is solid, but IIRC he does have problems hitting mid-range shots.

He'll be out of the league in a few years. He was a 2nd round pick who only even got drafted because he had a couple of decent tourny games for a very high scoring college offense. He is not a true PG, he is a "shooter" who can't shoot (32% from the field in the NBA, 28% from 3 in the NBA, 42% from the field in college, 35% from three in college).

Defensively, who knows, really. He is tall and athletic, but he's skinny and not so athletic that he is a dominant specimen at the NBA level. He never played for the Celtics and his team in college never played any defense so it's really tough to evaluate. Plus he's been partying in Boston ever since he got here and hasn't improved at all so I'd be surprised if a move to New York City is going to benefit his basketball career. He'll ride the pine in NY behind Jamal, Nate, and Duhon. Y'all really should've signed Sessions.

We had a passive player named Joe Johnson once who blossomed under a different coach, whose name I forget ...

So there's hope for Pruitt. But don't hold your breath.

JJ was getting playing time with us though and was a much higher pick

not a true point guard. he has some skills but main issue is consistency. with playing time he could turn into a devon harris type of player although not nearly as talented. I liked him when he was with the celts but there weren't enough minutes for him

Thanks, Sounds like a low risk high reward young player. Maybe playing ina uptempo system will"turn on the light bulb". If he can shoot I hope he can make the team.

"Y'all really should've signed Sessions."

well sessions was a 2nd rd pick too so we will see, but he wasnt worth losing our 2010 flexbility although most of us would have liked to get him.

We have high hopes for Tony douglas so we will see what happens

Decent signing by the Knicks. Pruitt is a natural 1 with 2-guard tendencies, good handles, can hit the open shot, a good fit with D'Antoni's system.

He can`t shoot! He basically hasn`t made a shot here in 2 years. He is supposedly a good shooter, his form looks great but he just simply can not make a shot to save his life...if he could he would still be wearing green...

Hopefully a new team and less pressure will do him good.

Paeds wrote:Thanks, Sounds like a low risk high reward young player. Maybe playing ina uptempo system will"turn on the light bulb". If he can shoot I hope he can make the team.

"Y'all really should've signed Sessions."

well sessions was a 2nd rd pick too so we will see, but he wasnt worth losing our 2010 flexbility although most of us would have liked to get him.

We have high hopes for Tony douglas so we will see what happens

Sessions is able to produce (stats at least). Pruitt is non-producing in a Scalabrine-kind-of-way. I don't know, why that is, but Pruitt just doesn't play with confidence. As Pruitt didn't show me signs of playing NBA-level basketball even in spurts, I don't expect him to stay in the league for a longer period.

Mahoney_jr wrote:

Paeds wrote:Thanks, Sounds like a low risk high reward young player. Maybe playing ina uptempo system will"turn on the light bulb". If he can shoot I hope he can make the team.

"Y'all really should've signed Sessions."

well sessions was a 2nd rd pick too so we will see, but he wasnt worth losing our 2010 flexbility although most of us would have liked to get him.

We have high hopes for Tony douglas so we will see what happens

Sessions is able to produce (stats at least). Pruitt is non-producing in a Scalabrine-kind-of-way. I don't know, why that is, but Pruitt just doesn't play with confidence. As Pruitt didn't show me signs of playing NBA-level basketball even in spurts, I don't expect him to stay in the league for a longer period.

Well D'Antoni's system seems to be good for building confidence so hopefully it works. We have the same hopes for Darko.

Sometimes with these young guys its all about confidence. Its all about tha jumper, it he starts hitting it he will probably stick around

Godmoney wrote:He'll be out of the league in a few years. He was a 2nd round pick who only even got drafted because he had a couple of decent tourny games for a very high scoring college offense. He is not a true PG, he is a "shooter" who can't shoot (32% from the field in the NBA, 28% from 3 in the NBA, 42% from the field in college, 35% from three in college).

Defensively, who knows, really. He is tall and athletic, but he's skinny and not so athletic that he is a dominant specimen at the NBA level. He never played for the Celtics and his team in college never played any defense so it's really tough to evaluate. Plus he's been partying in Boston ever since he got here and hasn't improved at all so I'd be surprised if a move to New York City is going to benefit his basketball career. He'll ride the pine in NY behind Jamal, Nate, and Duhon. Y'all really should've signed Sessions.

Does it really matter that he was a second round pick?

Pruitt isnt an NBA player.

And he doesnt really compare to the JJ scenerio either, as someone else pointed out JJ played. And he was a lottery talent.

I never really got the love for Pruitt on these boards. Some even comparing his game to Arenas a year or two back.

wow they got gabe pruitt their franchise player now they don't even need lebron lol