Re: What happens with Gomes? I didn't say Babbitt was unique in that respect. In fact, all of these prospects will need to improve to justify their draft slots. And my point is that when it comes to improvement, age is a major factor in their potential for improvement. That's why age matters a great deal. Projectablity is a function of both currently demonstrated ability and age. You're misunderstanding the point. The point is not that age is all that matters. It's that age matters. So does, as I said, currently demonstrated ability. Deron Williams was a far better player at the time of the draft than Webster was. That mattered also. Patterson/Nash implicitly gambled that Webster would catch and surpass Williams at similar ages...and they lost. That hardly means age is irrelevant...just that talent matters also. Both are important factors.
Re: What happens with Gomes? If a guy is 25, then I can see it. But Babbit turned 21 last Sunday, and will be 21 his entire rookie season. He was 4 days away from being a 20 year-old. Would that make any difference?
Re: What happens with Gomes? Good point. Though like has been said, Gomes has more range and can hit the 3. I just like Gomes' game, and don't view him as just a throw-in to the deal. I hope he gets a chance in training camp.
Re: What happens with Gomes? You're kind of going all over the place with this. We can only respond to what you write. I have no idea what you're going to write next. You singled him out and said if he didn't improve the pick is a bad one to prove the age factor was important. That has nowt to do with his age. The younger players in front of him might not improve either. I do know one thing for sure though, Michael Beasley is an alcoholic with legal trouble.
Re: What happens with Gomes? Another thing, and it's about Babbitt being a "small college" player. He received an offer from Ohio State, but turned it down to stay home. He's not some under-the-radar find like Gordon Hayward, who I think will struggle much more than Babbitt. I wonder if Babbitt would have been a one-and-done had he gone to tOSU?
Re: What happens with Gomes? He's 6'9" in shoes, but you must mentally subtract an inch for each year over 18, 6" of vertical, and add on one heap of "slow". Great job KP. You just drafted an undersized, unathletic, slow white guy to play back-up small forward. Should have drafted him when he was 18!
Re: What happens with Gomes? Yeah you are, you are blaming Beasley on one thing character flaw. One that with a young guy can be fixed if he is placed in a structured environment. Often kids like that WANT someone like Sarge to straighten them out. Beasley isn't 52 drinking three sixers of Highlife every night when he gets home from work, he's a kid. A millionaire but he's still a kid, likely one that always wanted some structure in his life.
Re: What happens with Gomes? Sorry not interested in my team being someone's sponsor. all he needs structure? Based on what? He might even get worse. Nothing says structure like an NBA road trip. If someone was 27 in the draft I'd see the original point. 20 year old or 21 year old is not a reason to not draft someone if they are better than the 20 year olds around them.
Re: What happens with Gomes? Even moreso when the 21 year-old turned 21 just 4 days before the draft.
Re: What happens with Gomes? Am I right in saying that (a) Gomes has to be traded (or waived) before June 30, but (b) he can't be bundled with any other player because he's been traded too recently? So we can't use him as part of a bundle to get a better-paid, better player?
Re: What happens with Gomes? additionally, we could (C) just plain keep him. But IMHO his real value is in shedding salary obligations for someone.
Re: What happens with Gomes? Evan Turner will be 22 when the season starts. Terrible fucking pick by Philly. Favors is 3 years younger, which means 3 years better.
Re: What happens with Gomes? I "singled him out" because he was the player under discussion. Age being important in projecting a prospect goes for all prospects. The reason I said that if he doesn't improve, the pick is a bad one is to underscore that improvement is a key aspect for a prospect...and age has plenty to do with that. Your point that "if he plays like John Stockton, it doesn't matter if he's missing a leg" is true for an established, prime player...but doesn't apply to any of these prospects, because none of them are currently good enough. They all need to improve and their age is important in projecting that improvement. They might not. They just have a greater potential to improve due to being younger. That doesn't mean they will all be better players, but how much improvement is left is an important factor, and age bears on that pretty significantly.
Re: What happens with Gomes? I'd say years in organized basketball is more important. Babbitt can't help when he was born and enrolled in school. Realistically, the youngest he ever could have been drafted was after last season, when he turned 20 right before the draft. So, he's one year behind Wall and Favors, but he played with and against all of those guys in AAU summer ball because he was only 1 year ahead of them in school.
Re: What happens with Gomes? If Turner were 19 and the player that he is now he would have been the #1 pick. If Favors were 22 and the player he is now he would not have been drafted in the lottery. Do you agree with those statements? If you agree, will you still argue age is not relevant? Ed O.
Re: What happens with Gomes? It's not about what he "can help". It matters how he projects. He is a year older and more physically mature than many in the draft, and that gives him an advantage over people that are younger than he is in terms of present production. It also tends to indicate his present production is closer to his ceiling, indicating his NPV is less than a player who is younger but has the same level of production. Ed O.
