Immediately went and checked out the latest mock drafts……will be watching all the Duke/Rutgers games this winter. Baylor as well.
I think Simons has pretty much defined himself as a player. He's a smallish tweener guard entering his 7th season; shoots well, can't defend a chair. Meaning his generic value is well defined too. and obviously, practically speaking, the market for a player like Simons appears pretty limited. Would any team, other than Portland, really want to add Simons as a starter? I'm skeptical about that. I'd also speculate that any market for an undersized SG with no 'wing/2-way/3&D' potential 6th man is even more limited. And that market vanishes because of his salary
Most of us knew this was going to happen. And this has already been posted. maybe take a few people off ignore?
When asked why he never suited up in college, Sharpe said he was looking forward to the NBA all the way. “Getting my body right, getting a little bit stronger, a little bit bigger,” he said “My mindset was, get my body right.”
I'm not with you on the meaning you (& others) are implying from this quote. While his upcoming selection in the lotto and guaranteed millions was assured, he was also a teenager about to play against men in long NBA seasons. From an individual perspective, what was to be gained by playing a year in college vs what could be lost? The best thing he could have gained was maybe sharpening his skills and maybe improving his draft position even further. The downside is he could suffer an injury that truly damaged his draft position maybe even setting him back years and those guaranteed millions might all go away. Instead focusing on training and workouts lowers the risk of a substantial prior to the 2022 draft and lets him ramp up to be as physically fit as possible for his upcoming professional career. Taking the course he did doesn't mean that he's been injury prone or that he would absolutely avoid injury going forward. Hoops is a rough game and everyone who plays suffers injuries. While its a bummer Shaedon has suffered another setback, a labrum tear isn't an injury that should continue to effect him after he's past it like a knee or foot often do. Even if the Blazers were somehow able to be completely healthy this entire season, they'd likely be outside even making the playoffs. This is just a month+ setback in a developmental year that hopefully he still gets plenty of court time in. STOMP
I am not saying he is better than Scoot, (because he is not) but I would not mind if they started him next to Ant ........until Sharpe gets back. Then let Scoot bring some energy off the bench. Two taller ball handlers (He and Deni) next to 3 shooters in Ant, Grant, and Ayton
I don't see how you can spin that to be a good thing. I mean, you tried and it wasn't convincing... Sharpe avoided competition so as to not get hurt, and all he's done since then is get hurt. If he wasn't scared of failure, be it of the performance or injury variety, he would have played in college. Other one-and-done guys don't seem afraid to play while preparing for NBA competition the next year.
more time for Banton is NOT a good thing -- he sucks - he is a summer league chucker who has just enough skill to make a NBA roster for a team going nowhere.
Most aren't guaranteed to be lotto picks... there was some talk of him going even higher. I'm not spinning his course of action as a good thing, I'm saying its an obvious good option to consider for an athlete in what was his position. For us Bball fans it only sucks, but I'm never consulted and am sure we haven't seen the last of it. Cry a river if you want, but I'm not blaming athletes for making a logical business move for themselves. STOMP
are you a big devonte graham guy? wait, are you devonte graham? we could do worse than a 6-8 guard dart throw meme player for our 15th man. they can literally cut him if it’s not working out. put another way, at least he’s not dame’s cousin.
Sure, it's good for the athlete if there's enough intrigue surrounding them to offset the unknown, but it's a terrible gamble for the team. It's a greed play, using Kentucky for the springboard and using the NBA for a paycheck he wasn't prepared to earn, so yeah, I blame the athlete. Sharpe was the first to do that that I'm aware of, so there's not much historical data for teams to gauge the risk. Hopefully, getting burned as the Blazers have will make other teams cautious enough that future players won't make it a trend. "there was some talk of him going even higher." "its an obvious good option to consider for an athlete in what was his position." You do see how those are contradictory viewpoints, right? It was a bad option if he could have gone higher by proving himself. It was only a good option if he knew playing in college would expose him and make him drop in the draft. He graduated early and reclassified. He practiced with the college team and could have played if he chose to.
They are trying to lose. Just wait this out. Sharpe will need season ending surgery. Banton is perfect for a team trying to lose games.
No dude, you are missing the point. Maybe it's on purpose, I don't really care. Risk vs reward, he made a business decision and now has a 27M contract. If he plays at Kentucky and "proves himself" & goes higher in the draft he has even more millions in the bank but either way he's really rich. You're only kidding yourself if you think this is the last kid who will take this route or that teams will be scared off by his minor health issues. STOMP
How many high school kids reclass during their first college season, and have their first practices with the college team well after the season starts with a chance to possibly play mid season, while they are a likely NBA lottery pick? Its just such an unusual situation. All of these guys should be extremely cautious when there's life changing money hanging out there with real risks of it being lost.
