What do you mean by hit? Even his second rounders are contributing, which is more than you can say about the majority. Crabbe, Connaughton, Barton, Layman. He really only has one obvious miss on his record, and that’s Meyers. But if you look at that draft class, even that isn’t so bad.
It's tough to find a good comparison. I was thinking Jeff Green/Rudy Gay/Parsons because of the rangy wingspan and the bounce combined with the decent shot, but none of these guys move off the ball like Jake does. He is assisted on a ridiculous 80% of his field goals this season. The name that's screaming out to me is Omri Casspi. Stats compare favorably, and it sorta matches the eye test too.
I wonder if it's actually a race thing. Stereotypically, a long dude who can really jump is black. Does he get discounted because he's white? I don't really know, but his shooting is vastly improved, which is what I care most about. Ballhandling.... absolutely.
There’s some truth in that. I think he gets discounted because he’s an American white. Fran Fraschilla joked that if Layman was European he would’ve been a lottery pick. Also, guys that athletic usually dominate college and don’t stay for four years. I remember when Layman was drafted his agent said he’s not a prototypical senior and that he had a big upside. At the time I just took it as an agent pimping his guy, but he was onto something.
I guess guys who he drafted that he signed to ridiculous contracts, gave up for nothing, or traded away that are contributing somewhere else, then yes. Perhaps I'm interested in who he has drafted that is contributing for the Blazers. Call me crazy. I already gave him props for CJ/Jake. But in 6 drafts, that doesn't seem like that great of a ratio.
Playing time isn’t up to the GM unless he forces the coaches hand, so I don’t know how you can blame Olshey for contributions. As far as the contracts given out, that’s a different story. Your premise was that outside of CJ (and I guess Layman?) he’s only had misses, which just isn’t true. I wish it was because it’s pretty much his only redeeming trait.
Ah, I see where it all went screwy. No where did I say that he'd only had misses outside of CJ/Layman. I did say a whole LOT of misses, but not only. No worries, people get sucked in by fake news all the time.
Zach is a miss. These guys were all picked after him who are unequivocally better. 10. Collins 13. Mitchell 17. John Collins ( I can't get over how perfect he would be as our PF next to Nurk) 22. Jarrett Allen 27. Kuzma (one pick after Caleb, ugh) 42. Thomas Bryant (check the numbers) Others who are just as good or in the same range: Bam, OG, Hart, Derrick White, Brooks, Monte Morris, Giles. Unless Collins improves, this was a disastrous draft, especially because he had 3 picks going into it.
I disagree. I see a lot of upside with Zach. More upside than any of those guys with the exception of Mitchell.
This bugs me. People keep saying he has upside but..... based on what? What upside are you seeing in Zach that tells you he'll be anything more than an average starter? There aren't even flashes. People keep mentioning his defense but he's averaging nearly as many fouls as rebounds as a 7 footer, while a guy like John Collins is putting up 19/10 on ridiculous efficiency at the same age. Thomas Bryant was a second round big man who just turned 21 also and is putting up double doubles nightly with good defense. Jarrett Allen has become a defensive stalwart and just had a 20/20 game on the road in a massive win in Houston. Kuzma is the Lakers best player after Lebron. Fair, but we are in win now mode. And there are about 10 guys who we could have picked that would have us in a better position to take on GS than we do with Zach. Or hell, we could have traded that pick. The fact that Jake is popping now doesn't mean Collins was the right pick. And fwiw, Zach has played nearly twice the minutes in his 1.5 yrs in the NBA than Jake and his 2.5 yrs. He's had the opportunity while Jake never got it til now.
Jake also went to college for four years, which is part of a player’s development. So comparing their NBA minutes isnt really fair. Zach’s learning on the fly. He doesn’t have the luxury of sitting for two years.
We can all spin this anyway we want to fit the narrative, but I will maintain that Zach is a bust until he shows us something otherwise. Honestly, I think it's generous for us to even peg him as a starter level player in the future and I feel like I'm giving his defense way more credit than it warrants. He offers very little rim protection, even against 2nd unit guards.
Gotta disagree with that assessment. 2 years into the league and playing in the rotation of a top 4 team in the west as a rookie and second year player is not a bust.
Zach’s got a better block % than, among others, DeAndre, KAT, Valanciunas, Horford, Ibaka, and Vucevic. And he’s doing that while being dragged away from the basket because of Meyers. Not bad for a guy that offers “very little rim protection”
once again, I will disagree and you are comparing a player that has 5 more years of experience and is 5 years older to a guy who just turned 21 and only in his 2nd year of the NBA after one season of college ball. They are both drafted in close to the same spot as well. Let's see where Collins is at when he has as much experience in the league as Leonard.
