I think Banchero has all the physical tools to be a solid defender in the league. He's long/strong/mobile laterally, and has shown he can defend when he wants to. While the motor is an issue for some players, I don't see it being much of one for Paolo especially if he can get into Chauncey's system from the jump. Unless they're extremely bad, I don't see pre-draft comments about top 5 prospects lazing on defense being much of an issue-- I'm far more concerned about physical tools when projecting how these guys will be on defense. And Chet has tangible physical limitations to how effective he can be on that end (difficulty defending in space, lack of strength to battle down low, slow-footed, etc), while Paolo does not. Also, Jayson Tatum wasn't really considered a strong defender at Duke either. Neither was RJ Barrett. Both are "plus" defenders in the NBA with some seasoning. This is what the Ringer said about Tatum pre-draft: Lacks defensive mentality. Loses focus off-ball, dies on screens. He has the ability but doesn’t play with much effort or NBA-level physicality Lacks defensive versatility. Flat-footed on the perimeter; gets toasted by guards. Thin in the waist, so gets overpowered by bigs While they said he was a competitive defender at lower levels, they also said this about Barrett: He’s a ball watcher off-ball who routinely misses defensive rotations; on-ball, he often falls out of his stance possibly due to a lack of interest, awareness, or energy. Here's what they say about Paolo: A strong and quick defender who could potentially develop into a versatile on-ball stopper. He can slide laterally against smaller guys and might be best suited as a small-ball 5 due to his comfort switching screens. Effective help defender who can alter shots around the rim using his length and athleticism—when he’s trying. Defensive effort fluctuated in high school and has absolutely evaporated in college. Every game, he has instances when he doesn't even bother to contest a shot or rotate to help. He’ll sometimes lose track of his man and he could be better about boxing out more frequently. Banchero shoulders a lot of responsibility on offense, so he might be conserving energy.
It's hard to teach a motor but we've seen more guys turn that around than slow foot speed. For our team, I will maintain that having two guys with feet as slow as Chet and Nurk playing in our starting lineup together would be disastrous in today's NBA. There have been possessions in the tourney and other games I've watched where Paolo locks in and he has the abilities to be a great one on one defender and team defender as well, the problem is the same was said about Carmelo during college and during the first half of his career before everyone realized that he wasn't going to flip that switch ever but I don't think Banchero grades out to a Carmelo level offensive beast so he's probably going to have to develop the other half of his game if he wants Melo type of money. For me, if you got the first pick, you would have to get these two guys in and Jabari and put them through some really tough defensive scenarios with other prospects or guys from our team and see how they do against NBA level talent before being sure that Paolo can't flip the switch or that Chet can't use his head and length to make up for his slow feet like he did a lot of the time in college. They're both more of a liability on defense than Jabari but I guess that's OT for this thread.
so? they also say he's mobile and can guard guys on the perimeter, which i wholeheartedly disagree with.
If we had a super strong and athletic big to put next to Holmgren then for sure he's the best guy in the draft to take but you have to have that personnel in order to make him work in my opinion and Nurk just isn't that athletic big, not at all. Maybe I'm wrong and the gigantic speed jump that happens from college to the NBA won't neutralize his high defensive IQ, the fluidity of his slow movement and extreme length that he's used to be a good to great defender up to this point. I've just seen that speed jump hurt a lot of guys especially if they're put with other guys that have problems with faster/quicker players.
I put very little stock in analytics for college players, especially the defensive ratings. These guys are too young not to assume they can't improve if they have the athletic and physical ability to be solid defenders. Same with analyzing their work ethic, at least not for the one and done's. The sample size is too small. As for Chet, I just don't think at this point in his very young career, that he can play center in the NBA. Sure he would block some shots but he is just not strong enough to battle down low. Not yet. IMO he needs to start out playing the stretch 4 position. He can shoot and he can guard most of them. Most are not that quick that they will be blowing by him. And he is not that slow. Although he can't protect the rim from the perimeter so one of his best skill sets will not be adequately used. He can still help out on occasion but for the most part, whoever drafts him will have to wait for him to put on weight if they are looking for a center.
These are the starting 4s in the west: - Crowder/Cam Johnson - JJJ - Draymond - Finney-Smith - Bogdanovic - Porter Jr. - Vanderbilt - Kawhi - Zion - Keldon Johnson - Lebron - Barnes - Bazley - Wood I can see almost every single one of those guys being able to blow past him if he's guarding them in space on the perimeter.
If you're comparing him to every other guy who might be a PF that might be taken in the lotto in this draft, Chet definitely is slow. He's not that slow for a center in this league and wouldn't have been that slow for a PF a decade or two ago but for a PF that you would use a number 1-3 pick on to play next to Jusuf Nurkic, the dude is slow as molasses.
Yeah, when you're questioning if a guy has slower feet than Dray, you probably don't want to use a top 3 pick to put him next to Nurk.
i mean, in reality with all these guys, they are going to get targeted by defenses their first few years in the league. Guys like Mobley are extremely rare.
If these are the PFs in the league then why do we even need one? Most of these guys can be guarded by Little or Winslow Finney Smith 220 lbs Kawai 225 lbs Vanderbilt 214 lbs Barnes 225 lbs Keldon Johnson 220 Porter Jr. 218 Bazely 208 Cam Johnson 210 Zion is currently too fat to blow by anyone. When he is in shape he is too good for anyone to guard
we need a PF who can not only guard these guys, but also be dynamic enough offensively to punish them on the other end. We also need to expand our offensive talent to the front court so our guards don't get targeted and neutralized in the playoffs.
I am not saying we don't need a good player in the frontcourt, just that your list is essentially telling me we need a big SF who can score and cover the perimeter.
Ya all former SFs have moved up a position. The SF-PF duos around the league are largely interchangeable and this transition has only magnified over the past few years, so that maybe only one team still has a tall/heavy PF (Cleveland). To bring it back to this thread, that's why I will staunchly maintain that Chet will be a mainstay C in the league.
I’d pick Chet only because I feel he has more upside. Kid shoots passes and plays good help defense. Of course I’m one of the idiots that wanted Oden. Although I’m 2 for 3 I wanted Roy and Lillard
Anyone thinking of drafting Holmgren has probably looked with interest at what Cleveland did with Evan Mobley.
