Cassius Winston Thread

[doclinkin]

Tough savvy a good character Spartan. I like him pretty well as good value for a late pick.

Short but surprising wingspan. Heady game. Old school smarts in the PG spot, a good leader and teacher. Old soul.

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I mean. As a late pick, he's going to for sure be a good floor captain for the GoGo, and help teach the fundamentals players might have missed by not learning under Tom Izzo and ending up in the G League instead.

[Shoe]

Hopefully he has an NBA career. Sorry about his brother. It's unlikely he will be a Wizard for long though. If anyone can be IT though it could be someone like Winston.

[queridiculo]

More excited about Winston than our lotto pick.

Defense is optional in DC, so he might have a shot.

[ElectricMayhem]

He doesn't really have an NBA body, much like Mateen Cleaves was in that respect, but unlike Cleaves, Winston can shoot lights out. He's also, as has been mentioned in this thread, very high character and very intelligent. He has an old-man-at-the-Y type of game. I'm not sold on him as an NBA player, but I really hope he makes it.

[Dan Z]

He's an interesting player and I think he'll do well in Washington. It reminds me of when Denver drafted Monte Morris and Dallas picked Jalen Brunson (both in the 2nd round).

[WallToWall]

He could surprise many of us. Despite his size (6'1"), and lack of speed, he manages to get his shot off, or pass the ball. He does well in P+R and smartly gets a shot off against taller players. He is not a player to leave open on the perimeter...he can sink the 3-ball at a good percentage. Still, his shooting mechanics can be improved and could help his mid-range shot. He does make bad passes (actually some of it is on the receiver of the ball) and does get his pocket picked. Something to work on. Stays in front of whoever he is guarding, but reminds me of matador defense. Something else to work on. Good value pick.

[doclinkin]

And of course there is this:

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I mean. Nice to make Brad's agent feel kindly towards the team, I suppose.

[queridiculo]

He doesn't really have an NBA body, much like Mateen Cleaves was in that respect, but unlike Cleaves, Winston can shoot lights out. He's also, as has been mentioned in this thread, very high character and very intelligent. He has an old-man-at-the-Y type of game. I'm not sold on him as an NBA player, but I really hope he makes it.

NBA bodies can be made easier than a jumper.

He reminds me quite a bit of Lowry, who struggled getting himself into peak physical condition for years.

Lowry always had mass, his primary struggle was with fitness.

Winston on the other hand needs to cut down and bulk up, with the latter possibly helping his defense.

He's not a bad defender, he just gets pushed around too easily.

[Shoe]

It's the head band but what about clutch Wizard killer Boobie Gibson. Surprisingly that dude only played until he was 26. Something happened in 2010 that began his downfall. He did get a 5 year $21 million contract though.

[Ruzious]

He's an interesting player and I think he'll do well in Washington. It reminds me of when Denver drafted Monte Morris and Dallas picked Jalen Brunson (both in the 2nd round).

Good comparisons. I was thinking of Brunson when he was picked - though Brunson's better at bully-ball.

[NatP4]

He looks like Andre Miller with a jumpshot, there’s also some Ty Lawson once he got old and fat in there. Some kyle Lowry sprinkled in.

Put me down as a fan of the pick and the trade as a whole.

[Ruzious]

He doesn't really have an NBA body, much like Mateen Cleaves was in that respect, but unlike Cleaves, Winston can shoot lights out. He's also, as has been mentioned in this thread, very high character and very intelligent. He has an old-man-at-the-Y type of game. I'm not sold on him as an NBA player, but I really hope he makes it.

NBA bodies can be made easier than a jumper.

He reminds me quite a bit of Lowry, who struggled getting himself into peak physical condition for years.

Lowry always had mass, his primary struggle was with fitness.

Winston on the other hand needs to cut down and bulk up, with the latter possibly helping his defense.

He's not a bad defender, he just gets pushed around too easily.

Lowry was actually a great defender when he entered the Association - couldn't shoot much at the time.

