It's extremely early but he's got to be better. We thought he was ready for a bigger role last year. He wasn't. Ham didn't even try and because of that we didn't get a clear read on what his value was, we paid him on what we hope he can be and not what he is at this moment. He still doesn't look ready for the role we had him slotted for. He was expected to be our 6th man to start the year... he's not that. He's a good rebounder, smart kid, has some defensive chops and can in theory hit a 3. But he's too athletic to not give us more on offense.
He's 21. Yes, we paid him to be an instant contributor, but it will take time. I was also expecting more (too much actually) from him but it's actually a huge leap from where he was (fringe rotation player) to now be a 6th man of the year candidate. Reps will help him and he will surely improve as the year progresses. We do need to adjust the rotations and strategy in terms of trades moving on, we might need a wing to be stronger in the playoffs.
agree with most of these posts, but 8m per isn't 6th man money right now. it's 8th/9th man money. to me, gabe is the 6th man (assuming vando is the new dead gabe). i feel like we're going to work hard to consolidate some of max/vando/gabe/the vet mins for another player who performs consistently like dlo/rui. and i think that's possible. whomever is left from that group slides into the slot behind the acquisition. i'm hopeful max grows quickly, and i think it can happen. but our investment wasn't that substantial, imo.
He has a ways to go still, but yeah, he’s only 21. You have to think the shot will start falling eventually, but he needs to slow down otherwise, he keeps getting stripped or driving into traffic and losing the ball. On defense he’s been a foul machine as well, still getting treated like a rookie, but he has to clean that up in some ways and adjust.
yeah, but i think at this point he has to learn on the big squad, and we just have to roll with the punches a bit. i like that jj seems to be about giving multiple chances but also riding the guy who's got it going among the second-tier players. some nights, knecht plays 25 minutes, others it will be max. both can expect that they'll get another shot even if they have a rocky outing.
I’m going to remain patient with Max. I was hoping for more to start the season, but it’s only be three games.
He is NOT a smart basketball player. Part of the reason the Lakers tank when he is in is that he brain farts way too much: throws away easy passes, loses track of the ball, keeps trying the same move over again (really robotic telegraphs his moves). As all things Max the glass of half full would be that maybe more reps fixes some of this ♂️
Can someone please let him know there is a backboard? Just killing me that all he does is go up for the two hand stuff and that s*** get rejected. Every single game this happens to tonight was two I think on what should have been two easy layups
He's not playing well to justify his minutes or place in the rotation. team almost always seems to collapse when he comes in. Just not bringing anything to the table of note to hand your hat on. OTOH he can't hit 3s or really anything on offense
LOL … valid question. We seem great at finding them and then when we don’t develop them just as bad on giving up on them too soon and they blossom elsewhere. There’s a whole bunch we could use now at all positions of need playing for other teams.
