2023-24 Insider Information Thread

[Dragitoff]

28 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

I think he DOES have a lot of potential, but he isn't going to be a high impact guy yr1, and probably not yr2. Just my 2 cents.

I agree that offensively he probably won't, but he could have moments of impacting a game on the defensive side of things year 1.  He's just got the size and raw skills that few do.  He will take time to develop for sure, but let's be honest, Clint's offensive game is limited to putbacks, lobs, and rim running now.  His post game is not good at all, yet he impacts the game at times on the defensive end.  I think Sarr will have moments similar to that. 

[kg01]

3 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

I disagree.

None of the guys slotted in the 10 range will be picked at 1.

When we were at 10, I said similar things.  That this was a tier-less draft of sorts.  That said, as you said, there's only one guy eggsperts consider the top prospect....

... and it ain't Edey's ice cream, hotSupes so get over it!  

I'm kidding, hotSupes.  Don't try to fight me when I come to Houston in a few weeks.  

[bird_dirt]

I wonder how much Valanciunas would cost to sign. IIUC he won’t be returning to the Pels. A big rotation of him & OO with a sprinkling of Sarr at 5 would be great. 
Could the JC TPE be used for him in some way?

[AHF]

27 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

Sarr's pie in the sky developmental time frame expectation should be something like JJs turned out to be. Not sure this is what the team needs atm, but not sure who else is a better pick either. 

FWIW, Jalen's timeframe could have been shorter.  I think it is obvious that Nate was holding him back.  He started producing basically as soon as he had a regular role and reportedly there were multiple assistant coaches who had been railing on this for a while.

[Atlantaholic]

Just now, JeffS17 said:

He's below average for a starting center, getting worse every year, and he severely hampers lineup flexibility because of how niche his role is on offense and defense.  Put any backup, rim running, non-shooting, paint protecting, big in his place and you'll see no drop off.  Probably just better offensive output and efficiency because that replacement does not have brick hands.  And they'll be cheaper.  I have loved Clint and I will always appreciate him for his role leading us to the ECF, but he has declined heavily and should not be a part of our future.

Lol ok, so any replacement level player we bring in is going to average 16-15 and 2blocks per 36 mins or better, gotcha. Totally realistic expectation. FYI last two years without Clint Hawks are 10-16 (31 win pace). We gave up 128 ppg this year in the 9 games he missed.

Look, I'm all for upgrading Clint but some of ya'lls expectations are crazy. If we throw away Clint for nothing we are knocking off at least 3 wins from our record, at the very least. Pie in the sky scenario, OO stays healthy and can give us 32-35 mins of really solid play a night we might break even. 

[kg01]

Just now, AHF said:

FWIW, Jalen's timeframe could have been shorter.  I think it is obvious that Nate was holding him back.  He started producing basically as soon as he had a regular role and reportedly there were multiple assistant coaches who had been railing on this for a while.

Give irobot a break.  His programming can't be adjusted on the fly.  Who you think he is?  Uniblab? 

[JayBirdHawk]

7 minutes ago, kg01 said:

When we were at 10, I said similar things.  That this was a tier-less draft of sorts.  That said, as you said, there's only one guy eggsperts consider the top prospect....

... and it ain't Edey's ice cream, hotSupes so get over it!  

I'm kidding, hotSupes.  Don't try to fight me when I come to Houston in a few weeks.  

LOL.

I know people say weak draft, flat draft, etc.  But is it really ever true in reality?

Each team has a draft board with each player ranked based on several requirements such as potential, need, etc.  

Some boards may be similar, others may be different.  Depending on where you are picking your draft board may change based on who is available to you.

I don't understand 'rather stay at #10 vs getting #'  philosophy.

[AHF]

1 minute ago, Atlantaholic said:

Lol ok, so any replacement level player we bring in is going to average 16-15 and 2blocks per 36 mins or better, gotcha. Totally realistic expectation. FYI last two years without Clint Hawks are 10-16 (31 win pace). We gave up 128 ppg this year in the 9 games he missed.

Look, I'm all for upgrading Clint but some of ya'lls expectations are crazy. If we throw away Clint for nothing we are knocking off at least 3 wins from our record, at the very least. Pie in the sky scenario, OO stays healthy and can give us 32-35 mins of really solid play a night we might break even. 

We can't give him away without some sort of replacement.  When he is good, the Hawks have been good the last few years.

[NBASupes]

12 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

I disagree.

None of the guys slotted in the 10 range will be picked at 1.

If you want to pick by consensus value, you have an insanely high bust rate. While I don't trust Landry to execute it, he's right in saying with have a WIDE cast range for this pick. This is the one draft, you can do that and it would make sense. 

