Scottie isn't going to be a #1 option superstar in this league

[tsherkin]

To add, Scottie hasn't shown that he can be a dynamic scorer with high efficiency. He's historically been a guy who has a high percentage of his scoring assisted. There are advantages to having a player like Scottie, dynamic overall game and doesn't need to dominate the ball to have an impact.

He has lots to offer. But high-efficiency, high-volume scoring isn't in his wheelhouse, I think.

Again and again we come back to the question: what does he lean on to score?

He isn't an elite shooter, and never will be. He isn't an elite dribble creator. He isn't an elite athlete. He isn't an elite off-ball guy in and around the post. He's got a decent post game, but nothing to write home about. There's nothing there which really screams "I can leverage this to become a mid-20s scorer on +3% rTS on better." We're still waiting on league-average efficiency in his fourth season.

Now that said, no, historically he has not had a high percentage of his scoring assisted. He's a career 45.6% assisted rate on his 2pt shots and 87.5% for 3s, both of which are low, the 2pt shots especially.

So there's room to wonder what he might look like with more passing support in a lower-usage role.

[timdunkit]

To add, Scottie hasn't shown that he can be a dynamic scorer with high efficiency. He's historically been a guy who has a high percentage of his scoring assisted. There are advantages to having a player like Scottie, dynamic overall game and doesn't need to dominate the ball to have an impact.

He has lots to offer. But high-efficiency, high-volume scoring isn't in his wheelhouse, I think.

Again and again we come back to the question: what does he lean on to score?

He isn't an elite shooter, and never will be. He isn't an elite dribble creator. He isn't an elite athlete. He isn't an elite off-ball guy in and around the post. He's got a decent post game, but nothing to write home about. There's nothing there which really screams "I can leverage this to become a mid-20s scorer on +3% rTS on better." We're still waiting on league-average efficiency in his fourth season.

Now that said, no, historically he has not had a high percentage of his scoring assisted. He's a career 45.6% assisted rate on his 2pt shots and 87.5% for 3s, both of which are low, the 2pt shots especially.

So there's room to wonder what he might look like with more passing support in a lower-usage role.

My bad for thinking 45.6% was high we are on the same page though.

[tsherkin]

My bad for thinking 45.6% was high we are on the same page though.

Yeah, it's actually quite low. It isn't in the bottom tier with the crazy iso creators but it's very low even still. Klay, for example, is assisted on 69.6% of his 2s and 92.7% of his 3s. KAT, 59.9% on 2s, and also 92.7% on 3s. Etc, etc.

But yeah. Scottie has a ton to offer us, we just need to lift some burden from him. He can't be the focus. He isn't tooled to handle that.

[Raps in 4]

Scottie running the offence for RJ, Dick, IQ, maybe even JaKobe and whoever the hell we draft this year is going to be a very good team in the near future, maybe even a contender.

[TakeYourHeart]

Scottie running the offence for RJ, Dick, IQ, maybe even JaKobe and whoever the hell we draft this year is going to be a very good team in the near future, maybe even a contender.

We need to be open to the idea that Scottie's impact won't be measured in PPG when he's surrounded by all these natural scorers.

[Phezmo123]

Scottie running the offence for RJ, Dick, IQ, maybe even JaKobe and whoever the hell we draft this year is going to be a very good team in the near future, maybe even a contender.

We need to be open to the idea that Scottie's impact won't be measured in PPG when he's surrounded by all these natural scorers.

so is he jokic

[AbC?]

Scottie running the offence for RJ, Dick, IQ, maybe even JaKobe and whoever the hell we draft this year is going to be a very good team in the near future, maybe even a contender.

We need to be open to the idea that Scottie's impact won't be measured in PPG when he's surrounded by all these natural scorers.

so is he jokic

Jokic is in the argument for best offensive player of all time and is the most efficient volume scorer in the league. No, he’s not Jokic.

[Phezmo123]

We need to be open to the idea that Scottie's impact won't be measured in PPG when he's surrounded by all these natural scorers.

so is he jokic

Jokic is in the argument for best offensive player of all time and is the most efficient volume scorer in the league. No, he’s not Jokic.

then scottie may not be #1 and would be a #2

we don't have a definitive #1 if it isnt scottie, so we might as well tank this year

[Huskies1947]

Yes I can see him being a more of a shifty gaurd who can get to the basket while playing point. The NBA game has changed so much. It's gotten so far away from dunking like and physicality of the 90s and early 2000s. Steph changed the game.

