Indians shoot for the stars with potential-laden Clint Frazier
June 7, 2013MLB Draft: Indians select right-handed pitcher Dace Kime in third round
June 7, 2013As we continue to look through the Cleveland Cavaliers’ options with the #1 selection in the NBA Draft later this month, it’s time to look at Kansas guard Ben McLemore.
McLemore’s flying under the radar a bit right now with all the talk focusing primarily on Nerlens Noel, Otto Porter, or a trade for the Cavaliers at No. 1. However, there is certainly a case to be made for McLemore going No. 1. He’s a phenomenal shooter and scorer, but his position (shooting guard) and his poor scoring performances in four out of his last five games have cooled some of the hype around the redshirt freshman.
Let’s take a look at what those around the league are saying.
NBADraft.net
“Ultra smooth shooting guard with a lethal combination of athleticism and scoring ability … Absolutely an elite level athlete with prototypical size and athleticism for the 2-guard position … Shot has tremendous form, great elevation with the range to knock down the 3 ball consistently … Shows a good feel for the game with the ability to create shots off the dribble … Unselfish, team player who shows strong ability to pass the ball for an off guard … Great length. At 6’5, he appears to have a 6’9 or greater wingspan … Highly coachable kid.”
DraftExpress.com:
“McLemore’s college career didn’t get off to the best start, as he was ruled academically ineligible for his freshman season. His high school was shut down by the state of Missouri and he was dismissed from Oak Hill for violating team rules, forcing him again to transfer, this time to Christian Life Center. Once on campus, McLemore was arrested for failing to show up to a court case for possession of alcohol as a minor.
A bit undersized for a shooting guard at 6-4 ½ in shoes (measured at the 2010 LeBron James Skills Academy), McLemore has a solid but not incredible 6-7 wingspan to go along with a chiseled frame and outstanding athletic ability. Boasting some of the best leaping ability of any player in college basketball, McLemore is a highlight reel play waiting to happen and has very good quickness as well.”
HoopsHype:
“After Noel suffered a season ending ACL injury, McLemore became the favorite to be the top pick. But with inconsistent play, culminated by a dreadful tourney performance in which he scored 2 points on 0-9 shooting vs. UNC, McLemore left the door open for Noel to go first even with the ACL injury. McLemore bounced back with a big final game against Michigan, showing off his feathery touch and athletic gifts. He is not a finished product and scouts will nitpick his level of assertiveness and lack of a fiery personality leading up to the draft. But at the end of the day, he’s the guy in this draft with the greatest shot at becoming a superstar. While the feat has not been accomplished (a SG going 1) in 40 years, McLemore is in position to do it. His outside shot is comparable to a perfect golf swing, it’s a thing of beauty. Combine that with freakish athleticism and you have a high level prospect.”
Chad Ford/ESPN:
“An elite athlete who flies down the floor, McLemore is a beast in the open court, an excellent shooter when set and has the ability to defend multiple positions. He’s less effective when creating his own shot or shooting off the dribble, and he can become passive on the offensive end. Still, he has the potential to be the most exciting wing in the draft.”
Stats:
15.9 PTS, 5.2 RBS, 2.0 AST, 1.0 STL, 0.7 BLK, 2.1 TO, 49.5% FG, 42% 3PT, 87% FT, 73 3PTM in 37 games
Videos:
Past Film Rooms:
Alex Len
Nerlens Noel
Shabazz Muhammad
Otto Porter
To lead it off, I figured I’d poll a guy who watched McLemore more than anyone this season, our resident Jayhawk alum TD. Below is TD’s take:
“I had the pleasure of watching Ben McLemore’s one season on the court at the University of Kansas. He sat out the 2011-12 season as a partial qualifier, only able to practice during the second semester. While the Jayhawks were making a run to their eighth consecutive Big 12 championship and their first Final Four since 2008, head coach Bill Self was telling anyone who would listen: his best player in practice every day was not lottery pick Thomas Robinson or third-team All American PG Tyshawn Taylor (two NBA players). It was McLemore, a 6’5 two-guard who could jump out of the gym and was as fluid on the perimeter as anyone he has coached in Lawrence.
