With the 19th Pick, the Raptors select Ja'Kobe Walter!

[yellowknifer]

I know this is stating the obvious but he needs to get a lot stronger. He also needs to work on his above the break 3s and his handle. Every time he lets a wide open one fly I still think it will be a brick.

i mean he improved this year

he'll keep improving and eventually have a breakout year where hes up for MIP like austin reaves this year

Gradey's big problem isnt defense. It's really a problem because he isnt what he's billed as - a Redick level elite shooter. Dick has no real place as a starer if he's not one of the top shooters in the league, and thats just not who he is.

His defence is definitely a problem. Even if he was scoring more efficiently. I think both things will come with experience and physical development. Needs to get stronger and improve his stamina. Given his age i think both will happen. It will help his scoring and shooting as well.

[Gavin_TDThree]

hmmm these feel similar

[PhilBlackson]

hmmm these feel similar

Man chat gpt’d a revised response.

[mademan]

i mean he improved this year

he'll keep improving and eventually have a breakout year where hes up for MIP like austin reaves this year

Gradey's big problem isnt defense. It's really a problem because he isnt what he's billed as - a Redick level elite shooter. Dick has no real place as a starer if he's not one of the top shooters in the league, and thats just not who he is.

His defence is definitely a problem. Even if he was scoring more efficiently. I think both things will come with experience and physical development. Needs to get stronger and improve his stamina. Given his age i think both will happen. It will help his scoring and shooting as well.

Im not saying his defense isnt a problem. Im saying its more of a glaring issue precisely because he isnt an elite "one of the best in the game type shooters, and thats what he was billed as. If he was shooting like Redick, i'd be fine if he defended like Redick too. But from college to the NBA, thats not who he is, so his all around game has to be much better to make up for it. And it isnt

[junot111]

hmmm these feel similar

Man chat gpt’d a revised response.

I read all posts across realgm, Tumblr, MySpace before making my response. It's possible that I read someone's post, agreed with the idea and inadvertently referenced the same points. Actually if anything they probably read my mind and posted my idea before me. You know I'm not lying because you can tell from my post history that I always preferred Battle's D over Dick. Don't bother interacting with me anymore if you want to continue attacking me like this.

[Gavin_TDThree]

hmmm these feel similar

Man chat gpt’d a revised response.

I read all posts across realgm, Tumblr, MySpace before making my response. It's possible that I read someone's post, agreed with the idea and inadvertently referenced the same points. Actually if anything they probably read my mind and posted my idea before me. You know I'm not lying because you can tell from my post history that I always preferred Battle's D over Dick. Don't bother interacting with me anymore if you want to continue attacking me like this.

Not trying to make you feel attacked, just noticed how extremely similar the post were.

Out of my own knowledge, is there a community on Tumblr and MySpace for the Raps? I thought those websites were dead/ghost towns

[Thaddy]

Amidst the season, J. Battle has demonstrated improvement such as moving his feet. G. Dick should hone in on this aspect, and try to shoot on balance more. He'd benefit from practicing with J. Battle. Just my two cents.

are there historical examples of players like gradey who sucked on defense that became good defenders?

feels like defense is the hardest skill to develop over time esp for guards

ive seen guards become shooters tho like jason kidd

Agree that it's rare to develop defense as a perimeter defender especially if they don't have size or athleticism to work with. It's also possible the development happens behind the scenes because depending on the environment, they might not even get minutes until they show that they can defend, so in those cases the progress is not as obvious.

JJ Reddick is the first player that comes to mind who was never a good defender but was smart enough to not be a complete liability on that end that it outweighed his offensive contributions. Playing for SVG early in his career probably forced him to mature quickly on D. But it also helped that he got to play with Dwight, DAJ and Embiid lol

Reddick is a "smart" defender, and oh yeah he played with a ton of T5-10 centers in his career. What point are you trying to make?

[WuTang_CMB]

hmmm these feel similar

Man chat gpt’d a revised response.

I read all posts across realgm, Tumblr, MySpace before making my response. It's possible that I read someone's post, agreed with the idea and inadvertently referenced the same points. Actually if anything they probably read my mind and posted my idea before me. You know I'm not lying because you can tell from my post history that I always preferred Battle's D over Dick. Don't bother interacting with me anymore if you want to continue attacking me like this.

yo this response is the same as thaddy's

what's going on here lol

[junot111]

are there historical examples of players like gradey who sucked on defense that became good defenders?

feels like defense is the hardest skill to develop over time esp for guards

ive seen guards become shooters tho like jason kidd

Agree that it's rare to develop defense as a perimeter defender especially if they don't have size or athleticism to work with. It's also possible the development happens behind the scenes because depending on the environment, they might not even get minutes until they show that they can defend, so in those cases the progress is not as obvious.

