Exactly. And teams seem to be going more and more towards a "tweeners" at PF and we also need one as well to help defend the Channing Fryes who camp out on the perimeter. Because a "big banger" will not get out there in time. I love Dante's game. Funny part is he is shooting about the same percentage as Babbitt over the 3 games. But I realize DC does more little things. You are also right on Pendy. We saw last year where he can hit an open 8 footer, get the put backs, and even run the floor (Although he is not fleet of foot.) But you don't run the offense though him. I don't even like running the offense through G.O. But that is what summer league is for.
Since you didn't title this thread "OUR Summer League Players", perhaps we can expand it to talk about surprisingly good players on other teams. Here's my nomination: Jeremy Lin. [video=youtube;PvkXmMcGfLo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvkXmMcGfLo&feature=player_embedded[/video]
Pendergraph: C - He's showing toughness and rebounding. I wanted to see more. Mills: B- - He's shown NBA caliber speed and shooting. TOs and defense need work. Babbitt: C- - Is he injured or out of shape? The self-proclaimed best shooter in the draft has missed a lot of open shots. Has no NBA position on defense. A. Johnson: B+ - Has shown more NBA skills than I expected. Shooting is a weakness. Shown more than Babbitt so far. Has potential. Cunningham: B+ - Nice all around game and midrange jumper. Hasn't shown to be a go-to player at the summer league level.
Pendergraph is not just not a starting NBA player, he's at best a middle of the road reserve. Good hustle and intensity, great personality for the end of the bench, but extremely limited offense and poor defensive mobility make him unlikely to ever earn more than scrap minutes.
I think part of the reason Pendergraph was drafted was that he came in in a workout with Psycho-T and looked better than him. Now we know that that doesn't mean much.
Thus far Babbitt hasn't proved he deserves one second of playing time once the season starts. Maybe he will do better in the next 2 games or in pre-season. Right now he would be a decent catch and shoot guy who makes Rudy look like a lock down defender. I would rather give Donte the backup 3 minutes.
I completely agree (and Bayless aint it). I wouldn't really want to see the team add yet another young player (Mills or Johson) to that second spot, but it makes me wonder if getting a vet along the lines of Antonio Daniels, Earl Watson or somebody like that, for part of the BAE wouldn't be a bad idea (barring any trades)? Which brings me back to the same issue again and again: this team absolutely has to make a trade and balance the roster if they can -- five shooting guards on a roster is insanity.
Can you explain why that is exactly? Is it because he played well in the playoffs? Because he looks to score first? Because he improved his AST% from 18% to 22%? (Roy's was 23% last year FWIW) Or is it just intuition and "I watched him play"? And if it's that, what makes you think he can't improve, or why, even if he doesn't improve as a "PG" that he still can't be very useful to the team? The guy is a workhorse and improved massively from season 1 to season 2.
I saw enough of the offense stagnating with him throughout last season when he was in charge of running the show to get a pretty good idea of the kind of point guard he'd be (drives looking to score, usually with his head down). He did better in the playoffs, but it was a ridiculously small sample size to project much from it (just look at the fat contract Trevor Ariza got after a nice post-season run shooting the ball right before he entered free agency) 6 gmes is not enough time to accurately assess real, tangible improvement in my opinion. In addition, comparing his assist rate to Roy doesn't convince me he's a point guard, because Brandon isn't a point guard either. As for him being useful to the team in a role other than point guard, it's hard to make the case for him playing off the ball because his jump shot is so shaky, and with the imminent addition of a 34 million dollar backup shooting guard is he going to play over Matthews? I think Bayless has value as a player, especially for a team that is especially weak or undermanned at the guard positions and needs an attacking, driver to get to the free throw line or otherwise generate some offense, but there are more capable drivers (Roy and Miller) and shooters (Nic, LMA, Matthews) on this team and if Bayless is the point then I'm afraid those shooters will go "hungry" and drivers like Miller or Roy will be marginalized. Maybe you're right, that Bayless could improve with more time and more investment, but this team is now at the point where it should be looking to surround its core (Roy, Nic, LMA and Oden) with the right kind of complimentary players with proven NBA abilities, and much less so with players who offer "potential."