KU was supposed to take a step back in 2013 in part because they lost their two top scores and the keys to their offense, T-Rob and Taylor. Nobody knew who would pick up the scoring slack as KU’s key returnees were all roll players and the informing Freshman class did not include any high impact wings. Self knew, and from day one he unleashed McLemore as one of his starting guards.
In his second college game, McLemore faced the always tough half court defensive attack of the Michigan State Spartans in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome. I was in attendance and it was the first I had seen McLemore live. His strengths and his weaknesses both played out in this game. He would score 13 points on 5-7 shooting in 35 minutes. He wowed me with his athleticism and his quick release jumper, but as the game got tight down the stretch, instead of trying to take over, he deferred to his backcourt mates, seniors Elijah Johnson and Travis Releford. With one possession left and a chance to tie, McLemore didn’t make an attempt to tie the game, letting Releford take the final shot. Kansas lost 67-64. At the time, I chalked it up to a Freshman learning on the job and that as the season went on, he would become more assertive.
As it turns out, I spent most of the season wondering why McLemore would be the best talent on the floor, yet completely disappear from time to time.
His coming out party came in Columbus against Ohio State. During KU’s 74-66 win on December 22nd, Ben scored 22 points on an array of dunks, mid-range jumpers, and three-point shots. What took me aback were a couple of alley-oops out of timeouts that completely caught the Buckeye napping. McLemore just exploded to the rim.
It was after that game that Self told his assistants to enjoy him while they could, because this was a guy that would be leaving for the NBA after the season. However, that performance in Columbus would be his peak in hostile environments.
For most of the Big 12 season, B Mac would be a complete beast, All-American type talent at home, and often look like a scared, not ready for prime time talent on the road. There were several prime examples:
On January 9th against Iowa State, McLemore scored a career high 33 points on a whopping 10-12 shooting. He hit all six of his threes including a back shot with one second left to force overtime. He almost willed KU to this win on his own. In the return match in front of a raucous Ames crowd, McLemore played 38 minutes and only took six shots. Six. He was as close to invisible as I could ever remember a star player being. And i assure you, he did so not because of great Iowa State defense.
In the next game, a home tilt with West Virginia, Ben played 30 minutes and scored 36 points on 12-15 shooting.
Or how about the February 11th battle for first place in the Big 12 against Kansas State where the kid from St. Louis went bananas for 30 on just 12 shots. Ben then followed that up with a four-game stretch where he averaged just eight points and nine shots. That includes a double OT win at Oklahoma State where he played 49 minutes and went 3-12 and scored seven points.
For all of the smooth jumpers, unbelievable dunks, and 30 point games I watched McLemore put down, he would also go missing at times and had to be prodded by Self to be more aggressive. It was the same way with Brandon Rush during his three seasons in Lawrence.
I come back to his final two college games, which left me hollow.
In the round of 32 game in the NCAA Tournament against North Carolina, McLemore was so far from plugged in that Self benched him for most of the second half, while KU went on a huge run to turn a double digit half time deficit into a 12 point win. He sat for most of the final 13 minutes of the game, went 0-9 from the floor and scored a career low two points.
Then in the Sweet 16 OT loss to Michigan, he played well for the first 30 minutes of the game, scoring 20 points, but then went into the witness protection program, taking just one shot in the final 10 minutes of regulation and overtime, failing to score.
A lot of his passive nature comes from his biggest weakness – his ball handling which needs to improve. It also comes from the fact that he has never had to be “the man,” not even in high school. His AAU team starred Bradley Beal. The KU experience was new to him.”
The game I have to dissect for McLemore is a late January home win against Oklahoma. McLemore scored 18 points in the game on 5-of-10 shooting to go with 7 rebounds as the Jayhawks pulled away late to win by 13.
