Kevin Willis wrote:grant101 wrote:BoyzNTheHood wrote:Nothing that I can argue for at the moment. As is he needs a lot of the same space on the court as Pascal and Scottie, but if he develops a jump shot he has the potential to be very good
He's incredible at creating for himself and getting to the basket (a little like nick smith jr, but gets to the basket more, and has more pop), and is a great passer, so I see a world where he's leading an NBA offence. We haven't had a guard like him on this team in years. He's also decent-sized, very long for his height, and a really good onball defender (at least from what you can gather from watching syracuse's gimmicky zone).
I have faith his 3pt shot comes around (his touch is so good), but you gotta really believe it and be patient to draft him (cause like i said, the shot is not great and the form is wierd). I almost hate to say it, but the player he reminds me of coming out of college is SGA (aside from the shot, though SGA wasn'tsome sniper at UK).
Come on, don't compare Mintz to Nick Smith Jr. (poor guy is really disrespected on this board). First of all he plays for Syracuse who tend to have bad outcomes. Part of that is they play zone and not man to man so it's hard to see what kind of defender he will be. Plus Mintz fouls too much. Technically he's a 6'3" shooting / combo guard. 45/30/75. Nick Smith is 6'5" - 40/34/78 (that includes bad post injury games). I looked at a Mintz game then a Smith Jr. game and the first thing that popped out was quickness. Smith Jr in the open court is a blur. Plus his first step allows him to blow by his defender. Mintz doesn't have that burst. Mintz powers his way to the basket so he's in the paint more but he gets blocked more. Smith Jr. definitely has better position and that might be because he's taller.
Not saying he's a bad player. Just saying he's not a lotto player and there are better options at our pick. If we can get Nick Smith Jr for whatever reason, it would help the team tremendously. He's quick. He's long (6'8") so he can be a shorter long boi. He can score at all three levels. He has good vision / playmaker. He can guard 1,2. He can play on and off the ball. However he won't be available and there will be better options than Mintz. Sasser might be a better option than Mintz.
Wasn't suggesting Judah was better than Nick, just that there are similarities. They are both long, lean, combo-sized guards that can get to where they want on the court and have great touch inside the arc. They're also similarly skilled on-ball defenders. NSJ is miles better as a shooter, no doubt. He also pushes in in transition harder than most (I agree, he's a blur with the ball in his hands). That said, I do worry about NSJ's shot diet. He just doesn't get to the rim as often as he should. He's in love with that floater (which is pretty, no doubt). NSJ may have Judah beat when it comes to north-south speed, but to me Judah has more a knack at getting to the rim and vert to finish when he's there. I would not say Judah "powers his way to the basket" either. He's extremely slinky, always has his man off -balance, and has great change of pace. also like Judah's playmaking more (I think he has a chance to be a legit lead guard).
I take your point about the zone making it hard to evaluate the defence, but from what I've seen, he's got great instincts, good hands and really fast feet. He's also had a couple really impressive chase down blocks
All that said, I still have NSJ well ahead of Judah (for shooting and shooting confidence alone), but it's probably a moot point, cause I don't think NSJ makes it to the Raps' spot. e. I'm also not advocating for the Raps to take Judah, just that he's a really intriguing prospect that has the chance to make whoever drafts him late in the first/early second look like a genius
Between Sasser and Mintz is an interesting philosophical debate - I like them both. Judah is three years younger and has far more upside IMO (plus, gives us a potential shot creator we've been after for forever). But there's a legit chance his 3pt shot never comes around and he's out of the league in a couple years. On the other hand, Sasser is ready to play now, would get rotation minutes on this team today and is a dog on defence. He's also definitively not a pg, and the upside for short combos of his archetype is limited. Tough call. I have others ranked ahead of these two, but I'd also be happy if either was the choice.