[XTC]

Scottie doesn't need to be a #1 option. We have IQ, Gradey, and RJ who are showing they can get buckets.

Let him focus on defense, playmaking, and intangibles. Kid has shown he can take over in the 4th, let the others do the cooking in quarters 1-3. It's not in the kids DNA to be an aggressive scorer, he's a pass first point forward in the mold of Scottie Pippen.

[HangTime]

Scottie doesn't need to be a #1 option. We have IQ, Gradey, and RJ who are showing they can get buckets.

Let him focus on defense, playmaking, and intangibles. Kid has shown he can take over in the 4th, let the others do the cooking in quarters 1-3. It's not in the kids DNA to be an aggressive scorer, he's a pass first point forward in the mold of Scottie Pippen.

That's what makes him a perfect first option. Being the lead decision maker, like a Magic meets Pippen.

But Pippen didn't get a long enough stretch to be the main guy.

Like Scottie could be 2nd or 3rd in scoring, and average 13 assists. while being the #1 option, which is the lead decision maker.

But if it comes down to something like needing "4th quarter Scottie" that we've seen before, he can do that to.

[XTC]

Scottie doesn't need to be a #1 option. We have IQ, Gradey, and RJ who are showing they can get buckets.

Let him focus on defense, playmaking, and intangibles. Kid has shown he can take over in the 4th, let the others do the cooking in quarters 1-3. It's not in the kids DNA to be an aggressive scorer, he's a pass first point forward in the mold of Scottie Pippen.

That's what makes him a perfect first option. Being the lead decision maker, like a Magic meets Pippen.

But Pippen didn't get a long enough stretch to be the main guy.

I agree.

I think Scottie is going to be a guy who can give you 20/8/6 with 3 stocks nightly. How many guys in the NBA can honestly do that? Last season the only players to average those numbers where Lebron, Giannis, Sabonis, Jokic, and Scottie.

Scottie doesn't need to become a Giannis for this team to become a contender.

[RoteSchroder]

Scottie doesn't need to be a #1 option. We have IQ, Gradey, and RJ who are showing they can get buckets.

Let him focus on defense, playmaking, and intangibles. Kid has shown he can take over in the 4th, let the others do the cooking in quarters 1-3. It's not in the kids DNA to be an aggressive scorer, he's a pass first point forward in the mold of Scottie Pippen.

That's what makes him a perfect first option. Being the lead decision maker, like a Magic meets Pippen.

But Pippen didn't get a long enough stretch to be the main guy.

Like Scottie could be 2nd in scoring, and average 13 assists. while being lead decision maker.

Compared to top NBA playmakers (Magic, LBJ, Nash, Jokic, etc.) and high end PG’s who can run the offense, his playmaking talent is like third tier. His IQ/court vision, handles and ability to generate gravity or open looks for others still needs improvement.

Getting a lot of assists as an outcome of having the ball a lot in his hands isn’t indicative of a great lead decision maker.

A part from that, any 1-4 starter who can’t shoot is a liability. Ppl are complaining about Poeltl not being able to shoot.

[Los_29]

If we are fortunate enough to get a 1st option in this upcoming draft, Scottie might not even be our 2nd option. I’m getting excited about what I’ve seen from Gradey this year. The guy can score in a variety of ways. Just 20-21 years old.

[tsherkin]

Scottie doesn't need to be a #1 option. We have IQ, Gradey, and RJ who are showing they can get buckets.

Let him focus on defense, playmaking, and intangibles. Kid has shown he can take over in the 4th, let the others do the cooking in quarters 1-3. It's not in the kids DNA to be an aggressive scorer, he's a pass first point forward in the mold of Scottie Pippen.

That's what makes him a perfect first option. Being the lead decision maker, like a Magic meets Pippen.

But Pippen didn't get a long enough stretch to be the main guy.

I agree.

