Dukies in the NBA 2020-21

[Troublemaker]

Somewhere upthread I mentioned that Kyrie was trying on defense again, and then this morning I saw this blurb in a Ringer "power rankings" article.




Yeah, if KD and Kyrie battle hard on defense and the front office make a minor move or two to add defensive talent, then this team can be in the 8 to 12 range on defense. Combined with a top-3 offense, that's a Finals contender.

[Duke79UNLV77]

So, Marvin Bagley plays perhaps his best half of basketball against Denver, scoring 18 point in the first half... and then plays like 4 minutes of the second half. Whaaaaat? Either he is hurt or Luke Walton caught MB sexting with Mrs. Walton at halftime.

Who would have thought that in year 3 Bags still wouldn't have had an opportunity to play big minutes on a consistent basis? Obviously, injuries have been an issue, but even when healthy he only plays about half the game, despite being productive, especially at rebounding. I don't get it.

[Troublemaker]

So, Marvin Bagley plays perhaps his best half of basketball against Denver, scoring 18 point in the first half... and then plays like 4 minutes of the second half. Whaaaaat? Either he is hurt or Luke Walton caught MB sexting with Mrs. Walton at halftime.

Who would have thought that in year 3 Bags still wouldn't have had an opportunity to play big minutes on a consistent basis? Obviously, injuries have been an issue, but even when healthy he only plays about half the game, despite being productive, especially at rebounding. I don't get it.

Sacramento playing big wasn't working. You can see using the link below that when the Kings downsized, essentially replacing Bagley with Tyrese Halliburton, they crushed Denver. Halliburton was +20

https://www.basketball-reference.com...012290SAC.html

WRT Marvin's future, imo, he needs to improve his rim-protection and/or switch ability so that he can play the 5. He's never going to be an All-Star playing the 4, imo.

[JasonEvans]

I greatly prefer team ball, sharing, finding the open man, etc. When I think of that type of player Trae Young is not who comes to mind.

He probably does not come to mind because you have not seen him play enough. If you watch Trae, his passing and ability to find teammates is absurd. He was 2nd in the league in assists per game last season. His assist percentage, which measures how often he assists in a teammates basket while he is on the floor, is 42.8% for his career... Chris Paul and John Stockton are the only players in NBA history with a higher career assist rate.

Does Trae take some ill-advised shots? Yeah, but he is doing a lot less of that now than when he first came into the league. His FG% was just 41.8% as a rookie... not good. But he is at an impressive (for a guard) 53.1% so far this season. He is currently hitting better than 60% of his 2 point shots and 42% of his 3s. He has recognized that his shiftiness will allow him to draw fouls in a pretty big way and he is leading the league in FTA in this young season with 15.3 per game (he hits better than 90% of his FTs).

He is still a real problem on defense, but he is one of the most exciting players in the league to watch. I would be thrilled if he had come to Duke.

-Jason "with his ability to find bigs rolling to the basket, he's a pick and roll nightmare to NBA defenses... I think he is one of the top 3-5 offensive players in the league right now" Evans

[DukieInBrasil]

He probably does not come to mind because you have not seen him play enough. If you watch Trae, his passing and ability to find teammates is absurd. He was 2nd in the league in assists per game last season. His assist percentage, which measures how often he assists in a teammates basket while he is on the floor, is 42.8% for his career... Chris Paul and John Stockton are the only players in NBA history with a higher career assist rate.

Does Trae take some ill-advised shots? Yeah, but he is doing a lot less of that now than when he first came into the league. His FG% was just 41.8% as a rookie... not good. But he is at an impressive (for a guard) 53.1% so far this season. He is currently hitting better than 60% of his 2 point shots and 42% of his 3s. He has recognized that his shiftiness will allow him to draw fouls in a pretty big way and he is leading the league in FTA in this young season with 15.3 per game (he hits better than 90% of his FTs).

He is still a real problem on defense, but he is one of the most exciting players in the league to watch. I would be thrilled if he had come to Duke.

-Jason "with his ability to find bigs rolling to the basket, he's a pick and roll nightmare to NBA defenses... I think he is one of the top 3-5 offensive players in the league right now" Evans

With that glowing review, does he really fall that far behind Luka in terms of where they were drafted? From what you've said, it doesn't sound like Trae is that far away from being an MVP caliber player at some point. It's early yet, but the Hawks are 3-0 and the Mavs are 1-2. Seems like Luka's magic is not quite as magical withe lineup he's currently working with. I'm guessing that the lack of Porzingis allows opposing defenses to focus more on Luka, although i don't follow the Mavs that much. However, the obvious answer is that Luka no longer has a Duke alum to play with (Seth Curry), so...it's over.

[COYS]

With that glowing review, does he really fall that far behind Luka in terms of where they were drafted? From what you've said, it doesn't sound like Trae is that far away from being an MVP caliber player at some point. It's early yet, but the Hawks are 3-0 and the Mavs are 1-2. Seems like Luka's magic is not quite as magical withe lineup he's currently working with. I'm guessing that the lack of Porzingis allows opposing defenses to focus more on Luka, although i don't follow the Mavs that much. However, the obvious answer is that Luka no longer has a Duke alum to play with (Seth Curry), so...it's over.

I'm a Hawks fan. I wasn't totally angry when the Hawks traded Luca, but I was disappointed. Trae had a big hole to fill. And honestly, he's exceeded expectations save for a rough month at the very start of his rookie year. The Hawks pegged him as potentially a Steph-level player and, honestly, he very well could become that.

