From Distance: Luka Say What Now?
2018-07-13four point play….
1. In today’s vlog, my head explodes over the possibility that Luka Doncic could have been a Cav.
2. I contrast Collin Sexton’s defensive ceiling to Luka Doncic’s underrated athleticism, and talk about some technical skills they need to acquire.
3. I go on record saying Doncic will be a superstar and toss out some Sexton comps based on what we have seen so far.
4. At minute 15, (for the love of basketball, that was a long vlog), I break down Billy Preston’s shot form. Then I bid you all adieu again. I really gotta stop doing that.
New small post up for the return of Channing!
That’s some weird geometry in the framing, Ben!
Almost weird 70s Sci fi style.
Didn’t get to watch till now. Good stuff.
Loved that video, Ben! Thanks for the Preston breakdown. Really like the upside from an undrafted free agent.
It truly is. Great visuals!
If one was to draw/paint a few lines following the angularity of the vertical walls with the light as its source of origin, could give the room an infinity feel.
Great room! I would love to have a reading room with that type of character.
RJ and Delly. Let’s make this happen.
FRYE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Awesome! And I don’t understand why the Lakers didn’t keep him. Guess he doesn’t fit in with their plan of washed up gritty vets who can’t shoot and who may in fact be actual sociopaths…
Nice! I’m not sure he’s too useful here but I don’t care!
Good mentor for the young guys. Great locker room presence. Good way to start a rebuild is having vets that are positive influences around the young kids. Can’t be much more of a positive influence than Frye.
Pure class.
I’m ready for T’Wolves KLOVE with a ring and chip on his shoulder.
So, twenty for camp?
1. Sexton, 2. Hill, 3. Cedi, 4. Love, 5. Nance; 6. Clarkson, 7. JR, 8. Korver, 9. TT, 10. Zizic (all for certain unless a trade happens):
11. Perkins, 12. White, 13. Preston, 14. Holland, 15. Hood, 16. Lee, 17. Colson, + 3 more (or more if some trades happen): Mathias, Artis, + 1 ?
Rumors of Jabari Parker heading to Chicago. I wish him health. He could be a good player if healthy.
Outside of Embiid that 2014 draft class is looking pretty weak.
Embiid is one of the NBA’s best. Jokic is really good. Gordon and Saric are definitely solid. Wiggins, the #1 pick is mediocre but still young and talented. Seems like a typical draft in my view?
I’ll take Sexton, I’m happy with him. Let’s move forward and build this roster.
Sexton – SexTown – SexLand 😎
Awesome! Maybe he can pick up some that indomitable Croatian spirit from the futballers, sad as I was to see England lose, credit to those guys for powering through game after game.
Hopefully we are still playing after Sunday.
slammin sam–sexton is only 19—still could grow some –possibly–2-3 inches —wingspan also
Possible but unlikely. That would be cool though.
Like…. really unlikely. Hardly anybody gets any taller at that age.
https://twitter.com/jamesleon006/status/1017843436299276288
Brutal. Hehehe.
https://twitter.com/JoeyLangone/status/1017733533710934017
Also is Sexton undersized for a point guard? 1 inch shorter than Kyrie and 3 inches longer wingspan. Taller than Chris Paul, 3 inches longer wingspan. Taller than Lowry, 5 inches longer wingspan.
According to Google, average NBA PG is 6’2”… so looks like he’s average.
*with shoes.
The knock on his height isn’t that he can’t guard PG’s or even SG’s, it’s that Paul and Lowry, while great defenders, came up in the league before they really started the whole switch everything scheme and you really started seeing shorter guys get exploited in the playoffs by SF’s like Lebron, KD and Giannis. That said, Chris Paul is such a tenacious and smart defender that he held his own on switches against the Warriors, and Lowry is still basically in immovable object on defense, so I think there is hope for Sexton if he makes it a priority,… Read more »
I’m on the fence about Doncic. Some days I love him, some days I think he’ll be very pedestrian.
HAHA… the truth is probably somewhere in between? I don’t think he’ll be pedestrian… the best comp I’ve seen was Paul Pierce. I find that to be a pretty reasonable ceiling for him.
No way. He and Paul are radically different. Mullin might be a good comp.
Mullin and Pierce are nearly identical statistically. I’d say both are reasonable comps… maybe a blend between the two lol. Mullin listed at 200 lbs., Doncic at 220, Pierce at 235.
I actually like the physical comp to Pierce far more than Mullin. Doncic is bigger and far quicker than Mullin ever was in small quarters. Pierce was another guy who dropped because people didnt understand his brand of athleticism. Length, quick feet for a big guy and an ability to pull up on a dime. Pierce wasn’t the ball handling wizard that Doncic is, but few players are. Still, he’s a much better comp than Mullin. Chris had good straight line speed and grew into a strong player with time, but he didnt have the natural size that Pierce and… Read more »
Nice comp. Pierce probably a bit longer. Joe Johnson possibly a decent comp too.
