2020-2021 ROSTER TALK: Archived

[Branduil]

So, you know how Kamm is hellbent on maximizing size at every position? I am the same way, only about foot speed, agility and skills. 

I don't want to put words in his mouth, but I've learned over the years that he believes you start your search at each position with the ideal body style, height and wingspan and then narrow the list according to skill-set and fit. If two ideally sized players are available, he'd want the more skilled one. He's no dummy. 

I'm the opposite. I figure out which guys I think can DO what I want them to be able to do at each position, and then I narrow the list (or ranking) down based on ideal size and length. If two adequately skilled players are available, I want the bigger, longer, stronger one. But, it starts with skillset for me. 

Neither angle is right/wrong, imo, and usually, the VERY top guys will be the same at the end of either process. 

I would just rather err on the side of having a guy who's really fast, quick and smart. What I want to avoid at pretty much any cost is trying to make a guy who's too slow or not skilled enough work out of position. Examples: Harrison Barnes is a 4, not a 3. You can say he's not a good 4, and that's fine, but playing him at the 3 doesn't solve the problem. If he's not good enough for you at the 4 because of his size, then he's simply not good enough, period.

I'm not an OPJ expert, but I think if the Mavs are going to make a move for a true SF, then he needs to be able to handle the ball, and his foot speed needs to give them an athletic advantage at that position, not ONLY his size and length. The game is about covering ground quickly, nowadays. Does OPJ have an athletic advantage or a skills advantage over Paul George? I would say no, so why bother? Just keep developing DFS and hope for the best.

I COULD see OPJ making Kawhi Leonard or Lebron have to RUN in transition to keep up...idk, I just think he has what it would take to play the 4 against any team in crunch time, the small ones and the big ones. And, I think he could hold his own there most nights. 

I think OPJ could play SOME 3, I just don't see that as being a good plan for the default crunch time lineup.

EDIT: I want to reiterate that I'm not an OPJ expert. I'm not a league pass guy, but I watch the hell out of the playoffs every year. To put the above in perspective, change OPJ to Jerami Grant, and I'm CONFIDENT that I'm correct about everything above. I'm a little less confident about it regarding OPJ, but that's how I view him based on a fairly limited sampling of his game.

That's fair, but I'm not sure OPJ is an ideal full-time PF, he's lighter than DFS and Barnes. He has more of a Trevor Ariza type body, long and skinny. That's why I view him as more of a THJ replacement.


For PF I'm more interested in guys like Aaron Gordon or Grant, yeah.