How good do you think Brandan Wright will be next season?

I'm a fan of Brandan; however, I'm of the opinion that he won't make a splash until his 3rd season because of Nellie's system. On a team where he'd be able to focus on a more traditional PF role, I could see him making an impact next season.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (cpawfan @ Apr 10 2008, 10:18 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I'm a fan of Brandan; however, I'm of the opinion that he won't make a splash until his 3rd season because of Nellie's system. On a team where he'd be able to focus on a more traditional PF role, I could see him making an impact next season.</div>

Brandon Wright will be good. He is a starter/6th man for a team like the Warriors (but with a different game plan and set of players). On a worse team he is definitely a starter. On a better team, an elite team, he's a solid contributor off the bench. His production will depend on what the team does during the offseason. Player like Biedrins are going to be free agents and I am not sure how the roster will look next season. I don't even know if Nelson will be the head coach. But Wright is a productive player when he is on the floor because he is so long, tall, athletic, and pretty skilled and smooth. His ball handling needs some work. He seems to try to push the ball and then when he gets closer to the hoop the ball seems to bounce off his body and makes some chaos. But otherwise he seems to be like a good player. I don't know if he will ever be a dominating player or all-star, but he's got some good stuff to work with.

 

Simply putting weight on even if it's pure muscle isn't enough. You need to learn how to use that muscle, balance, etc. I'd say he'll be ready to play starters minutes in year 4. The next 2 years, he'll be adding weight and getting used to his body.

 

I think he'll be a significant contributor next season. Like others have said, under Nellie's system, who knows when he'll be a bona fide starter. But, the problem is, we NEED Brandon Wright. We need his size and low post presence on offense and defense. We need him to be what Al Harrington lacks. What does that mean? I have no idea, but I'm with the notion that "small ball" will only get you so far. The Warriors need more balance on offense and defense, and I think Wright is part of the solution.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Kensaku @ Apr 10 2008, 03:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I think he'll be a significant contributor next season. Like others have said, under Nellie's system, who knows when he'll be a bona fide starter. But, the problem is, we NEED Brandon Wright. We need his size and low post presence on offense and defense. We need him to be what Al Harrington lacks. What does that mean? I have no idea, but I'm with the notion that "small ball" will only get you so far. The Warriors need more balance on offense and defense, and I think Wright is part of the solution.</div>

The Warriors should definitely try to get more going on inside offensively. I think they need to get Biedrins more touches that way. But does Brandan Wright have much of a game offensively in the paint? It's not like Biedrins does, but he seems to be getting somewhat decent there. I haven't been able to watch many games. What I have gotten from Wright from the limited amount that I have seen him is that he is more of a garbage/tip-in type of scorer in the paint, not so much of a power guy nor with the talent in his skill bank to be a lighter scoring option in the paint like perhaps a Chris Bosh or Pau Gasol. But there are many times where I would rather see Wright or someone else on the court rather than that freezing ice cold and black hole Al Harrington.

 

If he puts on weight, i've seen what he can do when he gets minutes, and it's obvious he's gonna be a player.

 

Thanks for the videos Run BJM.

From these videos I can see that he is like Andris Biedrins though what he has going for him is that he is a bigger threat in the transition game going from defense to offense than Andris is. Though perhaps Andris is the one rebounding and starting the transition game. But so can Wright. That makes him a good fit on this team. As far as his offense in the slow paced game, I don't know if he has much just yet. He does have that lefty hook towards going towards the baseline like you mentioned. That is the shot that he needs to master. If he can do that then he will be very good, for sure. But obviously he has amazing potential and skill already blocking shots (and also goal-tending, but oh well) and rebounding should be easy for him with his length and mobility. When he was in the low post around a lot of people he seemed to get his shot blocked a couple of times. That could perhaps use some work. The team does not have a good big yet who is good when there are a couple of people on them in the paint. Biedrins keeps bringing the ball down and even dribbling it so players like Jason Kidd can come and take it away, and Wright seems to be somewhat limited there. But he is a quick finisher so if there is a quick gap between being singled up and being bogged down, perhaps he can get the ball up before the attention.

That baseline hook shot though, is probably the shot for Wright. I'd like to see him explode on the scene next season with that mastered. That would be great.

 

At first I was really worried about this guy being a tweener without the versatility. This is because he looks about as heavy as Tayshaun Prince or Andrei Kirilenko (guys who are small forwards but are tall like power forwards) and Brandan Wright's game is that of a power forward only. But Brandan Wright appears to be pretty strong for his amount of weight considering how well he did as a freshman at UNC at 200 lbs. This shows me that he has good basic functional strength to handle the power forward job and you know he has the ability to gain even more muscle and years of physical maturity. His game has a huge skillset. We're talking a young kid that has a 7'4-7'5 wingspan (which is incredible for his size), very good, large hands, excellent mobility in any direction, great hops, and the ability to face up, back people down, take somebody off the dribble, pass out of the double team, play above or below the rim... wow. That's definitely an upside right there.

His only real question marks is how honest can he be at the foul line, how consistent can he be from beyond 15 feet from the basket, and how honest is his power game? He's a very short range player who can shoot facing up or backing down and he doesn't play risky. Which is both good and bad as you want your player to stay closer to the hoop rather than drift and you don't want him committing dumb mistakes or playing outside his ability. At the same time, you want the power forward to be able to space the floor a little bit and create some options for the center or the wing when he isn't playing inside the paint. You want the power forward to be able to bang inside against heavier players and be able to recover from contact and shoot from 18 feet consistently. I don't know how he'll turn out at this level, but he's got some real potential there. His game is finesse, athleticism, and he looks like a high basketball IQ type of player. Having him is about as good as having the quicker, more impressive version of Spencer Hawes or Chris Bosh-lite-type-of -prospect.

I know I'm jocking Spencer Hawes lately after an overrated freshman year, but he's got skills and some major length. So does Brandan Wright, but he's a lot more athletic and has the potential to also become a very good passer out of the double team or even the high post. I miss Jrich, but I think Mullin made a good choice is finding a good prospect for a position that we need badly and getting more cap space. It's just too bad we couldn't keep Jrich and just deal Baron (LOL - like we would be a winning team then with Ellis at the helm ). Besides, I would then start complaining about Jrich handling the ball a lot more since Ellis and Sjax would be the primary ballhandlers in Nelson's 3 guard lineup. Ouch! Baron really is a great ballhandler, though. He's just got excellent control, great hands, and vision of the floor.

 

I never thought Hawes was a BWS, but I felt in some aspects he was overrated. I'll tell you who resembled a future first round pick BWS: Rafael Araujo. Now he's out of the league, so that was predictable back then.

Hawes at his age, stands a chance at being a better defensive player who can also score inside/out and get others involved inside/out. If North Carolina and Uconn wanted this guy, he must be pretty special, eh? I just think his game and upside is pretty decent if he be consistent and maintain average defensive ability. When you have a player that is prospected to make others better and be a versatile scorer and decent defender, that's something for the Kings to be excited about. You can't go wrong with high IQ players as long as they show a little toughness and results. The best thing I like about our own picks are that Wright and Bel are supposed to be high IQ players.