JJ Reddick is the first player that comes to mind who was never a good defender but was smart enough to not be a complete liability on that end that it outweighed his offensive contributions. Playing for SVG early in his career probably forced him to mature quickly on D. But it also helped that he got to play with Dwight, DAJ and Embiid lol

Reddick is a "smart" defender, and oh yeah he played with a ton of T5-10 centers in his career. What point are you trying to make?

That he lasted in the NBA by being a smart defender and having played with good defensive centers?

It's not black and white. A weak defender like that will not survive without a help defender in the paint, but he can also reduce the impact to his team by being smart with discipline and angles and knowing when/where to funnel players

[junot111]

Man chat gpt’d a revised response.

I read all posts across realgm, Tumblr, MySpace before making my response. It's possible that I read someone's post, agreed with the idea and inadvertently referenced the same points. Actually if anything they probably read my mind and posted my idea before me. You know I'm not lying because you can tell from my post history that I always preferred Battle's D over Dick. Don't bother interacting with me anymore if you want to continue attacking me like this.

Not trying to make you feel attacked, just noticed how extremely similar the post were.

Out of my own knowledge, is there a community on Tumblr and MySpace for the Raps? I thought those websites were dead/ghost towns

Look back a few pages my guy and you'll see why thaddy is mad at me

[Thaddy]

Agree that it's rare to develop defense as a perimeter defender especially if they don't have size or athleticism to work with. It's also possible the development happens behind the scenes because depending on the environment, they might not even get minutes until they show that they can defend, so in those cases the progress is not as obvious.

JJ Reddick is the first player that comes to mind who was never a good defender but was smart enough to not be a complete liability on that end that it outweighed his offensive contributions. Playing for SVG early in his career probably forced him to mature quickly on D. But it also helped that he got to play with Dwight, DAJ and Embiid lol

Reddick is a "smart" defender, and oh yeah he played with a ton of T5-10 centers in his career. What point are you trying to make?

That he lasted in the NBA by being a smart defender and having played with good defensive centers?

It's not black and white. A weak defender like that will not survive without a help defender in the paint, but he can also reduce the impact to his team by being smart with discipline and angles and knowing when/where to funnel players

Yeah we'll get a T5 defensive center so we can hide a below average prospect. It still doesn't make any sense. Gradey won't ever be on the same level as Reddick in his career, he hasn't shown anything yet, the whole sophomore slump thing isn't real. You're doubling down on Gradey without any strong evidence he'll amount to anything useful, and you can't put together a supportive argument on why we would ever bother getting a C to specifically hide him on defense.

[God Squad]

Man chat gpt’d a revised response.

I read all posts across realgm, Tumblr, MySpace before making my response. It's possible that I read someone's post, agreed with the idea and inadvertently referenced the same points. Actually if anything they probably read my mind and posted my idea before me. You know I'm not lying because you can tell from my post history that I always preferred Battle's D over Dick. Don't bother interacting with me anymore if you want to continue attacking me like this.

yo this response is the same as thaddy's

what's going on here lol

They're all bots.

[junot111]

Reddick is a "smart" defender, and oh yeah he played with a ton of T5-10 centers in his career. What point are you trying to make?

That he lasted in the NBA by being a smart defender and having played with good defensive centers?

It's not black and white. A weak defender like that will not survive without a help defender in the paint, but he can also reduce the impact to his team by being smart with discipline and angles and knowing when/where to funnel players

Yeah we'll get a T5 defensive center so we can hide a below average prospect. It still doesn't make any sense. Gradey won't ever be on the same level as Reddick in his career, he hasn't shown anything yet, the whole sophomore slump thing isn't real. You're doubling down on Gradey without any strong evidence he'll amount to anything useful, and you can't put together a supportive argument on why we would ever bother getting a C to specifically hide him on defense.

Idk what you're arguing against lol when did I say all that? I have no problem with the team moving on from Gradey and have never strongly advocated for him. While he's on the team we might as well discuss the path for him to become serviceable. Redick is the obvious example to follow

[Thaddy]

That he lasted in the NBA by being a smart defender and having played with good defensive centers?

It's not black and white. A weak defender like that will not survive without a help defender in the paint, but he can also reduce the impact to his team by being smart with discipline and angles and knowing when/where to funnel players

Yeah we'll get a T5 defensive center so we can hide a below average prospect. It still doesn't make any sense. Gradey won't ever be on the same level as Reddick in his career, he hasn't shown anything yet, the whole sophomore slump thing isn't real. You're doubling down on Gradey without any strong evidence he'll amount to anything useful, and you can't put together a supportive argument on why we would ever bother getting a C to specifically hide him on defense.

