Jett looked pretty good last night. Hit some shots and tried to show defensive intensity had a couple nice moments. Jase is just such a good player though and almost certainly higher in pecking order there now
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Been listening to the Duncād On podās team-specific previews (they have a beat writer for every team on for about 90 minutes to discuss the team)
on fringe MICH guys so far:
The beat-writer for the Nets thinks itās possible Bufkin sticks, but the option for his $4.5 million option for NEXT year had a deadline 10 days after opening night, so he thinks they made force feed him the first few games to see if thereās anything there before making that decision. Nate thinks his cap-hold could be impactful if the Nets want to go FA hunting so is leaning towards doubting his option is picked up.
Moussa Diabate comes up as the Hornetsā most pleasant surprise last year, noting his offensive rebounding and ability to switch (obviously, being that teamās most pleasant surprise didnāt have THAT much competition), prompting Nate to joke ādoes it matter that Diabate can switch if nobody else on the roster is capable of it?ā
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Danny Wolf and Kobe Bufkin just played big minutes in the 4th quarter and OT in the Nets vs Suns pre-season game in Macau (to be fair they only started getting minutes mid-way through the 4th).
Wolf (13 mins): 11 PTS (3/5 FG, 1/1 3PT, 4/4 FT), 5 REB, 3 AST, 1 STL, 3 TOV, 5 PF
Bufkin (10 mins): 6 PTS (1/5 FG, 1/3 3PT, 3/5 FT), 1 REB, 1 STL, 4 TOV, 1 PF
Wolf, in limited minutes, has been filling up the stat sheet (good and bad) in his summer league and pre-season games. Heās been creating a lot, both for himself and others, on decent efficiency. He was the Netsā go-to guy down the stretch, and had a big bucket off a spin waved off on a bogus offensive foul with under a minute left. The Nets went right back to him on the final possession to win the game, but his floater rimmed out at the buzzer. Heās also been shooting well, though his defense and rebounding has been below average. As expected, he also had a few really nice assists plus a few mind-boggling turnovers.
Bufkin had a disappointing game. Had a nice 3-and-1, though objectively, he contributed in throwing the game away with turnovers and a missed free throw late. I think heāll face an uphill battle making the roster.
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In Macau to watch Danny lead the Nets to a comeback win. Hereās a video I took of his go-ahead three + Jordan shrug with under 2 minutes to go. Canāt stop smiling this is like the best thing ever 
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Itās replaying on NBATV right now.
The beard looks good on him.
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Thought this was going to be a dunk
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no but your post is!
Jett was actually in the rotation tonight in the first half, and Jase wasnāt. Nice endorsement for Jett whose had a good preseason. Not taking much from it in preseason plus doesnāt seem like either will be in it once Suggs comes back and Tyus goes back to the bench
With the end of the pre-season last night, and a few days out from roster cut downs (could impact some of our guys), thought Iād update where our dudes are at the moment, and a look at their standing heading into the season.
Vlad Goldin: Vlad played three of the Heatās 6 games, only getting about 8 minutes per game in those contests, scoring about 2 points and grabbing about 2 boards. Not terribly much to say here, but I do think his roster spot is interesting. Heās on a two-way, and the Heat currently have 14 guaranteed contracts (15 is the max). The two players this roster has currently (they waived Precious Achiuwa this morning) who are vaguely center-shaped are Bam Adebayo (a center, but small) and Kelāel Ware. 4 of Wareās 5 most-used lineups last year had him playing next to Bam. Without Herro, Bam and Ware are probably their two best players, and will almost certainly start together - point being, one of these guys is playing a bunch as the ā4ā. With 7 guards on the roster and 4 forwards who are definitely not centers, it really seems like that 15th spot, to start, is going to be a big guy, and Goldin seems to be the leader in the clubhouse there.
Danny Wolf: Itās really hard to make heads or tails of the Nets roster, who is going to play, how much, etc. This is barely a roster, more a collection of young guys with potentially some on-ball juice. Wolf played 13.5 mpg in the pre-season, missing one game, but that was 11th in mpg on the team. Danny was 3/3 from 3 in the pre-season, shot over 60% from the floor in general, and put up 8 points, 4 boards, and 4 assists in his limited time, which is good production. I assume he starts the season on the NBA roster (remember, he is one of 5 first round picks here), and that heāll get some tick, but this team is so weird, itās hard to really tell.
Moussa Diabate started all 5 of the Hornetsā games (I assume heās their starting center for the time being), playing 19 mpg and scoring 11 points, snatching 6 boards (3 offensive!) and snatching 1.4 steals in that limited time. Moussa has his assets - lateral agility, quick hands, voracious offensive reboundings - that lend to a productive player who can switch on defense and print extra possessions from steals and offensive boards - but heās likely pressed a bit too much as a starter. Still, this is going relatively well!
Caleb Houstan got up 5 threes a game in 18 minutes per game, made 38% of them (not bad), shot worse that that, somehow, from 2, and did little else. I think we all know the deal here. The Hawks have 2 roster spots open after guaranteed contracts (Houstanās guarantees on opening night if heās still there) and is in competition with 3 two-way guys and 2 other non-guaranteed guys for those slots. There is a guard, center, and forward in each group, with Jacob Toppin being the other forward. This can go either way, but Iād probably lean towards saying he will not be on their NBA roster to start the season (these other guys also played roughly as much as him in the pre-season). Often these decisions donāt get made on the merits, and Calebās league-minimum salary will get them within $4 million of the tax line (much closer than a two-way player will), and Iām not sure his unique stylings are worth that level of investment.