Let’s begin with McLemore’s obvious strength, three-point shooting. He connected on 3-of-5 attempts in this game. For the season, he made two per game and dialed up a 42% percentage from long range. Here, we see McLemore (#23 in white) on the right wing. For some reason, the Sooner defender is giving him all kinds of space on the wing while in helpside defense. This is probably why Oklahoma doesn’t normally do the basketball thing well (sorry, Blake Griffin and Wayman Tisdale).
As the ball gets reversed, you see just how quick McLemore’s release is. He’s a good step behind the line, but there’s no hesitation as he gets ready to load up a shot attempt.
The OU defender goes to close out, but it’s too late as the high and quick release of McLemore gets the job done as he fires and hits the long three from the right wing.
Here, we take a look at three pointer number two from a different camera angle (thanks, ESPN). McLemore starts on the left wing with Jeff Withey, the first-round draft prospect. McLemore fakes the reversal and looks to attack.
As he dribbles toward the left corner, both defenders close in as Withey is left alone momentarily on the perimeter.
Ben continues to the corner and posts up his man for a split second in an effort to create some separation.
Withey sets a screen, as McLemore takes a step back dribble and gets the space he needs to take a three-point jumper.
The best thing about McLemore’s shooting stroke is just how pure it is. Not much movement side-to-side or falling forward/backward. Straight up, straight down, quick release, no pronounced leg-kick. He’s comfortable from all around the arc, including strides behind.
On his last made three, we see McLemore with tons of space again. As you watch the Kansas guard navigate around the floor, he is always either working to get open or standing somewhere ready to shoot at a second’s notice.
The cross-court pass and a little interference run by Withey leaves McLemore with a clear sight of the hoop.
Notice again that he’s way behind the line. There is absolutely ZERO question about his range translating to the NBA line whatsoever.
With advanced shooting metrics off the charts, McLemore’s outside shooting is something to behold. The Jayhawk two-guard posted a 58.6% effective field goal percentage (72nd in the nation) and a 63.3% true shooting percentage (37th in the nation). Obviously, you can’t expect to translate the exact numbers to the next level, but his college marks would place him T-4th in the entire league in eFG% and 8th in TS%.
Here, we see McLemore catch the ball and score inside the arc on a quick offensive opportunity. He starts on the left wing (30 on the shot clock as the ball has been pushed up the court quickly). McLemore is in triple threat position and looks inside to the post. From here, he can definitely shoot it or pass it.
Instead, he starts a drive to the middle of the floor, which seems to catch the defender a little off guard. McLemore doesn’t usually take more than one or two dribbles because he’s an accomplished jump-shooter from mid-range as well. The defender has to keep that in mind.
This time, however, he does attack as he uses a crafty spin move to create space.
McLemore rises up off the spin move and finishes high off the glass.
McLemore’s other field goal in this game was an offensive putback made possible by running the floor in transition. McLemore is a pretty good rebounder for his size, grabbing 7 in this particular game. He also gets to the foul line at a pretty decent clip (3.8 FTA/game), hitting a stellar 87% of his freebies.
Now, let’s take a look at some of the highlights on the defensive end of the floor. McLemore starts out on the left elbow, defending the man in the left corner.
As we see his man cut through off the screen, watch how much ground McLemore covers in a short amount of time. McLemore gets screened by Oklahoma’s Andrew Fitzgerald (#4). So well, in fact, that he’s almost completely blocked from view in this screen grab.
Recovering and going under, McLemore gets in position to sprint out to close out on the shooter in the corner. Unlike ball screens where a consistent strategy (choosing to go either over or under the ball screen) is preferred, off-ball screens can often require a much more improvised reaction. Whatever is the shortest path to your man is the way to go, and where the pick is set plays a major role in that.
Here, McLemore does a fantastic job of closing out to disrupt the shooter while remaining under control to avoid a foul call. Buddy Hield misses the three from the right corner with the solid contest from Ben.
