Once Atlanta unloads Murray, they can bring up Bufkin. What they’re doing with him is smart because instead of him sitting on the bench (though coming off an injury is a factor), they sent him down to the G League to develop him.
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Bufkin went 1-1 and it was a 3!
Franz dropped 38 in his return to the state of Michigan against Detroit!
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I was there! That tied his career-high. At one point, he was 15-20 from the floor.
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It’s been awhile since we took a look:
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Kobe Bufkin is mostly still scoring a bunch in the G League (obviously this is better than not, but lots of guys score there and fail to in the NBA, so we’ll see), but did appear in a game a few weeks ago, playing about 2 minutes, hitting a 3, grabbing a board, handing out an assist. Kobe’s G League line: 23.6 ppg, (44% from the floor, 35% from 3 on 7 attempts per game) 5 boards, 6 assists, 3.2 TO’s. There is some good/bad there (obviously, the shot volume (almost 20 shots a game), the play-making) some less good (not that efficient scoring, the turnovers suggest he’s over-stretched at the volume). I’m not going to pretend to know a thing about his playing situation or teammates though, so…
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Jett Howard is also in the G League, but played 6 minutes across 2 games since we checked, scoring 6 points on a made three and a bunch of FTs. Like Kobe, Jett is scoring a bunch there (20.6 ppg, but he seems to mostly be their 2nd option behind Trevilyn Queen. He’s more efficient than Kobe (46%/38%) but lacks the peripheral goodies (he obviously doesn’t rebound, 2.3 assists to 2.4 TO’s is sort of ugly).
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A comment on these two generally - we see lots of guys score with reasonable efficiency in the G League without being able to bring that to the NBA - not saying it will be the case fo these two - but an inability to get to the line (4 FTA’s per game between them) is making it hard for them to be efficient at their shot volume, since their three point shooting is only “fine” (high volume though!). If I had to choose, I’d probably lean towards being more bullish on Kobe due to the broader range of his game (rebounds, play-making) whereas Jett is still really a one-trick pony, and if “scoring ok when I take a lot of shots” is that trick, I’d refer you to Alex Caruso’s quote (a favorite of mine) about getting from the G League to the NBA:
"Not many guys can get the keys to run an NBA offense. A big reason guys get stuck in the G-League is because they don’t realize the position they’re trying out for. It’s like going to a job interview thinking you’re going to be the CFO of the company, and they’re looking for someone to clean the bathrooms.”
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Moussa Diabate remains out with a hip injury and hasn’t played at any level since just after Thanksgiving.
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So, Caleb Houstan’s time in the rotation was short lived as the Magic got players back from injury. He did get 15 and 22 minutes in two of the first three games since our last update but played 8 minutes in the 8 games since. He scored 12 points in those 54 minutes, making 4 of his 8 threes, but aside from points, the only stats he accrued are 1 rebound and 1 turnover.
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Isaiah Livers was traded, and hasn’t appeared for the Wizards (why was he STARTING for the Pistons? Sorry! Cross-thread pollination!). Needless to say, this isn’t good. He’s officially “out with a hip injury without a timetable to return” but I’m a bit skeptical since it wasn’t an issue prior to the trade?
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Franz Wagner missed the first game since we updated with that ankle injury but has played all games since - 21 ppg (51.2%/39.7%), 5.2 reb, 4.5 assists, 1.9 tos - slightly better than his season averages across the board. He started off this period a little slow/cold, but two of this last three games were 38 points on 25 shots, and 34 on 17 (both wins). The Wizards are 6-4 since he came back after really struggling for awhile, and remain firmly entrenched in the east playoff picture, so hopefully we get out first look at post-season Franz this year.
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Jordan Poole since our last update: 10 G, 11.4 ppg (34.4%/23.3%), 3.9 assists, 2 rebounds, 1.7 turnovers. The best thing I guess is the assist/to ratio has been normal for awhile, but yeah, it’s getting uglier. The team stinks, etc., etc. but it’s kind if impossible to claim that’s a circumstance holding him back rather than one he’s actively creating. Not much else to say here that I haven’t all season.
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So it looks like I jumped the gun on saying Mo Wagner was out of the rotation! I mean, he was, but it looks like they’ve opted for Mo over Goga Bitadze, and he played his normal allotment of 15-ish minutes per game for this whole stretch. 10.3 ppg (53.4%, 5 boards a game). His stats are skewed a little down by only getting 6 minutes in the first stretch here admittedly, but the radical efficiency we saw earlier this year has diminished a bit, but this is still rock solid production from a backup, and 10 point on 6.6 shots a game isn’t anything to sneeze at.
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Caris Levert continues to get his 20-25 mpg off the bench for a Cavs team that has won it’s last 8 games - 10.7 ppg (42.4%, 30.3%), 4.3 apg, 3.4 rpg, 1.3 topg, 1 steal. As always with Caris, the shooting waxes and wanes (waning here, his shot volume is also dipping some, but this is also a stretch where the Cavs actually have both star guards, rarely the case this year), but the playmaking, and reasonable efficiency doing so (4:1 basically is pretty darn good for an assist/turnover ratio) and grabbing reasonable numbers of boards and grabbing a steal still provides some value. He is, however, probably falling out of the 6th man conversation.
