Originally Posted by
Pelicanidae
The athleticism in the US College circuit is higher, sure, but does that mean the actual basketball is any better? Nope. Not at all. A lot of NBA castoffs do better in Europe or in China or whatever because the athletic standard is lower, sure, but the actual SKILLS are better in the Euroleague than in most of college. I'm not saying that if you take the best Euroleague team and play them against the best US College team, the Euroleague team will win every time. I'm saying that there is some absolute garbage tier, bottom of the basement, trash level basketball being played all around the world, and there's MORE of that in the US College system than there is in Europe. If someone performs at a high level in Europe, that is a better indication of basketball ability than performing at a high level in the lower rungs of the US College system. If you doubt that, fine, but I'm taking Luka Doncic over Aubrey Dawkins.
I'm not talking about prospects. Hayes is a better basketball player right now, today, than Cheick Diallo was in his first year, or his second year, and I think there's a real argument for him being better today.
Cheick is a better rebounder. That's about it. Hayes is taller, more athletic, has better feet, better hands, rolls more consistently, reads defenses better, has shown just as many indications of range, passes better, etc etc. Cheick is a better rebounder, and that is literally about it. Cheick's always had mediocre hands at best, slow feet, can't really switch on defense, has regularly looked beyond baffled on defense regardless of scheme or circumstance, and until the very end of last year, showed tragic decision making abilities. Now that did improve towards the very, very, very end of his tenure here, but he was already getting those minutes when it started to happen.
If you're David Griffin and you have 10 minutes to give out, who do you give them to: the 24 year old (which Wood will be by game one of next season) who isn't guaranteed and therefore will cost you money to keep, and who is very probably not a part of your long term plans because you have no guarantee they'll stay after this year is up, or the 19 year old who's signed up for 4 years of cost control, is already factored into the salary spent this summer, and whose ceiling is much, much higher?
If your answer is the 24 year old, you're on a completely different page than I am.