The most interesting thing for me was Nerlens Noel's weight. 206 pounds is absolutely crazy. For comparison, Davis was 222. There's no way that guy will be able to play with Anthony Davis any time in the next several years. Davis managed to have an extremely good rookie year, but his weight was an enormous issue---he got pushed around on defense by anyone with a grown man's body, and he couldn't establish post position on anyone. He mitigated this by developing a terrific sense of how to use the baseline to basically hide and then attack when a guard had drawn someone in or when a shot went up. From waching Noel, I don't think he's as smart as Davis, nor does he have as good a sense of timing. He also lacks the other facets of Davis's game that allow him to exist on an NBA court right now on offense---the ability to hit really difficult finishes off of the pick and roll or handoffs, the jumper from the elbow, the beginnings of a faceup game. All Noel has right now is the ability to convert lobs and putbacks and an embryonic hook which he won't be able to establish position to use---more early career Tyson Chandler than Davis, except Chandler was more like Davis's weight (224) and was a legit 7 footer.
I truly believe if the Pelicans get the first pick, they need to trade out or simply take someone else. It's totally overlapping skillsets, except one guy is better than the other more or less across the board. It's the equivalent of buying a fully upgraded car with a supercharged engine, then turning around the next year and getting the basic version of the same car without all the upgrades, except this one has a cracked windshield that needs to be replaced so you won't be able to drive it for a while. I know everyone loves the idea of two shotblockers, but I really think it would limit the development of both players and even long-term isn't a great pairing offensively---in the short-term, it would be a disaster.
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Originally Posted by AD23forMVP
