Better Fit: Anthony Bennett or Shabazz Muhammad?

[HornetGuru]

Got a feeling both these guys will be there in the 5-8 range where we will be picking and a couple things come to mind.

1. Monty and Dell have both expressed they loved versatile players that can play more than one position, for example gordon, gv, davis and ryno. Both Bazz and Bennett could both be productive at 2 positions, bazz at SG and SF, Bennett at PF and SF.

Bennett - He is a phenominal player, he is nasty, so strong, very quick and throws down nasty dunks with authority, his jumpshot is very nice and he even has handles, i was watching him play about a month ago and watched him crossover a guard to get to the rack for the slam. Many experts are starting to project him as a SF but the only way I see that happening is if he goes to a purely zone defensive scheme team. Also if anyone is worried about his height, he is extremely athletic and has a 7ft wingspan, basically making him about 6"9 in reality. Now i was one of the ones absolutely against drafting Bennett because we already have Davis and Ryno but it got me to thinking of how awesome of a possible lineup it could be... you could do 3 things with this lineup:

1. With the league becoming smaller and quicker u can see true centers dying out and teams using power forwards as centers like the heat with bosh, the 76ers with Hawes,, Pistons with Monroe, Hawks with Horford, Spurs and celtics with duncan and KG. Ryno will never be a starter, he is a perfect 6th man and i believe thats what we brought him in for, 6th man, and 4th quarter minutes. So in todays NBA teams dont have SET rosters, u adapt to the team ur playing so when we do play these teams listed it would be no problem to have davis start at the 5 and bennett the 4.

2. Now lets say we sign someone like hickson to play center, so what about Bennett? You could use him against teams with less athletic SF's, people like gallanari, chandler parsons, he would have no problem sticking with them because he actually is quite quick and nimble for his size, but even if he couldnt hang its simple, u switch to a zone and tell him he only has to disrupt.

3. Let's say in fact Davis is still growing just like Monty said, he is 20, and a young 20 at that and is still growing, say in 3-4 years down the road Davis is in fact 7ft 240, and bennett hits 6"8 250, you could have davis and bennett as ur 4 and 5, which would be insane. So in next years draft say we land one of wiggins, parker or randle.

A lineup in 3-4 years of
jennings
gordon
wiggins, parker or randle
bennett
davis
would be disgustingly good.

Bazz - what u see is what u get, a pure scorer that can score in any which way possible and can create his own shot with ease, besides what people say I like his defense, love his killer instinct and his game is tailer made for the pro's. I also love that he is the best offensive rebounding guard in college hoops. I def see him being a 20-5 guy in the NBA.

If we draft Bazz and decide to trade Gordon we dont have to worry about getting less value for gordon by handicapping ourselves only trading gordon for another SG, with bazz able to play SG or SF we could trade gordon for the best possible player and have bazz play either or.

I also really like a lineup of
Jennings
Gordon
Bazz
Davis
Hickson

[nolaslim213]

There is a 0% chance of us having a top-5 pick, let alone landing 1 of Wiggins, Parker, or Randle. Moreover, there are no teams in the NBA that run "purely zone," so that's a moot point. In the NBA, your position is what you can guard. If Monty and Demps think Bennett can guard NBA 3s, then I'd take him. If not, then I'm going to have to pass. Never mind the fact that the kid is allergic to hustle and defense.

[Pantazis76]

This is ridiculous we havent even ended this season and we are now talking about the 2014 draft???

[HornetGuru]

There is a 0% chance of us having a top-5 pick, let alone landing 1 of Wiggins, Parker, or Randle. Moreover, there are no teams in the NBA that run "purely zone," so that's a moot point. In the NBA, your position is what you can guard. If Monty and Demps think Bennett can guard NBA 3s, then I'd take him. If not, then I'm going to have to pass. Never mind the fact that the kid is allergic to hustle and defense.

how would u feel about jennings, gordon, bazz, davis, hickson?

[HornetGuru]

This is ridiculous we havent even ended this season and we are now talking about the 2014 draft???

good Lord, im excited about how bright our future looks and how the thunder built there team and started with durant and it took time, if u dont wanna talk about what I put ur arent really being forced to comment.

[nolaslim213]

how would u feel about jennings, gordon, bazz, davis, hickson?

I'd love to add Hickson and Martell Webster this offseason. Hickson is a great rebounder, and Webster is a great 3-point shooter who plays solid defense. I'd rather Blesdoe than Jennings. We won't be able to afford Jennings and Hickson, so that isn't really possible as a lineup.

