Just finished breaking down almost every team's rookies preseason games. My Take:

[NBASupes]

Rookies have completely shown a lot of quality in the preseason. I think this class will have a lot of day 1 end of rotation guys which is pretty good for rookies. This class will be better overall than last year's. I am even liking a lot of the two-way guys. Last year, a few like Allonzo Trier stood out but this year, a lot of guys are proven themselves to be NBA players. As the draft showed us, there were a lot of NBA players in the 2nd round this year compared to previous seasons.

 

The good and the bad. 

The good is depth as mentioned earlier. 

The bad is top-heavy, this class was not.

 

So far, of all prospects, only two look NBA ready so far: Zion Williamson and DeAndre Hunter. 

Some guys have shown a lot of good things: Herro, Reddish, P.J. Washington, Rui, R.J. Ja, NAW, Garland, both Porter Jr., and several others. 

Few guys have had some major struggles. Culver for example. 

 

The ROY based on the preseason is Zion v. Hunter with Zion having a substantial lead. 

That said, last year, it was JJJ v. Luka v. Ayton v. Carter Jr. v. Bamba

Trae and Bagley had preseason struggles. 

 

Players to watch for that are not Hawks: Herro, Rui, Zion, NAW, and Kevin Porter Jr. (CLE)

 

I felt we did good in this draft. 

[Diesel]

Thread.

[Atlantaholic]

Zion is legit AF.  I don't think we've ever seen a player like him before. When he hits his prime he may be the first player ever to score 30ppg on 60% shooting from the floor. 

[txsting]

Culver is looking fine to me, playing better than say, Reddish.

[NBASupes]

1 hour ago, txsting said:

Culver is looking fine to me, playing better than say, Reddish.

He played very well yesterday. He didn't in game 1. I made this thread yesterday afternoon. He played in the evening. That said, he didn't look as good as Cam in combo of both games for me. 

Edited October 11, 2019 by NBASupes

[NBASupes]

Zion and NAW put on a show tonight. 

[bleachkit]

59 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Zion and NAW put on a show tonight. 

Zion going right at Gobert and scoring with ease. He's a beast.

[Atlantaholic]

On 10/11/2019 at 10:26 PM, bleachkit said:

Zion going right at Gobert and scoring with ease. He's a beast.

Someone laughed at my suggestion Zion could average 30 ppg on 60% shooting. Well he's averaging 31 pp36m on 71% shooting so far in preseason. Most 20-year-old players you hear things like, "it's still early he'll adapt to the NBA game with time. It's just preseason, give him time" with Zion it's more like "wait until the NBA learns how to guard him". Like I said, he's going to be a generational player no question about it. 

[bleachkit]

1 hour ago, Atlantaholic said:

Someone laughed at my suggestion Zion could average 30 ppg on 60% shooting. Well he's averaging 31 pp36m on 71% shooting so far in preseason. Most 20-year-old players you hear things like, "it's still early he'll adapt to the NBA game with time. It's just preseason, give him time" with Zion it's more like "wait until the NBA learns how to guard him". Like I said, he's going to be a generational player no question about it. 

I tried to dismiss Zion, mostly out of sour grapes because we missed him by one ping pong ball, but he is special. There's no denying it.

[Spud2nique]

On 10/11/2019 at 11:35 AM, txsting said:

Culver is looking fine to me, playing better than say, Reddish.

Agreed.

[NBASupes]

9 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

Agreed.

It's not even close after 3 games right now. Culver in the last two has been playing his game and well and Cam has been as well and poorly. You can't shoot 3/10 on open three pointers. 

For perspective:

Len is shooting 38% on open threes.

Damian Jones is shooting 50% on open threes. 

 

You must be able to play your game and play it well. 

[Spud2nique]

15 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

It's not even close after 3 games right now. Culver in the last two has been playing his game and well and Cam has been as well and poorly. You can't shoot 3/10 on open three pointers. 

For perspective:

Len is shooting 38% on open threes.

Damian Jones is shooting 50% on open threes. 

 

You must be able to play your game and play it well. 

I still like both of them very much. I think we have a Trae/Luka thing here with these two where they will both thrive. I don’t put any stock into preseason games. Just try to see how players move on the court and if it’s fit for a pro game.

Ya I saw the first game Supes where they played the warriors, Culver went 6/17 or 6/18, he was still making the right reads and passes. Killer Cam is also feeling his way. Nothing surprising I guess.

[NBASupes]

14 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

I still like both of them very much. I think we have a Trae/Luka thing here with these two where they will both thrive. I don’t put any stock into preseason games. Just try to see how players move on the court and if it’s fit for a pro game.

Ya I saw the first game Supes where they played the warriors, Culver went 6/17 or 6/18, he was still making the right reads and passes. Killer Cam is also feeling his way. Nothing surprising I guess.

Right now on offense, Cam is Riley Freeman. Everything looks great except the execution. 

 

 

[Spud2nique]

30 minutes ago, NBASupes said:

Right now on offense, Cam is Riley Freeman. Everything looks great except the execution. 

 

 

Lol very fitting at the end when Riley says that’s all you get for free? (Preseason)