Nate Duncan, who I think is pretty smart with this stuff (and had the Thompson’s third and fifth on board book-ending Miller) acknowledged that if he had to place a bet on whether a Thompson or Hendricks were in the league in 10 years he’d (hesitantly) bet Hendricks, but if he had to bet on either to make an all-star team, he’d take the Thompson’s all day.
His take is that it’s way easier to find a ten year contributor than a star, and the latter is significantly more important. It’s why he was the only lunatic who had Shaedon Sharpe #2 while everyone was talking about lack of NCAA tape
So a large part of the whole thing is risk/reward calculation
Oh absolutely. The GM decided to take a big swing and that’s a thing that GM’s are sometimes going to do. Personally, I didn’t see this as the right opportunity to do that. I don’t see all-NBA upside here. I could certainly see him having a really nice career and making a few all-star teams, but Hendrix can probably do that too, has a simpler task ahead to address his main weakness (learn to attack closeouts is less daunting than learn to shoot) and is younger. So I’m just not buying the premise that this is clearly the upside pick. hope I’m wrong.
Fun (?) fact: 13 (and a failed physical away from being 14) players taken after Knight in the 2011 draft have been Pistons at one time or another. Three of them, technically, are on the current team (CoJo, Burks, and Bojan).
I’ve seen Dylan’s concern on Hendricks (maybe he’s a bit too chill) echoed elsewhere but the larger one I’ve seen is that he’s basically just a spot up catch and shoot guy on offense, no apparent current ability to attack a close out or score in the post
Like you have to guard him, but since he doesn’t move, he’s not shifting the defense like a Dick or Hawkins
Yeah. There’s a good chance he’s a 3&D wing and nothing more. But, again, he’s a year younger, the gaps in his skill set aren’t as punishing, even though he clearly has the lower ceiling, I’m just not so convinced that it’s significantly lower so as to justify the risks we’ve just taken on here.
That was me! They’re very likable, absolute basketball geeks and any person in the NBA would find them endearing, which is why I can see them easily swaying a Pistons FO that’s borderline haughty about these sort of things (nevermind Gores and the rapist ast-GM).
I think an interesting case study in this discussion is Ant Edwards and his draft selection. At the time, the narrative was that he didn’t ‘care’ about basketball when the reality is that he’s extremely aloof yet sharp and insanely competitive. What I want to know is, would Weaver and the Pistons have taken Ant Edwards first overall?
Feels like there’s a ton of people just using random small facts to paint giant narratives going on in this thread. While ignoring the big storylines at the core of the scouting report.
I think I’m convinced that Ausar was the best choice at this point, but I’m not convinced that he’s any good (just a meh draft). I just can’t get over how weak the OTE comp is relative to the production. I feel like I wouldn’t expect him to be a playable NBA player at all this year (which doesn’t mean he won’t play).
The team the Thompson twins played in the finals at OTE had 2 guys who signed two-way deals this year (Jaylen Martin and Jazian Gortman), two top 20 NBA prospects per Givony in the 2024 draft (Sarr and Almansa) and a top 60 HS prospect in the 2023 class going to Stanford (Kannan Carlyle). I think the competition on a few of the OTE teams is being somewhat undersold as they were probably going against 4 guys who will get NBA contracts over the next year. The playoff environment also was a lot more structured and there was less transition play.
Yeah, I agree with that. I think OTE ends up being a collection of teams like Montverde or something like that in the long run. I think they will ultimately end up competing against NIBC. I just think, overall, the talent level of OTE is a bit underrated aside from the Thompson twins. The playoff games were pretty high quality considering everyone was 20 or younger. But I agree with the overall point that it is basically equivalent to drafting a 20 year old who spent the past year playing elite prep school comp.
The Pistons have 2 roster spots and the biggest need is a 4 (or a 3-4) that can shoot 3s and play defense.
A lot of people are in on Cam Johnson. Is his defense that good? He always seemed slow and lumbering to me at UNC. So that’s always biased me against him on that end of the court. What say you hive mind?
I don’t think Cam is better than fine defensively. He’s big, that helps.
I also think that if you bid on him, you need accept not much else happens in FA, because whatever their offer is will essentially be on their cap for any other FA offer, so he becomes pretty all-or-nothing-y…and if the Nets match, you’re holding the bag.
If Portland trades Dame, I’d rather go after Jerami Grant. Or go for a bargain option in an energy guy like Yuta Watanabe. Maybe see if you can get a Robert Covington type in a salary dump too.
In order to get Cam, they will have to pay him more than he is worth. I’d rather save some money on a cheaper role player like Harrison Barnes. You can’t pay Cam like he’s your 1 or 2 guy because he’s not that.
I think if you’re looking for a guy who plays the position that won’t be a part of their future, but will help them function like a grown up team, Barnes is a good get (just did this for the Kings!). I’ve been and will continue banging the drum for Grant Williams, who the Celtics seem to not want anymore.
I’m not enamored with the Jerami Grant idea. First, he’s not a very good shooter, he’s a fine one, and he’ll want to play on ball - he’s made two consecutive destination choices predicated on the idea that he’ll get to play with the ball on his hands, and I don’t think any team developing 3 guys 23 or younger who all profile to have the ball some, having Grant pound the rock is a good idea.
While ignoring the big storylines at the core of the scouting report.