Post#77 » by The Master » Sat Dec 31, 2016 1:29 am
About concerns made in this thread...
Why do you compare Monk to a player (JR Smith) who one day was considered to be one of the biggest headcases in NBA, and then, why do you compare very high efficient college player to NBA player whose career %ts is below league average? And then - isn't JR considered as a player who didn't reach his potential because of his low (basketball) IQ? Same with comparison to Lou Williams, who is more ballhandler and a scorer than a spot up shooter, unlike Monk - his 50% of shots are threes. Even Curry and Reddick didn't shoot that much threes in college and that tells smoething.
Critics don't take into account how rare is to be this kind of a shooter in age of 18. Monk is shooting >11 three pointers per 40 (and > 8 three pts in reality) on 42%. This is an elite on college level even if you compare him to guys like Steph Curry. 22yo Reddick was 42% 3pt shooter with ~10 three point attempts. And yes, I know that both Curry and Reddick were definitely first options on offense in their respective teams, but still - Monk will be only 19 in February.
I don't see concerns about him being streaky shoouter either. I mean, he's only 18, and number of three pointers made by him is enormously high. I think that the most ''popular'' path for 3pt-specialists is to play in college for 3-4 years (Curry, Reddick, Klay, Gordon, Korver Hield etc.) and then being drafted. Fun fact - Monk is an elite shooter as a freshman. What kind of a player he would be in his 3rd season?
Nevertheless, I see two main issues with Monk:
1) volume scoring is overrated by fans; Monk maybe will be someday great in it, but he's lacking versatility
2) what is his position in NBA? if he will be a normal SG non-covered by better defensively PG, he may be in troubles while defending bigger opponents
Still, his upside in terms of volume scoring is very high, especially considering how current league is turning into 3pt contest. And I see him as a very safe pick, because he has big base in his future progame in his shot, so even if he won't reach his potential, he would still be some valiable scorer.
It's quite interesting how his game will develop on another level, because honestly I think that his raw athleticism and speed in combination or rather good ball handling (especially for SG) with his long quality range may give something very interesting.
He is top10 pick in this draft, I have him on #7.