So between him and Amen Thompson, they shoot a combined 25% from 3! Seriously, if we make the ultimate Hail Mary pick with Amen (see what I did there?), we need to bring in some strong shooters to counter his atrocious shooting.
I made a joke about it earlier but I wouldn’t be upset at all if they came away with Brandin and Gradey.
Brandin Podziemski and Jordan Hawkins are my top choices for #20 and whoever we pick from these two will be a better player next year than whoever we pick at #4, including Henderson. Both have "steal of the draft" written all over. Podziemski is definitely in the Steve Nash/ Jalen Williams mold of a smart, tough and multidimensional player. Hawkins just fits the Chris Brown / Donte di Vincenzo prototype. Good-shooting guard on the national NCAA champ team that is for some reason overlooked in favor of kids who have no idea of what winning basketball is all about.
I never mind us taking big swings on talent. There’s a good chance he doesn’t last until #20. We’ve done well with mid-round picks the last couple of drafts. But the only way we can rationalize adding two more rookies to this roster is if we pull off a consolidation trade. TyTy and Christopher simply don’t have a pathway to playing time. Garuba barely does. While I like the talent of those players, I don’t see star potential in any of them or a development pathway in Houston. Given KJ’s shooting and defensive deficiencies and his impending free agent status, he needs to be moved as well. Tate is all heart but he’s undersized and can’t shoot. I’d be excited to add Pod and our early lotto pick, but not if we don’t make a significant consolidation trade. There’s not gonna be playing time for anyone other than the veterans we bring in and our core 4-5 players so we badly need to make a deal. It’s math. This is on Stone!
We've already got the upside talent, now finding fit next to that talent makes sense and everyone values shooting. I wouldn't be mad at a trade down from 4 for some Dick, especially if you believe Bari can turn it around and become a sniper so both your 4 and 3 are deep threats providing space for Alpy to operate in Joker like fashion-Green the slasher who we all wish could become Murray like in the years to come. I would trade up for Cason though. I like Podz, but Cason seems the Jrue Holiday/Mike Conley contender level intangibles we need.
big fan of his. I currently have him 16th on my board. there are great shooters in this draft (miller, dick, Hawkins, sensabaugh, whitehead, Howard...) and there are great passers in this draft (scoot, amen, ausar, JHS...) and he is the only one that should be on both lists. add to that the intangibles like his rebound and stock rates, and he should legitimately be top 15ish. I would love to use #20 and maybe tate to move up to grab him if needed / clear additional cap space.
YO! We totally need to draft him so I can have fun figuring out a way to fan-use "Podzi-scheme." Also would be cool if he's good.
You get the impression that they're often not on the same page? I think just about every move we've made since Daryl left has been analytical-savvy...except our #2 overall draft pick a couple of years ago. I assumed that was Fertitta after watching a highlight reel. I don't know of anything to suggest that Witus and Stone aren't on the same wavelength—and any other applicable cliches.
Unfortunately I don’t think he lasts to #20 The guy is Nash 2.0, but bigger and stronger With Jokic winning a title, the NBA exec herd has finally realized that you can be a superstar even if you don’t look like an NBA player. Won’t be surprised if this dude goes in the top 10
His defense looks more effort based. 39” vert and good sprint/agility times says he has the physical tools
Yea as far as drafting goes, I think you're right. I feel like things outside of our drafting though(like the Oladipo mess and Harden trade) have been bad though.
