Nuggets signing JaKarr Sampson

[skywalker33]

If defense is his specialty, how did Melo get 30pts from the SF position ?? OK, Melo is still Melo..I'll give that one up.

[NuggetsWY]

If defense is his specialty, how did Melo get 30pts from the SF position ?? OK, Melo is still Melo..I'll give that one up.

At least Sampson had 2 pts & 2 boards to go with that defense (but I'll admit, Sampson only covered Melo half the time Melo was shooting). At least with Sampson playing, Melo didn't get worn out. Did you see him totally ignoring Sampson? lol Sampson's 2 points came when Melo wasn't looking and Sampson cut from the corner to the basket.

[nayyyyyyyyo09]

If defense is his specialty, how did Melo get 30pts from the SF position ?? OK, Melo is still Melo..I'll give that one up.

Watch the game, they were calling fouls left and right and some of them were so obviously blocks that even the Knick announcers were saying that it was clean. Melo w/out the free throws from Sampsons 4 fouls and Arthur's 5 would have scored just 19. Also melo shot under around 40% with Jakarr on him. He truly did play well on defense, just got played himself from the refs

[Tomecak]

Totally agree with your observation.

Sampson had some really interesting sequences. He bodied Melo at least 3 times on defense and got 2 steals from his great defense. He can guard you and will get physical with you. And that's something I really like. He can guard almost 4 positions due to his freakishly athleticism. Best perimeter defender aside from Harris on the roster. He's a valuable signing even if he can't shoot yet.

[NuggetsWY]

Totally agree with your observation.

Sampson had some really interesting sequences. He bodied Melo at least 3 times on defense and got 2 steals from his great defense. He can guard you and will get physical with you. And that's something I really like. He can guard almost 4 positions due to his freakishly athleticism. Best perimeter defender aside from Harris on the roster. He's a valuable signing even if he can't shoot yet.

All true, but what I do NOT like is that if you watched this game, Melo never had to worry about playing defense. Sampson would camp out in the corner or somewhere deep and Melo would play 5 feet or even further away from him, just waiting to steal a pass or cut off someone driving. Melo's not a good defender, we know that. But Sampson makes him look like one. With Sampson on the court, it's 4 on 5, except when he cuts to the basket - now, if that worked into the offense a little more, things might change.

[Tomecak]

That is true. Meant that by saying he can't shoot yet. He gets always parked in the corners but can't make a shot for his life. That's a problem, definitely. If he can work on that in the next couple of years, he'll be fine. As for now, he's just a good defender.

It's just a really smart signing. No risk and a potential lockdown defender on ur hands who fits in culturally.

[NuggetsWY]

I've watched Sampson carefully in each game and his offense is worse than mine and I couldn't make a Junior High team that allows everyone to play. But I gotta admit, he's pretty good on defense. He's good at covering for others and gets back to his man fast. You hear about people that can guard 3 or 4 or even 5 positions; he's one of those for sure. He might be a little light in the weight department for the bigs but if someone has a stretch-4 that doesn't go low much, I'd say Sampson could guard 4 positions.

I am not a fan of this signing. I felt like Arthur-Barton-Miller could have handled the SF spot for the rest of the season - and I still like that combo. Problem is that Sampson has 2 more years on his contract and I'm just not sure he'll be in the Nuggets' future. But that's the front office's problem - they signed him. Remember that we have a lot of draft picks coming in. We've got 12 players under contract for next year with three first round picks plus two second round picks. We've got 11 players under contract for the next year, plus this year's draft picks and two more draft picks that year plus Radicevic stashed and MAYBE ready to play by then. Without trades, we'll have 15 players under contract next year if they use the 2nd round picks to stash someone in Europe. Without trades, we'll have 16 players under contract in two years plus 3 players stashed. Sampson just doesn't seem to fit in the long term. My opinion - plus remembering the front office can alleviate all that with a trade or trades.

[Tomecak]

Samspons next year of his contrat is non-guaranteed.

[RRFB]

Yeah I'd be shocked if Sampson makes the roster next year. With Chandler coming back and all the draft picks, I don't think it's even worth discussing at this point.

[NuggetsWY]

Oops, I missed that on Sampsons contract not being guaranteed. Thanks - I like that better. Agreed that there isn't really room for him next year. If people thought rookies weren't playing enough this year (me); it's going to be worse for rookies next year.

[skywalker33]

Ready to be done with Sampson, as soon as Gallo gets back time to make that roster move. I do like Toupane