Rookie impressions thread: PRESEASON/REGULAR SEASON

[dorkestra]

I see more Jameer Nelson than DJ Augustin in Burke.

[Goon]

If I can add my unbiased opinion on Giannis.

First of all, his body. It's all been said before, so I wont write to much. A freak describes him the best. What he can do, that body control with his height and lenght is just out of this world.
Skills. Much better than first expected. When I look at him play, he just seems to be born to play in the NBA. Those drives, eurosteps, handles, passing,.. Much higher than I thought, than I expected since some were saying he is still very raw. He's actually not that much. Yes, consistency isn't there yet, how many rookies have it, but looking at games where he played 20min+, all pretty decent stat lines for a guy who just turned 19. And he can run the court like a gazelle, so fast with the ball at his hands, he's great in transition. He needs to work on his jumper, but with the speed he's improving, I have no doubt about it, he'll get there sooner than later.
Potential is of the charts with him. And another thing I love about him is his BBIQ, together with his work ethics. He has all the tools to become the next superstar in this league (if all goes to plan).

And about his minutes. Some say, that Bucks are doing a terrible job managing his minutes. I completely disagree. Only guys with homer glasses say that. If you're looking at the longterm good for your player, you wont rush him. He has grown how much in the last year, 5 inches, maybe more? And still growing? And he is the youngest player in the NBA? And he is coming out of a SECOND division in Greece, a very low level of competition, where he played against much weaker opponents, with much less phisicality. And where games are played 1-2 times per week. Now he comes straight into the NBA with a weak still growing body, with 82 games long season, playing against the best of the world.. And you would play him 35 mins per night? Your are crazy. That's the way to go if you want to destroy him with a bunch of injuries. Yeah, he can play 35 mins on a certain night, but the next one, let him sit it out, or give him under 20 minutes. Carefull with him on back to backs. No need to drive him into the ground. Bucks can add another top 5 pick in a loaded draft, in the meantime, manage your future with care, work on fundamentals. Then in offseason, with another full workout with the team, with a body that has finally stoped growing, then you ramp it up. He has all the time in the world. He'll need to get stronger before he can handle the wear and tear of a full season without limitations.

I really like what the Bucks have, and I hope they finally get it together. That frontcourt, Antetokoumpo-Henson-Sanders is very intriguing. Add Smart/Wiggins, my oh my what potential in one lineup.

And about a possible redraft, I can't see anyone else in the top 3 than Dipo, MCW and Giannis. Who goes 1st? Well it depends on how patient you are, what are your needs, and your draft strategy. Looking at who drafted 1st, Cleveland must be soooo sorry thay didn't take Giannis. Perfect SF to slot in to that lineup for years to come. Or take Dipo and trade Waiters. One of those would go 1st in a redraft I'd say. Orlando could use any of them, maybe easier to pick one of Dipo/MCW. But then Washington is set at PG/SG, would they pick MCW? Hard to say, given their management, they'd skip him. But based on the talent alone, Dipo, Giannis and MCW are top 3. Looking at needs, I'd go with Dipo #1, MCW #2, GIannis #3 (not that I think this is how they rank, just based on the teams).

[MountainDrew]

Absolutely. I really like the situation the bucks are in. There's no denying that if they manage things correctly, they could be one of the most promising teams in the league next season.

Bucks managing things correctly...

Please.

That's exactly why I included it in my post, they'll manage to screw things up somehow

[Apollo64]

I'd say that Giannis looks more like a future elite complementary piece (sorta like Kirilenko or Odom) than a future superstar. He's not much of a scorer, most of his points come from transition and drawing fouls. If he wants to be a go-to superstar he needs to develop a pull-up jumper.

[JLei]

Seems people are forgetting about Nerlens Noel which given how crap this class has turned out to be I'd definitely have him in the top 3 now.

There was a reason he was number 1 on a lot of big boards.