Continuing on with the fringe roster guys - Kobe Bufkin is right on the line. The Nets currently hold 16 guaranteed contracts in addition to, as of today, two two-way contracts (I assume they give their third to Grant Nelson). Bufkin played 20 total minutes (10 per game across 2 games), shot ok from three but did little else other than turn the ball over. His peril isnāt really his fault, with his star-crossed start to his career but itās hard to see him as a major priorty for a team with 5 first round picks, and his spotty pre-season load isnāt a huge point in his favor. The Nets have to cut at least 1 guaranteed contract, and its likely between him, Michigan great Jalen Wilson, and Tyrese Martin. Wilson has done much more in the NBA than either of these two, but also hasnāt been terribly good. Bufkin carries the biggest salary, but this team has $33 million to the tax line, Iām not sure they care about financial penalties. My hunch is that they keep Wilson and choose between Bufkin and Martin, as they have about 2 more weeks prior to the start of the season to decide if they want to pick up his option for next year (nearly positive they will not). If I had to guess, Iād say heāll be on their roster, but there is a strong possibility heās not.
Jett Howard played quite a bit in the pre-season (18 mpg) and shot 50% on 4 threes per game (8/16 in other words), he also had 2 boards and 2 assists per game, which is a lot for him! I donāt tihnk heāll be in their rotation, but with 14 guaranteed contracts, heās essentially guaranteed to be on the NBA roster again, the main suspense is whether they pick up his option for next year by Halloween.
Franz Wagnerā¦I donāt think I need to say anything? Heās the second best player on a team with conference championship aspirations. He had a great summer. The big question is still his three point shooting, but Iām not sure that the relatively discouraging European Championships in that regard or promising summer league shooting really changes anyoneās view there - it will just be the thing to watch.
I donāt think quoting Jordan Pooleās summer stats (he scored a bunch and shot poorly) is particularly meaningful with a player of his tenure. In terms of role - heās been starting as basically the only guard (with Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Yves Missi, and Zion) in the pre-season and will likely start the season in that role. If/when Dejounte comes back, thereās the possibility he retreats to a third guard role. Regardless, after some years in the wilderness that included one of the weirdest (in a bad way) seasons in memory that resulted in him becoming a recurring meme (in a bad way) and some serious rehabilitation last year, thereās the possibility he gets to play basketball with some stakes again - this team has talent, especially if Zion is healthy (I know, I know!) and will likely be implanted at the back-end of the Western playoff race.
Moritz Wagner is hurt, I see little reason why he wonāt be back doing Moritz Wagner things (scoring a lot, being very annoying to opponents) when heās back.
Caris Levert missed the start of the pre-season with some minory injuries, did play particularly well when he came back, but that likely doesnāt particularly matter. With the recent news that Jaden Ivey will miss a solid amout of time to start the year with knee surgery, whatever Levertās role was going to be has doubtlessly expanded. Ivey, when healthy last year, essentially spent his time playing the 2 next to Cade and then playing on ball when Cade sat - this is basically Carisā best use case, generally speaking, and what he spend his time doing in Cleveland (playing at the 1 when paired with Mitchell, playing at the 2 when paired with Garland). He can be square-pegged in as a three, but I think think this job is the best showcase for what heās effective at. Iād expect to see an easy 22-ish minutes per game coming our way.
Tim Hardaway Jr. joined the Nuggets on a league minimum deal, and will almost certainly be firmly in the rotation spacing the floor around Jokic. Again - with a guy of his tenure, not sure quoting pre-season stats matters but after spending some years with Luka, Timmy is going to play next to the other guy in todayās game (a nod of respect to the declining Lebron) that a spot up three point shooter would trip over themselves to play with, in Nikola Jokic. I donāt think itās a shock that Timmyās best seasons as a shooter came when he played with Luka and have been mostly sort of mediocre outside of that - Iād expect a return to the 38-39% range this year.
Duncan Robinson seems very likely to be the fifth starter for the Pistons, alongside Cunningham, Thompson, Duren, and Harris. Again, we know the deal here, and there is a very obvious role here, in the form of Malik Beasleyās 28 mpg last year. I think we can reasonably project what Duncan does here, but if we are discussing the Pistonsā possibility of decline a large part of that will surround what % of Malik Beasleyās historic shooting season he can deliver (Beasley (319 makes) and Anthony Edwards (320 makes) last year turned in the best three point shooting seasons ever by players not named Steph Curry). Duncanās breakout season wasnāt quite to that level, and Iām sure heāll be totally solid from beyond the arc (he always is) but there are huge shoes to fill here (that, to be fair, Beasley himself almost certainly wasnāt going to fill).
Isaiah Livers is on a 2-way with the Suns, and only could get on the floor for 1 pre-season game (he did play over 20 minutes). Thereās an open roster spot here for one of the two-way guys, none of them played particularly much in the pre-season so itās difficult to figure out who will get that nod.
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My hunch is that they keep Wilson and choose between Bufkin and Martin, as they have about 2 more weeks prior to the start of the season to decide
I love your write-ups, though Iām confused about this part. The season starts in a few days.
The guarantee dates for NEXT YEARāS options for both Bufkin and Howard is 10/31
my verbiage got jacked up
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So they bought out one of the three two-ways they had I guess?
Idk
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Well there it is!
The Brooklyn Nets are waiving guard Kobe Bufkin, sources tell ESPN. The former No. 15 pick was traded from Atlanta to Brooklyn last month for cash considerations and now becomes a free agent. The Brooklyn Nets are waiving guard Kobe Bufkin, sources tell... - ESPN http://espn.com/app
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