[Atlantaholic]

7 minutes ago, Dragitoff said:

I agree that offensively he probably won't, but he could have moments of impacting a game on the defensive side of things year 1.  He's just got the size and raw skills that few do.  He will take time to develop for sure, but let's be honest, Clint's offensive game is limited to putbacks, lobs, and rim running now.  His post game is not good at all, yet he impacts the game at times on the defensive end.  I think Sarr will have moments similar to that. 

I think he'll struggle more defensively than offensively to be honest. He will be able to give us decent production on rim runs with Trae, but defensively any vet big is going to eat his lunch, and he isn't ready to guard in space yet. I think he'll get there but not yr1. 

[kg01]

1 minute ago, Atlantaholic said:

Lol ok, so any replacement level player we bring in is going to average 16-15 and 2blocks per 36 mins or better, gotcha. Totally realistic expectation. FYI last two years without Clint Hawks are 10-16 (31 win pace). We gave up 128 ppg this year in the 9 games he missed.

Look, I'm all for upgrading Clint but some of ya'lls expectations are crazy. If we throw away Clint for nothing we are knocking off at least 3 wins from our record, at the very least. Pie in the sky scenario, OO stays healthy and can give us 32-35 mins of really solid play a night we might break even. 

I dont think it's that simple. 

I recognize what capela brings when he's right.  But I don't think it's as simple as saying Hawks - Capela = worse.

Without capela, they will have to play differently, not so reliant on the C.  I've also wondered how Capela's questionable closeouts have impacted things defensively.  It's not nothing

Long story long, worlds do exist where the team can be better without Capela.

[JayBirdHawk]

1 minute ago, NBASupes said:

If you want to pick by consensus value, you have an insanely high bust rate. While I don't trust Landry to execute it, he's right in saying with have a WIDE cast range for this pick. This is the one draft, you can do that and it would make sense. 

If the FO is picking by consensus, then they should be fired.  They need to trust their scouts, the combine, workouts, interviews, personality, past tapes, Quin's input etc. 

I don't trust one thing Landy says though 

[Atlantaholic]

Just now, kg01 said:

I dont think it's that simple. 

I recognize what capela brings when he's right.  But I don't think it's as simple as saying Hawks - Capela = worse.

Without capela, they will have to play differently, not so reliant on the C.  I've also wondered how Capela's questionable closeouts have impacted things defensively.  It's not nothing

Long story long, worlds do exist where the team can be better without Capela.

As long as you upgrade him of course, but G-League rando is not an upgrade. The team, as is, we know how they play without Clint. It's awful. 

[JayBirdHawk]

4 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

I think he'll struggle more defensively than offensively to be honest. He will be able to give us decent production on rim runs with Trae, but defensively any vet big is going to eat his lunch, and he isn't ready to guard in space yet. I think he'll get there but not yr1. 

It's all about expectations. I'm not going overboard with sky high epectations.

If he can provide a little more than what Derreck Lively provided this year off the bench in year one - cool.  

[Atlantaholic]

4 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

If the FO is picking by consensus, then they should be fired.  They need to trust their scouts, the combine, workouts, interviews, personality, past tapes, Quin's input etc. 

I don't trust one thing Landy says though 

Yea, I'd be more excited about the draft if I had faith in our front office, but I don't. I just hope whoever we pick we get lucky on. The entire construction of the team is off though, even a slam dunk pick doesn't solve pretty much any of our underlying problems atm. We have two average/sub-par level starters available at C, one declining, the other too short and foul prone. We have zero depth at PF and our second best player is not good playing at the position where we put him for 70% of his minutes. So much to fix, but even blowing everything up and rebuilding is dicey since we are missing some of our upcoming picks. 

[NBASupes]

6 minutes ago, JayBirdHawk said:

If the FO is picking by consensus, then they should be fired.  They need to trust their scouts, the combine, workouts, interviews, personality, past tapes, Quin's input etc. 

I don't trust one thing Landy says though 

I would look at 25 players for 1st overall. 

Everyone with sense will come to workout for your team too. 

[kg01]

5 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

As long as you upgrade him of course, but G-League rando is not an upgrade. The team, as is, we know how they play without Clint. It's awful. 

Yeah but the deal is the team won't be as is.

And, to me, them being booboo without capela is more a function of poor team building than it is a confirmation of his actual impact. 

[JayBirdHawk]

3 minutes ago, Atlantaholic said:

The entire construction of the team is off though, even a slam dunk pick doesn't solve pretty much any of our underlying problems atm.

That's why I said regardless of pick position - the rest of the roster still needs addressing.

[kg01]

Just now, NBASupes said:

I would look at 25 players for 1st overall. 

Everyone with sense will come to workout for your team too. 

You know that's ridiculous.  A team may bring in that many guys, just due diligence.  But you'd only truly 'look at' 3-5. 

[JayBirdHawk]

1 minute ago, NBASupes said:

I would look at 25 players for 1st overall. 

Of course you do