2023-24 Team Developments: Trades / Free Agents / News / Rumors / Ideas

Skimps on his leg days huh …. where’s @Kenzo ?

 

Plus Zaza isn't afraid to raise the fists if needed. He was really solid for a decade plus. Handful of points, rebounds, and physical mobile defense. He was one of the more liked guys here in ATL during his 7 year stint as a Hawk.

I'd like to see Noah on him, there was no off switch to that motor. I think that'd wear on Joker as the game progressed into late 3rd and on.

 

I remember punk KG wanting NO part of Zaza while backpedaling after playing tough guy with him in error.

 

Nah man, nothing but love and respect for Giannis. On top of the ton of gear, he put on a ton of work. To go from the "rookie Durant skinny", to where he is now, that's a sick transformation.

 

tbh, during the bubble season AD handled him one on one pretty well, too. jokic has improved since then, though.

 

not sure how much longer giannis's body will be able to handle the way he plays. his entire game is basically just steamroll his way to the hoop which leads to lots of collisions and hard falls. his knees are already breaking down

and if he's not successful at bullying his way to the hoop, he's a non-factor offensively because he has no shot

 

yeah, he's never developed a shot, so once he loses a step, it's going to be over quickly, and he's starting to show signs. if he leaves milwaukee, he'll be out of his prime, imo.

 

Knowing how completely spoiled I sound as I say this, I don't really want Giannis as the next face of the franchise. I too am highly skeptical of his longevity as a #1 on a championship team type. He turns 29 in December and will be 30 in the summer of 2025 when he can decline his PO and become a free agent. Ideally, the guy taking the mantle from LeBron would be younger than that. Gives us a longer runway to build the next contending edition of this team.

Tatum in 2025 and Luka in 2026, those are the guys I'm keeping my eye on.

 

I'm there too. There's a lot worse guys we could land. I don't dislike Antetokounmpo, but given the option I would much rather get Luka, Tatum, or Ant as a face of the franchise.

 

we need to start the asset churn to be in position to either sign one outright or have the pieces to complete a hostage trade. i'm certain rob is doing exactly this, and this is part of why he wouldn't give up all future picks in the russ dump scenarios.

i really feel like one of the three you mentioned will play here at some point.

 

Giannis is a bit like Shaq in that his physical gifts and lack of a jumper makes you think he's not a good player skillwise.

He does a lot of things well: he's an extremely good ballhandler for his size, has good vision, got a good post game, and on defense is good help and POA defender. On top of that, he's got a good motor.

 

True, but I do think he will have the biggest decline of all superstars. We will see, but I think his window for chips is the next 3 years. I can see Curry extending his window much longer for example. Giannis will still be a force on defense with how long he his

 

he's actually a lot like shaq, imo. and i expect a similar (quick) decline to shaq's as it's his physicality that makes everything go. when shaq lost a step, he became an allstar instead of a superstar. when he lost two (shortly thereafter), he became hard to put on the court.

 

Well, I think the difference will be that Antetokounmpo takes care of his body and has yet to recover on company time. If your athleticism declines and you're fat, you're screwed. If your athleticism declines and you're in great physical shape, your game will regress at a significantly slower rate.

Not having a reliable jumper is going to be a problem as the athleticism dips but the height, length and physique will do him a lot of favors in the compensation department.

 

I think Giannis is a bit overrated on defense. In that 2021 Nets series KD was scoring 40 a game and they didn't even consider putting Giannis on him. He doesn't guard the best wing players and doesn't anchor the defense like AD, Gobert or JJJ. He's basically Robert Williams, coming off the backside to challenge shots at the rim. That's a very good defensive player, but not one whose defense is so great that it bridges the gap with the best offensive players like Jokic, Curry or Luka.

 

the thing is that Giannis is known for having crazy dedication and work ethic, in addition to already being a freak of nature genetically, just look at how much he transformed his body since entering the league


Shaq was self-admitedly a lazy a** that didn't take good care of his body.

I would say Giannis will easily outlast guys like Embiid or AD, particularly when you look at injury records.

 

we'll see, i guess. i think there's too much suggestion here that injuries are fully (or even largely) within a player's control. giannis has started to get knee problems despite his work ethic already.

shaq was lazy, but his injuries also forced him to be inactive and put on weight that caused more injuries, and injuries can cause other compensatory injuries too.

embiid and AD have always been injury prone and will continue to be. giannis never has been but probably will be, and when he is, i don't think he has much to fall back on. despite his work ethic, he's never developed any sort of jumpshot, for example--what makes one think that would suddenly happen now, ten years in?