[FAH1223]

Good pick. Hope he does well with the GO-GO!

[long suffrin' boulez fan]

If it weren’t COVID times and I showed up at a NOVA park for some pick up ball and Cassius picked me for his team, I’d be happy.

In the NBA, I have my doubts.

[nate33]

Looks like a 3rd string guard. Smart and skilled, but lacking in NBA caliber size and athleticm. He'll play in the league on his rookie contract, but no more than 800 minutes a year. He might bounce around as a journeyman for a few years after that before he is out of the league.

I'm not hating. If you can get a guy at #53 who can play any minutes, that's a good thing. It'll be more than what Aaron White or Issuf Sanon has done.

[queridiculo]

Looks like a 3rd string guard. Smart and skilled, but lacking in NBA caliber size and athleticm. He'll play in the league on his rookie contract, but no more than 800 minutes a year. He might bounce around as a journeyman for a few years after that before he is out of the league.

I'm not hating. If you can get a guy at #53 who can play any minutes, that's a good thing. It'll be more than what Aaron White or Issuf Sanon has done.

Ironically the guy we traded to the Thunder looks like somebody that could really ball out when he gets healthy and manages to fill out his frame.

[NatP4]

Looks like a 3rd string guard. Smart and skilled, but lacking in NBA caliber size and athleticm. He'll play in the league on his rookie contract, but no more than 800 minutes a year. He might bounce around as a journeyman for a few years after that before he is out of the league.

I'm not hating. If you can get a guy at #53 who can play any minutes, that's a good thing. It'll be more than what Aaron White or Issuf Sanon has done.

He’s almost the same size as Monte Morris and had much better numbers in college in a much more difficult conference. What is your actual reasoning for such low expectations outside of his low draft slot???

His college numbers are elite

[nate33]

Looks like a 3rd string guard. Smart and skilled, but lacking in NBA caliber size and athleticm. He'll play in the league on his rookie contract, but no more than 800 minutes a year. He might bounce around as a journeyman for a few years after that before he is out of the league.

I'm not hating. If you can get a guy at #53 who can play any minutes, that's a good thing. It'll be more than what Aaron White or Issuf Sanon has done.

He’s almost the same size as Monte Morris and had much better numbers in college in a much more difficult conference. What is your actual reasoning for such low expectations outside of his low draft slot???

His college numbers are elite

Great. Pick the one guy in the last 10 years with a somewhat similar draft profile that actually did succeed at the NBA level and assume he is the appropriate comparison.

Winston has an 8'-1" standing reach. That's really small. Maybe if you are hyper-athletic like Donovan Mitchell or a super quick waterbug like Devonte Graham, you can make it work. Unfortunately, Cassius Winston has a considerably slower 3/4 sprint than his 265 pound teammate Xavier Tillman. He had the slowest sprint in the entire draft class! He also had the worst standing vertical leap of any non center in his draft class. Even Tillman jumped higher. Your comp, Monte Morris, was much faster in the 3/4 sprint (3.21 versus 3.60) than Winston, and he jumped 4 inches higher.

[payitforward]

I don't see much to argue about here.

Of course, he's a long shot. nate is totally right that anyone picked as late as #53 is a long shot. Moreover, he did not have "much better numbers" than Monte Morris. In fact, overall, Morris had a bit better numbers (I'm looking at both their Junior years -- will explain below).

OTOH, both guys did have very good numbers -- the kind that at least tend to predict NBA success. Overall, I can't see how either success or failure is baked in here. In fact, if we'd taken Winston at #37, I wouldn't have thought it was outlandish.

To me the real issue might be that -- or, maybe, why -- he fell off as a Senior.

I tell you what I really don't understand: Paul Reed fell to the 58th pick. I just don't get it....

[doclinkin]

To me the real issue might be that -- or, maybe, why -- he fell off as a Senior.
.

His brother stepped in front of a train last November. Suffered from depression his whole life.