The Nik Stauskas Thread

[LofJ]

Stauskas played a lot of point for Michigan last year. He can run an offense if called upon to do so.

[W_HAMILTON]

I see they're also going with the Westbrook-LaVine comparison.

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Given that they are both supposed to go around our pick, how can you compare one guy to Russell Westbrook and one guy to Jason Kapono?

[Liver_Pooty]

I see they're also going with the Westbrook-LaVine comparison.

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Given that they are both supposed to go around our pick, how can you compare one guy to Russell Westbrook and one guy to Jason Kapono?

nbadraft.net is terrible.

[mrknowitall215]

Nik Stauskas Evaluation By Chad Ford

Positives
Versatile scoring guard
Excellent shooter with deep range
Quick release on his jumper
Incredible free throw shooter
Good handle, can play some point

Negatives
Needs to add strength
Not an elite athlete as far ask quickness goes

[Amateur Wannabe]

What Charlotte lacks is pure talent, and this guy seems talented enough to consider him worth of #9 pick. Seems amazing 3pt shooter Quick thinker, it seems. Would be really satisfied with this guy. Much better shooting form than Young.

[MasterIchiro]

What Charlotte lacks is pure talent, and this guy seems talented enough to consider him worth of #9 pick. Seems amazing 3pt shooter Quick thinker, it seems. Would be really satisfied with this guy. Much better shooting form than Young.

This is a really good point that escapes notice unlike basic skills like shooting and dribbling (he's excellent at both). While he's not one to create his own shot, he's a play maker for others. Other than his passing skill, part of what makes him a great play maker is that his BBIQ is high and he's quick to make a decision.

Our offense is Kemba and Al Jefferson. Kemba can over dribble when he gets swarmed due to lack of shooting threats on the perimeter. Al Jefferson eats up his fair share of shot clock as well.

The big problem with that was the other 3 players on the court, specifically Henderson and to a lesser extent McRoberts are very slow with the ball. McRoberts makes smart passes but he's often not quick about it. He has good court vision but hesitates too frequently. Henderson is a black hole.

I think to balance Kemba and Al holding the ball so much you need a quick thinker to facilitate ball movement. And that's just a bonus with Stauskas. He's every bit the shooter McDermott is. McDermott has an inside game but that's not necessary with Al and kind of useless since the shooter we select will need to be camped on the perimeter to create max floor spacing.

[ARHornet]

What Charlotte lacks is pure talent, and this guy seems talented enough to consider him worth of #9 pick. Seems amazing 3pt shooter Quick thinker, it seems. Would be really satisfied with this guy. Much better shooting form than Young.

This is a really good point that escapes notice unlike basic skills like shooting and dribbling (he's excellent at both). While he's not one to create his own shot, he's a play maker for others. Other than his passing skill, part of what makes him a great play maker is that his BBIQ is high and he's quick to make a decision.

Our offense is Kemba and Al Jefferson. Kemba can over dribble when he gets swarmed due to lack of shooting threats on the perimeter. Al Jefferson eats up his fair share of shot clock as well.

The big problem with that was the other 3 players on the court, specifically Henderson and to a lesser extent McRoberts are very slow with the ball. McRoberts makes smart passes but he's often not quick about it. He has good court vision but hesitates too frequently. Henderson is a black hole.

I think to balance Kemba and Al holding the ball so much you need a quick thinker to facilitate ball movement. And that's just a bonus with Stauskas. He's every bit the shooter McDermott is. McDermott has an inside game but that's not necessary with Al and kind of useless since the shooter we select will need to be camped on the perimeter to create max floor spacing.

Great post. Stauskas really would be the best fit for our team.

[MasterIchiro]

Many of us, myself included, have long felt Klay Thompson is the perfect wing for Kemba + Al Jefferson + MKG. He's just a perfect fit.

He's not going anywhere.

Stauskas is the closest thing to Klay Thompson in this draft.

Look at his FT% and you know he's always going to be a threat on the perimeter. Look at his dribbling and passing and quick decision making and you know he's going to make his teammates better.

The questions about his defense are not enough to sway me from a chance at Klay Thompson 2.0 on offense. I believe in Clifford's system on defense and again MKG balances the pick just fine at SF.

I most want Lance Stephenson but perhaps they will use that money for someone like Luol Deng. Fans may hate that but he's Al Jefferson's age and we are a win now team.

Don't let the lottery pick fool you.

[JDR720]

Stauskas already has an elite NBA skill = Shooting

Thats what separates him from Young because he doesn't have an elite NBA skill already

[Fred Williamson]

I don't want to "balance" out the defensive liabilities of one or two certain players. A liability is still a liability, even you have good team defense. I want every single guy in my starting five to be an at least mediocre defender, because this is what differentiates a potential contending team from an average borderline playoffs/lottery team. I want every single guy on my team to be capable of hitting crucial shots and bring their A-game on defense if we are facing the Heat or Pacers in game 7 of the ECF, and not be worried about one or two guys getting totally abused because they hopelessly suck so much on defense. And guys like Stauskas or McDermott neither have the physical capabilities, nor the potential to be mediocre or better defenders, which is why I don't want them.

We own the #9th pick and have the possibility to draft a potential future starting SG for this franchise, and some of us rather want to go for the "first guy off the bench" type scorer. There are currently no young SGs with 20/5/5 potential (Beal, Waiters, Oladipo, etc.) available throughout the league, and we have a very high chance to acquire such a guy via draft. But no, instead we want to go, once again, with the high IQ, A++ shot selection, untainted ,high character, College basketball hero type of guy who's pretty much a finished product with zero potential.

