Scouts take on C's and other teams we care about

[Eddie20]

http://www.si.com/nba/2015/10/20/nba-scouts-preview-warriors-spurs-knicks-lakers-cavaliers-rockets

Boston Celtics

"They lack a star but have good depth, one through 11. They addressed their inside game; I’m not saying they brought in a stopper, but they added two decent-sized bodies in David Lee and Amir Johnson. Lee is still a good, seasoned forward, a double-double guy who can really rebound. Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk just don’t have a presence inside. They’re step-out bigs, a little softer than the two guys they brought in... They have a lot of good wings: Avery Bradley, Evan Turner, Jae Crowder, James Young, R.J. Hunter. I don’t know if they’ll go with Marcus Smart as the starter at point and bring Isaiah Thomas off the bench. Thomas was really effective last year, but I’m not sure he’ll be happy coming off the bench... With all that depth, I think they can now play small and run, or they can play big. There’s just no one guy other than Thomas who gives instant offense... Olynyk is one of those guys I just haven’t seen improve. He’s a good player, a rotation guy, but he hasn’t taken it to the next level. He could be out some minutes... I love Bradley. He’s not a star, but every year that kid gets better. Every year. He’ll probably start at the two. It is somewhat of a smaller backcourt, but they played well together last year, Smart and Bradley... I’ve been in the league a long time, and I’ve watched a lot of college coaches come in. Maybe 90% of them don’t make it. Brad Stevens made the smoothest adjustment I’ve seen. In the last two or three minutes, they won more games than anybody in the league. I know there are coaches in this league that copy his ATOs [after timeout plays] and end-of-game plays."

DRAFT PICKS...

Brooklyn Nets

"Of all the teams in the NBA, they have the longest road ahead of them. They’re trying to change things, but they’re basically plugging in average players. When you don’t have assets and you don’t have draft picks, what can you get? . . . Joe Johnson has no value. Deron Williams had no value. Kevin Garnett, no value. Getting rid of Williams, who was kind of a disruptive factor, should help. But then if you look at their point guards, to me they’re all backups... When Johnson’s got the ball, there’s no movement. He’ll catch it on the wing, they’ll clear out, and he’ll just back guys down into an isolation turnaround. That’s the only way he’s ever played. I don’t think they can improve by him playing like that... Early in the year Lionel Hollins tried to put Brook Lopez on the post, throw it in and score inside. It just wasn’t working. Once they moved to him facing the basket, working the elbow, [running] pick-and-pops they were a lot more effective. Lopez is as good a face-up shooter at his size as anybody—really deadly from 18 feet. They’ll run a lot of stuff with him or Andrea Bargnani in the pick-and-pop... They were lucky to get Thaddeus Young halfway through the season last year. That put them over the top and into the playoffs. Young doesn’t need to go through a play to score. He’s good at catching off the elbow and creating for himself. With Lopez out there, Young has the ability to get to the rim... Hollins is one of the better coaches in the league. He makes players accountable, but I think he turned the corner with them last year when he backed off a little bit. He was a little too controlling, running plays every time."

Dallas Mavericks

"This team has a lot of parts, but it’s hard to predict how they come together. If they have a good start, if they get with each other, they can be a 50-win team. But the center is going to be an issue, and they can just as easily be out of the playoffs... Tyson Chandler [who signed with the Suns] was good for them last year; he did all the things as a big that Dirk Nowitzki doesn’t do. They replaced him with backup players who have more faults than positives... There’s a reason the worst team in the league [the 76ers] didn’t want JaVale McGee. Sam Dalembert is at the end of his career. Zaza Pachulia clogs up the paint but doesn’t have shot-blocking skills. None of them are outstanding rebounders... Dirk is still pretty consistent. He gets you on his shot fake; he can get it on the post and shoot over you. I don’t see his game slipping because he was never a great athlete to start with... Wes Matthews is a great fit—if he’s healthy—but [$70 million for four years] is a lot to pay a guy coming off Achilles surgery. He goes hard and lives with a chip on his shoulder. He can shoot threes. He played with Deron Williams in Utah, so there is some familiarity there... If I was buying shares, I would buy big on Deron. He’s going back home, he’s better in a small market, he’s better without all the pressure. He has said that he wants the structure he had with Jerry Sloan. He will get it with Rick Carlisle... Last year Rick went to what he calls his flow offense: free-form pick-and-roll, just play, attack your man. I think he’ll go back to being more of a play caller, and they’ll run a more rigid offense. Deron could thrive in that."

We have their 2nd rd pick AND they have a huge fan on this board...