Now, we see McLemore handle an on-ball screen and recover. McLemore’s man gets ready to receive a handoff on the right wing.
Oklahoma runs the big man body shield play where the post flips it behind him as uses his body to shield the defender to create separation.
McLemore goes under the screen and still has time to close out on the wing, again under control.
Finally, we see another solid, if not flashy, defensive sequence for Mac. He starts defending in the low post on the left side. Despite the fact that he’s covering a guard that is likely to pop out on the perimeter, McLemore’s got a hand on him and is down in a defensive stance.
As the ball is taken out higher with the Sooners looking to run a play, McLemore fronts his man to prevent an easy pass into the high post. This could be overlooked or taken for granted, but so much of defense is the knowledge and willingness to do the little things and put forth the extra effort.
The ball gets reversed to the right side, where the shot goes up. McLemore immediately looks for his man to box him out. This is something the Cavaliers failed at across the board last year in the backcourt.
McLemore fends off his man and gathers the defensive rebound. Bill Self’s Jayhawk team led the entire nation in 2-point percentage defense and effective field goal percentage defense, and McLemore played huge minutes in that system that demands accountability and effort.
So, should the Cavaliers hold onto the top pick, do they pass on both Nerlens Noel and Otto Porter to take Ben McLemore? I’ll begin with TD’s final thoughts…
“There is no doubt in my mind that McLemore is a superior talent with as of high of a ceiling as any player in this draft. But make no mistake, he is not an alpha-dog. McLemore’s best chance to succeed is as a sidekick to a star. From the Cavs standpoint, if you put him next to a Kyrie Irving type talent, I think he would excel. Throw in Dion Waiters and you could have a 2013 Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Vinnie Johnson-esque rotation in the backcourt. McLemore has deep three-point range and is an explosive leaper. Defensively, he performed at a high level, as most top athletes do in Self’s system and would buy into Mike Brown’s defensive philosophy. He’s a great kid who came up hard. His story is well documented.
If he ended up in Cleveland, I for one would love it and would really be curious to see how McLemore would grow as a number two scoring option next to Irving. Do I think it will happen? Probably not, but you can never have enough backcourt scoring.”
I’ll add to TD’s take by saying the “we have a starting shooting guard that we drafted last year” logic is not thinking clearly. If the Cavaliers determine that McLemore is a talent that can’t be passed on, if they feel he will ultimately be the biggest star out of this draft, then they not only should take him, they MUST take him. There could be a potential minutes crunch, but you start with giving Kyrie Irving his 36 minutes at point guard. From there, you have 60 minutes to divide up for the backcourt. In theory, you could split the minutes down the middle for Waiters and McLemore, given that Waiters has experience backing up the point and playing extended minutes with the ball in his hands. You could also steal at least 6 minutes a game playing small ball to increase their minutes a bit.
Ultimately, however, even though I think McLemore would be a nice spot-up complement next to Kyrie Irving for years to come, I think the Cavaliers will end up taking a more all-around impact player at the defensive end of the floor in Noel or one with unique traits at both ends of the floor in Porter. McLemore’s lack of take-charge attitude in high importance games and the lack of ability to create consistently for himself makes me think that McLemore will have a very, long productive NBA career, but not a star-studded one.
Until next time, the film room is closed!
(Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
35 Comments
Stud with room to improve which could be scary. He and Kyrie Irving together would be something to behold. All that aside I’ll be stunned if the Cavaliers draft him #1.
The more I watch of this kid the more his abilities jump out. His shot mechanics are beautiful and his release looks almost as quick as Ray Allen’s. Also love his horizontal floating ability – he can take his last step to the hoop from way out and fly past defenders. His height is almost irrelevant.
