Official Speculation Thread Part 1 (Summer League 2014)

[SOUL]

Also there is a possibility that nobody considers that Exum, Gordon AND Payton might all be good. Shocker I know.

[SOUL]

Shabazz scored 19 in the first half.. and if Oladipo put up donuts the same people would be crying about how we didn't get Shabazz **** Muhammed last year

[OrlandO]

Not for nothing, but one game into LVSL and Dante Exum already has more steals than Aaron Gordon amassed in Summer League -- 1 steal.

Too bad he had to turn it over to get that steal. These summer league stat keepers are awful, btw. They didn't count that turnover for exum prior to the steal, they didn't count vonleh's putback, and more relevant to your comment they didn't count Gordon's steal against Houston which led to a layup (pretty sure he had another one, too). And I'm not even looking that hard... don't even want to know how much stuff is missed each day.

[Smooth_E]

I personally would have be JUST fine with Exum at #4 and Adrian Payne at #12.

Im happy with Payton and I love Gordon's maturity, but dammit, Dante's first step is beautiful.

[Smooth_E]

I really wanted an elite scorer this draft. I guess Oladipo and Harris are going to have to be our highest ppg players.

[Skin]

Not for nothing, but one game into LVSL and Dante Exum already has more steals than Aaron Gordon amassed in Summer League -- 1 steal.

Yeah, but what did the guys who Gordon guarded score? From what I saw here and there he pretty much shut down his man every game.

[basketballRob]

People who have already given up on Gordon before he's played a single NBA game should be held accountable next season.

Gordon basically had the same game as Exum's his first game. 7 pts 5 rebs, a highlight alley oop dunk, and a block where he jumped up and took it out of the air. Zach Lavine had 13 pts. All these guys are about the same age and I expect the other two will have some really bad games this SL too.

[Raider_MXD]

People who have already given up on Gordon before he's played a single NBA game should be held accountable next season.

Gordon might have a good NBA career, but despite that it's pretty obvious to me that the wrong player was picked at four. Gordon and Exum both are of similar age and both are picked based on potential, but that's where the similarities end as far as I am concerned.

Exum does not only have two NBA positions where he fits in just fine (and at PG he's even be physically superior to the competition) but he already seems to have the skills to be productive right away. In addition he would have been a perfect fit with Orlando because of filling a position of need as well as eliminating the issue of an undersized backcourt by by playing PG on offence and SG on defence if neccessary.

Gordon on the other hand seems to be a tweener who does seem to be neither a perfect fit at SF nor at PF and potentially is even redundant because with Harris we already have such an in-between player as well as an additional candidate for the SF spot with Harkless. Additionally Gordon is currently lacking the offensive skills for either position he's projected to play.

Therefore I'd have preffered Exum at the 4 and at 12 there would habe been various options. Either try to go for Payton like we did to create a backcourt rotation of Oladipo, Payton and Exum (while avoiding the likes of Gordon and Green and maybe trading away one of the three when it's clear how they turn out) or look if there's adecent big man on the board.

[pogiro]

I think some of y'all need to step away from Summer League for a bit. It's Summer League...

[basketballRob]

People who have already given up on Gordon before he's played a single NBA game should be held accountable next season.

Gordon might have a good NBA career, but despite that it's pretty obvious to me that the wrong player was picked at four. Gordon and Exum both are of similar age and both are picked based on potential, but that's where the similarities end as far as I am concerned.

Exum does not only have two NBA positions where he fits in just fine (and at PG he's even be physically superior to the competition) but he already seems to have the skills to be productive right away. In addition he would have been a perfect fit with Orlando because of filling a position of need as well as eliminating the issue of an undersized backcourt by by playing PG on offence and SG on defence if neccessary.

Gordon on the other hand seems to be a tweener who does seem to be neither a perfect fit at SF nor at PF and potentially is even redundant because with Harris we already have such an in-between player as well as an additional candidate for the SF spot with Harkless. Additionally Gordon is currently lacking the offensive skills for either position he's projected to play.

Therefore I'd have preffered Exum at the 4 and at 12 there would habe been various options. Either try to go for Payton like we did to create a backcourt rotation of Oladipo, Payton and Exum (while avoiding the likes of Gordon and Green and maybe trading away one of the three when it's clear how they turn out) or look if there's adecent big man on the board.

The theme of the draft was defense. Payton defensive POY, Gordon maybe the best on the ball defender in the draft. I would love to see Payton, Dipo, Gordon, Harris, and Vuc start from day one.

[OrlandO]

People who have already given up on Gordon before he's played a single NBA game should be held accountable next season.

Gordon might have a good NBA career, but despite that it's pretty obvious to me that the wrong player was picked at four. Gordon and Exum both are of similar age and both are picked based on potential, but that's where the similarities end as far as I am concerned.

Exum does not only have two NBA positions where he fits in just fine (and at PG he's even be physically superior to the competition) but he already seems to have the skills to be productive right away. In addition he would have been a perfect fit with Orlando because of filling a position of need as well as eliminating the issue of an undersized backcourt by by playing PG on offence and SG on defence if neccessary.

Gordon on the other hand seems to be a tweener who does seem to be neither a perfect fit at SF nor at PF and potentially is even redundant because with Harris we already have such an in-between player as well as an additional candidate for the SF spot with Harkless. Additionally Gordon is currently lacking the offensive skills for either position he's projected to play.

Therefore I'd have preffered Exum at the 4 and at 12 there would habe been various options. Either try to go for Payton like we did to create a backcourt rotation of Oladipo, Payton and Exum (while avoiding the likes of Gordon and Green and maybe trading away one of the three when it's clear how they turn out) or look if there's adecent big man on the board.

