Maybe that's where we differ. I think Thomas is an overrated player. He was an all star in a weak ass conference. To me he is a glorified role player, and if my best player was that, I'd happily trade him for the CHANCE that I get lucky in the lottery and find the next Lillard, Curry, Thompson, CJ, Drummond, etc.
Thomas+2018 first for Porzingis? draft Fultz, bring Zizic and you almost have a max contract space available. Try sign Hayward and trade Bradley for depth and resign Olynyk. Except for Horford this exact team can compete for the next 5-7 years at least. I think Lebron will be vulnerable in 2 years from now maybe. Fultz, Smart, Rozier Hayward Crowder, Brown Porzingis, Olynyk Horford, Zizic
Hayward is not a 2 and would suffer on D at that spot IMHO. They should keep Bradley and trade Smart (who is rapidly increasing his trade value. Thomas should go too. They need a center who can push Horford to PF. Sign Flash Gordon. Then draft and keep Fultz.
Nah--Smart is super valuable to them as well. Honestly, I think they'd be better off starting Smart/Fultz together in the backcourt, and keeping Bradley as their primary guard backup. Sign Hayward, deal Crowder/Thomas for the center they need.
So if the top 11 players in your opinion are "going to be pretty good pros" then you haven't made your point. Your racism against WABC saying that we shouldn't draft Zach Collins when that's exactly who we need. You shouldn't compare him to Myers when he actually plays like a big. He blocks shots and can score on the low block. Something Myers let it never did in college. I say all that to say that your assessment of Thomas, you know, the kid that led his team to the Eastern Conference Finals, is Dubious at best.
If you could send a package that includes Marcus Smart in exchange for Hassan Whiteside, you go do it.
What are you talking about? That's basically ALL Meyers did in college. That's what makes him such a disappointment now--that he was sold to us as a raw, athletic low-post player, and became...whatever he is now. As far as Collins is concerned, his point/rebound/block numbers are certainly superior to what Meyers' were, and I expect him to be a very good pro. But we don't need to rewrite history on Leonard to support that position.
Thomas for no. 7 pick with Minnesota makes so much sense it has to happen. Wolves need a point guard who has experience and can shoot, they don't need another rookie. Celtics with two top 10 picks, including no. 1, a top 5 pick from Brooklyn next season and Jaylen = bright future. Their target next year would then be Porter or Ayton.
In college just like now Myers had no postgame to speak of. That was one of his weaknesses. Leading the Big Ten in blocks shots with 1.9 per game tells me that the Big Ten sucks at blocking shots. Getting only eight rebounds a game in college when you're a 7-1 center means you suck at rebounding. And as we have seen, none of those so-called skills transferred to the NBA.
Still, that was among the strengths listed for him in the very video you posted--13th in shot-blocking amongst prospects that year, great weakside defender. And what did it say about his offense in the weaknesses section? Good numbers on post-ups and ISO's, but terrible jump-shooting percentages and mechanics. Like I said--he certainly was not as good a prospect as Collins, but to say that blocking shots and scoring on the low block was something Meyers never did in college is clear revisionist history.
Did you even watch the weaknesses in the video? Offense completely Raw. And no he had no post game to speak of. You saw in the video where he had eight inches on that guy and shot a fade away right? Nobody's revising history. Meyers Leonard sucked as a college player and sucks as an NBA player. When you're in college and you have his tools you should be getting 3-4 Blocks per game. Getting only 1.9 is a mark against him AND the Big Ten. It said in the video how he was wildly inconsistent. Getting 10 boards one game way less the next. He averaged only 8ish... For a kid as large as he is and with all of his tools and athleticism that fucking sucks. You keep pointing to the video but not remembering that it said he looks like a lottery pick one game and the next game he looks like a late second-rounder...
I think Thomas is deserving of his All star status. However if I am Boston I trade him for value. You have Marcus Smart and you have 3 good pg's to choose from in the draft.
The problem with Thomas to Minnesota is that Minnesota's defense is already awful. Replacing Rubio (one of their few plus defenders) with Thomas (arguably the worst defensive guard in the NBA) would probably make them historically bad on defense.
None of those things disagree with the point I've repeatedly made--that he was viewed as a low-post rebounding and shot-blocking big coming out of college, and that although not as good as Collins, those were the traits he was expected to show and develop in the pros. I'm not exactly sure what you're trying to argue. Nobody said Meyers is any good. All I've said is that he was, in fact, a decent shot-blocker compared to the rest of the country, and did, in fact, play more in the post than on the perimeter. The numbers bear that out, and the video said the same. I agree that with his physical tools he should have been better than he was, but it doesn't change the fact of the type of player he was in college--the same type that Collins is, but just not on the same level. To say that he "never" blocked shots or played in the post in college because he didn't do them as well as his physical tools suggest that he should have is absolutely rewriting history.
When you don't do them well you're not doing them. When you don't do them consistently you're not doing them. When your college game doesn't translate to the NBA you're seriously not doing it. Meyers Leonard has never passed the eye test. Not even when he had 56 dunks in his rookie season. He's as soft as a baby's bottom. We'll just agree to disagree. Meyers had the potential to do every one of those things that he tried to do and did inconsistently in college. So no, if you do it inconsistently you're not doing it in my opinion. And hell no he had absolutely no back-to-the-basket game at all and still doesn't after five years in the league.
