I like Aaron Craft a lot. Loved him in college, but like some other guys have said, it's all speculation until he gets any NBA minutes. And the reason he hasn't is because people that are paid to make those decisions don't think he's good enough. He could be a decent role player (A Delly type), and if we lose Bev, I'd pick him up for the end of the bench and see if his shot develops at all. In his current state though, I wouldn't count on him to play any significant minutes, but again, with work and coaching, he could earn some minutes. He is a super high IQ guy who ran everything at Ohio State, but he needs to be able to shoot at this level to make up for a lack of handles and finishing at the rim. Quickest hands on defense I remember seeing in college in a long time, though, so I hope he gets a shot somewhere.
The reason why I pick "scrubs" like Aaron Craft and Seth Curry is because they have an elite skilll that translates to the NBA. Sure they both have holes in their game. If they didn't have holes they'd already be in the association making millions. The scouting report on Seth reads like Korver's scouting report. Too slow. Can't defend. And Korver is slow and can't defend very well. But his elite skill makes up for his deficiencies and then some and makes him a positive force on the floor. Seth Curry is in much the same shape. In a league full of high-flying playmaking scoring point guards teams have been reluctant to sign him and run him out there and see him get exposed defensively. And most teams run their offensive action through the point. But Seth would fit here offensively very well, essentially playing the off guard to Harden's playmaking offensively. Why am I so high on him? Because I seen what happened to this offense the few moments that either Daniels or Canaan was in the lineup with Harden. No, we weren't good defensively because the combination of Canaan/Harden or Harden/Daniels left a lot to be desired defensively. But we were awesome offensively as Harden had the floor opened up to him. Guys like Canaan, Daniels, and Seth Curry are too good of shooters for teams to leave open even for an instant. And for as good of shooters as Daniels and Canaan are....Seth Curry is even a better shooter. Curry will knock down 40% if given a sliver of daylight for an instant of time. He has a phenomenal NBA skill. A PLAYER WITH ONE ELITE SKILL AND OBVIOUS DEFICIENCIES IS MORE VALUABLE TO TEAM SUCCESS THAN A PLAYER WITH AVERAGE NBA SKILLS ACROSS THE BOARD. The above statement is a principle of basketball. The reasoning is simple. You can cover most players deficiencies in the context of the team so that's it's not an extreme negative. Just as long as you don't have too many players together with the same deficiency. While you can then take advantage of that players elite skill by having him on the court. You take an elite rebounder that can't shoot or dribble but he can dominate the glass and he's more of an asset to a team than a guy that can shoot it average and can dribble it average and can rebound it average. This is why Reggie Evans keeps making a nice living in the Association. He can rebound like nobody else. You need boards you can sign Evans for close to the minimum and in 10 minutes a night he can outproduce (in rebounds) 80% of the players in the NBA playing 30 minutes or more. It don't matter that he has not a single offensive skill. That kind of rebounding leads to run-outs. He can just stand at the defensive end and board and he'll help his team. Same principle applies to elite shooters like Korver/Morrow/Novak, etc. Same principle applies to elite defenders like Tony Allen. Aaron Craft is an ELITE DEFENDER. (And a very efficient playmaker but we'll ignore that for the time being since nobody thinks the kid can play any offense. Stupid.) He just won defensive player of the year in the dleague. That IS saying something. In a league chock full of players with OFFENSIVE NBA SKILLSETS Craft was the best defender down there. He wasn't only good. He flat out dominated the defensive end of the court. There is no more important position for defense than the point guard position in the NBA. With the plethora of great playmaking/scoring point guards in the league who are responsible for sizable chunks of their team's offensive production, there is no greater defensive impact on them than having defense at the point to water down the efficiency of their point guard play. This was on full display for us last night. The truth about the Warriors is if you shut down Steph and you make Klay and everybody else have to work defensively by taking the air out of the ball, slowing the pace and grinding it out against them...then you have a much greater chance of success against them. The reason why it's important to find and sign guys like the above is because it allows you greater roster and salary cap flexibility. Finding minimum salary guys that can play and have an elite skill is very valuable in the context of building a championship team. Look no further than Delly for an example. But really you shouldn't have to look that far. Thank about Morey finding Bev. And really Morey drafting (and signing) Parsons to the deal he signed him for. Think about guys like Draymond Green (elite defender). It's important to find those guys and get a couple of them on our team. That's why you have to pay attention to what's going on in the d-league, what's going on in Europe (who's a free agent and outperforming) and what's going on in college outside of the first round. Because that's where you find the gems who play on minimum salary non-guaranteed contracts that don't cost you an asset to acquire (in the case of free agents) or at the very least might not cost more than a second round pick which most teams just throw away by drafting names instead of looking for real hidden gems. So Aaron Craft and Seth Curry are on my players list. And Aaron Craft is the preferred get over even Seth Curry because Craft's skill set is even more rare and more important than Curry's is. However Seth Curry is so good at what he does that he would be a difference maker on almost any NBA team. There are other great shooters out there that will likely be available for nothing more than signing a minimum salary contract. Corey Hawkins (son of Hersey Hawkins) comes to mind. He likely won't be drafted. But he's got a big time gun. Quinn Cook is another player that will probably go undrafted that is another great shooter. So, there is a multiplicity of guys that can shoot the ball at a phenomenal rate available. But few of them will be able to gun it as well as Seth Curry. However defensively at the point.....it is very hard to find players out there available that could impact the game as much as Aaron Craft could defensively at the point. Aaron Craft is an NBA player waiting to happen and when he finally makes it in this league teams are going to be kicking themselves that they didn't sign him.