Bledsoe, Gordon, Bazz, Davis, and Hickson is a real nice lineup IMO.

[HornetGuru]

I'd love to add Hickson and Martell Webster this offseason. Hickson is a great rebounder, and Webster is a great 3-point shooter who plays solid defense. I'd rather Blesdoe than Jennings. We won't be able to afford Jennings and Hickson, so that isn't really possible as a lineup.

Bledsoe, Gordon, Bazz, Davis, and Hickson is a real nice lineup IMO.

id also love to get bledsoe but if we let lopez and aminu go saving 8 million we would have about 30 million in cap, more than enough to give jennings 15 mill and hickson 8, but i agree bledsoe gordon bazz davis hickson would be an awesome lineup!

[HornetGuru]

I'd love to add Hickson and Martell Webster this offseason. Hickson is a great rebounder, and Webster is a great 3-point shooter who plays solid defense. I'd rather Blesdoe than Jennings. We won't be able to afford Jennings and Hickson, so that isn't really possible as a lineup.

Bledsoe, Gordon, Bazz, Davis, and Hickson is a real nice lineup IMO.

Who are u hoping we draft btw besides burke?

[HornetGuru]

I just think bazz would be perfect next to gordon, finally giving gordon 1 on 1 match ups because no one respects aminu's outside game. bazz could have a paul pierce type of career, great scorer while being good enough at defending and rebounding. Plus he projects way better in the pro's than in college.

[nolaslim213]

I don't see any way we just cut Lopez. At $5 million/year, he is one of the best bargains in the NBA. I'm not sure what Monty and Demps plan to do with Aminu. They have invested a lot of time into him, and he is only 22. Plus, when calculating the cap space we should have, you have to figure in cap holds, roster spot holds, and draft holds, and all of that cuts into the bottom line. I think we have more like $15-17 million, with out checking the numbers.

Who do I like in the draft? I like Porter a lot. He is a less athletic, more skilled, higher basketball I.Q. version of Paul George. I'd be thrilled with him. Plus, he basically carried a horrible Georgetown team all year to the #2 seed. That's impressive.

[nolaslim213]

I just think bazz would be perfect next to gordon, finally giving gordon 1 on 1 match ups because no one respects aminu's outside game. bazz could have a paul pierce type of career, great scorer while being good enough at defending and rebounding. Plus he projects way better in the pro's than in college.

I think that's why we drafted Rivers. He is going to be a real good pairing with Gordon, especially getting to the rim and running the break.

[HornetGuru]

I think that's why we drafted Rivers. He is going to be a real good pairing with Gordon, especially getting to the rim and running the break.

I think Rivers would be a good fit next to Gordon but he has to increase his 3 ball shooting, rivers driving and kicking to Gordon for the 3 looks very nice, but on the opposite idk how confident I am with gordon driving and dishing to rivers for the shot yet but i fully expect rivers to get better at shooting. Still need to find a SF though, Porter would be great, like u said if we could get bledsoe having a team of bledsoe gordon porter davis hickson would be awesome.

[HornetGuru]

just realized while porter is a sophmore he is only 19 and is younger than burke, bazz, mclemore, bennett, oladipo, and zeller. And is only 2 months older than marcus smart. He must have started college early.

[MeSoHornets504]

just realized while porter is a sophmore he is only 19 and is younger than burke, bazz, bennett, oladipo, and zeller. And is only 2 months older than marcus smart. He must have started college early.

And yet people say Porter doesn't have a high ceiling, which I don't quite understand.

[HornetGuru]

And yet people say Porter doesn't have a high ceiling, which I don't quite understand.

ya I know, while being 18-19 and having the year he had this year, offensively, defensively, rebounding, passing and being clutch with a couple years under his belt he could be a force.

[HornetGuru]

One thing that sucks is i dont think porter makes it to us, the cavs are really looking for a 2way SF since they have plenty of offense with kyrie and waiters, someone who can defend, rebound, and his the open shot would be a perfect fit for them. I still think the draft goes like this:

Bobcats - Noel
Magic - Smart
Cavs - Porter
Suns - McLemore
Pistons - Oladipo
Hornets - Shabazz
Kings - Bennett
T'wolves - Len
Thunder - Burke or Zeller
Wizards - GR3

hopefully the cavs go with shabazz and we land porter but i dont see it happening, maybe we get lucky in the lottery and land the 3rd pick.