His athleticism and agility at his height were projecting him to be a top notch rim protector in the league. The Asiks and Sanders of the world are worth 10-11 mil in the league. and if he was as good a finisher as advertised he could have had a Chandler type effect (15 mil). Potential elite defensive bigs who can defend the pick and roll well and recover to block shots are worth a damn lot in the league today. He looked like he could have done a lot of what Davis was doing on the defensive end in college and people are absolutely drooling all over Anthony Davis on defense.

[Brapman]

Very tall skinny guy with two very major knee surgeries before the age of 20. Noel is very much looking like a massive risk to be a guy who'll never stay healthy. Greg Oden, II.

[dautjazz]

Seems people are forgetting about Nerlens Noel which given how crap this class has turned out to be I'd definitely have him in the top 3 now.

There was a reason he was number 1 on a lot of big boards.

His athleticism and agility at his height were projecting him to be a top notch rim protector in the league. The Asiks and Sanders of the world are worth 10-11 mil in the league. and if he was as good a finisher as advertised he could have had a Chandler type effect (15 mil). Potential elite defensive bigs who can defend the pick and roll well and recover to block shots are worth a damn lot in the league today. He looked like he could have done a lot of what Davis was doing on the defensive end in college and people are absolutely drooling all over Anthony Davis on defense.

ACL injury before his NBA draft, good luck with that.

[dautjazz]

I still see Trey Burke turning out like D.J. Augustin, as I predicted pre-draft... sorry Jazz fans, but he's done nothing thus far to seperate himself from that comparison.

DJ is averaging 2.2ppg 1.4apg .4rpg and a PER of 2.32. How is Burke not separating himself from that comparison?

[tranjSAIC]

I still see Trey Burke turning out like D.J. Augustin, as I predicted pre-draft... sorry Jazz fans, but he's done nothing thus far to seperate himself from that comparison.

DJ is averaging 2.2ppg 1.4apg .4rpg and a PER of 2.32. How is Burke not separating himself from that comparison?

You know DJ's first year he averaged almost 12 pts and 4 assist, and by year averaged 14 and 6.

[BNelley24]

Very tall skinny guy with two very major knee surgeries before the age of 20. Noel is very much looking like a massive risk to be a guy who'll never stay healthy. Greg Oden, II.

Except he doesn't have degenerate knees. He'll be fine...

[Greek]

Giannis top 10 plays until now

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RuhhFrQF4E[/youtube]

[Diggr14]

3 years from now - Giannis will be the guy everyone talks about from this draft.

He has Durant's size, speed, athleticism, and ability to create with the ball. I'm next to positive he will develop the scoring as well. He is coordinated and has a good touch. Remember, to compare KD to Giannis at this stage in their careers, we'd be comparing KD during his days at UT to what Giannis is doing right now with the Bucks.

I think their career trajectories are going to be very similar in the end. Giannis has a lot of maturing to do, but with that frame and his skillsets already.. Im next to positive he is a star in the making. Couple Giannis say with Jabari Parker/Exum if the Bucks land the #1 pick and wow.. that's a core that almost any team in the league would trade for outside of maybe OKC, Miami, and Indiana.

[SOUL]

No.

Stop comparing him to Durant. They have different skillsets. They're not the same players. Open floor he can run and finish like Durant, thats where the comparisons stop. Durant was shooting elite in college, 40 percent from the three point line - Giannis was 31 percent in his Greek League and shooting 29 percent so far in the NBA. I don't see him being a 40%+ 3 point shooter ever. Let alone a high volume one like Durant, who is also a GREAT free throw shooter that gets to the line a lot and makes a lot. I don't think he will be awful in either category as his grows, but not Durant level.

Similar body types doesn't mean they're similar players. If people find the Shawn Marion comparison bad, this is also bad.

He can affect the game more defensively than Durant at this stage and projects to continue doing that. But they do not have similar trajectories at all.

I sort of like a taller AK-47 comparison when he was a 5 category threat back in Utah. That's not a player to shake a stick at all, and was arguably one of the most valuable players for any team at the time. Giannis will probably look to score more though. Comparisons in general suck, but he's the only one I can think of that can impact a lot of areas really well.

