I will just never understand the love for 2nd rounders and undrafted rookies this board has because the poster saw some college highlights, high school highlights or a good showing in Summer League. Most times these players turn into absolutely nothing.
Jae Crowder since he got here was a 30 MPG, 14 PPG, 5 RPG, 2 APG, 1.5 SPG player that was highly efficient at scoring while playing plus or better defense and helped to define the team's character. Ojeleye won't replace that for many years if ever.
And I will just never understand why people automatically dismiss players because of their draft position - or not as the case may be - but life is full of little disappointments
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Anyway, when it comes to the NBA draft, past is not precedent, imo. Each class, just like the players, themselves, is completely different, and the last two have been uncommonly deep even into the undrafted market, with guys purposely asking teams not to select them so that they can have their lay of the land, so to speak, which is quite different from the norm. A lot of them understandably don't want to be a "draft and stash", whereas before if a guy wasn't selected it was usually because teams either did not feel that they had what it took to make it in the league or because the club(s) had some kind of roster crunch, so you never know, and I see absolutely nothing wrong with exploring the option, which is also much cheaper than a standard rookie contract. What's the harm? The second round this year was loaded, imo, and I hope that Semi will turn out to be one of the best selections. Have you forgotten that most of the best players from last year's draft were second round picks to undrafted guys, never mind those outside the lottery? Brogdon won Rookie of the Year. McCaw became a part of the rotation in Golden State. Zipser had his moments in Chicago. Yogi Ferrell seemingly came out of nowhere to not only become the starting point guard in Dallas, but also a strong candidate for ROY. Bryn Forbes played well for the Spurs. Wayne Selden Jr. went from being undrafted to playing important minutes for the Grizzlies down the stretch of the regular season and even performed well in the playoffs, iirc. Sheldon McCellan killed it in his first start against Dwyane Wade and Jimmy Butler, had a number of good games, and hopefully will become a staple of the rotation in Washington, while Jarrod Uthoff showed his ability in Dallas, Gary Payton II was called up by Milwaukee, and Daniel Ochefu - again, against all odds - made the roster in D.C. and had some nice performances in the summer league when matched up with some of the most celebrated picks from this year's class, like Bam "The Bodybuilder" Adebayo, and this year's second round and undrafteds looks even better, even though I realize that you and I will never agree on this issue, which is fine.
As for Semi, he's very different from Crowder, imo, and not just in terms of athleticism. It's been mentioned that he's a better shooter, but he can also post up, has a step back jumper, can take the ball to the basket off the dribble, and gets to the line at an excellent rate, while also possibly having the ability to not only play, but also guard, 2's, 3's, and 4's given his quickness, athletic gifts, and strength. Great motor, too, with a work ethic to match. Hopefully he'll see some minutes in the big leagues this year, even though it's a much steeper climb for second round picks, not to mention undrafted guys, to break into the rotation, but we'll see what happens. Maybe he'll surprise a lot of people - even you, Nick, and Coach Bo, lol, but I'm not exactly banking on that one
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Topic: can semi replace crowder? I think so (Read 6593 times)