The only thing I'll complain about before seeing him play is his FT shooting. Can't handle anymore of this crossing my fingers for one out of two.
This isn't rocket science (no pun intended). If this kid was a couple of inches taller, he wouldn't have fallen to the second round.
Yes Harrell's standing reach is only 1.5" less than Capela's. I really think when you take into account Harrell's foot speed, high-motor, body weight and reach he could be a very solid off the bench player. Now if he keeps improving his shot he could be a starter one day. Morey said on 790 this am they are looking to be athletic and versatile. Harrell fits the mold to switch on pick and rolls, run, run and run. He sounds like a guy that is really going to put the work in, he is hungry to prove those that passed on him wrong. He was reported saying during the draft "that GM is going to get fired". I hope it works out for us.
His height isn't the issue it's his shooting. The dude is really as big as everyone else in the PF draft, only his neck is shorter. Crazy long arms and nice weight.
He increased his FT shooting in college from 49% as a freshman to 60% in 3 years. That's growth, Yank, so with some luck, he'll improve to average with the Rocks, which is better than average on this team. ;-)-
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Some <a href="https://twitter.com/dekker">@dekker</a> highlights (<a href="https://t.co/7Qf55AqLh2">https://t.co/7Qf55AqLh2</a>) & <a href="https://twitter.com/MONSTATREZZ">@MONSTATREZZ</a> highlights (<a href="https://t.co/wGo1MAa0y0">https://t.co/wGo1MAa0y0</a>) 2keep us going until summer league</p>— Daryl Morey (@dmorey) <a href="https://twitter.com/dmorey/status/614448613289103361">June 26, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Looks like Im going to have to school yall once again since obviously you dont follow Louisville bball and Harrell. We dont need him for his shooting, we need him for his energy, rebounding and toughness off the bench. People on here was mad that we let Adrien go last season. He can be a better version of Adrien. He is improving as a shooter especially in the mid range game, but his jumper still needs work. If he was good shooter he probably would have been a lottery pick. He was one of the best offensive rebounders in CBB last season.
I know this is HIGHLY unlikely to happen. But if somehow some way we keep McDaniels and NJ. This lineup off the bench could be dunk (b/c that's really all we can do) city: NJ KJ Dekker Harrell Capela
I saw Harrell play in person when Louisville played SMU. He is like Faried meets Draymond Green. Physically imposing, high motor, above the rim player who can guard multiple positions, somewhat shoot, and psychologically get under opposing players and fans' skins. I hated him when we played against Louisville but damn, I want a guy like that on my team. I think this is a great pick!
I just watched that entire highlight reel the Morey posted. Totally worth it. This kid is NUTS. Totally looking forward to summer league and pregame warmups, haha
Second this, I like this pick as well - low risk, big reward type of pick. LeBron, Carmelo and Durant should look out - this beast with huge wingspan would bother them all day long. Offensively, he has to improve tho. Would like if he turns to be 3&D player, he has pretty good release.
It's pretty obvious from some of the comments that many of the posters here don't watch college basketball. It's not like Harrell was an unknown guy from a small school. Louisville was a ranked team and they were on TV a ton and he was one of their studs. If you watched college basketball then you know who he is. If you don't watch college basketball, that's fine but you also shouldn't be complaining about a pick or claiming we should have picked someone else when you are unfamiliar with the players. I haven't seen a single mock draft where Harrell wasn't projected to go in the first round. He was obviously the BPA when we picked. As far as his height, so what? Height isn't what matters, it's length. Harrell has a standing reach of 9'1", that's huge. To give you an idea, here's some of the other standing reaches that have been measured at the NBA Combine the last few years: Derrick Favors 9'2" Enis Kanter 9' 1.5" Andre Drummond 9' 1.5" Montrezl Harrell 9'1" Taj Gibson 9'1" Greg Monroe 9' 0.5" Tristan Thompson 9' 0.5" Mason Plumblee 9'0" Festus Ezeli 9'0" Kenneth Farried 9'0" Anthony Davis 9'0" Jordan Hill 9'.0" Ed Davis 9'0" Kelly Olynyk 9'0 Meyers Leonard 9'0 Terrence Jones 8'11" Cody Zeller 8'10" Thomas Robinson 8'10" Jared Sullinger 8'9.5" Julius Randel 8'9.5" Blake Griffin 8'9" Draymond Green 8'9" So if Harrell is undersized, then is Anthony Davis also undersized since his reach is an inch less? Not only is Harrell long, he's also very strong (253 lb) , extremely explosive , he's a great offensive rebounder and he plays incredibly hard. There's no guarentees but he could turn out to be a major contributer in the not too distant future.
