Re-Signed: The PJ Washington Jr. Thread (3yrs/$48m)

[BigSlam]

Bump.




(because you know we are going to be talking about him!!)

[Bassman]

So please someone, break down why PJ’s game is crap right now. I haven’t been able to watch much preseason. What little I got showed me a guy who looks very different from last season. Where are his minutes being distributed (4 or 5)?

I always wanted him playing the 4 but by descriptions it sounds like he is slow on D.

[DY_nasty]

So please someone, break down why PJ’s game is crap right now. I haven’t been able to watch much preseason. What little I got showed me a guy who looks very different from last season. Where are his minutes being distributed (4 or 5)?

I always wanted him playing the 4 but by descriptions it sounds like he is slow on D.

its not so much that he's slow, its that he's in places he should never be and he'd have to be a S class athlete to recover with how out of position he is for some of the things he's trying on defense...

like there's no reason he should be the first player to pick up the lead guard. and he shouldn't be trying to play up on wings 3ft behind the line. he had his hands full last year just closing out properly

and on offense? he's suffering from kaminsky-ism. when dude is playing down hill, waiting for the play to come to him, and not camping out behind the 3pt line he's generally making good things happen. they even tried to have him bring the ball up. which i don't mind but even against light pressure that went sideways quick.

i hope they'll try a *few* things from this experiment during the season to build on, but he's clearly not seeing how to connect his offseason practice with what's happening in front of him. fwiw he finished the last game well

[Benjamin Linus]

I know it's only preseason and it's after a long covid offseason but PJ's looked like a real mess

PJ's shooting % through the four preseason games - 29/14/50

Miles for comparison - 61/36/100

LaMelo's also outrebounding PJ in less minutes

[Bassman]

I know it's only preseason and it's after a long covid offseason but PJ's looked like a real mess

PJ's shooting % through the four preseason games - 29/14/50

Miles for comparison - 61/36/100

LaMelo's also outrebounding PJ in less minutes

To me that says “I haven’t really worked on my game all off-season”.

[DY_nasty]

I know it's only preseason and it's after a long covid offseason but PJ's looked like a real mess

PJ's shooting % through the four preseason games - 29/14/50

Miles for comparison - 61/36/100

LaMelo's also outrebounding PJ in less minutes

To me that says “I haven’t really worked on my game all off-season”.

you can't rebound if you aren't in the paint ijs

[fatlever]

Read on Twitter

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JB not messing around

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[DY_nasty]

Read on Twitter

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JB not messing around

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its gotta be bad if JB is calling him out publicly

[MasterIchiro]

Read on Twitter

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JB not messing around

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Sounds like JB already informed Miles he's the starter at the 4. Totally unexpected! Seems both players had polar opposite off-seasons. Miles is in the best shape of his life and adapted to the pace and space system, becoming more of a playmaker and PJ just seems totally out of shape and out of place.

[vorbis]

I sure hope PJ didn't bulk up at the direction of player development, only to get thrown under the bus by his head coach when the not-so-subtle effects of bulking up hampered his ability to keep up with a faster pace coming out of a long lockdown.

[Bassman]

Read on Twitter

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JB not messing around

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Sounds like JB already informed Miles he's the starter at the 4. Totally unexpected! Seems both players had polar opposite off-seasons. Miles is in the best shape of his life and adapted to the pace and space system, becoming more of a playmaker and PJ just seems totally out of shape and out of place.

Miles starting sounds like a good plan. Reward strong performance. PJ came in out of shape, maybe rusty. Disappointing for a guy who should know that great players demonstrate a strong bump up in their second season. Why? Experience gained, understanding what it takes to succeed at this level, translates into hard work and development in the off season. If it doesn’t that’s a warning flag. Let’s see what this all looks like with young Mr. Washington.

[MasterIchiro]

I sure hope PJ didn't bulk up at the direction of player development, only to get thrown under the bus by his head coach when the not-so-subtle effects of bulking up hampered his ability to keep up with a faster pace coming out of a long lockdown.

