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Last edited by MichaelMcNamara; 06-21-2022 at 08:29 PM.
@mcnamara247
The Sharpe to Blazers smoke goes all the way back to the Blazers hiring Mike Schmitz back in May, since Schmitz was very high on Sharpe. The speculation really picked up again after his workout last week. I think it's a given at this point that he's going to be gone before the Pels pick unless someone trades up with Blazers to take Daniels in front of the Pelicans.
My impression of Griff is that he's an action junky in the poker sense. He may be a good player, but his default is going to be to look for action under all circumstances. That's the kind of person that enters that changes coaches as often as he has and trades the 4th pick in the 2019 draft. You see it fantasy football too. Some dudes send 5 trade offers a day and are constantly adding and dropping people from the waiver wire. They're action junkies. I think this makes Griff very likely to trade in this draft. Just my read on our EVP of Basketball Ops.
Murray, Sharpe, Mathurin, or Dyson
Who is gonna be the odd man out at 8th
I heard an interview today with Fran McCaffery on Sirius XM NBA Radio, the coach of Keegan Murray. I must say, regardless of what basketball talent he may have, it seems he would be a perfect fit for the family culture Griffin wants. Said Murray is the type you'd never have to worry about where they are. Others might be out at the club, but he'd be home studying film. That's just him. Seems to be an upstanding young man.
Could y’all imagine the back court defense with Herb and Dyson, would easily be able to hide Ingram on whoever is their worst offensive player at the 1-3 position letting him focus on offense.
I think Trey is gonna be a good defender too. If Zion can get back to anything close to Duke Zion, those 5 guys in 2 or 3 years could be one of the most fun fives of all time. Length, athleticism, and skill everywhere
I also agree, when I watched Trey defend I never got the feel that he was bad at it and wouldn’t improve. I think he’ll be a fine defender but just don’t ask him to guard a 1 or maybe 2 because he is 6’10” and that can be hard to guard but he’ll be able to stick with most 3s and 4s no problem at all. He was also a pretty good defender in college if you go watch the tape. Absolutely above average. He also has way under rated athleticism.
Last edited by HornetGuru; 06-21-2022 at 10:55 PM.
I still believe Zion has a lot of low-hanging fruit regarding his improvement path, which is scary to consider when you remember how impactful he already has been when he's been on the court. Being this good and having relatively realistic areas of improvement is fairly incredible; usually guys who are having top 20 impact in the NBA are pretty close to maxing out what's realistically possible.
Adding that to the realistic improvement that can be plausibly expected from Herb and Trey, and the level Ingram is already at, I agree that the core is pretty intimidating for what this team can be.
Basketball.
My hot take is that Zion can still be pretty close to elite in the weak side rim protector role. Just keep him out of actions as best as possible right now. The only issue, though, with being a weakside help defender is it tends to lead to quicker fouls. In order to be a super valuable player defensively relative to his offense, Zion really just needs to start transition runs through rebounding and stocks
I mean, I dont think its a hot take. A hot take is something happening that we havent seen. What you are describing is what Zion was and then he decided to get fat and not care. If he supposedly loves Willie and wants to do whatever he says, then that is who he should be. Looking forward to seeing if he can get back to what he was -- which to me was the most exciting prospect since Lebron, on both sides of the ball. Was a great defender and a great teammate/leader. Hasnt been either of those things so far. That changes, and the sky is the limit.
Im hoping the anchors are due to conditioning, being relatively new to nba Basketball, and shouldering a heavy offensive load. Still no above ceiling in my mind as a helpside defender due to him relying on his springs instead of having longer arms and being able to stay on the ground. On ball could improve, I’m thinking maybe a big Zach Lavine type ceiling.
Speaking of Zion, dude looks like Duke Zion physically and this pic was supposedly from last night. I just hope dude stays healthy
https://twitter.com/letsdance06/stat...FHprdiruw&s=19
CAW CAW!!!
-Founder and valuable member of the Caw Caw Boyz-
Locked in �� @jumpman23
— Zion Williamson (@Zionwilliamson) June 21, 2022
Proud to announce my 2nd signature shoe is here. This spring, I trained on campus and now it’s time to show y’all what I been up to. The #Zion2 available tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/NpIe63ltFM
I think Zion’s in good shape guys pic.twitter.com/rzmtQIPj3X
— Zion Williamson FanPage (@zionheadlines) June 21, 2022
Last edited by DroopyDawg; 06-22-2022 at 07:57 AM.
I said when he was in college that he could be all-defense. In the NBA so far, I don't think that he's been quite as bad as some people have said but he certainly has not been a good defender. So there's a pretty huge gulf there.
In his defense, NBA level D is one of the things that takes longest to learn and he's not really had the time to acclimate fully on court, and when you combine that with a lack of practices his rookie year due to COVID and then the injury, it all compiles to make his slow progress on that end slightly more justified, but at the same time you can't really just assume someone is going to bounce back to a form they last had 3+ years ago.
So it depends on him entirely. I think he could still be a very capable NBA defender, and even a very good one if all goes well, but it's far from a given. The fact that he can be as impactful as he is without really being a plus on D is telling of how far he can go if he can even just be mildly positive on that end, and I think that's achievable.
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