It’s fine to have hypothetical conversations, but reality is the only real world comparison is between Trae Young and Doncic. That was the true exchange. If you want to compare Sexton with everyone picked afterward it appears in the very short sample of summer games that the Cavs have made a good decision. Sexton is an honor roll student, athletically gifted, and motivated hard worker. Those qualities are precursors to success. Doncic has been groomed professionally for years, Sexton hasn’t evolved anywhere near his potential. Yes he’s six foot with a slightly longer wing span which is short for the… Read more »
+2
Completely agree with this statement.
Good point… I’d argue Young’s the better passer, shooter, and off-the-dribble, but will be a complete zero on defense. Doncic will be able to guard the post, adds an offensive dimension in posting up, and can finish around the rim with a lot more ease.
Edge goes to Doncic because he’s not a zero on defense, how much so remains to be seen.
I don’t think Trae Young is the better passer. He can’t make cross-court passes the way Doncic’s height and strength allow him to.
I have Doncic as best player in this draft also. Trae Young has been showing some great PG skills in the summer league too. How about Knox ? He has been amazing.
Great vlog, per usual. I don’t know that it’s worth spending too much energy on the deal that didn’t happen, unless you really have a blow by blow and you can say that the Cavs turned something down. The Mavs had every advantage in making the trade because their pick was so much higher. I think a more reasonable question is whether the Cavs should have taken a more NBA-obvious physical package like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, instead of going with the intangibles and undersize in Sexton. If nothing else, we should expect to see some fight from the Cavs this year.… Read more »
Good points. It’s hard to be too critical of ‘what if’ trades…no one outside the teams can really know how serious the talks were, and how close they were to completion. I agree with Ben, you do that trade all day if it was possible, but it may not have been in any way close.
I wasn’t too hot on SGA, but he has the size for sure. I think the Cavs interest in him was on ice after he said he didn’t want to play in Cleveland.
Gah — you’re right MikeO — I keep forgetting that about SGA’s giving the Cavs the cold shoulder. Fine. We will roll with the Sexmachine.
Go Cavs!
Like most prospects, it’s all speculation. I like Doncic and think he’s likely the best player from this last draft. But… The cost of getting him is greater than most are making it seem. If Doncic is an all NBA player in the future? It’s a no brainer. If he’s a consistent all-star? Probably a good move. Anything less? A disaster.
Great article!
https://www.theringer.com/platform/amp/nba/2018/7/13/17567936/collin-sexton-lebron-james-cleveland-cavaliers-running
(Bill Simmons, finishing his edit of the article)
“I like it Paolo, but can we work in a ‘God still hates Cleveland’ at the end there? Also can you find a Celtics angle? Maybe a trade proposal where the Celts get Kevin Love for Brian Scalabrine and 2 seconds?”
*laugh*
Hahaha 😁
“Who says no?”. Although to be fair, Simmons would never throw in two seconds in that trade, one at most.
I don’t think anybody isn’t arguing that Sexton is a better prospect than Doncic right? If the Mavericks are sending a likely lottery pick to move up two spots do you really think the Cavs were getting to move up 5 spots for cap relief and a relaxing of pick protections? And who the hell would the Hawks have been taking at 8? None of it makes sense. Also not sure why Doncic having a 31% 3 shot is somehow a positive but Sexton being a competent midrange jump shooter is a negative. If anything the fact that Sexton shows… Read more »
Sorry “is arguing”
The details on the trade are fuzzy, but I am with you on Doncic. Best player in the draft.
Maybe. In literally any other era, Ayton is the absolute sure think best player. Still might be. Gotta see Doncic play in summer league/NBA defenses, not that summer league is great d (schematically , but guys try hard and many are hyper athletic).
This is exactly the kind of ignorance that makes these conversations futile. I don’t mean to be rude, John B. It’s fine if you like Ayton’s potential. Where the ignorance lies is this: “Gotta see Doncic play in summer league/NBA defenses, not that summer league is great d (schematically , but guys try hard and many are hyper athletic).” People still seem to be completely ignorant to the level of play and stylistic similarities of the Euroleague to the NBA. The summer league is nothing compared to what he has already dominated on a regular basis. Over the last 10… Read more »
http://cdn.playbuzz.com/cdn/15a588ab-ff6c-4a0d-8aea-fb217642f6b3/f647895c-3e04-4004-8f7b-6423327ddce3_560_420.jpg
I meant I have to see him play. I don’t get to watch euro league games. All I have seen are highlights which never seemed very impressive to me. He seems like he has decent form, but takes a lot of pull-up threes based on the highlights and someone mentioned he only shot 31% from deep. He also doesn’t seem super explosive to me and while his handles seem impressive he looks uses a high dribble a lot of highlights, which makes me wary of turnovers. His passing seemed to be the strongest part of his game based off the… Read more »