I hope you’re right and that going to a bad team with PT available helps DJ. I think he has an advantage of starting with a well-run good team and now perhaps being able to capitalize on playing time. As compared to someone like Stauskas who was given immediate playing time on a dysfunctional team.
Would be cool if DJ gets a shot and Levert gets traded away from the Nets to take on a bigger role. Now we just need to figure out how to get Mo and Iggy more playing time (and for them to do something useful with it).
I mean just this past year he averaged 9 and 5 in almost 19 mpg. Y’all are talking like he barely plays. He had a pretty solid season for a second year pro.
Weirdly, to me, Michigan players usually demonstrate a belief that they belong in, and can play in the NBA, with the exception being Nick Stauskas. If anybody could carve out a role in the NBA of former Beilein players, it seem Stauskas would have been high on the list, but alas, he never seemed to play with the swagger he exhibited at Michigan.
What does Duncan Robinson have that Stauskas doesn’t? Is it quicker release? Higher release? Is it the few extra inches in height? Is it a matter of landing with the right team, with the right roster? I’d love to hear Coach Beilein answer the question.
Personally I never saw it with Nik. Love him, but didn’t see an NBA player. I thought Burke would be a solid stalwart type of starter in the league and didn’t see Timmy’s career coming, so I’m no seer, to be fair.
That’s crazy. I saw him as a guy who at a minimum had a floor to have a long career as a Kyle Korver specialist type and obviously a ceiling higher than that since he could do more with the ball. Obviously his undoing was not shooting the 3 at the same clip that he did in college. Nik was a better 3 point shooter than Duncan Robinson at the college level. I’m not sure why he was just a decent, not great shooter at the NBA level (didn’t help that his confidence immediately took a hit with Boogie in Sacramento). But if you can shoot, you can have a long career. I did not expect him to wash out. Honestly, I thought he had the best chance at a long NBA career out of any of Beilein’s guys for that sole reason.
Didn’t see a total bust, mind you. Figured he’d be a fringes guy for a few contracts.
I do agree with the comment that Duncan’s success and perhaps Nik’s lack of it could be explained by the teams on which they landed. Or at least that’s got something to do with it.
Yep, team culture and the system fit perfectly for Duncan. Nik played on mostly iso ball teams… more hero ball tactics. The Heat are focused on movement without the ball and creating space. The HEAT culture is really solid …makes me very hopeful for JW and UM.
I guess now he’s had some injury issues, but I was surprised last year that some team struggling to put a roster together didn’t take a shot on him. He’s still young-ish and seems obviously worth the risk of a minimum contract.
Well, the Spanish league apparently saw enough of him, because he got his contract terminated by a mediocre club.
As others have noted, Stauskas’ shot never fell (enough) in the NBA to stick. This could obviously be who their franchises were (the Heat demand effort and hard-work, the Kings are arguably the most dysfunctional top to bottom franchise in the league) but Nik has never had a particularly good reputation in terms of effort and work ethic in the league.