100% agree about this. One of the better landing spots for Carey, IMO, and as an early 2nd rounder he will get a guaranteed deal that won't be much worse than being a 1st round draft pick.
I also happen to think Casisus may have landed in a good spot. He is the only draft pick Indiana had this season, so he is somewhat going to be the focus of their development efforts. While it is far from certain that he makes the opening day roster, I think he has a significantly better shot at it than most other guys drafted in the back half of the 2nd round. There will be no summer league and training camp will be greatly shortened, I suspect that gives a leg up to a situation like Casisus' where he is the only new draft pick on the roster and there won't be much time for UFA to make a mark and perhaps push him aside.
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
I wouldn't call a team that finished the season with a losing record for the first time since the 1996–97 season in the middle of a rebuild. Losing Leonard would hurt ANY team.
They still got invited to the bubble. They still have a great coach, GM, and several other good players. BUT I agree that they need some more YOUNG fire power and if it's one organization I trust to do that - it's the Spurs. The Spurs incidentally also like to DEVELOP their players - great spot for Tre to land.
McHale was 41-for-157 (26.1 percent) on 3s. That's in 13 NBA seasons, 971 games. So, 3-point shooting was not one his strengths.
The question mark on Carey is his ability to defend guards on the back end of pick-and-rolls. He lost 30 pounds since the end of his Duke season but didn't have the chance to show off his presumed newly-found-defensive quickness in 5v5 workouts. NBA talent evaluators were looking at an earlier version of Carey, not the new and improved version.
I will modify what you are saying here. I think shooting is highly valued followed by the ability to defend the perimeter (which 'quickness' greatly enables) and guard multiple positions. While the NBA is in love with 3s, it is equally in love with foul shots and shots within 5 feet of the basket. The modern big needs to be able to either shoot from the outside so that the floor stays spread out and the driving lanes are not clogged, or they need to be excellent in the pick and roll where they are diving to the rim for lobs. If the can shoot, that pick and roll turns into a "pick and pop" where they are shooting from outside. Or, best of all, as Troublemaker highlighted in a nice video series in a different thread (the other NBA draft thread, perhaps?), they can master the "short roll" where they set a pick, get the ball back quickly as they roll ('short' meaning that they have only taken a step or so as opposed to being all the way at the rim) and from there they playmake/pass...ala the template for this type of action..Draymond Green. What is not valued is the iso possession in the post where the big on the block catches and "goes to work" while everyone else stands around. However, if that big can play defense (which means protecting the rim and guarding perimeter and everything in between, especially as zones come back into vogue), there is increasing tolerance for the dump down/go to work action, especially if the big has Jah-like post game, because as soon as he commands a double, shooters are open...so, again, he's got to be able to pass.
Bottom line, modern NBA players need to be able to do all of these things...shoot, defend, dribble and pass...at pretty high levels or else the other team will exploit their being on the floor.
I'd like to partake of the statistician's favorite game: cherry picking. McHale was not really a 3 point shooter his first 9 seasons, totaling 1 for 20, or about 2 attempts per season. In his last two seasons, his minutes, and 2 point percentage fell off, and his 3 point shooting was again poor, 2 for 31. But he had two seasons of good shooting from deep, 89-90 and 90-91, when he totaled 38 for 106, 35%. So, for a time, 3 point shooting was an effective part of his game.
To leave out subtleties:
Carey played at 270*.
Opposing teams let Tre shoot uncontested 15 footers with a frequency I don’t recall since Billy King.**
Cassius doesn’t have an elite basketball skill.***
*No one at the 2020 Combine weighed more than 266. The only drafted Duke players heavier than him were Zion and Jahlil. In terms of weight, he edged out Martin Nessley and Mike Gminski, who were both taller and not known for their speed. In addition to losing 30 pounds (!), he needs to show he can actually play stretch 4, or at least a highly mobile 5.
The mentions of his dad as an 8-season NFL offensive lineman Doesn’t help his cause.
**not that Tre didn’t make some of them, and I have to think he can be as good an NBA player (or better) than his brother. Billy King, meanwhile, was an epically bad shooter (but great defender and dunker).
***Stanley’s 44” vertical was highest of the combine, but jumping isn’t a skill.
Any of the 3 mighta gone in the 1st round if they’d led the team into a successful final four, but, given the reality, all were likely 2nd round risks when they decided to go pro.
I have to think our rep for producing one and dones has led us to having the most undergrad 2nd round picks in the country over the past 4 years, which would contrast with the Grant Hill/Laettner years when we had the highest number of elite players stay to graduate.****
****in the spirit of the age, i made up both of those stats, but I’m keeping them since they support my narrative.
At least Edwards started games and was SEC Freshman of the year and second team SEC. Williams is likely a good player- but somebody saw something in him not based on his performances in games. I would also say the ACC was a bit down last year. But yes- this was a weak draft. The NBA is a different game- so it is not easy to know who will shine when under the bright lights.
I don't recall many (if any) people saying that about Cassius. I think the consensus was early-to-mid second round, possibly late first if he wowed somebody in the pre-draft workouts. I bet more people said he wasn't ready and should stay in school (despite his "advanced age") than said he would go in the lottery.
over the hill at age 21, Cassius? Hang in there...