Sure I agree with all that. And I was never saying IDEAL for the 2 spot. He's ideal IMO as a 3 right now. My only point on defense is DLO is not known for his athleticism either and he is shorter so if they were competing against one another in guarding these other more physical and more athletic 2s I just don't think it's cut and dried that DLO could defend better. And the wider range of offensive ways to score the ball ambidextrously (perhaps) than Russell with (perhaps) more consistent shooting because not so quick draw as Russ and Kuz gets into the air on his shots and is taller. DAR by far with the better handles. Will not mention again in Kuz thread. I liked Russell's game too on offense for the record.
D'Angelo was not a great athlete but he was still a pretty decent defender in man to man situations because he's surprisingly long. No he wasn't fleet of foot, but he was still a passable defender, probably better than Kuzma would be as a full time guard. I believe Kuzma could be a better player, but certain guys are just better suited to certain positions. This argument isn't a productive one though. Would Lonzo be able to play SF? Probably but why bother? Play him where he's best.
neither. given how the league is going, i'd rather have a second quick ballhandler/shooter at the 2. i'd consider playing either at backup 4 for short stretches, but both are clearly sfs, imo. as for "positionless" basketball--you've got to defend somebody. if the other team has two quick guards, you better find two guys who can keep up. if that guy is 6'8", great. but that list is very, very short and doesn't currently include any lakers.
I like both BI and Kuz as emergency 2's on D. They might lack a little quickness, but they might be able to make it up with length. That being said, a great 2 puts them in foul trouble with ease. On Offense, both have potential, but don't seem to have quite the skill set. Either way, I'd love for us to find a way to put all of our best players on the floor at the same time, and I'm not sure how that happens. Some of these guys are really close in my personal rankings, and it's subjective depending on what you find to be important. Some will praise Clarkson for his 18 pts in 20 min off the bench, but rip him on defense or assists. etc, etc, etc. I'm sure Walton will do a fine job putting our best combination of guys in the lineup to finish games to try to get wins. It will be interesting to see who the cream is that rises to the top though. Out of this group: Kuzma BI KCP Randle Nance Deng Clarkson You can only pick 3. Might be more in that list with other bench guys playing decent, but assuming Ball and Lopez are locked in, we need someone to separate themselves from the pack and make the choice obvious. At least, that would be nice.
Kuzma at the 2? No. I do like his versatility on potential defensive switches on the perimeter. We did experiment with Ingram last season as our stopper and he wasn't too bad. Moot really since we have Pope for that role now.
I'm guessing: Lonzo/Ennis (Caruso could still beat him) KCP/Clarkson Ingram/Kuzma Nance Jr./Randle Lopez/Randle/Bogut (Randle against small teams)
HELP!!!! I read an article saying Kuzma has won every speed drill, but a friend is saying it was Nance that is the fastest on the team. Anyone have a link, Twitter feed, etc. ??
Nice to see Luke lurks on LB and saw me telling him exactly this yesterday. For at least this last pre-season game and opportunity to see what that looks like.