Philadelphia 76ers

"The roster is set up to lose. They’re awful. Where do you go with this team? They’ve been losing for so long, accumulating draft picks. The thing about the draft picks is that they’re duplicating—I just don’t understand that... I don’t see, at all, the combination of Nerlens Noel at power forward and Jahlil Okafor at center. That’s probably how they’ll start. Okafor is legit. You can build your team around him. But Noel’s a center too. He’s not a power forward. How’s he going to go out and guard stretch fours? And then opponents don’t even have to guard him. Noel can’t shoot past 10 feet... If you look at the rest of their roster, I think the only bright spot is Robert Covington. He has consistently shown improvement... They gave up their former lottery pick in [point guard] Michael Carter-Williams. I don’t know their reasoning. So instead they’re bringing in a bunch of guys to lose. The most important position is the point guard. Now, there was a pretty [dang] good point guard out there in the draft in Emmanuel Mudiay, and they passed over him. You would’ve had your point guard for the future and your center for the future... Brett Brown, at least, makes them play hard all the time. He kept them believing that they were making progress. He tried to implement a lot of the things the Spurs did. He couldn’t do it all because they really had no point guard... I don’t like Tony Wroten’s game. I don’t think he’s a point guard who’s going to distribute the ball well enough; he just wants to score... Remember: They scored 92 points a game last season. You can’t win in this league scoring 92 points."

[kozlodoev]

This was already posted somewhere. Also, thw scout who put James Young on the list of "good wings" has zero credibility with me.

[PhoSita]

Actually a pretty positive sounding take on the Nets.

I think the scout talking about the Sixers is missing the fact that they've got more than enough raw assets to turn that roster into something that actually makes sense once they've identified a star or two.  That could start this season if Okafor looks like the real deal en route to Rookie of the Year.

[Eddie20]

Actually a pretty positive sounding take on the Nets.

I think the scout talking about the Sixers is missing the fact that they've got more than enough raw assets to turn that roster into something that actually makes sense once they've identified a star or two.  That could start this season if Okafor looks like the real deal en route to Rookie of the Year.

I don't think that the case. It seems as though he doesn't think their assets, specifically Noel, is as valuable as you. It's funny to see how much Noel is overrated on this board. He's a good player with no offensive game whatsoever. He's a pretty easy to guy to take out completely, see what Golden St did to Cleveland. If Smart = TA, as has been alluded to, then I'll say Noel = Keon Clark.

[PhoSita]

Actually a pretty positive sounding take on the Nets.

I think the scout talking about the Sixers is missing the fact that they've got more than enough raw assets to turn that roster into something that actually makes sense once they've identified a star or two.  That could start this season if Okafor looks like the real deal en route to Rookie of the Year.

I don't think that the case. It seems as though he doesn't think their assets, specifically Noel, is as valuable as you. It's funny to see how much Noel is overrated on this board. He's a good player with no offensive game whatsoever. He's a pretty easy to guy to take out completely, see what Golden St did to Cleveland. If Smart = TA, as has been alluded to, then I'll say Noel = Keon Clark.

I think we're being awfully quick to decide Noel can't score considering he's entering his second season of NBA ball.

From what I've seen Noel has the coordination and skill to be at least a decent scorer at center a la Robin Lopez.  Who knows how efficient a finisher he might be playing with an actual point guard?

On the other end, just under two steals and two blocks per game for a rookie is nuts.  He has legitimate DPOY potential.  I'd be thrilled if the Celts could get him.

[Eddie20]

Actually a pretty positive sounding take on the Nets.

I think the scout talking about the Sixers is missing the fact that they've got more than enough raw assets to turn that roster into something that actually makes sense once they've identified a star or two.  That could start this season if Okafor looks like the real deal en route to Rookie of the Year.

I don't think that the case. It seems as though he doesn't think their assets, specifically Noel, is as valuable as you. It's funny to see how much Noel is overrated on this board. He's a good player with no offensive game whatsoever. He's a pretty easy to guy to take out completely, see what Golden St did to Cleveland. If Smart = TA, as has been alluded to, then I'll say Noel = Keon Clark.

I think we're being awfully quick to decide Noel can't score considering he's entering his second season of NBA ball.

From what I've seen Noel has the coordination and skill to be at least a decent scorer at center a la Robin Lopez.  Who knows how efficient a finisher he might be playing with an actual point guard?

On the other end, just under two steals and two blocks per game for a rookie is nuts.  He has legitimate DPOY potential.  I'd be thrilled if the Celts could get him.

He shot 28% from 3-10 feet and 27% from 10-16 feet. He also shot 60% from the line. Safe to say he can't shoot at all. His turnovers were also pretty high (1.9 per game). His blocks and steals are good, but so were AK47's and Gerald Wallace's in their primes and they didn't have DPOY potential. Noel is an average rebounder and is very frail so he gives up position/loses position easily and struggles defending postups.

Stats are cool though, so his blocks and steal numbers are awesome in fantasy basketball!

[KeepRondo]

Who's the huge fan of the sixers?

[Moranis]

Actually a pretty positive sounding take on the Nets.

I think the scout talking about the Sixers is missing the fact that they've got more than enough raw assets to turn that roster into something that actually makes sense once they've identified a star or two.  That could start this season if Okafor looks like the real deal en route to Rookie of the Year.

I don't think that the case. It seems as though he doesn't think their assets, specifically Noel, is as valuable as you. It's funny to see how much Noel is overrated on this board. He's a good player with no offensive game whatsoever. He's a pretty easy to guy to take out completely, see what Golden St did to Cleveland. If Smart = TA, as has been alluded to, then I'll say Noel = Keon Clark.