That said, as good as Trae could become, the projection systems are unbelievably bullish on Luca. He's already a two-way player and is just as talented as Trae on offense (just in a different way). I'd STILL want Luca on my team ahead of Trae. That's no knock on Trae who has been incredible and more an objective assessment of how good Luca has been. They both have a LOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGG way to go, but while Trae definitely has HOF potential, Luca has top 10 NBA player of all time potential.

[JasonEvans]

I'm a Hawks fan. I wasn't totally angry when the Hawks traded Luca, but I was disappointed. Trae had a big hole to fill. And honestly, he's exceeded expectations save for a rough month at the very start of his rookie year. The Hawks pegged him as potentially a Steph-level player and, honestly, he very well could become that.

That said, as good as Trae could become, the projection systems are unbelievably bullish on Luca. He's already a two-way player and is just as talented as Trae on offense (just in a different way). I'd STILL want Luca on my team ahead of Trae. That's no knock on Trae who has been incredible and more an objective assessment of how good Luca has been. They both have a LOOOOOOONNNNNNGGGG way to go, but while Trae definitely has HOF potential, Luca has top 10 NBA player of all time potential.

Yup, this is almost exactly my take on things as well. Trae is fabulous on offense but his D is just wretched and he simply does not appear to be quick or long or strong enough to ever be even an average defender. I love having Trae and think he could, maybe, someday make the Hawks into one of the best teams in the league with the right teammates around him. But I will be shocked if Luca does not play in multiple NBA finals in his career. Luca appears to be a near mortal lock to be on the 1st or 2nd All-NBA team every year for the next dozen years, at least.

-Jason "and to get this back on the Dukie theme... the only way the Hawks win the Luca for Trae trade is if Cam Reddish turns into something close to an All-Star" Evans

[COYS]

-Jason "and to get this back on the Dukie theme... the only way the Hawks win the Luca for Trae trade is if Cam Reddish turns into something close to an All-Star" Evans

This is a good point. The Hawk's pick of Cam in the draft is the end result of the other asset the Mavs gave up for Luca. The trade should be judged in full. But the NBA is so heavily dominated by the biggest of the big stars that Cam probably needs to become a 2 or 3 year All Star at the very least before I'd even consider the trade anything resembling a wash. Cam was one of my favorites at Duke. I loved the way he played defense. So far, his D has carried over to the NBA. He's one of those guys on offense where you could see exactly how he could become great, but the game was just too fast his freshman year. He's made huge strides at the NBA-level, already. So there's at least a chance that his offense could bloom enough to become an All Star. He is also a good complement to Trae on the court.

All that said, Luca could truly end up a Lebron-level player, or very, very close. That is basically irreplaceable in the NBA. You simply don't give up a player like that for any reason.

There's at least a chance that this will all be settled on the court. It's not outlandish to think that Luca and Trae could meet in a Finals at some point.

[JasonEvans]

This probably belongs in the International Dukies thread, but Amile Jefferson has signed with a club in Istanbul.

https://twitter.com/GSBasketbol/stat...65870867701762

[CameronBornAndBred]

This probably belongs in the International Dukies thread, but Amile Jefferson has signed with a club in Istanbul.

Not Constantinople?

[jimsumner]

This probably belongs in the International Dukies thread, but Amile Jefferson has signed with a club in Istanbul.

https://twitter.com/GSBasketbol/stat...65870867701762

This likely ends his NBA aspirations. He's 26 years old, so he's not a young prospect and he absolutely dominated in the G-League, so he has nothing to prove there. He just couldn't channel that G-League dominance into a regular NBA gig.

[budwom]

Not Constantinople?

They say he's going to Ankara their defense.

[awhom111]

This likely ends his NBA aspirations. He's 26 years old, so he's not a young prospect and he absolutely dominated in the G-League, so he has nothing to prove there. He just couldn't channel that G-League dominance into a regular NBA gig.

He has all of the attributes that the most successful American post players in Europe have so I could see him using the rest of this season to prove that he can be an elite level player in Europe and then getting a much better gig next season.

Also good to see Jack White playing his first preseason game Australia.

[BlueDevilStop]

Loved seeing Tre Jones get his first NBA bucket. Giles once again showed why he needs more PT.

[SouthernDukie]

More positive stuff from Kyrie off the court:

https://apple.news/A22H4LLQHS4yXuIoT6ugSpw

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

More positive stuff from Kyrie off the court:

https://apple.news/A22H4LLQHS4yXuIoT6ugSpw

Very cool. He is a good dude.

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

Not Constantinople?

Hey, that’s no one’s business but the Turks.

[Steven43]

Hey, that’s no one’s business but the Turks.

Oh my gawd, I wish you hadn’t reminded me of that song. 😞

[WillJ]

RJ Barrett has now missed 21 consecutive 3's. He's 3 for 24 for the year, 5 for 40 if we include the exhibition games. He's also shooting badly from 2. I hope I'm wrong, but I think RJ is looking like he was seriously over-rated.

[budwom]

RJ Barrett has now missed 21 consecutive 3's. He's 3 for 24 for the year, 5 for 40 if we include the exhibition games. He's also shooting badly from 2. I hope I'm wrong, but I think RJ is looking like he was seriously over-rated.

I guess some guys eventually develop a shot, some don't (Amile Jefferson would be playing in the NBA if he could consistently hit a 12-15 ft. shot, alas)...RJ still has time, of course.