Wenyen Gabriel Discussion

I didn’t anticipate Gabriel playing any meaningful minutes this year. If he is the backup 4 and athletic enough to guard SF/PF that makes more sense in trading Stan.

Gonna keep a watch on him for sure.

 

They let Stan go for a reason, I know folks were enamored with him for how he played late last season, but it's a different team now, different scheme, we have more talent at his size now. I'm not sleeping on this scouting department's influence on this roster. Some of these kids are going to surprise IMO.

 

Kwahi and Lebron are the only killers at SF in the Western Conference IMO. There are no Kwahi/Lebron stoppers in the NBA. When you have AD at 4 and Lebron at 3, I don't understand the big wing argument.

 

Pfft..Stanley Johnson is not going to make or break anything dude. I hope he gets some burn in Utah, but that's not some kind of slam dunk either.

 

Wenyen made a good case for himself last night.

 

i'm both a) not that mad about our guard/forward situation and b) still of the opinion that dumping stan was unnecessary.

 

as THT's last fan on this site (well, cookie too i think), i'll say that i could see the logic. he was the only vet on the market who could bring some want-to to the floor and locker-room, and he's expiring. THT wasn't going to thrive here, and i guess we didn't see him as a sf.

adding stan was weird and dumb, and we lost the trade talent-wise, but i think it makes sense whether russ is here or not. and as others have said, so did grabbing schroder at the vet min.

anyway, this is wenyen's thread. seems like we view him as a 4/5 based on how we used him. i'd prefer him as a 3/4 and think if he can get a standing three, he could earn a decent-sized contract in a couple years. but he's far from that right now.

his energy was great in that game, though, and i'll take it after sitting through whatever the hell that was last year.

 

10 rebs and 4 blocks in 20 minutes. Gotta see more of this young man.

 

Really great energy out of him. Even for an energy big, last night was surprising. I'm curious to see if he can keep bringing it and how the hell Ham figures out these misfit rotations.

 

He’ll get mins if JTA continues to disappoint. If he can knock down that corner 3 we can slot him into the Morris role for when we want to go small.

 

Oof I can't see him at the 3. He has no handles at all. Even at the 4 it's a reach but one we may have to gamble on because of our roster

I don't think he's that great but because of the general lack of talent of this team, his effort and size makes him a viable option on the rotation

 

it's about who you can defend, imo. if he can move his feet on big sfs and hit open threes, he's a sf. especially on a lebron team. the mavs run bullock and finney-smith on the wings and neither can floor the ball or pass at all.

 

He showed some nice movement in the first game. I don’t see why he couldn’t become a nice wing defender. He has great size and if his movement stays at that level, he would remind me of Siakam a little defensively.

 

i'd have to see more. he got blown by and recovered nicely on one play. the question is whether he can get torched by wings on drives.

anyway, for now, i think we're using him as a 4/5, and not on a regular basis. but tbh, a couple weeks ago, i figured he would have no role at all.

 

Have to see more of Wenyen, but a couple of interesting things:

Draymond playa or use to play a lot of 5 in GS small ball unit, right?

He stands 7'1" with an 8'11" standing reach (Draymond).

Wenyen has the same wingspan with a 9'1" standing reach.

Idk about his ability to guard wings, yet. Nevertheless, if he can be passable, we may have our small-ball 5, possibly.

The next evolution in his name is his three point shot.

We will see.

 

@LaVarBallsDad "Draymond playa or use to play a lot of 5 in GS small ball unit, right?

He stands 7'1" with an 8'11" standing reach (Draymond).

Wenyen has the same wingspan with a 9'11" standing reach."


No wonder Dray has been cranky in practice with a late in life growth spurt like that even though you’d think he'd like being a 7 footer in his chosen profession. Probably has thrown his timing all off and has him feeling awkward.