I think Scottie is going to be a guy who can give you 20/8/6 with 3 stocks nightly. How many guys in the NBA can honestly do that? Last season the only players to average those numbers where Lebron, Giannis, Sabonis, Jokic, and Scottie.

Scottie doesn't need to become a Giannis for this team to become a contender.

I think the question becomes more "should he give you 20 ppg?"

Because there's no reason to force volume through a guy who will mostly play below league-average efficiency. And if we can get him to score like 17 ppg at a more efficient rate, then his value goes up. More efficient scoring on slightly lower volume will really couple to his other contributions much more so than asking him to float volume he cannot truly manage well.

[CPT]

I think Scottie is going to be a guy who can give you 20/8/6 with 3 stocks nightly. How many guys in the NBA can honestly do that? Last season the only players to average those numbers where Lebron, Giannis, Sabonis, Jokic, and Scottie.

Scottie doesn't need to become a Giannis for this team to become a contender.

Doesn’t he? Maybe he doesn’t need to average 30, but he needs to have a comparable impact.

If he can’t, we need a player who can.

[Shakril]

Scottie doesn't need to be a #1 option. We have IQ, Gradey, and RJ who are showing they can get buckets.

Let him focus on defense, playmaking, and intangibles. Kid has shown he can take over in the 4th, let the others do the cooking in quarters 1-3. It's not in the kids DNA to be an aggressive scorer, he's a pass first point forward in the mold of Scottie Pippen.

That's what makes him a perfect first option. Being the lead decision maker, like a Magic meets Pippen.

But Pippen didn't get a long enough stretch to be the main guy.

Like Scottie could be 2nd or 3rd in scoring, and average 13 assists. while being the #1 option, which is the lead decision maker.

But if it comes down to something like needing "4th quarter Scottie" that we've seen before, he can do that to.

Only that scottie is a very bad decision maker. Yes sometimes he has good streches with good passes, but overall he makes bad decisions as a playmaker. He is better playing off the ball, and only get back if he is about to score or in the flow of the offense, but not initiating plays.

Just to underscore my point:

He has 6 AST to 4 TO per game, which isnt great. And pretty much all of thos TOs where due to bad decision making.

[tsherkin]

I think Scottie is going to be a guy who can give you 20/8/6 with 3 stocks nightly. How many guys in the NBA can honestly do that? Last season the only players to average those numbers where Lebron, Giannis, Sabonis, Jokic, and Scottie.

Scottie doesn't need to become a Giannis for this team to become a contender.

Doesn’t he? Maybe he doesn’t need to average 30, but he needs to have a comparable impact.

If he can’t, we need a player who can.

30 ppg is a somewhat arbitrary marker. What we need is a primary scorer who can toss down mid-20s on good efficiency, and elevate as required. We need several other big pieces as well, but if we want to feature a player, he can't be a mediocre to poor scorer. That just won't work. As a complementary player with others in place, sure, but if we're thinking "franchise player," we don't think "below league-average scorer who can be held in check somewhat easily." Which is Scottie right now. Even this year, he had 3 pretty bad games and one good one from a scoring POV. I mean, he'd just come back from the hand and all that stuff, la la la, but year 4, he needed to be better. And nothing about the basic profile of his game has really changed from the standpoint of scoring skillset or tools.

We'll see what the rest of this season brings, but around the ASB, if nothing has changed, it's going to be about time to start reconfiguring hopes and expectations for Scottie. We've been making excuses the entire time, but he isn't looking like scoring well is going to be his thing.

[Psubs]

Can have 4 players averaging over 20ppg really soon with IQ, Dick, Barrett and Barnes. Barnes brings rebounds, blocks, steals and more big man defense.

Shead, Jakobe, Agbaji, Mogbo, Olynyk looks like a it would be a solid bench with a mix of offense and defense. Gotta wait for the team to be healthy and they would be just as good as any team not the Celtics.

Also the consolidation of expirings in Davion, Bruce Brown, Chris Boucher could bring back a nice veteran player.

[johanliebert]

Jokic has guard skills but he can't run the position. Scottie can start at the 1 he has the IQ and can advance the ball-jokic and draymond are just lazy comps. He's a 6'8 pg who can defend multiple positions thats a hell of a player.