Actually, Gordon is going to be able to contribute right away. He's got a lot going for him even in his rookie year, but people are focusing way too much on the fact that he was testing out his jumper during SL. He can defend, run the floor, handle the rock, pass, rebound, get in the lane and score near the basket. He is a smart player and will figure out ways to help his team. We got a better look at what he can do in his final SL game where he made more of an effort to stick to his strengths and as a result he was able to score 12 PTS on decent percentage and he got to the line a lot (8 FTA) to go along with 5 boards and 3 assists.

Unlike most here, I actually think he has a good chance at developing a reliable jumper... his form looks fine and when his shots go in they look very smooth. He just needs to continue the reps. Fun fact: Gordon and Dwight shot the same percentage (35% fg) in their first batch of SL games. We can talk about offensive fit once we see him play with his real team instead of mostly third stringers and d-leaguers. I'm pretty confident in saying Gordon will fill out and get a lot stronger over the next two years, too. That's going to be huge for him.

Exum has shown lots of speed and some decent passing, but that is it so far. If we're going by one game like everyone seems to be doing, then exum can't defend and his shot needs a lot of work for a guard.

[MagicStarwipe]

I'm interested to know how many games the people that are so low on Gordon have actually seen of his. I admit I was disappointed with the pick when it was first made, but that's because I didn't follow Gordon or really know anything about him. I figured we needed a PG, Exum is the most hyped PG, we'll get him. And if not him, Smart is the 2nd most hyped, we'll get him. So when we drafted Gordon, instead of preparing my "fire Hennigan" post for realGM, I actually put hours and hours into studying the pick. I read about him. I watched his interviews. I watched all the footage of him I could find. I watched around a dozen full games of his. This kid is not as raw as you all try to make him out to be. His base skill set is actually very impressive. He has to work on his jumpshot. He's extremely bright and mature for his age and he lives and breathes basketball. He will get better as a shooter and he will pick up the NBA game. His athleticism will be elite from day one, and his defense won't be too far behind.

And Dante Exum didn't do anything in his first game that would make me want him to run the point for us over Elfrid Payton.

All I'm going to say is there is a reason we are posting on a site called RealGM and Rob Hennigan is an actual real GM.

[RapHippy]

Exum's first step and PnR game is beautiful. However people are overreacting hard over this one SL game, yes he played well offensively but we're really going back on the talk of Hennigan potentially regretting our pick? Exum is definitely a talent, but the guy scored 10 points, and actually shot 1-4 even though the nba.com highlights make him sound like a 3pt specialist.

It's also like you guys expected 20/10 from Gordon in the summer league, we expected a raw 18 yr old forward, with good defensive instincts, offensive potential (his passing,finishing inside & ball handle) and athleticism. We also got the surprise of Elfrid Payton, who looks to be a better play maker and defender than Exum.

[Bigmagicfan82]

People are reading to much into summer league.

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[Blue_and_Whte]

Meh....summer league.

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[RickB-Orlando]

People who have already given up on Gordon before he's played a single NBA game should be held accountable next season.

Gordon might have a good NBA career, but despite that it's pretty obvious to me that the wrong player was picked at four.

I'm amazed at how much people can determine based on a single summer league game. I wish I was such an exceptional evaluator of talent.

Unfortunately I have to wait until regular season games start, and even then I might not be sure for a year or two.

[Hogified05]

Any word on where Meer is going sign? I'd like to see him latch on to a contender somewhere. Maybe Cleveland or Chicago as a back up. Dallas would actually be an interesting place for him because he could probably start there. I don't know just interested if anyone has heard anything.

[SOUL]

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WptIyYBy1QQ[/youtube]

[MoGrAdY]

I admit I wasn't a fan of Gordon at Arizona and I'm still not. I like several others wanted Exum. That being said I'm very excited about what I have seen from Elf, kid looks legit. I'm not gonna sit here and complain about not taking Exum, but if Julius Randle is as good as I expect him to be I'd be a little annoyed. If we were hell bent on taking Elf at #12 (#10) then why not go with Randle? You can talk pros and cons but it would have been a great fit. Time will tell with Gordon but I'm not a believer. I'll root for him nonetheless.

[Blue_and_Whte]

People who have already given up on Gordon before he's played a single NBA game should be held accountable next season.

Gordon might have a good NBA career, but despite that it's pretty obvious to me that the wrong player was picked at four. Gordon and Exum both are of similar age and both are picked based on potential, but that's where the similarities end as far as I am concerned.

Exum does not only have two NBA positions where he fits in just fine (and at PG he's even be physically superior to the competition) but he already seems to have the skills to be productive right away. In addition he would have been a perfect fit with Orlando because of filling a position of need as well as eliminating the issue of an undersized backcourt by by playing PG on offence and SG on defence if neccessary.

Gordon on the other hand seems to be a tweener who does seem to be neither a perfect fit at SF nor at PF and potentially is even redundant because with Harris we already have such an in-between player as well as an additional candidate for the SF spot with Harkless. Additionally Gordon is currently lacking the offensive skills for either position he's projected to play.

Therefore I'd have preffered Exum at the 4 and at 12 there would habe been various options. Either try to go for Payton like we did to create a backcourt rotation of Oladipo, Payton and Exum (while avoiding the likes of Gordon and Green and maybe trading away one of the three when it's clear how they turn out) or look if there's adecent big man on the board.

heres the first Exum overreaction post. Show good speed which people already we re aware of. He play ok overall in that ONE GAME.
I think the people that booed Hennigan should be held accountable when Gordon and Payton develop into studs. I expect more and more people nit picking eitherway based on small sample sizes when it comes to exum.
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