Idk what you're arguing against lol when did I say all that? I have no problem with the team moving on from Gradey and have never strongly advocated for him. While he's on the team we might as well discuss the path for him to become serviceable. Redick is the obvious example to follow

You aren't advocating for Gradey, but you also think he's magically going to become a "smart" defender but we'll need a defensive C to make up for his short comings Sounds like you need to work out what your opinion is seems like you're afraid of taking a side.

[Tripod]

Yeah we'll get a T5 defensive center so we can hide a below average prospect. It still doesn't make any sense. Gradey won't ever be on the same level as Reddick in his career, he hasn't shown anything yet, the whole sophomore slump thing isn't real. You're doubling down on Gradey without any strong evidence he'll amount to anything useful, and you can't put together a supportive argument on why we would ever bother getting a C to specifically hide him on defense.

Idk what you're arguing against lol when did I say all that? I have no problem with the team moving on from Gradey and have never strongly advocated for him. While he's on the team we might as well discuss the path for him to become serviceable. Redick is the obvious example to follow

You aren't advocating for Gradey, but you also think he's magically going to become a "smart" defender but we'll need a defensive C to make up for his short comings Sounds like you need to work out what your opinion is seems like you're afraid of taking a side.

The irony of you saying he needs to work out what his opinion is, just days after COPYING someone else's opinion almost line for line with few changes.

What a time to he alive!

[Thaddy]

Idk what you're arguing against lol when did I say all that? I have no problem with the team moving on from Gradey and have never strongly advocated for him. While he's on the team we might as well discuss the path for him to become serviceable. Redick is the obvious example to follow

You aren't advocating for Gradey, but you also think he's magically going to become a "smart" defender but we'll need a defensive C to make up for his short comings Sounds like you need to work out what your opinion is seems like you're afraid of taking a side.

The irony of you saying he needs to work out what his opinion is, just days after COPYING someone else's opinion almost line for line with few changes.

What a time to he alive!

I state my opinion and back it with analysis. I didn't copy anyone's message word for word. I read it at some point, formed an opinion, and coincidentally it was very similar to the other user's post. I don't gain anything from using AI, stealing posts, etc this isn't a job or a university. It's a forum where we formulate opinions, debate, and update our opinions as more information is gathered. It is apparent people care heavily about their Realgm reputation. We'll see when he responds and produces a firm stance he can defend. You can't say you aren't advocating for a player but then also mention we need to add pieces to reinforce that player. I like Walter but I'm not saying we should dump the farm for Sabonis so he looks better.

[Tripod]

You aren't advocating for Gradey, but you also think he's magically going to become a "smart" defender but we'll need a defensive C to make up for his short comings Sounds like you need to work out what your opinion is seems like you're afraid of taking a side.

The irony of you saying he needs to work out what his opinion is, just days after COPYING someone else's opinion almost line for line with few changes.

What a time to he alive!

I state my opinion and back it with analysis. I didn't copy anyone's message word for word. I read it at some point, formed an opinion, and coincidentally it was very similar to the other user's post. I don't gain anything from using AI, stealing posts, etc this isn't a job or a university. It's a forum where we formulate opinions, debate, and update our opinions as more information is gathered. It is apparent people care heavily about their Realgm reputation. We'll see when he responds and produces a firm stance he can defend. You can't say you aren't advocating for a player but then also mention we need to add pieces to reinforce that player. I like Walter but I'm not saying we should dump the farm for Sabonis so he looks better.

[Thaddy]

The irony of you saying he needs to work out what his opinion is, just days after COPYING someone else's opinion almost line for line with few changes.

What a time to he alive!

I state my opinion and back it with analysis. I didn't copy anyone's message word for word. I read it at some point, formed an opinion, and coincidentally it was very similar to the other user's post. I don't gain anything from using AI, stealing posts, etc this isn't a job or a university. It's a forum where we formulate opinions, debate, and update our opinions as more information is gathered. It is apparent people care heavily about their Realgm reputation. We'll see when he responds and produces a firm stance he can defend. You can't say you aren't advocating for a player but then also mention we need to add pieces to reinforce that player. I like Walter but I'm not saying we should dump the farm for Sabonis so he looks better.

What's your point?

[HangTime]

Ja'Kobe is a rookie that plays like a vet. A coach's dream, The "How did he fall to 19...in the 2024 draft??" Type of cat


I think Tyrese Proctor fits the mold, he's only half a year older, and has 3 years of college experience.

[Tripod]

Ja'Kobe is a rookie that plays like a vet. A coach's dream, The "How did he fall to 19...in the 2024 draft??" Type of cat


I think Tyrese Proctor fits the mold, he's only half a year older, and has 3 years of college experience.

Proctor with our 2nd would be great. But looking like it might take a 1st now