Wenyen Gabriel Discussion

I'd cut Baze before Ariza because I think Ariza is more valuable in the locker room. But I agree, we need to give him a Stan like deal.

 

With Dwight looking slower and slower each minute he’s out there, Gabriel’s good play has been a necessity.

 

oh yeah, good memory. and yes, earl clark didn't work out, but sometimes it's just a matter of fit and timing for these fringe guys.

i think about that herb jones character in NO. what's his career going to be? how much of his early success is certain stars aligning between the role his team needed him to play and his specific abilities?

anyway, we're talking very low risk on the salary end, and it's not like it's cutting into cap space or something. i'd rather lock him up for next year and eat the cost if we have to dump him.

 

Earl Clark.

 

I had always had DJ and Baze at the top of my list of players to cut, and you make a good point that Ariza may provide some locker room value. But he’s looked absolutely washed when he played, and now seems to be at the point where we have no confidence he can be a rotation player.

Bazemore is also very bad, but he at least looks physically capable of playing for 15-20 minutes if need be.

 

cut both, scout for springy bigs in the gleague for the last 10 games of the season. i trust our scouts to find a g-leaguer better than those two tomorrow.

 

lol vogel just twisting the knife on the FO. and he is correct. imagine we have stan and wenyen all year instead of baze and ariza. again, all we need is a more mobile center to replace what dj was, and you'd have the team you should have had from the outset!

the injuries and westbrook still would have doomed us, but not to this extent.

 

I bet they have at least two guys they like already.

 

Surprised no team wanted to develop him. He is long, twitchy, and most importantly he's coordinated. He doesn't have any advanced dribbling or offensive skills to speak of but usually rebuilding teams would love to have young guys who have the requisite size and athleticism and aren't clutzes out there. Plus he definitely looks like he's willing to do the little things on the court like play defense, box out, cut, etc.

 

And "You're in Wenyen .... go guard Embiid."

 

mo harkless was a first round pick and is a near ten year vet for similar, right?

 

Good comp: if the Lakers do choose to keep him (they'd be fools not too) I was thinking JaMychal Green. He's had a bit better career: the difference between a journeyman/guy getting minutes on mediocre teams (harkless) vs consistent roleplayer on playoff-caliber teams (Green).

This is a redundant point in the modern NBA but basically depends on how consistent his 3 point shooting becomes

On a side another Green in Jeff Green isn't a bad comp for Stan just in terms of body type. Green is a bigger leaper but Stan has a little more playmaking skills

 

It’s amazing what having a guy over 6’8 that can actually run and move with an once of fluidity can do for a team. Imagine that, Rob Pelinka.

 

Surely this guy is another Scouting department find

 

He's a poor man's Jerami Grant. He doesn't have the offensive game but everything else is in place IMO. I'd like to see this kid on the court with AD. If he improves his jumper, he and Johnson both will be solid rotation pieces for a long time. Kudos to Rob and the scouting department for unearthing 3 potential gems (Reaves, Johnson and Gabriel), in an otherwise terrible season. Now go find another young athletic 5!!

 

yeah, i don't have the same hopes others do that they'll become shooters (i mean, it's possible, but they're both 25 and it's not like they haven't known that would help them make a lot of money). but i don't think they need to be in order to become useful 20mpg role players on a decent team. they can do it with defense and energy. we should be able to manufacture enough points if we go back to being a top-5 defense.

anyway, i imagine vogel agrees that if he had guys like this since training camp, we'd be in better shape right now. because supposedly his defensive system takes some time to pick up. maybe that won't be the case for our next coach, but it probably will.