[HornetGuru]

Also I keep seeing tons of mocks having us reach for the greek kid giannis

[nolaslim213]

I think Rivers would be a good fit next to Gordon but he has to increase his 3 ball shooting, rivers driving and kicking to Gordon for the 3 looks very nice, but on the opposite idk how confident I am with gordon driving and dishing to rivers for the shot yet but i fully expect rivers to get better at shooting. Still need to find a SF though, Porter would be great, like u said if we could get bledsoe having a team of bledsoe gordon porter davis hickson would be awesome.

I understand your point about Rivers' shooting, and while I'd love to see him improve his form and consistency, I think his 3-point % was looking great before his injury. In the month of February (pre-injury), he was shooting the 3 at 46%. That's great.

just realized while porter is a sophmore he is only 19 and is younger than burke, bazz, mclemore, bennett, oladipo, and zeller. And is only 2 months older than marcus smart. He must have started college early.

Yeah, that's one of the big reasons I like him. He is this skilled, and he is only 19.

And yet people say Porter doesn't have a high ceiling, which I don't quite understand.

I don't get it either. Probably because he isn't an elite athlete, although he is still a very good one. I don't get it.

[HornetGuru]

porter also averaged more points, rebounds, assists and blocks than mclemore while shooting the same 3pt% at 42%

[HornetGuru]

I understand your point about Rivers' shooting, and while I'd love to see him improve his form and consistency, I think his 3-point % was looking great before his injury. In the month of February (pre-injury), he was shooting the 3 at 46%. That's great.



Yeah, that's one of the big reasons I like him. He is this skilled, and he is only 19.



I don't get it either. Probably because he isn't an elite athlete, although he is still a very good one. I don't get it.

ya i remember rivers looking very good from 3 after the break, plus he is a hard worker and young, he will be very good, and after researching more on porter, being younger than mclemore and less athletic he still out scored, rebounded, and assisted mclemore while also playing better D and shooting the same 3ball %. Im sold, hope he is there wen we pick, im starting to doubt it though.

porter averaged 16-8-3 on a bad team while shooting 50% from the field, 42% from 3 and 75% from the FT. Thats impressive.

[Snarly]

And yet people say Porter doesn't have a high ceiling, which I don't quite understand.

He doesn't have a high ceiling. I will never mistake Porter for a franchise type of talent but he's going to a real good #3 option.

Look at Kawhi Leonard and Chandler Parsons. They don't have huge ceilings but they are still very very skilled and productive.

There's nothing wrong with a prospect lacking a huge ceiling as long as they have translatable skills.

[takezor]

Watched 1 or 2 games and some highlights of shabazz and was expecting much more from him just by reading many hyped comments on here saying we would be contenders with him next year.
I like his game though, he has good shoting mechanics, body building and is left handed.
His style, shoting and moves reminded me of Harden.
From his body expression he reminded me of Cousins, which is bad thing.

[Snarly]

Watched 1 or 2 games and some highlights of shabazz and was expecting much more from him just by reading many hyped comments on here saying we would be contenders with him next year.
I like his game though, he has good shoting mechanics, body building and is left handed.
His style, shoting and moves reminded me of Harden.
From his body expression he reminded me of Cousins, which is bad thing.

Theres a huge flaw with the Harden comparison. Harden has great handles and is a multidimensional player. He can attack the basket, shoot, create, hustle, and rebound. Muhammad has displayed very little outside of scoring.

[MeSoHornets504]

porter also averaged more points, rebounds, assists and blocks than mclemore while shooting the same 3pt% at 42%

As Slim said, Athleticism goes a lot farther in this league. Cerebral players don't get the respect they deserve, guys like Josh McRoberts are actually solid players who lack supreme athleticism. They won't be posterizing anybody, but they take smart shots, allow your team to create an excellent half-court offensive tempo by having people who can make the 'extra pass', and don't cost you possesions. It's really a Javale McGee vs. Joakim Noah kind of debate I guess. Freak Athlete vs. Smart player. In my book, the smart players may not exceed expectations but they rarely drop out of the league.

[HornetGuru]

Otto Porter: 16pts-7.5reb-3ast 49% shooting 42% 3pt
Marcus Smart: 15.5pts-6reb-4ast 40% shooting 29% 3pt
Ben Mclemore: 16pts-5reb-2ast 49% shooting 42% from 3pt
Shabazz Muhammad: 18pts-5reb-1ast 44% shooting 38% 3pt
Trey Burke: 18.5pts-3reb-7ast 46% shooting 36% 3pt
Victor Oladipo: 13.5pts-6.5reb-2ast 60% shooting 44% 3pt

impressed the most by porter and oladipo.
crazy that oladipo is only 20 and is a junior and is younger than mclemore by a year who is 21 and bazz by 5 months who are both freshmen.