But taking him seems almost like a guilty pleasure, like the Browns taking Mingo to make just one part of their team dominant. If they ever put Kyrie, Waiters and this guy on the floor together someone’s scoring 30 that night, or maybe those 3 guys 20 each. His passivity and trouble creating might not be so relevant here since Kyrie and Waiters go into attack mode effortlessly. This guy could be a nightmare Robin to Batman 1 and 1A. Still, it’s a man’s league and worry about his maturity. How on earth do you get thrown out of Oak Hill, a “school” which exists for the coddled and over-entitled gene pool winners. And how can you play oppossum in the tourny with millions on the line. But if I’m Grant and I’m worried that Noel’s injury and need for a full training camp mean he will make an impact too late to save my job, I might take McLemore.
Grant and co are going to do a ton of HW on this guy. If they feel like he can be a superstar in Cleveland for years to come, he will get the nod over Noel. Yes the big asterisk is that we have Waiters, but if that’s the only reason that we don’t take him, it would be a silly reason. Having Irving Waiters and BMc playing together down the stretch would be very tough to match up with. It would give us three legit scoring threats, all who can knock it down from long range and can play off the ball as well (this is important to Waiters and BMc because Kyrie will have the ball and kick to his wingmen). I’m literally salivating over the thought of Kyrie and Ben in the same lineup. And look, if we take him, Waiters than will become expendable if we decide that he’d be better off as a trade asset than as a 6 th man. I’m in favor of keeping Waiters as a super bench player, but if there is a trade for Kevin Love out there(probably not), that’s how we would get him(probably wont)
If Noel isn’t the pick you know the second guessers will be lined up just waiting to say “i told you so” I just hope that never enters Grant’s mind when deciding what to do. I was a (sup)Porter for Otto but the more I watched the playoffs and thought about the chance to add another athletic, dynamic, scoring player like McLemore the more I smiled. He’s a scorer who can shoot not a shooter who can score. There is a difference. While Noel is rehabbing until December only to return while needing time to strengthen his overall body not to mention learning that he’s not in college anymore and is among professional McLemore can be producing and providing even more offensive possibilities. I know alot of people are stuck in the “defensive” book but you’ll get Varejao back and you rehired a defense first HC. They still have young guys in Thompson, Zeller and Waiters who could all improve defensively I see no reason to draft Noel who is solely defensive, no offense whatsoever, even when 100%.
I just keep getting stuck on how the game of basketball has changed. The true defensive big men are all but extinct, it’s a guard orientated league. Some people may say all the more reason to draft a player like Noel and I understand that but for me that’s almost like the Cavaliers overcompensating for the lack of defense played a year ago. People forget they didn’t have Varejao plus Zeller and Waiters were rookies not to mention Irving and Thompson being in just their second years. I think this is why they rehired the HC.
Anyways the versatility and ability McLemore possesses is exciting. The versatility that the roster would gain with his selection is tremendous like you said. And lets not forget the Cavaliers would still have three more selections and there are a number of big men with potential still left in the draft other then Noel. There is really only one McLemore.
Some of the “advanced statistics” stuff I’ve read on suggest that McLemore has the highest bust potential of the top 5 guys…I’ll try to find the specific piece I’m thinking of.
While I look for it, has anyone else read this?
3/4 of the best teams in the NBA had 2 legitimate, traditional big men. And the 4th team has the 1st or 2nd best player of all time.
I wouldn’t buy the “guard hype” just yet.
Two traditional big men, who? Memphis is only team with two traditional big men that comes to mind. The Grizzlies sure could have used an outside shooter. The Spurs play Duncan more as a PF then C. During the regular season Splitter came off the bench alot of times.
Anyways I don’t consider Noel a legitimate traditional big man instead he’s more in the mode of Larry Sanders. AND has to become healthy AND strengthen AND bulk up.
Tony Parker leads the Spurs has been for awhile.
Would seem to make sense since he’s an offensively orientated guard as compared to Noel.
I understand why McLemore would be a good player for the Cavs, but I question how he will fit within the team.
1. Why do so many people assume that McLemore will be the starting SG? When was the last time Mike Brown started a rookie for the entire season? I would think that Brown’s experience would show that he’ll likely start Waiters and give him most of the minutes.
