DCasey91 wrote:
I wouldn’t be too concerned on the strength/defense part you can hide him pretty easily off the ball. Youngsters gain strength/weight naturally over time. He’s a bit more manipulative than Sato. His handle can get lackadaisical but that’s just a focus thing/young. Stuffs the stat sheet and gets others involved a lot. Playing in a professional setting as the primary ballhandler from day dot bodes really well, it just up scales their improvement/exp so much. When you watch him 99% of the time he knows exactly what he’s doing. It’s much more then others ranked around him, it’s really impressive/advanced for his age.
Is your pick just outside/borderline ten? If Giddey is there his upside has real value imo.
The facilitating/Rebounding/Playmaking/creation for others will transfer pretty seamlessly.
If his shot comes along (its fine needs reps/legs under him which as you said is a strength thing, half the time you don’t notice anything just a regular good looking shot).
More Euro style nowadays
Bolmaro (Giddy is better age for age) was pick 23, Top 5 is solidified, anywhere from 9-15 is a great choice imo.
Yeah in the NBA is it not so easy to hide a player anymore. You can hide a wing if you have truly solid backline help. But there are too many power wings and playmaking forwards that you really can't start a defensive liability. Or more than one who can't shoot.
Here for instance we hide one of the best 3 pt shooters in the league in Bertans because he has athletic and defensive shortcomings. He doesn't have the strength or lateral speed to stay in front of wing players, so all teams need to do is screen and set picks until they force a switch with him on the perimeter.
If in the NBL you already have to hide Giddey off the ball, if his heads-up offensive play does not quite translate to defensive positional awareness enough to make up for his slight frame and lack of laterality, AND he lacks a ranged shot, well, yeah, for a while anyway he will be starved of the live-ball minutes that he needs for his game to develop. But there is no doubt he has rare vision. The rest is dependent on his work ethic and character. Does he fight hard when faced with adversity, is he a gym rat, does he have a competitive rage to improve and impose his will, will he develop on his own on the offseason, is he likely to work harder when knocked back or does he sulk. Can he hit the weight room and add functional strength.
In the NBA continual adjustments and improvements, in game and in the offseason, are where you find stardom, and where Giddey can develop into more than a, hmm, say Shaun Livingston? I'm trying to think of a tall slim playmaker, without reliable range or a true position on defense.
At his best a healthy Shaun Livingston was a nice player. Found a way to stick in the league despite no outside shot. Nice passing, smart, killer handle and ball skills, enough ups to dunk it when not in traffic. Still he bounced around due to slight frame (injury risk) and no outside shot. His determination to overcome a devastating injury, his desire and will to compete were what kept him in the league despite setbacks. If Giddey has that level of focus and hunger and desire, then yeah he can become a nice player. His shortfalls are fixable. He needs strength and a jumper to be a good fit at SF on any team. Or he needs defensive improvement, to work on his stance, laterality and core strength, so that he is not a liability on switches. If he can't guard guards then he is not a playmaking lead guard, he is a bench playing anomaly. It does seem to me that he has the ability to improve here, he will just need to put in the work. Best thing about young players though is that they do improve. And he has a jumpstart on most players with his vision and understanding of timing. Usually that translates to defense eventually.
