Crazy that Tatum played 40 minutes, got 28 points and a W...while Markelle Fultz was a DNP... I hate hate hate that Boston raped the Sixers in that draft day deal...
Why does Fultz not play? Is it still the shoulder? Boston and Philly are going to have some really good teams next year. Looks like the 80’s have returned with that eastern rivalry. That also includes the Bucks being good enough to knock on the door, but of course never get in. That’s good for basketball. Very impressed Tatum the whole year. He is looking like Paul Pierce’s replacement. I never watched Rosier much, but he’s looking really good in the playoffs. The worst is yet to come with this next Draft with Boston and Philly abusing the Lakers. Glad the dark days of the Lakers getting Jimmy’d are almost over.
Yeah and the worst part is...Boston is going to get Sacramento's pick next year which will likely be a bottom 3 or bottom 5 pick. I really don't want Boston making the ECF without Kyrie AND Hayward....the collective fan base will have the biggest heads if that happens. And of course, they'll be EXPECTING to make the NBA Finals the following year and possibly expect to WIN IT ALL too...then I'll definitely be rooting for LeBron to join the Sixers so we can put a stop to that noise REAL quick. My hope is that Hayward coming back is just going to take away from Brown and Tatum and in the end it won't really improve the C Bags by that much...
Am I the only one that wants Boston fan to expect to make it to the Finals and win...only to have the door shut in their face? Getting bounced in the ECF when you expect to win it all is much more painful than scratching to the 6th seed and losing a 6 game series in the first round.
Yeah i guess that's better than them losing kyrie and hayward and still making the ECF when everyone expected them to get bounced in the 1st round. Boston seems to thrive when nobody expects them to win anything....but the second they're expected to win...they don't exactly live up to it
Jesse and our Scouting Department is indeed a weapon of ours. Some of my favorite quotes: I know many people don't like to read the entire thing and want a recap but I encourage everyone read this one there are a ton of other great information nuggets in it.
See isn't West director of player personnel formally? Yet it's like you know he has to be involved importantly in Scouting. Buss is batting like a crazy .800 since he started with Randle. Great Read just your quotes so far.
I was debating somebody (@abeer3 ?) about the merits of our scouting department. Since 2013 our picks are: 2013- Ryan Kelly @ #48. Only pick after him that might have more value... Joffery Lauvergne? 2014- Julius Randle @ #7. Players after him who might be better: Gary Harris (#19), Clint Capela (#25). Definitely better: Nikola Jokic (#41). 2014- Jordan Clarkson @ #46. No one better than him past that. 2015- D'Angelo Russell @ #2. Better than him: Porzingis (#4). Maybe better than him: Myles Turner (#11), Devin Booker (#13), Terry Rozier (#16), Norman Powell (#46). 2015- Larry Nance Jr. @ #27. Maybe better than him: Norman Powell (#46), Josh Richardson (#40) 2015- Anthony Brown @ #34. Better than him: Willy Hernangomez (#35), Richaun Holmes (#37), Josh Richardson (#40), Pat Connaughton (#41), Joseph Young (#43), Andrew Harrison (#44), Norman Powell (#46). 2016- Brandon Ingram @ #2. No one better than him past that. 2016- Ivica Zubac @ #32. Better than him: Malcolm Brogdon (#36) 2017- Lonzo Ball @ #2. Maybe better than him: Jayson Tatum (#3), Donovan Mitchell (#13) 2017- Kyle Kuzma @ #27. No one better than him past that. 2017- Josh Hart @ #30. No one better than him past that. 2017- Thomas Bryant @ #42. Maybe better than him past that: Dillon Brooks (#45). Pretty damn good. I'd say the only one that's a straight-up miss is Anthony Brown whose eyes never stopped bugging out of his head once he hit the pros. NBA body, but just couldn't handle the game. Ryan Kelly was at least useful as a body which is good for a pick that late. I think it might be a little too early to say Zubac and Bryant are long-term NBA players, but to get 9/10 useful players in the draft over the last 5 years is astounding.
Let's not be homers here...Tatum and Mitchell are DEFINITELY better than Lonzo and I don't see that changing. Otherwise, agree with everything else.
As far as all around talent when it comes to transcendent point guard there's no one better than him.
I don't believe that. I think there are things that Mitchell does better, namely he's far, far more aggressive, but he can also tend to be inefficient and frankly unintelligent at times. Right now I'd say he's better, but it's not consistent enough. And Tatum is not definitely better than Lonzo at all. The only person who'd think that is someone who watched only the first two months of the NBA and stopped. Tatum: 13.9 points, 5 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1 steal, 0.7 blocks, 1.4 turnovers, 30.5 mpg Ball: 10.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 7.2 assists, 1.7 steals, 0.8 blocks, 2.6 turnovers, 34.2 mpg Admittedly Tatum was far more efficient (47.5/43.4/82.6) vs Ball (36/30.5/45.1) which lead to Tatum having a better Ortg 111 vs. Ball 96, but they ended up with similar Drtg (the same depending on the source you go to). In fact, Ball's DB+/- is better. They have different strengths, Tatum being more of a scorer and Ball obviously a better distributor, but I see no evidence at all that Tatum was "DEFINITELY" better than Lonzo. And even if the evidence didn't support my claim, why couldn't I be a homer if I wanted to? We're talking about a C bag vs. a Laker and we're on LakersBall.com. If we were on r/nba I'd expect more objectivity.
Agreed, especially the part about the first two months. Tatum came out fast and shocked a lot of people because he gave decent production when Hayward went down. But as the season progressed, his numbers came back down to Earth. I mean, Kuzma was 16/6/1.8. Tatum is really good and could be great. But I'm not sold on the fact that he's definitely better than Lonzo. Mitchell is, no doubt. But he's the only guy in this draft class that I can definitively say is better this year. Not sure he will remain that way. Lonzo can do things that others can't. Mitchell may end up being Tyreke Evans or he may end up as Lillard.
Mitchell is what I expected Fultz to be. I think they will look like the same players next year and m both should be very effective. Zo is just different altogether to me; still reminds me of Jason Kidd. I’m just hoping Zo’s off the court life doesn’t keep him from being the best he can be. I have a feeling that could happen.
We killed this last draft. Nothing sixer or Boston fans have on us there haha. Now let's add all stars and we're talking big time.
Only our fans can seriously find a way to crap on our 2017 draft lol Just because we did great doesn’t mean other great players wouldn’t be drafted. Plus, you draft for need, and our first big need was at PG We did just fine. Yes, All young players have pimples in their game, but as they mature, you’ll see less and less of them.
Booker >>> D'Angelo and it's not close IMO. Ball is on par with Tatum and Mitchell. I still see what Ball does outside of shooting, whereas they can shoot and offer little else. Defense matters!
NBA TV -- Players Only: Magic and Isiah. Must watch!!! Similar to the back and forth conversation with Shaq and Kobe. Watch to the end. gets emotional.
The main purpose of B-ball is still to put the ball in the basket , Tatum and especially Mitchell are definetely better than Lonzo right now . Lonzo can't create his own shot right now , besides a step back 3 which isn't likely to go in . I like the others aspects of his game but his weakness as a scorer is the worst to have in today's NBA . You can't be Jason Kidd in today's NBA or you can ... but you only will be a 4th to 5th option on a championship team .