2. If Waiters does become the 6th man on the team, why do a lot of people think that he will comply with this decision? True, he may agree with this decision, but there’s an equal chance that he wants to be traded. If that happens, then you could possibly say goodbye to the dream of having a “2013 Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Vinnie Johnson-esque rotation in the backcourt” since we don’t know who the trade partner(s) will be, nor who, or what, the Cavs wil get in the trade.
Btw I never said a big man wasn’t necessary I’ve long admired Brook Lopez and Roy Hibbert just ask mgbode. I also like the hybrid big men David Lee is one of my favorite big men who isn’t a center. Same with Kevin Love.
1. Mike Brown never had a high draft pick like this pick. (no, Hickson doesn’t count). We have no idea how he handles playing high profile rookies, and there would be some front office encouragement for him to play big minutes.
2. Dion is powerless here. He’s under team control for three more years, so he has no choice but to get along or stand to lose lots of money in his next contract. They’ll find a way to coexist.
They won’t make 3 more selections and bring in 4 rookies – that’s for a first-year expansion team, or the 1986 post-Stepien apocalypse shock rebuild program. This FO claims the playoff push starts right now. Count on 2 rookies, possibly only 1 plus a trade for vets. Three more rookies would be pretty shocking, and make it mighty hard to compete when the rest of the group is so green.
Memphis – Gasol / RandolphIndiana – David West / Roy Hibbert
San Antonio – Duncan / Splitter
I’d say that those are all “traditional” big men…..
sadly I can’t find the article. But yeah, I guess in general, offensive 2 guards are always more bust-prone. Just the nature of the beast.
Memphis without a doubt yes the other two are debatable especially San Antonio because Splitter came off the bench much of the regular season with Diaw getting alot of time next to Duncan. Against Golden State Diaw played more then Splitter I believe. Against Memphis and now Miami it made sense that you’d see Duncan and Splitter together.
As far as Indiana goes at 6’9″ I guess you could call David West a big man but it’s marginal. If not his height maybe in terms of his game as well. He’s not a rebounder, he’s not a defender, he’s not even really a banger and believe me I like David West.
Actually this discussion fits in with the Cavaliers because they could use a prototypical traditional big man the problem is that’s not Noel. That’s more like a Len or Adams or perhaps Goebert which is why I personally like McLemore or perhaps Porter first then with the second first round pick a big man. You do this and you address all areas of your team in a pretty effective manner. But that’s just my thought I’m not as up on the rest of the potential guards available in the draft.
Gobert is more like Noel than Len.
I agree I’m actually hoping they can combine #19 and a second to move up with that additional second first round pick. Heck I wouldn’t mind trading #19 plus the two seconds if it meant getting high enough to grab someone desirable.
I keep misspelling his name must be the French thing anyways Rudy is a project too but I think he’ll muster more offense way before Noel ever does, how about you? I actually like Len and even Adams more but doubt either especially Len lasts until 19. Len probably won’t even make it to 10.
(1) people assume that Waiters would become the 6th man because McLemore cannot really create his own shot. so, if he’s paired with Kyrie that works well. if he’s paired with a backup PG, then it might not (Livingston would be just fine, but no guarantees he’s back).
(2) he might not be happy with it (and his comments suggest he would not be), but he’s not good enough to demand anything yet.
If it weren’t for Len’s foot, then I’d be pushing him over Noel right now. 7fters with bad feet scare me.
Rudy has the exact same offensive game as Noel. Terrible mechanics on anything away from the basket, a high-dribble, turnover-prone on passes, but great finisher around the rim against lesser athletes.
Really, Noel has better lateral quickness and better instincts blocking the ball but otherwise they are extremely similar.
Adams scares me because he should have been able to use his body more in the Big East that doesn’t call as many fouls under the basket.