I suggested Aaron Craft in lieu of all these posters wanting to get Matt Dellavedova. Craft is the better defender and playmaker.
LOL .... back -to back - to back posts! Thanks for the laugh guys! Clutchfans issssss fantastic! ....... ....... .......
Agreed. Also a players game does not magically stop developing when drafted. Some players continue to improve. Korver is a half foot taller than Curry, and is stronger. Through a very strong work ethic, Korver is no longer close to the same defensive liability he used to be. Yes, Curry would fit perfectly next to Harden for 10-15 minutes a night, improving the spacing on the floor hitting 3's at 40%. In general this is true, but there are a number of players that had a singular elite skill no longer in the league or outside of the rotation. The key is to have that elite skill and work on minimizing those secondary weaknesses. Craft is an elite defender, he is not a very good offensive player IMO. No, the most important position for defense is swing guards capable of covering 1's and 2's defensively. Quinn Cook is just a very well rounded player.
The definition a troll is someone who makes such a high volume of insufferable posts that it spoils the whole thing for all the other users. I would say that a 12 paragraph, 1,115 word post about Seth Curry and Aaron Craft qualifies.
Zactly I could've used Bev to illustrate the point. But I wanted to find a shooter. Korver was the obvious example. They play different positions. And height has nothing to do with Korver's success. There are a hundred thousand 6'7" guys that play basketball that can't play in the NBA. It's the elite skill that makes the difference. The problem is would Coach play him? Doubtful. And that's the sad part. Agreed. Korver (and his coaches and the system they play in) has minimized his deficiencies. That is 2 things. That is Korver being a professional and continuing to work on his game. And that is good coaching that designs a defensive system to cover for his deficiencies as much as possible. Totally understand why you would feel this way. I felt this way until I watched extensive video of him playing. No question he lacks as a shooter. No question he's not a big time scorer. But....he is a very, very underrated playmaker. He makes a lot of crisp passes, right on the button, after creating the look with his drive. He simply finds guys. Not fancy. But he finds them. And he does it at a highly efficient rate. His A/TO ratio is 3.56 in d-league and that's an improvement over OSU where he hovered around 2. And the last important thing he does offensively is he stays out of the way. He's not going to hold the ball. He's going to catch it and make a decision and go. He either swings it quickly. Or he drives it. Or occasionally in the right situation he'll flip up a shot. But he doesn't drag on an offense if there are scorers on the floor because he minimizes his time with the basketball, doing what he knows he can do efficiently. Just like the nose tackle in football, the most disruptive defensive player on an NBA defense is a guy at the top, at the point of attack, that can harass the point of attack. A swing guard capable of defending the 1 at a high level would qualify here. But a swing guard is a bigger, longer player. To find a longer, more athletic player that can do what Craft does defensively is even more difficult than finding Aaron Craft. Those guys usually get drafted and are already playing in the NBA. They're getting paid and it costs assets to get them on the roster. Yes he is. But...he is a volume 3-point shooter that can jack it very well. He is well-rounded but he is small and will have trouble guarding his position at the next level (like Seth Curry). Hence, he may very well go undrafted. But he can flat-out ball and his positives more than outweigh his lack of size. The only thing that will keep him out of the NBA is opportunity and injury. He has NBA skill level along with great leadership and attitude. He'd be an upgrade from Pablo.
Don't forget, I think the troll has more than one username. I think one is the semi-"voice of reason" and the other is Troll Man. Kind of a Smeagol / Gollum thing. "Mussst have the point guardses." "Not listening. Not listening." Could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure.
Would be interested in another post count for this thread. Will Rep. Also.. Dwight, Harden, and KD are hanging out in Vegas. This should deserve its own thread. Like a 99 on the 100 of the "freaking awesome" scale.
Someone mentioned this but it's buried several pages back thanks to Jopat and his numerous accounts smh.
