I’d still bring him back as like a 3rd big. He’s got a good attitude in the locker room and has a bigger body than AD and Hayes. He’s also unafraid if the big moments.
Absolutely. Especially because we still need to beat the Nuggets and TT looked serviceable defending Jokic. We defo need another big yet
They’re not paying for 3 backup Bigs …. c’mon. Especially with Ham loathe to play anyone other than AD at the 5 in the first place. We have Castleton on a 2-way is probably their thinking if they were concerned with having a 3rd, though of course he won’t be ready for a long time most likely.
The good thing about Castleton is he doesn't need to do a ton right away to help us. Protect the paint, set some picks and rebound. He can develop G league and hopefully we can get 5-10 minutes in most games to get used to the big boys. With the solid defenders we have now and the best defender in the league in AD we are going to have quite a few blow outs so a lot of fourth quarter developmental minutes for guys.
AD will miss 20/30 games. If Hayes has a cold, we are starting Castleton. Don't like it, really want a 3rd guy. We had Bryant/Bamba, Gabriel all year and then Thompson too. We now have only Hayes
I love the belief in our young guys and your coaching angle. But it takes time to make your way in the NBA, I just don’t think any of our young guys are going to be rotational pieces on a win now team. Maybe Max Christie, depending on his development. With two injury prone stars, we just don’t have time to bring the young guys along. We need to secure every win we can to rest Lebron and AD.
i prefer wenyen to TT, but i could see either. as i've said in other threads, i think being creative with beasley or lonnie's bird rights might make both moot.
Definitely Max. He showed that last season. It does take time to make it in the NBA but we have to bring our young guys along. It doesn't make any sense not to. Especially when we are so limited on bigs. Give Castleton some time so he is ready. It may seem counterproductive early on but the reality is getting other bigs ready to contribute will extend AD. The way we can rest Lebron and AD is to have players that can play. There is no reason we can't win games and develop players at the same time. The two are not exclusive, they go hand in hand. If we had played Christie more last year he would be more prepared now. It is great for players to lift weights, play g league, watch film, practice shooting but in order to really develop they game time against NBA players. Ham's thinking last year was not to use the young guys. He was practically forced into using Austin and looked what happened? He turned into the third best player on the team. Castleton is a guy that would have been drafted he had wanted to be. He chose to take the same path AR took. Hopefully we have learned and don't make the same mistakes again. The good news is Rob has almost fool proofed our roster. Sorry for the rant, I do get your point. Just different philosophies.
Reaves was in the 2nd year and was already part of the rotation. And was older when drafted. And shown he was ready. The only rookie who played credible minutes in a contender last year was Braun. The ONLY. So there's a reason why Max last year and Castleton this year won't have many opportunities. And that's fine, let them grow. These are under 20y old. Have you met any? Aren't they stupid? Lol. Your body is growing, you're getting maturity and learning real basketball, not college basketball. It's such a detailed game that any mistake costs you points. I remember Max getting lost in screens, not communicating on a switch or getting a backdoor cut. It's all normal and understandable but if you want to compete in the NBA you can't rely on an undrafted rookie when you already know AD will miss games
When you look at the base rates of second round picks contributing and sticking in the NBA, it’s a very low percentage. So I’m not expecting a lot from these guys in their first season. And I’m sure on a win now team neither is our coaching staff and/or vets. Now if someone is ready, like Austin was last year, then they are ready and will play. It’s all about meritocracy after all and it’s not an age thing.
