Other years I’d call BS but between 10 and 35 this year there was a lot of differing opinions to the point where it’s very feasible. I know you liked Bol Bol and while Bol showed well in the 9 games, the flip side is it only took him 9 games to get hurt. KZ is a gritty player with potential for growth and I think that’s the correct gamble in a draft like this.
I liked Bol because he has a rare skillset, and his upside is massive. The injury questions are legit, though, and I like Okpala. He's the type of player I wanted them to take at 13, so getting him in the 2nd takes a little of the sting of the Herro pick at 13 off (although I'm warming to it anyway). Who knows if they really had him rated 10th, but they must have really liked him because they gave up 3 future 2nds to get him, and weren't going to wait until 44.
I didn’t watch any Tyler Herro before the draft because I didn’t think he was on our radar. Here’s the deal from my unprofessional eyes...this young savage has me excited. He can catch and shoot. He can create his own shot. He can finish around the rim. He can drive and he is a sniper from 3 and from the baseline. In fact, he shoots from anywhere. He will talk **** on the court (that bumps him up in my book). I’m not seeing too much distribution in his film on YT, but **** it, he wants the ball in his hands so give it to him. He came to the draft with a bust down watch, gold chain and the loudest suit in the building. He wore Christian louboutin spiked loafers to his meeting with spo and riley. I think he’ll instantly have the most swag and cockiness on the heat team. Our players are going to love him.
Thankfully I was in the anti Bol Bol and anti KPJ crowd so I feel nothing about the Heat not going either direction. I just don’t see what other people see on them. That said, this whole business about Herro and Okpala being 9 and 10 on the Heat’s board is such crap. They were targeting Herro. They knew they were taking him. He knew they were taking him. That’s why he wore that suit. I see what Herro is trying to be but I don’t know if he gets there. He may just be too physically limited in the end. And there’s something to be said for the criticism that you took a supposedly dead eye shooter that ranked in the lower half of this draft, below 2nd round picks, in three point percentage. And it wasn’t that he took too many shots. I think 13 college players drafted took more threes than him and 9 of them beat him on percentage. He can shoot...in PRACTICE. Show me that in games because it’s different. As for KZ Okpala I like guys with his length but there’s so much missing in basketball IQ and ability to finish. The way he drives to the basket is funky, gets stopped a lot, not aggressive enough. And he doesn’t really offer you much other than being that attacking scorer type. Comes off like DJJ without the ridiculous athleticism, but with better handle. I would not be surprised if he becomes something. But it’s going to take a long while and maybe a new team. I’m actually intrigued with several of their SL invites. Particularly Chris Silva and Nick Mayo. Those two are standouts and I’m here for them.
I think college 3pt percentage is an overrated stat because it can be incredibly team depended. Ethan said something similar in his latest pod. You look at his form, and his elite FT shooting, and see why they feel good about his ability to shoot. I'm more concerned about the other aspects of his game. Is he only going to be a one position defender? Is he going to be able to create offense? Is he going to be able to score at all 3 levels, or just a spot up shooter? Those are my biggest questions with him.
Matthew Hurt, from Duke. Interesting tidbit from this college season. Vernon Carey Jr. (yep, son of former Hurricane and Dolphin Vernon Carey) was one of the top prospects in the country, and will be playing at Duke. He's a one and done candidate, and could be in the draft next year.
For me, it depends on how they get there. If they play the kids, and that's where they end up, that's fine. You can't really be mad about that. If the priority is to win as many games as possible, and they play JJ, Dion, and Goran ahead of the young guys on the way to the 13th pick, that means there's a problem.
I don’t think playing the young guys should be an excuse for being bad. They should’ve been doing that already to see what we have in those young guys. 6 years since Lebron left...get off the treadmill already, Pat. Here’s to Herro shocking the world and Bam becoming a star this year.
13 isn't really bad, it's mediocre, and that's what this team is right now. There are no easy fixes, and the East could get considerably better this season. The best thing they can do if they can't trade for a star is to develop these guys and wait out or dump the bad contracts. I'm not really sure what else anyone expects them to do.
Looks like Kawhi will sign a one and one deal with the Raptors... that gives Riley and the Heat a whole year to prep a presentation for him... right? Or maybe not..
Smart money says youll end up with Lamelo Ball. And then Godfather Pat will strangle Lavar in the ring after beating him senseless with a steel chair!
Right and being mediocre in the NBA is a bad spot to be in. I’d rather be bad. We’re in this position with bad contracts, no stars, and end of lottery draft picks. I understand the state of our team and know we have excuses, but I’m just wondering when and if Riley can turn this thing around. In hindsight we should’ve tanked for a couple years to rebuild. Dallas, Atlanta, and Memphis did this and I’d trade rosters with any of them. I know I’m preaching to the choir here, if I recall you were pretty bummed about winning those meaningless games at the end of the year.
Here’s the real test...would you trade rosters with the Knicks? That’s when you know you’re in a crappy place
Um KP was traded. But you’d have Knox, Smith Robinson, and Barrett...as well as some other players with upside and additional picks in addition to your own and 70+M in cap space this year. You’d have 6 players 23 or under (RJ, Knox, Ntilikina, Smith, Robinson, and Treir) with Trier being the only one over 21. I don’t know why Knox scares you, his numbers spiked up the last month or so. He was one of the youngest players in the league last year.
