I agree. Draft day I actually wanted Tatum because he looked to be the better prospect. Ball was hype and I wasn’t sold on him at all. He seemed to have the same type of hype as DRuss. I hate hype because more often than not it doesn’t amount to anything. I’m happy with Ball and his upside now, hindsight being 20/20 and all. And if I had to pick, I love Kuz, but I’d take Tatum.
i dont get the pt in using kuz as a comparison, whats wrong with having multiple young players like tatum, kuz, ingram type? this is a wings league, 3-4 of the top 5 players are wings imo (kd, james, harden, leonard)
There's nothing wrong with it, but why not also have a great point guard option? Lonzo more than proved his worth of a 2nd overall pick. If he'd stayed healthy, he would have been a shoe in for the 1st Rookie team. Who is our starting point guard this year or the next 7 years if Lonzo isn't on the team? Caruso? Not to mention, the Lakers surely have had their eyes on at least one more wing option this summer as well. The Lakers' roster makeup in terms of young players isn't unlike what Boston has. Ingram, Brown. Tatum, Kuzma. Ball, Rozier. Hart, Smart. They also obviously have veterans in place which is what we'll try to accomplish this summer as well. Hayward, George. Horford, Lopez. Kyrie, LeBron hopefully.
IF Ball never fixes his shot it doesn't matter how great his passing will be, and out of the 4 remaining teams that were in the conference finals, there's NO pure passing PG, even Paul has made himself more of an offensive threat than just pure passing.
That’s a big if to rest your argument on. You’re also leaving out Lonzo’s rebounding ability, and already impressive defense. The only area he’s lacking is shooting, which is fixable, but you can’t teach his passing, BBIQ, and physical tools. Tatum is a very good player, but I still take Ball over him, we already have Ingram and Kuz, and I honestly don’t think Tatum would have done quite as well here outside of Boston’s system.
few thoughts on the derail: tatum is better than kuzma, now and going forward. how big a margin is the question. age is a proxy variable. usually, "youth" means either a) physical immaturity or b) mental immaturity/experiential deficits. in the tatum/kuzma argument, i don't think the age is that big of a deal, as tatum is as physically developed and crafty as kuzma, despite the age gap. i see similar improvement trajectories for the two, but tatum's got a higher ceiling because he's got stronger ball skills and quicker feet. ball's issue will be health, first and foremost. i don't like his frame/skinny butt. we have two skinnybutts trying to carry our franchise right now, and that's uncomfortable. lebron's drinkshelf butt might cancel that out if he's silly enough to come here. someone noted the lack of pure pgs at this stage, but a year ago, one would have noted the lameness of iso basketball, too. all it takes is someone breaking the mold. utah went to s*** when rubio went down, and he's ball's floor, imo. tatum was probably the better pick, but i'm not ready to call anything about any of these players (except simmons, he's a superstar). mitchell may be the new tyreke evans, tatum the new rudy gay (as people thought, pre-draft). also worth noting is that boston's system (read: coach) has made a lot of players look better than they are. isaiah thomas, mvp? please...even pre-hip injury, just...please. avery bradley? marcus morris and aaron baynes are useful rotation players? note to marcus smart: don't leave, fella. you too, terry rozier. anyway, back to the playoffs: if gs doesn't show up and play, they will draw my ire. i'm already annoyed with them. they shouldn't push me. i think houston has a GREAT shot at taking those self-satisfied bastards out. and that makes me want to puke.
Even if the Rox win, a grade 2 strain (tear) takes roughly 4-8 weeks to come back from, depending on the severity. Dude might not be able to play in the Finals, unless he rushes his recovery time. And that's a whole other bag of worms (ie Cp3 is due to be a 33 year old UFA this summer aka last payday).
Annual season ending injury. I don’t care how good he is, I can’t give him a max contract knowing this will happen every season. He’s cursed, it needs to be accepted. I guess it’s a shame, but it’s hard for me to feel sorry for such a dirty player, especially one who flops around like a rag doll and cries to the refs constantly on top of it.
The annual playoff injury hits for Chris Paul. At the end of his ringless career he'll be able to say he's got an injury in every key situation he's ever faced in the playoffs.
Warriors are a jump shooting team. If shot is covered consistently, the shot won't drop consistently. Therefore, they don't start well because that's when the defense is at its top energy.
Refs evening out the odds with those three foul calls on Klay. The first two were completely phantom.
Durant is pissing me off. If the Warriors lose this game he should go back to OKC, take the vet min and hide behind Westbrook again.
Well, I’m not sure the Warriors can play worse than that, and they’re only down 5, so that may be a good sign. Didn’t give up 39 in the 1st like last game.
You can take the Durant out of the Thunder, but you can’t take the Thunder out of the Durant. Donovan and Westbrook would be proud.