Well I’m sure someone wrote it people always want to project busts and successes. I guess I just kind of like the possibilities a McLemore would provide but nothing is to say Noel won’t or can’t either just in a different way. I just have my doubts about Noel especially with the Cavaliers. Noel to me is a PF not a C with Tristan Thompson around not sure how a dynamic of Noel-Thompson would play out. To me McLemore would be an easier fit even with Waiters. Heck start Irving/Waiters and bring McLemore off the bench then until you see what he can do. I don’t know but I hope Chris Grant does!
Skinny athletic big men (Noel) with more then one injury to the same knee scare me too!
It’s a shame there really aren’t any projectable big men in this draft but I guess the absence of so many known players is why so many of the experts consider this another weak draft.
It’ll be interesting to see what Chris Grant does for sure.
yeah, it’s a concern, but i do agree with those stating a knee injury is less concern for a big than a foot injury (they each obviously have varying degrees and we should be poring over their medical reports).
I like Gobert, a lot, because the little film on him shows great hands and he appears quite coordinated for a legit 7-footer. Doesn’t look like a soccer player who just picked up a ball for the first time. But quite possible he’s long gone at #19, he’d be our second physically weak 7 footer and don’t see him as the explosive force Noel might be.
None of these options – Noel and an ok shooting guard, trading down for Otto and up for Gobert- make sense to me as the franchise turbo-charge Grant needs right now. There will be a complicated deal that brings a good rookie and a real good veteran. There has to be.
If we end up drafting 2 guys, then the most logical thing to me is this:
#1 Draft Noel. He’s the biggest asset in the draft to utilize in trade talks all summer and if we keep him, then we have a defensive PF (at first) who can hopefully become our Ibaka.
#19,31,33 – Trade all these picks for a combination of future picks, veteran players and/or moving up in the draft. If we move up in the draft, then draft a wing player who can score. Shabazz (mental) or Karasev (euro) both have big question marks, but maybe we like one of them.
If they draft Noel they almost have to draft at least one other player. They can’t be in the lottery for the third consecutive time and come out of it with just Noel who won’t see the court until maybe December if he’s lucky. Not after all of the “we don’t want to be here again” talk that was done at the lottery.
I’d be somewhat surprised if we didn’t draft 2 players regardless unless we pull off a huge trade.
Anyways, see my point on Noel. We wouldn’t just draft him to keep him, but also to use as a trade asset over the summer.
Using Noel as a trade asset would be mighty crafty I don’t know if Grant wants to be that forward thinking though. For me it’s either draft Noel hope that he can get healthy, stay healthy, develop/mature, learn some/any offense while maintaining the level of defense alot of people think he’s capable of…not to much to ask right? The more and more I try to talk myself into thinking Noel the more I want to go in another direction. Oh well.
He doesn’t have to be good enough to demand anything…he can still quickly become a locker room cancer…
Ultimately, he’s an athletic shooter who can’t create for himself or others. There is nothing about that particular set of skills that screams Top 5.
1 – I don’t like his passivity…and a lineup that consists of McLemore/Waiters or McLemore/Irving just means that teams will focus on stopping either Waiters or Irving knowing McLemore isn’t creating for himself or others.
2 – A 3-guard lineup with Irving/Waiters/McLemore gets killed defensively.
3 – Drafting him does nothing to fix the hole at 3 and 5. Nothing. It gives us a “luxury” at best with him (and in his case, I see him as a more athletic Wayne Ellington.)
depends on how strong our locker room is. i would hope that Andy, Tristan and Kyrie wouldn’t allow it.
doesn’t mean he couldn’t, but I think it would say as much about the rest of our team (and coach) as it would him.
I agree with everything you said. At once I was on the Otto-bahn but now I see that you can find SF just as talented as him in FA. Same goes for Noel. If he’s not going to be an offensive threat in his career, then we will be wise to stay away. BMc is a special talent, one at SG that doesn’t come around often. Porter is not.
you’re an idiot. Oak Hill is a very strict/near military boarding school. The school existed long before the basketball program and 90% of the students don’t even play basketball.