Again, we want to avoid the guy with "too many questionsmarks" and rather want go with the guy who's undoubtedly a specialist at a certain aspect of his game, but also obviously sucks so much at pretty much everything else with very low potential for improvement. Some examples:

Augustin = Great 3pt shooter, good scorer, has shown NBA range and will definitely score >12ppg. Physically limited, too small, but whatever
Hendo = A winner, good defender, good slasher. Absolutely one-sided game with almost no potential, but whatever
Biz = Will be an elite shotblocker and interior defender on NBA level. Has obviously very low potential to be an offensive threat, but who cares, we get a defensive presence.
MKG = High motor, hustler, slasher, a winner. His shot is hopelessly broken, but whatever.

counter-example:
Kemba = High volume chucker, just another Aaron Brooks clone. This kid won't translate his game into the league. Avoid him.

What I'm simply saying is, we should stop going for guys with obvious limitations and unfixable traits. Our roster is not a huge puzzle that is missing certain pieces, in order to be completed, if you guys get what I'm saying. As we are right now, we don't have the potential to be something special. If we add Stauskas and his deadly shot, we have reached our overall potential to be a playoff contender, but that's it. No more room for improvement.

This is probably our last Top10 pick for the next 2-3 years. And that's why I'm more than willing to try to gamble a little bit and go for the likes of Young or Lavine

[Crossroads24]

Good post, but from what I saw, Stauskas was just as good as a defender as Young last year. I didn't watch much Lavine, so I have no idea on him.

That said, Young and Lavine certainly have more upside as defenders than Stauskas, but Stauskas is much more potent on offense -- both as a shooter and creator -- and it's not even close. Young and Lavine would vanish from games I saw at times while Stauskas was always front and center.

[MasterIchiro]

USA Today Mock

9. Charlotte Bobcats – Nik Stauskas, G, Michigan. Huge draft lottery winners, stealing this pick from Detroit (poor Stan Van Gundy). The Bobcats will want to improve on being ranked 23rd on 3-pointers. Stauskas, a tremendous shooter (44 percent on 3′s), can create his own shot (got to the line 11 times vs. Kentucky in Elite 8) and Kemba Walker and Al Jefferson should mean lots of open looks.

[JDR720]

Nik will be our Klay Thompson, his role will be running around the perimeter shooting a lot of threes, put him on the same side of the floor as Al and that will be impossibly hard to guard, double Al you leave a sharpshooter open in the corner, dont double him and Al makes his defender look like a fool

[MasterIchiro]

Nik will be our Klay Thompson, his role will be running around the perimeter shooting a lot of threes, put him on the same side of the floor as Al and that will be impossibly hard to guard, double Al you leave a sharpshooter open in the corner, dont double him and Al makes his defender look like a fool

And both Al and Nik are excellent passers.

Nik had a great year.

Check out the muscles on this kid. He's not soft.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxrj61gHtew[/youtube]

[JDR720]

Nik will be our Klay Thompson, his role will be running around the perimeter shooting a lot of threes, put him on the same side of the floor as Al and that will be impossibly hard to guard, double Al you leave a sharpshooter open in the corner, dont double him and Al makes his defender look like a fool

And both Al and Nik are excellent passers.

Nik had a great year.

Check out the muscles on this kid. He's not soft.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxrj61gHtew[/youtube]

having Nik also helps Kemba and MKG, Kemba has a second ball handler and playmaker and since Nik is a sniper MKG should play more, Nik also doesn't need the ball to score he can just run off screens and spot up

[MasterIchiro]

From a Celtics blog mock draft:

9. Charlotte Hornets - Nik Stauskas, G, Michigan

With various pending free agents at the guard positions, Nik Stauskas fills a void. It'll be difficult for them to pass on Doug McDermott and Julius Randle, but they like what they have in Cody Zeller and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Nik Stauskas is just a better fit and could soon be an upgrade over Gerald Henderson.

WOW

Don't let BrotherDave see this.

[JDR720]

From a Celtics blog mock draft:

9. Charlotte Hornets - Nik Stauskas, G, Michigan

With various pending free agents at the guard positions, Nik Stauskas fills a void. It'll be difficult for them to pass on Doug McDermott and Julius Randle, but they like what they have in Cody Zeller and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Nik Stauskas is just a better fit and could soon be an upgrade over Gerald Henderson.

WOW

Don't let BrotherDave see this.

"pass on" Randle? so they think he will still be on the board at 9 that seems really low.

The underlined part is the complete goal of this offseason

[ARHornet]

You may argue that Stauskas has less potential than Young or LeVine, but there is no argument that his skill set isn't the perfect fit for this team. And I believe he'll end up the being much better than Young and providing about the same NBA performance as LeVine.

[LofJ]

I understand going for gold with this pick, but if you're going to do that Lavine makes much more sense. And it's insane to say that Stauskas is a finished product. He barely handled the ball at all when Burke was at Michigan the year before and this year he was their de-facto point guard. He also added about 15 pounds to his frame and 5 inches to his vertical, which happened to be the exact same as Young's.

[MasterIchiro]

From a Celtics blog mock draft:

9. Charlotte Hornets - Nik Stauskas, G, Michigan

With various pending free agents at the guard positions, Nik Stauskas fills a void. It'll be difficult for them to pass on Doug McDermott and Julius Randle, but they like what they have in Cody Zeller and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. Nik Stauskas is just a better fit and could soon be an upgrade over Gerald Henderson.

WOW

Don't let BrotherDave see this.

"pass on" Randle? so they think he will still be on the board at 9 that seems really low.

The underlined part is the complete goal of this offseason

They have the Celtics taking Saric which pushes Randle to 9. If the Hornets pass, he goes to the Sixers at 10 over McDermott.