Welcome Maxime Raynaud
- Thread starter Tetsujin
- Start date
The problem is that we've gotten so good at identifying who the great talents are going to be by the age of 18 (e.g. LeBron, Wemby at #1; Kobe, Giannis late lotto) that it becomes easy to believe that nobody really slips through that freshman net. The game becomes "draft them before they're fully ready or somebody else will". And that in turn leads to the thinking "by age 22 all the good ones are gone". It's not true, but there's a reason that fallacy exists and is compelling. Even though one might specifically acknowledge it isn't true when pressed, that fallacy still has the power to draw you in when you're not guarding against it.
datamanwes
G-League
I watched this kid in a interview on you tube about a month ago. He is one very impressive young man. Who is a gentleman and know his strengths and weaknesses and tell what he ius doing to improve. I also heard he is very loud in the gym and has a great basketball iq for only playing th game for like 4 years. I love this pick
His coach said that they had him settle more on the defense because they ran everything through him and he couldn’t get into foul trouble. But when they needed him to play defense he could. His first 23 games of the season he had 27 blocks, his final 9 games he had 23 blocks.
Dude has a lot potential, especially since he has only played basketball seriously for the last four years.
Dude has a lot potential, especially since he has only played basketball seriously for the last four years.
I agree for the most part for the vast majority of players but not so much when the position requires anchoring the defense. He would have to develop skills that he hasn't shown much of yet. As of right now, the opposing team could just put a 4 on him because he doesn't really bully smaller players very well. That 4 will abuse him on the other end because he's not particularly agile defensively and can't anchor the paint.
That's why I was saying he has more in his bag than those guys but I don't think he's going to have enough to make up for his inability to defend at the most important defensive position.
I personally am not a huge fan of player archetypes that there are very few successful versions of. Especially ones that require players around them to have very specific skills that aren't found every day. I think IT is about the only low odd archetype the Kings were successful with.
I agree that playing 5 out is a recipe for success but we're talking about guys like Chet and Turner that are legit defensive anchors to go along with their ability to spread the floor and score in creative ways. On paper Maxime has the latter but he doesn't have the former and I don't think capable NBA centers can stick around without having the former unless their offense is off the charts. I called it out during the Bagley draft and everyone disagreed with me there as well. I'm rooting for the kid but centers normally seem to be able to defend right away in college and their offensive game is a work in progress. Normally they don't all the sudden acquire the ability to defend as NBA players. That's not to say that it never happens but I'm not going to point to a player or two that has done it in the last decade and say see, our guy can do that too.
That's really promising to hear!
ockingsfan
Starter
That is exactly why there are so many busts in the NBA lottery. They are trying to project instead of believing what their eyes are seeing. Pretty much why players like Steph, Klay, Draymond, Lillard, and Jalen Brunson fell in their drafts.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Luka fell for pretty much the same reason too
“Not athletic enough” “how much better can he get”
"He's chunky"
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
It's definitely his avoiding contact that sketches people out. On both ends he loses his balance if he's hit. He's a lot like a younger Porzinigis in that way. Tall, narrow, high center of gravity bigs are what they are. He can move laterally though so that's actually more important probably in such a switch heavy leage. Look at the dual big lineup the Thunder played, there were moments the Thunder just couldn't play it and Chet manned the C spot. The difference being is that even in high school you could tell Chet loved contact. He never backed down. Yeah, Lauri is a good comp too.
SacTownKid
Hall of Famer
Yep, the moment KG came along it started a whole new process where 15 year olds are really the new college prospects.
Section 101
All-Star
He's going to get used to contact in practice for sure.
Joshyjosh31
Starter
Technically this one was spot on
Hey, if you get buckets like Luka, I dont care if you're fat. Ill gladly take that on my team
But Kristaps ended up bulking, which may or may not be a reason he's been so injury prone. Not that I want bean pole bigs, but it does seem like the more weight you add on the Giants frame, the greater chance at injury
