Is Wendell Carter officially a bust?

[JimmyJammer]

I remember a couple of years ago, going into the draft, it was believed that he had the highest floor among his peers, but fast-forward to 2020, I have to wonder what we were thinking. I know, I know, it has only been two pre-season games, but I have to say that I have been seeing some disturbing signs. The lack of aggressiveness, the poor shooting, the lack of a reliable post game and the lack of strength down low on the defensive end are things that bother me and make me wonder if Wendell is not officially a bust.

[OzmanTheWizard]

Maybe not a bust, but Carter is definitely not a special player. Seems average to me.


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[Dez]

No he's not a bust at all, he's two pre-season games into vastly different role.

[VolumePoster]

No. He’s experimenting and trying to expand his role. His base skill sets are still valuable.

If he busts it will be due to injury.

[Michael Jackson]

I was never high on WCJ, that being said, two preseason games coming out of a pandemic with a new coach and philosophy, can't call him a bust from that. Judge nothing from preseason, even more-so this one.

[dougthonus]

While I think you should never judge any player off a couple preseason games, in two years, Carter has shown you pretty little on the offensive side of the court. Many people, myself included, felt he was being underutilized. We've now seen that utilization change to pretty disastrous results in two games. Hopefully that isn't where he's at in three months. I would have thought he was a high floor player, but at this moment, the idea that he might be just a guy has to be considered.

I mean at this point, you have to say an MLE or below caliber player right?

[GimmeDat]

I thought he was great his first two seasons. Seems to me like people are panicking over 2 preseason games where he's trying to experiment with his role.

[Narigo]

Too early. Its preseason.

[SfBull]

Yes.

[SfBull]

I think we won't go anywhere with our current frontcourt, someone has to be traded, preferentially both ,Lauri and WCJ.Let's try a frontcourt with Young and Gafford or Vonleh and Gafford,we shouldn't be insisting on Carter and Lauri, perhaps one of them,we should stop this futile conversation about potential ,if they were good their games would have proved it.I just hope AK can understand that and trade one or both ASAP.It's not about just 2 preseason games,these guys aren't producing for being starters , hopefully AK won't make the mistake of extending them.

[coldfish]

Its really not looking good for WCJ. As Doug said above, you can probably get this quality of play just going out and signing a C for the MLE. There is absolutely nothing special about his game and there are a bunch of flaws.

[SfBull]

Its really not looking good for WCJ. As Doug said above, you can probably get this quality of play just going out and signing a C for the MLE. There is absolutely nothing special about his game and there are a bunch of flaws.

Same for Lauri.There is no progress in their games.

[fleet]

His advanced metrics will overvalue his defense on a team that is very challenged for defense. Especially in this era, his upside is a starter on a team that you always wanted to upgrade because of poor perimeter shooting. On a team with bad D, you never really could find the upgrade.

[TheFinishSniper]

Lauri and WCJ are guys you can get in FA for vet minimum and MLE. Hence why as lottery picks are busts.

[DASMACKDOWN]

You cant make any decisions on anyone till the games actually count.

I honestly dont care how anyone looks right now. At the end of the day, its the regular season on what you are actually judging.

If this were reversed and Wendell was hitting everything in preseason and then shot terrible in the regular season, are we going to put stock in the preseason numbers? So that's what you have to consider.

I wouldnt be surprised if Wendell looks great before the preseason is over. But again, doesnt mean anything until Dec 22.

[fleet]

I realize Billy has been trying to make a point out of finding him for 3 pointers in the preseason. Which could be Billy’s Moby Dick. Trying to squeeze the value out of WCJ.

[League Circles]

I haven't watched him play a ton but his numbers through 2 partial seasons are pretty darn solid for a 21 year old C IMO. He's pretty far down my concern list.

[DASMACKDOWN]

I haven't watched him play a ton but his numbers through 2 partial seasons are pretty darn solid for a 21 year old C IMO. He's pretty far down my concern list.

I think people seem to forget the age. Put it this way, he is ahead of someone like Bam Adebayo at the same age.

[fleet]

I haven't watched him play a ton but his numbers through 2 partial seasons are pretty darn solid for a 21 year old C IMO. He's pretty far down my concern list.

Stacey calling him like an Al Horford was eyebrow raising. I don’t mind it if his shooting ever came around. Which brings me back to Billy hunting the white whale of WCJ’s shooting to gain the value out of WCJ in this era of basketball. Today, instead of Horford, WCJ is more Antonio Davis, which is anachronistic.

[Ice Man]

I haven't watched him play a ton but his numbers through 2 partial seasons are pretty darn solid for a 21 year old C IMO. He's pretty far down my concern list.

He's a useful player. My question is about his upside. He's a somewhat undersized young big who is not an athletic marvel, but who does well at a young age through strength, grit, and on-court smarts. I think he has already maxxed on those attributes, for the most part. It seems to me that he needs to become a distinctly better shooter if he is to progress from being a useful rotation player to being a high-quality starter.