Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:
How many swing men have they signed in 2-3 years? 38? 50?
How many clowns fit in the Wizzo Tanko Clown Car?
Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:The Wizards done fooled around and got their self a superstar. Maybe so. Yessir! Tre Johnson will be a better scorer than Bradley Beal.
The crazy thing is that i believe Riley has an even higher ceiling.
LOL My man, the Bipolar Bear at his best
That's the thing about "best talent". If the guy on the board is good, you don't want to miss out and be kicking yourself later that you didn't take him. In this case if you like the guys they took, maybe even better than the guys we have, then you should be happy we upgraded more than pxssed about roster duplication.
Me, I'm coming around on this draft. When I heard we had a trade with the Jazz I was like: cool, we did it, we swapped Tre for Ace. Well done. Didn't bother to watch the rest LOL. Guess not.
Sadly as much as I think Ace had a great chance to develop here, I think he struggles in Utah. I think Baby Ainge didn't want to be pushed around by a bad agent and had to show how tough he was, but it ends up to the detriment of the draftee and the franchise both. Ace's reluctance to join the Jazz could make Utah an inhospitable place for the kid. Tough start to your career, he better look good early or they may turn on him. Whereas here he had a ready-made role and support system. In that light, the choice to take Tre instead of moving up is going to look better and better. I think Tre looks better early and gets a jump start on his growth and career.
Plug and play. Tre already has an NBA ready skill. He's an efficient gunner with deep range and a hair trigger. He comes in to replace Poole in that same role, only as a bigger longer and more efficient record (at least comparing their college careers). You can ink him in for instant minutes, he can learn the rest on the job. Tre already showed he can hit shots, in the toughest conference in the NCAA, as the number one option, against defenses designed to deny him. He carried a 30% usage and still hit 40% from three. His role in the NBA is the same early with no adjustments: 'get ball, shoot ball'. Later he can add: pass, playmake, add strength, hit inside shots.
I wanted Ace in a similar role, as the designated shooter, figuring his reach and natural talent would puzzle it out. His added length on defense shotblocking and rebounding would ultimately help as a 2-way player, but I understood he was still going to have an adjustment period when his low-percentage shots got snuffed or doinked out of the rim. I wanted him in the Poole role of constant gunner, with other players feeding him. Tre takes the same role, but starts out better at it, at least from outside. Plus with Ace there was no vision of him as eventual playmaker. Just a more efficient gunner. Now I wonder if he ends up deeply benched over time if his talent doesn't swiftly overcome the circumstances. That's the same story with the other possible picks, compared to Tre: that they will have to add to their game before they have a true role on the court. Those who liked Fears had to project him as a shooter. Those of us who liked Maluach had to project practically an entire game other than dunking.
Tre can shoot. Even when guarded. The rest is on him to develop. And the coaching staff. And guys like Smart and KMidd and CJ. Reports say Tre is a fanatic worker, like the best shooters-- but you can't work on defense by yourself in a gym. That's why it is critical to have a squad of tough players around him, and nice to hear our rookie contract guys are all in the gym together since May 1. I called it gladiator school, meaning this crew is going to go after each other an not play nice. All the vets last year said Bub came in the gym yapping. And Key picked it up as well. Driving up the competition level. To this we add Tre and Riley, both unrepentant gunners who like to push the action and face down a defense. Sounds like serious fun to me.
As for Riley. I had him tabbed as a stealth talent. Every time I watched Jakuciunas I was more impressed with the tall skinny kid with aggressive ball skills. I wanted a Big, so he wasn't in my want list, but I think I mentioned him a couple times as a guy they might take. Others on here mentioned him. For another kid who reclassed after his Jr year, and skipped his senior year in highschool, he is precociously skilled. He should have been graduating highschool this past month, instead he is joining the pros. For a tall skinny kid he is both shifty and aggressive. Quick to see the angles. I like that he's a sneaky good playmaker too. Another guy with a 2:1 ast/to ratio. Him, Bub, Kyshawn, AJJ. You can put the ball in their hands and trust they will do something with it that makes the team better. Between him and AJJ our bench will keep teams backpedaling on defense, leaving outside shooters wide open.
We don't have a team yet. But we have some pieces. We can play fast and high effort high energy all game long. With these late growth spurt guys (Bilal, Key, Riley, Bub) you have to figure they each have a chance to thicken up and add muscle when they are no longer incinerating every calorie they take in. I liked that Kyshawn leaned up and got stronger over the course of the season. That is rare to see. Few players actually add muscle while they are busy running it off. I anticipate real growth over the summer from at least a couple of these guys. Even Tre Johnson can start to add muscle. Hard to say where that ends up. But the growth process should be fun, win and lose. I don't mind going 2 deep at every backcourt spot before we even start to address the middle. That can only help us while we tank, and give each guy a training partner to face off against in practice and the offseason.