It seemed to me that the scout was down on Noel as a PF next to Okafor, not down on Noel as a player.  Of course I would expect Noel to only play about 18 minutes at PF and 18 minutes at center (with Okafor getting about 30 at center). 

The defensive metrics show that Noel was a dominant force as a rookie last year (and a rookie coming off major knee surgery).  He has Rodman/Wallace potential on that end and on the boards, though probably won't be much better than either of them offensively.  If Noel and Okafor actually can play together, then the Sixers have a pretty solid base to work with.  I think the Stauskas move is underrated.  Aldemir is a quality backup big.  Covington shows some promise.  Thompson is one of the best shooters (6'8" or taller) to ever enter the league (back to back seasons to start his career above 40% from three).  I can't see Wroten being a worse leader/manager than MCW was.  There are pieces in Philly.  If they put it together, I think they could really surprise this year (you know like mid-30's win total).

[dmopower]

Actually a pretty positive sounding take on the Nets.

I think the scout talking about the Sixers is missing the fact that they've got more than enough raw assets to turn that roster into something that actually makes sense once they've identified a star or two.  That could start this season if Okafor looks like the real deal en route to Rookie of the Year.

I don't think that the case. It seems as though he doesn't think their assets, specifically Noel, is as valuable as you. It's funny to see how much Noel is overrated on this board. He's a good player with no offensive game whatsoever. He's a pretty easy to guy to take out completely, see what Golden St did to Cleveland. If Smart = TA, as has been alluded to, then I'll say Noel = Keon Clark.

I think we're being awfully quick to decide Noel can't score considering he's entering his second season of NBA ball.

From what I've seen Noel has the coordination and skill to be at least a decent scorer at center a la Robin Lopez.  Who knows how efficient a finisher he might be playing with an actual point guard?

On the other end, just under two steals and two blocks per game for a rookie is nuts.  He has legitimate DPOY potential.  I'd be thrilled if the Celts could get him.

He shot 28% from 3-10 feet and 27% from 10-16 feet. He also shot 60% from the line. Safe to say he can't shoot at all. His turnovers were also pretty high (1.9 per game). His blocks and steals are good, but so were AK47's and Gerald Wallace's in their primes and they didn't have DPOY potential. Noel is an average rebounder and is very frail so he gives up position/loses position easily and struggles defending postups.

Stats are cool though, so his blocks and steal numbers are awesome in fantasy basketball!

I think in his prime AK was DPOY candidate.  He could literaly guard Kobe out on the floor handle his own man, rotate with the best of them and get in passing lanes as well as anyone in the game at the time.  Noel will have a fine career and will help any team he is on.

[Rondo9]

Yeah, Noel has no offense outside 5 feet. I think he'll struggle alongside Okafor this year.

[Eddie20]

Actually a pretty positive sounding take on the Nets.

I think the scout talking about the Sixers is missing the fact that they've got more than enough raw assets to turn that roster into something that actually makes sense once they've identified a star or two.  That could start this season if Okafor looks like the real deal en route to Rookie of the Year.

I don't think that the case. It seems as though he doesn't think their assets, specifically Noel, is as valuable as you. It's funny to see how much Noel is overrated on this board. He's a good player with no offensive game whatsoever. He's a pretty easy to guy to take out completely, see what Golden St did to Cleveland. If Smart = TA, as has been alluded to, then I'll say Noel = Keon Clark.

I think we're being awfully quick to decide Noel can't score considering he's entering his second season of NBA ball.

From what I've seen Noel has the coordination and skill to be at least a decent scorer at center a la Robin Lopez.  Who knows how efficient a finisher he might be playing with an actual point guard?

On the other end, just under two steals and two blocks per game for a rookie is nuts.  He has legitimate DPOY potential.  I'd be thrilled if the Celts could get him.

He shot 28% from 3-10 feet and 27% from 10-16 feet. He also shot 60% from the line. Safe to say he can't shoot at all. His turnovers were also pretty high (1.9 per game). His blocks and steals are good, but so were AK47's and Gerald Wallace's in their primes and they didn't have DPOY potential. Noel is an average rebounder and is very frail so he gives up position/loses position easily and struggles defending postups.

Stats are cool though, so his blocks and steal numbers are awesome in fantasy basketball!

I think in his prime AK was DPOY candidate.  He could literaly guard Kobe out on the floor handle his own man, rotate with the best of them and get in passing lanes as well as anyone in the game at the time.  Noel will have a fine career and will help any team he is on.

Absolutely agree. However, where I take pause is the pedestal quite a few bloggers have him on. He's not that good. He's too limited to consider him a potential franchise type player.

[Rondo9]

He could be Ben Wallace with better offense.

[Eddie20]

He could be Ben Wallace with better offense.

A bulemic Ben Wallace, with about 20% of his strength. Do you remember how physically strong Wallace was? That part of his game can't be forgotten.

[Celtics18]

Watching Nerlens Noel this preseason, I've been impressed with the strides he's making on the offensive end.  I happen to think he can play power forward, and that it will ultimately be his best position. 

His face up game and his perimeter shooting are still raw, but the effort he has put in is starting to show, and I think he'll keep improving on those aspects of his game.

He's gonna be really good.