HotelVitale wrote:Slartibartfast wrote: Valentine is on a completely different level as a ball-handler and passer even if he has similar athletic limitations. He's also a far more physical presence defensively and on the boards. He is tailor-made for playing a more aggressive version of the Draymond Green/Boris Diaw offensive role. Both of those guys thrive by using their beefy trunks to slot down a position or two (both have SF size but play mostly PF or C) defensively and then take advantage of their major skill advantages offensively at those positions.
Don't get me wrong, I'm a DV believer, but that's mostly because he's so dynamic and smart and such a gamer. As far as his NBA role, I can't really see much beyond a higher-skill, lower-athleticism wing. I think he'll succeed to some extent in that role--especially given how slick a shooter he's become--but it's hard to say how good he can be once he's up against 6'8 athletic guys every night.
I'm trying to envision what your alternative scenario of a 'small-ball 3' or ultra-small 4 would look like. Valentine won't be able to drive past most wings in the league, and as you say he's not big enough to play the pick/pop creator small-ball role that Diaw/Green play. So taking a random example (Pacers), he'd be up against Paul George or CJ Miles, neither of whom he's much bigger than and neither of whom he'd have any kind of offensive advantage over. He'd also struggle to keep up on defense against either b/c/o athleticism. To give another example that plays bigger (MIL), he wouldn't be able to guard Henson or Monroe, and he wouldn't have any advantage on either end against Jabari or Giannis. Can't really take advantage of a skill gap when talking about 3s or smaller 4s (or anything but straight-up large guys).
I don't consider him to be a small-ball SF - he's got the beef and length to be a regular SF. It's PF where he'd be small and where he'd create the most havoc (much like Green and Diaw at the 5).
As for match-ups you are name-dropping some of the most freakish athletes in the game in PG and Giannis - very difficult to out-quick/out-size those guys.
At the 3, Valentine would have advantages against some of the slower or ungainlier SFs out there. Like Dudley, Pierce, Dunleavy, Harris, Johnson, J. Green. Those guys are geared towards guarding guys from the mid-post and in, not chasing Valentine off screens and dribble hand-offs and closeouts. He's not going to have a speed or quickness advantage even against some of these guys, but a guy with his range, quick release, activity and versatility will be a pain for a lot of SFs.
At the 4 he'd have obvious advantages against a lot of the 4s in the NBA (especially in transition) and I think he has the tools to minimize the extent of their damage on the other end (the frame to deny easy post position and box out, excellent rebounder) while providing good quickness in team D.
And remember, it's not always about forcing mismatches but responding to them. When you are facing PG, LBJ, KD, Carmelo or Kawhi at the 4, having a wing with some heft AND shooting range/skill like Valentine available makes it much easier to move, switch and rebound on D while keeping the pressure on offensively. He's not going to win those match-ups, but he can make it easier for the team to maintain functionality against those line-ups.
Valentine obviously isn't a star prospect, but he's the kind of heavy duty roleplayer prospect that I believe can have a huge impact in the right situation.
