Author Topic: Early draft look: Franz Wagner. Gordon Hayward lite?  (Read 8193 times)

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Re: Early draft look: Franz Wagner. Gordon Hayward lite?
« Reply #45 on: June 02, 2021, 10:01:27 AM »

Online Celtics2021

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For those who are better scouts than I am:  can Wagner consistently defend PFs?  Can he be a point forward?

While I generally believe in BPA, I do hope we find a PF or a big PG who projects as a long-term starter.

Roy, the player you want to watch is Usman Garuba, out of Real Madrid.  Currently rated at 15 on multiple sites, he's a PF/C, who's 6-8, 230 with a 7-3 wingspan.  He has both the length and strength to guard traditional bigs, and the agility to guard the perimeter.  On offense, he's shown some feel for passing and outside shooting (30% from 3 on over 100 attempts, so not great, but something to work with given he only turned 19 in March), but is much more advanced defensively.  He plays ~20 minutes a game for Madrid, who dominated the Spanish league at 35-2, and also had a decent 22-17 record in EuroLeague, so he's a lot more likely to be able to contribute as a rookie than your average pick in the mid-1st.  The more I write about him, the more I'm surprised he's only rated in the mid-1st, because he sounds like a top 10 guy.  I've only gotten to see a couple of highlight tapes, so perhaps there are some negatives I'm missing that show up when you watch a full game.  His team is in the Spanish League playoffs still, so there are games that might be available to watch in the next two weeks.

My concern is I'm not sure he'd share the court well with Time Lord, particularly on offense, but that would require Time Lord to be healthy to even have the opportunity.  And if his shooting picks up such that you can't ignore him on the perimeter, they could actually be a great fit together.