Jerichoholic
Bench
it should be noted that i'm not comparing the two players' talent and skill level side-by-side; i'm comparing the ways in which they will have an impact on the game at the nba level, provided each reaches his full potential...
both mclemore and stauskas are going to make their living beyond the 3-point line. of course there will be other areas of the game that they impact, but those guys are out there to shoot the ball, plain and simple. mclemore's elite athleticism will help him get to the rim on occasion in spite of his lack of ball handling ability, and stauskas' ball handling ability will help him get to the rim on occasion in spite of his lack of elite athleticism. i don't expect either to become an elite defender, though there's certainly room for both to become adequate defenders. but again, more than anything, mclemore and stauskas will be on the court in order to get buckets, to spread the floor so that guys like cousins and gay can work more effectively in the post...
stauskas certainly appears to have a higher basketball IQ than mclemore, and i grant you that he's likely to be a better playmaker than mclemore, but i do not believe the differences in their game are enough to justify picking SG's in back-to-back drafts. let me put it this way: if ben mclemore has even an average rookie season in which he's not costing the team wins with his utter lack of production, do you think nik stauskas is even on the kings' radar? and if he is in that instance, i genuinely question what this new regime is attempting to accomplish...
That is a good question, if McLemore had an average or better rookie season would we still take Stauskas? If it's to be a SG my guess would be no. However if it's to be a PG then I would say yes. I know the idea of a defensive backcourt of Stauskas and McLemore sounds like a bit of a problem, although I don't think it's worse than a Thomas and McLemore backcourt. Actually Aaron Bruski was on the morning show this morning and I thought made a good point. He said that the Kings' main defensive problems are not on the perimeter, but more from the help defense, especially from the PF spot. Defenders get blown by all the time in today's NBA, even good defenders, the offensive players are just too athletic and too quick. It's all about help defense and rotations. If the Kings can find a way to fix that then I think a Stauskas and McLemore backcourt can work and that would allow Gay and Cousins to do what they do best offensively closer to the basket.