#60 - Sam Merrill - Utah State

[JimmyTheKid]

Just now watching highlights. This MF'er can shoot it. Sheesh.

I don't even have a comp because he's shooting it off the bounce, off catches, knows when to attack close outs.

Is he Ray Allen-lite?

More the like the next Ray Allen, IMO

[drone3]

How is he defensively, is he playable in a series against a good team

He was not terrible (solid overall, even), but it's not hard to find clips where he looks like a ghost chasing Pac-Man.

He struggles against quicker guys, biggest issue is he can not get around screens.

[xTitan]

What if we just kidnap Luka, leave behind Sam, and see if anyone notices?

Sent from my moto g(7) play using RealGM mobile app

They wouldn’t

[xTitan]

Merrill put up something like 27 points against Dort 2 years ago. Dort was a demon in the bubble and considered the best defender in college 2 years ago.

[emunney]

Merrill put up something like 27 points against Dort 2 years ago. Dort was a demon in the bubble and considered the best defender in college 2 years ago.

Just looked it up. Dort had 33 on 15 FGAs. Career high!

At any rate I am optimistic about Merrill's offense.

[xTitan]

Merrill put up something like 27 points against Dort 2 years ago. Dort was a demon in the bubble and considered the best defender in college 2 years ago.

Just looked it up. Dort had 33 on 15 FGAs. Career high!

At any rate I am optimistic about Merrill's offense.

Not sure how good Merrill can be on defense, but he never covered the other teams best scorers because he was indispensable....the fact he scored 27 on Dort is amazing.

[emunney]

Merrill put up something like 27 points against Dort 2 years ago. Dort was a demon in the bubble and considered the best defender in college 2 years ago.

Just looked it up. Dort had 33 on 15 FGAs. Career high!

At any rate I am optimistic about Merrill's offense.

Not sure how good Merrill can be on defense, but he never covered the other teams best scorers because he was indispensable....the fact he scored 27 on Dort is amazing.

Watching it now. I'll let you know.

[worthlessBucks]

I personally could have used a bucket from Sam against Boise in their monumental collapse pre-pandemic last year, but I won’t hold it against him. They were all iced. Fun game to watch highlights from if you’re looking for footage.

[giannis and 1]

Am I dumb for thinking him looking a little chubby is a positive?

Like if he loses some weight, he should be quicker and more athletic, and therefore a little better at perimeter defense and driving to the rim.

Whereas if he was thinner in college, he would have already had these attributes and would not have been available at #60.

Maybe I'm over analyzing.

[drone3]

Am I dumb for thinking him looking a little chubby is a positive?

Like if he loses some weight, he should be quicker and more athletic, and therefore a little better at perimeter defense and driving to the rim.

Whereas if he was thinner in college, he would have already had these attributes and would not have been available at #60.

Maybe I'm over analyzing.

It's wishful thinking, he's not going to magically morph into a better defender

[giannis and 1]

Am I dumb for thinking him looking a little chubby is a positive?

Like if he loses some weight, he should be quicker and more athletic, and therefore a little better at perimeter defense and driving to the rim.

Whereas if he was thinner in college, he would have already had these attributes and would not have been available at #60.

Maybe I'm over analyzing.

It's wishful thinking, he's not going to magically morph into a better defender

Well I don't see him reaching Holiday level or anything. But maybe improves enough to be adequate at the NBA level?

[xTitan]

Am I dumb for thinking him looking a little chubby is a positive?

Like if he loses some weight, he should be quicker and more athletic, and therefore a little better at perimeter defense and driving to the rim.

Whereas if he was thinner in college, he would have already had these attributes and would not have been available at #60.

Maybe I'm over analyzing.

Somebody posted a vid of Merrill saying he is down 15 pounds and his body fat has gone from something like 14% to 9% since last season.

[Fotis St]

Am I dumb for thinking him looking a little chubby is a positive?

Like if he loses some weight, he should be quicker and more athletic, and therefore a little better at perimeter defense and driving to the rim.

Whereas if he was thinner in college, he would have already had these attributes and would not have been available at #60.

Maybe I'm over analyzing.

Somebody posted a vid of Merrill saying he is down 15 pounds and his body fat has gone from something like 14% to 9% since last season.

Yep that was me , I really like what I saw from Day 1 of scouting this Draft Class. 9% he said , I heard all this interview, it looks like he is smart , he has been adviced to prepare his body and he executes.

[emunney]

Just looked it up. Dort had 33 on 15 FGAs. Career high!

At any rate I am optimistic about Merrill's offense.

Not sure how good Merrill can be on defense, but he never covered the other teams best scorers because he was indispensable....the fact he scored 27 on Dort is amazing.

Watching it now. I'll let you know.

I have more detailed notes on my computer but I'll give my takes from my phone:

- He did match up with Dort quite a bit both ways. Dort had him almost every possession. He had Dort less than half the time, but enough to see that he was physically overmatched. That said, he competes. He's not Jimmer or one of these guys who just loafs off ball. He drew one charge and probably should have had another.

- Offensively, he's everything to them, like we knew. He's just very difficult to defend. Very sneaky off the ball and a constant red alert with the ball in his hands. Uncanny sense of the defender's balance, blew by Dort more than once. He's got all the skills and knows what to do with them.

Overall, I think we're looking at a guy who is not likely to be more than Matt Thomas in the NBA, but who can likely run a G League team and could get more than spot minutes in certain matchups. If his body is radically different to the extent that his athletic performance has dramatically improved, that could change his outlook.

[JEIS]

Are they trading this dude? They don't even have him on the bucks website... Just promoting the other pick.

[ShootingtheJ]

Merrill put up something like 27 points against Dort 2 years ago. Dort was a demon in the bubble and considered the best defender in college 2 years ago.

Just looked it up. Dort had 33 on 15 FGAs. Career high!

At any rate I am optimistic about Merrill's offense.

Not sure how good Merrill can be on defense, but he never covered the other teams best scorers because he was indispensable....the fact he scored 27 on Dort is amazing.

He guarded the best scorer his entire senior year.

[mattg]

He can definitely shoot. Who knows, maybe he can hang with the pace of the NBA in spite of his lack of athleticism. Some guys are able to do better than expected because the NBA court is more spread and open than college. Worth a shot, especially since our guard depth is thinnnnnnn as of now.

[tski1972]

Are they trading this dude? They don't even have him on the bucks website... Just promoting the other pick.

It’s part of the Jrue deal, not official yet.

[DrWood]

I've seen each of our draftees play well. something I can't say for all of the first round picks.

[DrWood]

I think he could take Korver's minutes (960 this past year), which would be great for a rookie.