aminiaturebuddha wrote:Seems like there was a hell of a matchup last night between two guards who will likely be in our range - Cason Wallace and Anthony Black. Unfortunately I didn't seem to get it on anything I have (and was watching the Lebron chase) so I'll have to try to dig it up on the internet today somewhere.
Wallace looks to have had the better individual game (24-3-5 on 10-17 shooting, with 3 stls and 2 blks), but Anthony's Arkansas got the victory over Kentucky, and his boxscore is pretty good as well (19-4-5 on 8-15 shooting, with 5 stls and 1 blk).
Edit: Found a replay of the game online. I really like both guys, and the more I watch them, the more difficult it actually is for me to choose between them. It really depends on what a team is looking for. Wallace is the better shooter and defender (although Black is no slouch at that end either). Black is the better playmaker, ballhandler (Wallace can get too sloppy at times) and gets to the line more.
I'd be happy with either on the Raptors. They're not franchise changers, but I don't actually think anyone is, outside of the top two guys in this draft.
If we do nothing but trade OG (because he wants to at least seriously explore free agency if not leave) for picks or a young wing like Trey Murphy then the obvious move to go from treadmill bad to treadmill good is to draft a combo guard like that and move a first from the OG deal for Poeltl or another center:
Poeltl-Achiuwa-Koloko
Siakam-Achiuwa
Barnes-Murphy
Trent-Murphy-Wallace
VanVleet-Wallace
It would represent a massive bet on Barnes and Achiuwa, but now that we're seeing Achiuwa look like a solid 3rd big it seems reasonably likely.
And I guess there's still the possibility of Siakam + VanVleet for disgruntled superstar PG or SF down the line (Trae Young, KD and Ingram seem like the obvious names right now), we even have picks to make it work, or gamble on a buy low and worse fit type like Towns/Porzingis/Lavine/Beal and get a bunch of picks back if management wants to try to stay north of 40 wins and keep getting young talent
There were some troubling anonymous quotes this summer about Lamelo being a loser, but Charlotte is constantly in a tailspin and he might want to leave (if they don't get Wemby or even draft Scoot) once Bridges come back and he realizes that it's still like a 35 win team for the next few years. They might look at a VanVleet-Rozier-Bridges-Siakam-Mark Williams team with McDaniels, PJ Washington and a young guard in this coming draft (like Thompson, Wallace or Black if they don't pick top 2) as a serious improvement. OG as a piece in a Lamelo trade also makes sense in that he gets touches and they can tank for Scoot or Wemby to go with lots of young forwards/wings (OG, Bridges, Washington, McDaniels) which is presumably what those 2 guys need around them.
I think Hendricks and Murray are gone by then.
