Officially Waived: The Kai Jones Thread

Post #681 » by **JDR720** » Sat Sep 30, 2023 7:09 pm

Hopefully he's going to therapy or a mental health place and gets better. Something was definitely off with him recently.

Rays Pompadour · Post #682 » by **Rays Pompadour** » Sat Sep 30, 2023 7:11 pm

fatlever wrote:The Hornets have announced that Kai Jones will be away from the team indefinitely

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Where I come from, that means, "You're Fired!"

jayu70 · Post #683 » by **jayu70** » Sat Sep 30, 2023 8:03 pm

Hawks fan here - How did things get this bad this quickly for Kai? What's the back story?

Post #684 » by **yosemiteben** » Sat Sep 30, 2023 8:09 pm

jayu70 wrote:Hawks fan here - How did things get this bad this quickly for Kai? What's the back story?

No one really knows what's going on in his personal life, not sure how we could

Liver_Pooty · Post #685 » by **Liver_Pooty** » Sat Sep 30, 2023 9:04 pm

At this point I could care less about how good he is or isn't at basketball. I just want him to be okay period.

countryboi · Post #686 » by **countryboi** » Sat Sep 30, 2023 10:31 pm

I hope he gets the help that he needs

Post #687 » by **JDR720** » Sat Sep 30, 2023 10:33 pm

Read on Twitter

Post #688 » by **fatlever** » Mon Oct 2, 2023 1:27 pm

Over under on the amount of times Kai posts on social media today during media day, set at 25

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GoBobs · Post #689 » by **GoBobs** » Mon Oct 2, 2023 9:17 pm

The frustrating part is that we draft a project, but this organization does not have the patience to stick with a plan long enough for any project to work out.

During his first year they are teaching him how to fit into the scheme we are running under JB. The team then changes gears and brings in Clifford who does not play young raw guys like Jones.

So if you bring in a guy who is years away, teach him one thing for the 1st year, have something different in place year 2, and bring in a coach for his 2nd and 3rd year who doesn't play young guys who are raw, my question is this. Why are we drafting a project if we are not good at working on projects.

I know there was the mental health stuff or whatever else is going on, which I don't know anything aside from what everyone else knows, but regardless of that. Kai Jones was not going to succeed here.

GoBobs · Post #690 » by **GoBobs** » Mon Oct 2, 2023 9:37 pm

wilson115 wrote:Dean's pretty harsh on him:

At a glance Jones has appeal as an athletic 6’11” who can finish lobs, and has a passable outside shot making 38.2% from 3 an 68.9% FT as a sophomore for Texas.

But if you give him a closer look, you run into the enigma that he doesn’t know how to play basketball and it is not clear how he fits into a NBA lineup. He has the skill level of a center but plays more like a big wing defensively, which is not ideal.

Defensively he cannot really play center. His 5.3% blk rate is more like a PF than an NBA rim protector, and his 8.9%/14.4% rebound rates are more like a SF.

Even if he can make an open shot he is going to depress an NBA offense with his lack of creation.

If we are being optimistic, his steal rate is a bit of a saving grace, and maybe he can be some sort of wing stopper defensively who can squeak by as a small 5 on occasions. But his ball skills are just so so bad for a guy who is not a full time center on D, he simply does not belong in round 1.

Draft Instead: Alperen Sengun (#16 ESPN), Usman Garuba (#17 ESPN), JT Thor (#27 ESPN), Day’Ron Sharpe (#31 ESPN), Charles Bassey (#35 ESPN), Santi Aldama (UDFA)

https://deanondraft.com/2021/07/04/capture-the-flag-which-prospects-are-riskiest-to-draft-in-2021/

Turned out he was mostly right

Post #691 » by **fatlever** » Mon Oct 2, 2023 10:05 pm

dude, you can't blame the coaches for Kai. This is 100% on Mitch, the scouts and MJ. dude was always 3 years away from being a bench player, at best.

Post #692 » by **yosemiteben** » Mon Oct 2, 2023 10:11 pm

I was willing to get on board with him as a project due to his size, athleticism, and work ethic, but I was always a bit concerned about drafting a guy in the lotto that put up 9 pts and 4 boards in 23 MPG in the season before he was drafted. He didn't even start for his college team.

Post #693 » by **fatlever** » Mon Oct 2, 2023 10:15 pm

yosemiteben wrote:I was willing to get on board with him as a project due to his size, athleticism, and work ethic, but I was always a bit concerned about drafting a guy in the lotto that put up 9 pts and 4 boards in 23 MPG in the season before he was drafted. He didn't even start for his college team.

AS A SOPHOMORE!

Post #694 » by **luciano-davidwesley** » Mon Oct 2, 2023 10:59 pm

Yeah Kai was just a sucky pick. The guy is an uncoordinated klutz and he's got no idea what he is doing on the court.

Like others have said you don't draft a guy who hasn't produced anything or started as a college sophomore. We fell for the athleticism. Unfortunately athleticism means nothing without skill, coordination and feel for the game between the ears. All things Kai has absolutely none of.

Post #695 » by **fatlever** » Mon Oct 2, 2023 11:22 pm

I wouldn't say he's uncoordinated, quite the opposite. he just has absolutely no idea how to play team basketball.

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Bassman · Post #696 » by **Bassman** » Mon Oct 2, 2023 11:49 pm

Kai is such a BAD pick, it should rightly discolor Mitch’s legacy (which isn’t exactly something to hang on a mantle anyway).

Bouknight is also bad, but not as glaring from the standpoint of pre-draft rank/evaluation. With Bouk they missed all the character and psychological issues.

Post #697 » by **JDR720** » Tue Oct 3, 2023 1:07 am

Mitch said on draft night or the draft presser that Kai could've been picked at the other pick if Bouk didn't fall.

A classic case of someone having high upside for no reason other than being a great athlete.

Post #698 » by **luciano-davidwesley** » Tue Oct 3, 2023 2:24 am

fatlever wrote:I wouldn't say he's uncoordinated, quite the opposite. he just has absolutely no idea how to play team basketball.

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Watch his version of a "euro step" and tell me he is coordinated lol

Post #699 » by **fatlever** » Tue Oct 3, 2023 3:50 am

JMAC3 · Post #700 » by **JMAC3** » Tue Oct 3, 2023 3:05 pm

Kai Jones is a prime example of a player that when you don't have a clear development plan for it is hard for them to improve.

We tried playing him at the 4, huge mistake. He should have always been a Center.

Funny thing is, people were arguing he could play the 3 eventually in this thread.