OK, we’re talking about players who will almost certainly be there at 6 who can shoot the 3, from day 1, and we’re not worried about their draft age … why not Devon Carter over Dalton Knecht?
Carter is, by miles, the better defender, a very good rebounder, is better at the rim, not far off from 3 (37.7% vs 39.7% on similar volume), is better in TS%, EFG%, 3PA rate and FTA rate, and is one year younger.
On D, Carter would be our primary point-of-attack defender, guarding PGs, thus enabling us to hide LaMelo a bit on D. On Offense, he’d play off the ball and space the floor, while also being able to get to the rim and pass the ball well. His fit is pretty seamless, IMHO. Now, he clearly can not create his own shot like Knecht can, and his height means he’ll have his struggles when switched on to NBA sized Wings, but I can’t help but think that once Risacher and Castle are off the board, Carter’s a pretty good and pretty safe pick who would be a positive on both O & D.
The No ceilings nba guys run a great podcast etc. I really respect their analysis and opinion on things. They do a great job with draft stuff. Even if I disagree with them, I respect the amount of work and thought they put into it.
That’s a great point. At this point, I’d still choose Knecht’s strength, polished offensive game, and pure shooting. But there is an argument to be made there.
At the end of the day, I’m not too bothered about anyone we select at 6 in this draft. For some reason, my gut tells me that the hornets will pass on Knecht so I’ve let it go already.
I just don’t love that devin carter is under 6’4". Yes, his wingspan is good but I really feel like the POA defender role with melo at the pg has to be taller to cover the better/more rigorous of the opponent sg or pg. For instance, on Miami, it has to be Jimmy Butler. On the celtics it has to be Jaylen Brown. You have to have size to do either.
Given the rest of his scouting report, he isn’t offensively dynamic enough to make up for that.
I think Carter will be a good pro. It’s just…the Hornets have always had an unhealthy obsession with undersized combo guards, and these playoffs all show backcourts with length and strength. Plus, I still want to see how Mann and NSJ develop. Not saying Carter can’t become better than them, but he might not get to their level either.
Is Knecht really that bad on defense? I hadn’t watched a ton, but every site points to this and his age as reasons for him to drop. He has the size and athleticism to be a defender, and I get that if you don’t have natural defensive instincts by now, you don’t suddenly develop him. But couldn’t he be coached up to be a really sharp team defender, especially under Lee?
Especially since Boston’s system is so very 3 heavy that it overwhelms opponents, I could see Lee wanting to bring elements of that over. Between Melo, Miller, and Knecht, add in Bertans, NSJ, Grant, Mann, Poku, allegedly Mark, could open up a lot of scoring explosions.
Yeah, I’m so done with Charlotte prospects who are either:
Undersized
or
Have the physical tools but still need to fully develop basic NBA offensive skill.
I’ve given up on the Hornets ever making noise in the playoffs, so give me a team that goes 42-40 and leads the league in scoring. Entertain me. One word:
Agreed. Good positional height/length, 3 point shooting and D, especially on-ball for Guards & Wings, are the three fundamentals I’m looking for. The trouble is, that leaves one player in this draft, Risacher. I can’t get behind Cody Williams at 6, he’s 20 lbs away from being an NBA Wing, but he’s the only other Lottery level player who ticks all three fundamentals. Maybe Tidjane Salaun, but it’s accepted he’s a raw prospect who needs time.
Knecht lacks on-ball D, Carter lacks height, Reed lacks height & length, Holland lacks shooting, Castle lacks shooting. And so on. This is a pic your poison draft.
@QC_Thundercats: It’s his on-ball D that’s lacking. His team D is absolutely fine, as he’s a fundamentally intelligent player. I wonder how much of his relatively poor on-ball D was a result of being the only offensive weapon on his team, so he had to conserve some energy. I also hear you on leaving room in the rotation for Mann and NSJ.
I don’t disagree. I was, to an extent, playing Devil’s advocate with Carter. That said, if he was 3" taller, he’d get picked before 6. I think I might take Knecht over Carter, but Dalton’s a bench sniper on this team, as we’d still need a primary 1-3 defender in the starting unit.
I’ll hark back to my original point that, while I agree we need shooting on this team, we’re absolutely desperate for D. Cody and Grant are probably the only plus defenders on the entire roster, leaving out the Centre position. We HAVE to add D this off-season and, if it’s not via the draft, that’s ok but it must be THE trade/FA priority.
I watched the clips in the article I posted. I think some of the tools are there but he definitely needs coaching. In almost all the clips, he plays too high in his CoG. That is definitely fixable. The one clip where he misses the chase down block, he was way to high to start with. The other clip where he stays in front, he starts lower.
I think you may be correct that he was taking it a bit easy on d because of the requirements of holding up the offense.
I think with some coaching attention to defense and especially defensive strategy he could get better. Enough to be serviceable.
It’s tough to tell because NBA and college are so different in terms of rotations, strategy etc.
It is also going to be interesting to see how much of the defense was a product of Clifford’s coaching. I don’t think Boston has any defense first guys with the exception of jrue. But they seem to get them to buy into the system. Over the last 10 years, it doesn’t seem to matter who is on the roster and whether they are a defensive first guy or not, with Clifford the defense is terrible. It seems to be an effort and focus thing.
There you have it! A 100% accurate assessment of everyone’s “team needs” in a rainbow colored chart.
Glad to see that we are not focused on the center, sg or pg positions. I’ve always thought that we could shoe horn a big SF into the SG position. I will interpret the heavy focus on SF as front office agreement w my thought. I appreciate the fact that the PF spot is also being heavily considered.
Yeah bring that kid from NC State in on a training camp deal and use the second round pick on a PF/C.
Getting into rumor season even in a “weak draft”. Saw this concerning a possible Ron Holland slip out of the lottery “It’s not just the questions on the court.” x.com
I think his first step is ultimately his limiting factor on D. I’m pretty sure he has the inteligence and work ethic to become technically sound, but just doesn’t have that initial burst to be a good on-ball guy. Interestingly, he has pretty much the same measurements as Castle (height, wingspan and standing reach) but weighed 19.8 lbs heavier! That additional weight probably ain’t helping his burst.
This has probably been said a hundred times, but, watching videos, the parallels between Castle and MKG give me the creeps.
A good but not elite athlete who “understands” defense. A “connector.”
A guy who can get you buckets with off ball movement.
Freshman NCAA champion playing next to a shot swatting big. Might’ve helped him look better than he was.
A busted three point shot.
At least Castle has kinda normal shooting form? But, also, you need a three ball even more now than you did in MKG’s youth. Today’s prospects grew up knowing this.
MKG actually had noticably superior length to Castle.
It’s easy to get caught up in these fears. I remember before the Rudy Gobert draft, guys were like, “No more frenchmen! He reminds me too much of Alexis Ajinca!” And he totally did have similarities to Ajinca, except Gobert was an actual NBA player.
Clearly I’ve locked into the Knecht idea. Some might not know that Knecht’s height/reach is identical to Miles Bridges. His wingspan is merely half an inch different. Is Knecht the athlete Bridges is? No. But is Knecht that far off athletically? I dunno. The dude has broad shoulders and he can get up. I wonder if there are a few stretch 4s in the league he could guard. That’s probably asking too much.