[Brapman]

Durant is an all-time great scorer and player in this league. It just isn't responsible to say that Giannis could rise to those heights.

It is responsible to hope and project that Giannis could be an all-star. And given his amazing size to athleticism, his length, and his ability to handle the ball and pass it - it is actually a grounded possibility that he could become a superstar in this league. But superstar is still a step removed from an all-time great player like Durant.

There are currently 3 young players in the league who I think you can make the exact same argument about: Giannis, A.D., and Drummond. A.D. got off to an awesome start this season so he's furthest up this food-chain. Drummond has been coming on like gang-busters. Giannis is just getting his feet wet. We'll see, but if I got to choose 4 players who came into the league in the last 5 years to build a team around, I think I'd pick those three plus Lillard (gotta have a PG). Before this season, I'd have picked Kyrie over Lillard, but now I like the Portland guard better - I just like the trajectory of his improvement, especially defensively and the way he runs his team better than how Irving does.

[dan2314]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4HOlBE2TtE[/youtube]

if his offensive game comes on, i still give him a very good shot at ROY.

[j-ragg]

My god did I just watch 2.5 minutes of Paul George missing jump shots? What a highlight reel.

Has nothing to do with that stupid YouTube clip but c'mon, he won't be ROY.

[Joel Embust]

KCP is a good defender and has some long term upside, but 0% chance of becoming ROY. MCW, Oladipo and Burke are getting all the opportunity to put up stats and are better players than KCP at the moment.

I do believe in his long term potential and he could end up being better than some of the guys that are currently outproducing him.

[dan2314]

My god did I just watch 2.5 minutes of Paul George missing jump shots? What a highlight reel.

Has nothing to do with that stupid YouTube clip but c'mon, he won't be ROY.

just watch the way he keeps up with him every step of the way, and makes him take very tough shots.
im not saying hes in position to win ROY right now, but if the word gets out about him being a top notch defender, and then he manages to get his offense going, then i see no reason why he cant be placed in the same conversation as MCW, burke, and oladipo.
mcw and burke have both missed chunks of the season already, and are on very unsuccessful teams. dipo has been real good, but he isnt running away with it yet. theres still 55 games to go, and a lot still has to play out. KCP has to be in the mix.

[Brapman]

It'll be very hard for KCP to get into the rookie of the year race because that's an offensive stats thing. Nevertheless, this kid can really play the game. There'll come a time when he's a go-to scorer in this league, because he has a great stroke with excellent arc on his shots, and he can really knock down shots off the catch and shoot coming off of screens, and is very clever finding ways to score when he flashes into the paint.

Defensively, we're looking right now at a potential all-NBA 1st or 2nd team defensive selection - and he's just learning the players in this league, so he'll get a lot better.

Oh, and, btw, he NEVER turns the ball over, and he runs the court hard all game long. And he moves the ball quickly- if he doesn't have the right shot, the ball is out of his hands and moving to a teammate in a flash. And he's a very confident but very quiet kid. His teammates and coaches love him.

He's going to be better than a true 3 & D guy.

IMO, he's the safest bet out of this draft class to be a very good starter on a championship team. I'm not saying he has the highest upside in this draft because if MCW develops into a very good shooter (huge "if" there, as he's Jason Kidd first 3/4 of his career bad as a shooter), or Giannis fulfills his potential (which is superstar, or even one of the league's very best players at any position), then those two guys would rate as more valuable: MCW because he plays the point and that's a more important position, and Giannis because of his super-upside.

I don't put Burke there because I see zero chance that he'll be an elite point guard. Zero. For him to reach that, he'd have to be as great as Chris Paul, and he doesn't have nearly the athletic ability or physical strength Paul had coming into the league, nor is he the transcendent passer CP3 was and is. I make that comparison because Burke's a small guard like Paul.

[Brapman]

I left Oladipo out of the analysis - and that was a mistake.

Oladipo is just as safe a bet as KCP to be a starter quality player on a championship team.