He bulked up at the direction of player development but it looks like that's the only thing he did. He did little to condition himself for the faster pace. And he didn't work on handling, play-making or shooting it seems. He's had a rough time shooting threes and finishing around the rim. He missed more than a few bunnies during preseason. Miles has moved the ball better, pushed pace, ran the floor better and finished at the rim with poise and authority.

[MasterIchiro]

Read on Twitter

?s=19

JB not messing around

Sent from my SM-G973U using RealGM mobile app

Sounds like JB already informed Miles he's the starter at the 4. Totally unexpected! Seems both players had polar opposite off-seasons. Miles is in the best shape of his life and adapted to the pace and space system, becoming more of a playmaker and PJ just seems totally out of shape and out of place.

Miles starting sounds like a good plan. Reward strong performance. PJ came in out of shape, maybe rusty. Disappointing for a guy who should know that great players demonstrate a strong bump up in their second season. Why? Experience gained, understanding what it takes to succeed at this level, translates into hard work and development in the off season. If it doesn’t that’s a warning flag. Let’s see what this all looks like with young Mr. Washington.

This is the second year straight Miles has improved. He obviously went to work all off-season. He also has two children while PJ is dating a social media celeb. I've always felt Miles is one of the most competitive players on the team. I love that he hates losing. One game last year we were getting smoked by the Celtics and Smart was trash talking. Miles threw him to the floor like a wet rag, then just tilted his head and stared him down as soon as Smart had any instinct to retaliate.

[Braggins]

I like Miles better coming off the bench tbh, but taking PJ down a peg after coming in out of shape and performing terrible makes sense.

Is there any official word coming from the team that Miles is starting or is this just an assumption? Also, do we actually know if PJ bulked up because the team wanted to or if he just didn't work out enough in the offseason and is overweight?

[Liver_Pooty]

I like Miles better coming off the bench tbh, but taking PJ down a peg after coming in out of shape and performing terrible makes sense.

Is there any official word coming from the team that Miles is starting or is this just an assumption? Also, do we actually know if PJ bulked up because the team wanted to or if he just didn't work out enough in the offseason and is overweight?

Players can bulk up a little and still look in terrific shape. PJ doesn't look fat by any means, but whatever weight he did add definitely isn't muscle.

[Liver_Pooty]

Its extremely disappointing that PJ came into camp out of shape.

[Braggins]

I like Miles better coming off the bench tbh, but taking PJ down a peg after coming in out of shape and performing terrible makes sense.

Is there any official word coming from the team that Miles is starting or is this just an assumption? Also, do we actually know if PJ bulked up because the team wanted to or if he just didn't work out enough in the offseason and is overweight?

Players can bulk up a little and still look in terrific shape. PJ doesn't look fat by any means, but whatever weight he did add definitely isn't muscle.

Yeah, he just looks overweight and out of shape to me. Sometimes players add some excess weight in the bulking up process that later needs to be trimmed once they've added the strength, but thats not what it looks like to me.

[Liver_Pooty]

I like Miles better coming off the bench tbh, but taking PJ down a peg after coming in out of shape and performing terrible makes sense.

Is there any official word coming from the team that Miles is starting or is this just an assumption? Also, do we actually know if PJ bulked up because the team wanted to or if he just didn't work out enough in the offseason and is overweight?

Players can bulk up a little and still look in terrific shape. PJ doesn't look fat by any means, but whatever weight he did add definitely isn't muscle.

Yeah, he just looks overweight and out of shape to me. Sometimes players add some excess weight in the bulking up process that later needs to be trimmed once they've added the strength, but thats not what it looks like to me.

Dude went the Virus Diaw bulking method when he should have went the Giannis route.

[amcoolio]

I noticed he was huffing and puffing but not any weight issues. Hugely disappointing considering he had nothing to do the last 8 months but get in great basketball shape. At least Miles is encouraging.

[MasterIchiro]

PJ did not add lean muscle, thus he lost agility and failed to gain strength. He also missed assignments on both ends relentlessly. It's not fair to keep Miles from the first unit where Miles can play up as a stretch 4 and give a legit weapon to Hayward, Devonte' and Rozier. Miles playing strong in this new faster paced system really lengthens the starting lineup.