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Not much to say about Tim Hardaway Jr.'s few weeks that we don’t say all the time - 17 ppg (42%/44%). The two-point shooting, never his strong suit, obviously isn’t very good (sub-40%) in the stretch but he’s still knocking down three’s at a pretty high clip, and it seems destined this will be one of his best seasons in his career. The team sort of stinks and going nowhere (I mean, they aren’t bad but probably not what they were thinking when they thought “Luka and Kyrie”) but Tim is still bumping along draining shots.
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Duncan missed three games and most of a fourth with an injury during this time, and is sort of going through it anyway. 7.7 ppg (37%/28.1%). The Heat have prominently been scuffling, with a host (and growing, with Terry Rozier) of guys who can play with the ball and can create but aren’t point guards (Butler, Rozier, Herro, Jacquez, and as we saw earlier this year, Robinson), and Duncan was a major part of this earlier in the year when Herro was out, Rozier was in Charlotte, and Jacquez hadn’t been “discovered”. At this point, I’d say he’s behind those guys and more in his “shooter” role. He’s not leaving the rotation, but the workload is definitely reducing, and dealing him in the off-season would really seem to be a prominent part of any chance Miami has to land a bigger fish.
As the AS break looms, here’s how our guys’ post season chances look (Bufkin/Howard/Diabate N/A because they don’t play):
Definite in: Levert
Sitting in play-in land: Houstan, The Wagners, Duncan Robinson, Hardaway
Definitely Out: Poole, Livers
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I will never fault anyone for deciding to get drafted in the first and a multi million dollar deal…but man would it have been nice if Kobe and/or Jett decided they would rather be the primary wing for Michigan and play meaningful games on TV all the time rather than chuck shots in empty GLeague gyms…perhaps especially the son of the millionaire coach who is fighting for his career. Alas…I get it.
Duncan was having such a a good stretch until he got hurt…which I thought I heard was a concussion.
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this one could use a little more polish but when I was coaching basketball one dad would yell “leave it and believe it” when his kid shot FTs so I’m doing that
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Similarly, re-reading this I see I said Franz plays for the Wizards but Wizards perform Magic so I’m sticking with it
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When he was in college, I saw Kobe as similar to Immanuel Quickley, similar build and sort of Jack of all (guard) trades game. Clearly Rookie Quickley was better than rookie Bufkin, at similar ages, and I’m not sure Kobe is that level a shooter.
I am now sort of thinking Levert - mercurial scoring efficiency but good enough at passing, defense, rebounding to be a strong third guard (Quickley is an average starting PG). Obviously the Michigan thing is probably influencing me, but similar ages for their class, willowy builds, etc. we obviously never saw a 20 year old NBA Levert
Jett - I said it when he was here but guys with games like that leave me cold. He’s not a passer, defender, rebounder…he’s a one on one scorer, and in order for an NBA team to let you do that, especially without that other stuff, you need to be like the top percent of the top percent. Like is Jett going to be an ISO scorer like Lillard or Harden or Doncic or Wade or Carmelo? Seems unlikely? So what else does he have? The closest successful case similar is DeRozan (tough shot maker, middling defender, rose to “fine” as a playmaker later), but DeRozan has always gotten to the line a ton.
I’m just restating Caruso’s point but the G League is a burial ground of 25 point (G league) scorers. The guys who make it are Alex Caruso and PJ Tucker
Teams need 8 guys who can shoot and pass and defend at respectable levels
There are like 8 jobs total in the league for “heliocenter”
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Yeah, the G League alpha behavior is a warning sign but I am not ready to write off either. With Kobe I am surprised at the shot taking because I thought he would be groomed for some PG minutes too. I think Levert is a realistic goal for his NBA future if things go well. But I wish he was developing those guard skills at Michigan obviously.
As for Jett, you’re totally right that he isn’t going to be Dominique Wilkins or anything. But I do think a potential fall back option is for him to be JAS in a role not unlike THJ or Duncan. He has the size, shooting, and quick release to maybe morph into that. I doubt he’s ever going to change his stripes with defense and passing, but again - could have been the leading scorer for his Dad and help save his job while playing with his brother. For all his flaws, imagine giving some of Nimari and TWill minutes to a sophomore Jett who hopefully matured a little.
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https://x.com/atlhawks/status/1756500170982789572?s=46&t=OMxEAgg62bsLI0mWenDZ
Kobe getting real run
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Speak of the devil!
Franz:
36 for Franz tonight in an OT win over the Bulls. 12-22 FG, 5-12 3-PT., 7-10 FT. Plus 5 assists.
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Jett hit as many threes in the first ten seconds he got on the court tonight as our entire team did in the game against Illinois.
Remind him, Dunc! He’s not like that, he went to Berkeley
https://x.com/legendz_nba/status/1757213183830352191?s=46&t=PiAu_gjKld2ZlZp0tW1s3g
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Caleb Houstan starting at SG for the Magic was not on my emotional bingo card, yet it has happened tonight. 
Edit: Game ongoing, I’m sure @mgl will let us know how he does in the next recap
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