Sure, you'd rather be bad, but what are you going to do about that? You're not going to just trade your good young players for nothing, and you're not just going to start Duncan Robinson and Yante Maten to try to lose games. I agree with you that the worst thing to happen to this team in recent memory was that run they went on a couple of years ago. Not only did it push them to the end of the lottery, it convinced Riley to give out some bad contracts that have hamstrung this organization. If they hadn't done that, I'm convinced they'd be signing Jimmy Butler and Kyrie Irving (both who wanted to be in Miami before being traded elsewhere) this offseason. And maybe they'd have Jason Tatum, De'Aron Fox, Laurie Markenen, or Donovan Mitchell. But at this point, that mistake has already been made. The only thing you can do now is try your damndest to make some trades to bring in a star or dump salary, and play the kids. And if playing the kids gets you to the 13th pick, that doesn't mean it's time to clean house in the front office. Especially if they end up being right on their 2019 draft picks. If they do play the kids, however, I don't think they end up at 13. Without Wade there to bail them out, they should be worse, unless some of these guys make big jumps. And that wouldn't be a bad thing.
I'd trade rosters with the Knicks as long as it's only rosters. Barrett takes your group of kids and puts them ahead of Miami's group of kids. With their cap space, Jimmy Butler would be on the next plane to Miami, and potentially another star, or someone like Julius Randle.
Dragic is gonna start at PG. Whiteside is gonna put more effort in than he has in years to audition for his next contract. Winslow/Jrich/Bam should all be better. Spo is gonna coach every game to win. I hate to say it, but I think this will be a treadmill year. I’ll still have a hell of a time watching them. I hope Herro can earn significant minutes.
I think a lot of our mediocrity comes from trying to give D-Wade some competitive last seasons. I know he left for a short period but I feel like the team at least wanted to give him a shot to win some games and go out on a semi-high note rather than just tank with him or move on entirely.
I wouldn't take swapping Micky for Dolan even if it meant getting a roster of LeBron, Steph, Kawhi, Harden, and AD. He'd still find a way to **** that up. Riley said that about Dragic, but I'm hoping it was just lip service. I think Dragic and Whiteside will both be traded by the end of the year. Again, I'm ok if an improved Winslow/JRich/Bam team gets us to the 9 or 10 seed in the East, especially if Herro also looks good. I'll never be mad about coaching or playing to win if you're utilizing your roster with a longterm outlook. I still don't think they'll be that good if they go with youth, though. They won't be a bottom 5 team, but they should be a bottom 10 team unless big strides are made by Justise or Bam. The wildcard is if Dion comes back in shape and plays well. Hopefully they'd use that to trade him, but you never know.
I like the plan of developing the young guys, play Herro to see what we’ve got, manipulate cap space and remain competitive to show FAs that we just need them to finish the puzzle. But I think, like Dallas has done and like we should’ve done last year, that if we’re struggling towards the end of the year and winning a handful of games is the difference between a top 7 pick and the 13th, you ease off the gas a bit. Especially with the new lottery odds.
I can live with that. I’d like for him to be a part of the FO somehow. Here’s a crazy fact - Zion was 2 years old when Wade was drafted.
We may look back at that as the decision that ended Pat Riley’s career. It probably hurt his standing with the players around the league.
So Andre Igoduala said today that no one was going to NyK when asked about KD and Klay. Stated that theyll both be back with GSW. Bleacher Report put out an article saying KD and Kyrie met 2x about playing together, once while KD was rehabbing his calf and again after the Nets team doctor did his achilles surgery. Supposedly KD has moved his stuff to Ny and wants the Knicks but Kyrie may want the Nets more while being amenable to the Knicks. Kyrie has supposedly moved his stuff to northern NJ. And then Yahoo put out an article stating that if the Knicks dont sign anyone who they consider an A list FA (supposedly Kyrie, KD, and Kawhi is the list) they are going to roll over the cap space (correct move) though ill believe it when i see it as Dolan lets cap space burn a hole in his pockets. However doing so, would allow NY to get another lottery pick, maybe 2 as next years FA class is weak after AD, and do the slow rebuild theyve needed. Gonna be an interesting FA period...
I would be very shocked and disappointed if Kyrie friggin Irving has that type of influence over the best 2-3 player in the world. Kyrie is a head case and your typical entitled millennial. I'd rather sign Durant let him rehab, roll over the rest and get the lotto pick and go from there. BUT......we all know that will not happen.
Instead of rolling the cap space, the best thing to do is try for one year prove it deals for guys that don't get the contracts they want like the Pels did with Julius Randle. I know that's easier said than done, but the opportunity could be there, especially in a place like New York where they'll get exposure.
Im under the assumption Randle will get more then a 1 plus 1 deal. If it happens thats great otherwise, roll the cap space...
If the Knicks aren't getting Durant or another top guy this year, the smart move would be to use their cap space this year to help Houston get Jimmy Butler. Knicks get 2 future Rockets 1st round picks Clint Capela ($14.9 mil) Eric Gordon's expiring ($14 mil) Nene's expiring ($3.8 mil) Deyonta David's expiring ($1.6 mil) Chris Chiozza's expiring ($1.4 mil) Michael Frazier's expiring ($1.4 mil) Rockets get Knicks future 2nd round pick *frees up $37.1 mil to get Jimmy Butler in free agency* If the Knicks aren't going to use their cap space this year, you might as well get Capela and 2 first round picks to pick up some expiring contracts for one year that you plan on wasting anyway. It's the same thing Atlanta has been doing. Taking everyone's expiring contracts for 1st round picks.
Nets are now the overwhelming Fav to sign KD at -125. Warriors+200 with the lowly par for the course FML New Your Knicks are now at +500.