Around The NBA

[MrSparkle]

Well Deni looks pretty solid. Will be a good situation for him, with Westbrook and Beal.

Nets aren’t playing around.

[BeKuK]

Avdija looks really solid. 8pts / 3-3 from the field in half one.

[cjbulls]

Only watched the 2nd quarter, Deni looks solid but unspectacular.

It may be time for draft folks to stop obsessing over a guys shooting pre-draft. Deni looks ok already there. Along with Okoro, PWill, etc.

[cjbulls]

Hahaha, that’s 3 votes for “solid” on Deni

That was the big fear for him though. Only solid.

[SHO'NUFF]

Deni is goat

[weneeda2guard]

I'll say this, for as much as some was saying this draft was weak quite a few guys have looked solid so far. Ball, edwards, okoro, Williams, deni, obi, have all looked like something good is there with them.

[Darius Miles Davis]

Wow, that drive by Deni was REALLY fast. Agree Weeneeda, I'm also beginning to think this draft is better than advertised.

[MrSparkle]

Hahaha, that’s 3 votes for “solid” on Deni

That was the big fear for him though. Only solid.

Well, 3 quarters in, he looks like an NBA starter against the Nets. Gets to the rim off-the-dribble, defends NBA wings, and make passes.

Point is , this year's class looks more NBA-ready than the prior 2. IMO better floor often means better ceiling.

Come out looking like Fultz or McDermott after good expectations, and it's a long road up. Deni meanwhile's looking like the high-caliber guy in Maccabi, which many thought wouldn't translate to the NBA. The speed and handles have translated.

But beyond this, I do think fit is a big deal. Bulls needed a do-it-all two-way athlete/freak prospect like PW. We've been playing under-the-rim the whole decade. Wizards have an athletic roster with a veteran star back-court. Deni fits there perfectly.

[cjbulls]

But beyond this, I do think fit is a big deal. Bulls needed a do-it-all two-way athlete/freak prospect like PW. We've been playing under-the-rim the whole decade. Wizards have an athletic roster with a veteran star back-court. Deni fits there perfectly.

Agree that fit matters. We needed a playmaker more than anything though (other than a “star”)

[BeKuK]

Point is , this year's class looks more NBA-ready than the prior 2. IMO better floor often means better ceiling.

Good point...totally agree!

[Chi town]

I'll say this, for as much as some was saying this draft was weak quite a few guys have looked solid so far. Ball, edwards, okoro, Williams, deni, obi, have all looked like something good is there with them.

Let’s see how they look after 29 games. Early on I agree though.

[JimmyJammer]

I was watching the Nets game last night because I wanted to see the comeback of Kevin Durant, but I ended up getting a glimpse of Deni and Huchimura. I don't know if Deni will be a star in the NBA, but he has a skill that will translate, that is his shooting. Boy, that stroke is buttery smooth. I also watched how he was directing his teammates about where to be on the court on offense and not forcing the issue unnecessarily. His basketball IQ was very noticeable, but since he has been playing professional basketball for some time now, I can see why. His defense will have to improve, like for most European players. But, nobody is playing defense in the NBA anymore anyway. As for Huchimura, that kid is going to be a solid player in the league for a while. He does it all on the offensive end, with aggressiveness, and he tries hard on defense. Overall, I have to say the Wizzards have two very good young players to put next to Beal and Westbrook, and they have other solid young players in Bertrans and Bryant. I predict that they will in the hunt to make the playoffs if they are able to stay healthy.

[MGB8]

Just saw the highlights from Vassell on the general board.... the guy looks like a veteran in his first preseason game.

Williams may well have more upside, but Vassell looks like a major positive contributor to me.

[MGB8]

Deni looked really, really good (but still looks like much more of a small ball 4 than a wing to me). Okoro looked very good - the issue with him is going to be the shooting. Bane looked like an NBA contributor.

Toppin has an old-man game for a guy known for his explosiveness - flashes of Boozer there. There's something that I don't love though, about how he played - he had a lot of space to operate and used that - not sure that what he is doing in pre-season is going to translate against regular season defenses.

On LaMelo... the shot is obviously a huge concern - but his size, speed, ball handling and passing sure seemed to translate, and I even saw some defensive effort. The issue is going to be the shooting, IMO. If he can meaningfully improve it - he could be a superstar.

[Darius Miles Davis]

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These Haliburton highlights look amazing. He looks quicker than I thought, and he makes lightning quick decisions. Pat Will better keep ballin' if he wants to outplay these other guys that we considered at #4.

[The Force.]

A lot of guys are putting up numbers against scrubs but I do think Hali will be the type of player that makes a lot of GMs look bad. Ironic that he fell to Sacramento of all places.

[cjbulls]

We have a roster desperately in need of playmaking, had a draft full of interesting playmakers and decided to choose the guy with no playmaking ability whatsoever.

[ZOMG]

We have a roster desperately in need of playmaking, had a draft full of interesting playmakers and decided to choose the guy with no playmaking ability whatsoever.

Exactly. It's a tragedy.

But the Bulls already painted themselves in a corner at the end of last season by letting Coby's hot streak affect his position in team hierarchy. We pretty much knew he was going to start this season even though the fit with Zach was clearly horrible.

Bringing in a new high pick PG from the draft would've meant either benching Coby or trading Zach, neither of which the Bulls were apparently willing to do - particularly the former, after making White the social media mascot of the team and singing his praises for 8 months straight.

And so we ended up with Coby White, point guard of the future. You would think that things make sense in a billion dollar operation like the NBA, but sometimes they just don't.

[Louri]

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These Haliburton highlights look amazing. He looks quicker than I thought, and he makes lightning quick decisions. Pat Will better keep ballin' if he wants to outplay these other guys that we considered at #4.

I watched that video.. playmaking, drive and kick passes.. then suddenly I remembered Coby as a Bulls starting PG. I had to turn video off and went to corner to cry.

[Electric Slim]

First Lamelo bucket is a 3, go figure