The hardest thing for him is that he is an inconsistent shooter from NBA 3. If was shooting in the high 30s or low 40s, it would be a completely different story. On top of that, his FG% around the rim isn’t off the charts either.
Hopefully, he can find a niche as being a JJ Barea/Vinne Johnson type guard. If he finds the right team that is willing to work with him and he is able to increase his 3pt % he could be in the league for 8-12 years.
Here is something crazy to think about. His career shooting stats aren’t that off from Ricky Rubio. Not exactly someone you want to compare in regarding to shooting. Rubio is the worst shooter in NBA history and Trey isn’t far behind. Difference is, Rubio is a better passer, better defender, and 6’4".
Trey was named rookie of the month twice in the second half of his first season. In April his rookie year he averaged 16 and 9 and really showed potential. He was pretty awful for the majority of the last two years but was relegated to an off the bench role and then phased out of the rotation completely.
In general I think you have to give your rookies a 2-3 year window to truly see what they can do and Trey got maybe 2 more like 1.5 in Utah. Hopefully the fresh start is exactly what he needs.
As a big NBA fan it was really sad this past year to see Nik being the only guy of the five getting any minutes, and those being on one of the worst teams in NBA history. Caris might be in the best situation of them all, which is absolutely crazy.
From what people say most NBA players (and surely a ton of college players) smoke weed. I mean for him to get caught twice while hardly anyone else does at all has to say something about him…
Just out of curiosity, does anyone know if owners/execs/office employees have to follow the same drug testing standards? Outside of PEDs, I’m not sure why athletes are subject to drug testing other than before they sign their first contract.
I mean I’m sure it’s less about the good vs. bad argument about weed and more about the illegality of it. Employers don’t want employees to do illegal things, whether it’s a legit law or not. My current internship does random drug tests too.
But execs and front office types are still employees of the league as well. I know most of these random tests in organizations are for hourly or low level employees. Higher ups aren’t subject to such things.
If they’re concerned about the legality, put heavy fines for criminal charges relating to illicit drugs in the player’s contracts. But don’t test for it when you do random tests. Players’ union might be fine with that trade off.
Stauskas is in real trouble making the roster. He left the team in summer league because the 76ers needed some reinforcements but didn’t play well at all. Defense was always going to be an issue for him but he’s not even shooting well. The NBA always rewards a player for being real damn good at something but if he can’t shoot it and can’t play D I am not sure what that would be.
I’d say this is great news for him. Any other roster would give him more opportunities to play. I’m sure there is a team that would put him better than 5th big on the depth chart. If he gets some run he could 2X-3X his value in his second contract.
I don’t buy that. McGary hasn’t shown much thus far in his career, hasn’t been able to stay healthy, now facing a suspension. OKC does a terrific job of drafting players Durant/Harden/Westbrook/Ibaka/Bledsoe/Jackson/Adams. Right now their bigs are Adams/Kanter/Sabonis/Ilyasova/Lauvergne.
He would most likely need to show himself in the D League in order to get another contract.
I could write on why this is logically hard to follow (ie, why does it matter that the thunder draft well?), but lets leave it at these three points which are just facts:
He’s #5/6 big on his current team and likely won’t play, and likely isn’t viewed as though he should by Donovan/Presti based on their moves this summer. If that holds to form, then his baseline is not playing much if at all this year, and going into his contract discussions with no further opportunity for improvement
He has a career 15.4 PER which puts him clearly at rotation level, and is generally hurt by the fact that there is a concentration of thunder bigs on that list or prioritized for development (plus Sabonis coming in)
On per minute numbers alone, there are teams for whom he would be an immediate upgrade as a backup and safely get 10-15m per game. (which while obvious it may require stating that - this means he has at least the chance of improving his stock vs. staying where he doesn’t).
Therefore… this on a relative basis is obviously a good thing if his baseline was not playing at all. #FreeMitch
Their drafting speaks to the fact they know what they’re doing and if they see McGary doesn’t have much of a future they’re probably right.
Your judging his PER on 500 minutes of NBA action and only 2 games started? Seems like a stretch to think he could be a 15 PER guy if he got regular minutes since he averages 5+ fouls per 36 minutes.
It would depend on what team he plays for. I have no doubt he wouldn’t be playing with as much talent around him as he did in OKC.
To your first point - do you not factor in the fact that there are so many bigs, and they are saying that they don’t think he deserves minutes relative to those players rather than saying he has no future? Maybe their drafting of Sabonis could be a bad sign (from I would agree a smart front office), but some of this has been situational, and Mitch’s personal/off-court decisions.
To the second - that is exactly what PER is (and number of starts is completely irrelevant). 500m PER estimates are exactly that, but given that he is playing for what, like 1-2M/year and contracts for limited sample size rotation guys are up to 15M/year (Tyler Johnson/Crabbe), don’t you think this is exactly what a competing GM would want — small sample size performance at good value and see how he does with more time?
To your third point, can’t tell where you’re going, but talent on the floor with him would be the about same on a bad team given he was playing 3rd string minutes, but less talent overall on the team is probably a good thing which will get him more time.