http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/lis...rden-klay-thompson/1sdukx8bl4k5w14hiaake78wgs C.J. ranked 3rd. Too high? Too low? Discuss. BNM
I think some would drop him a spot but 3rd or 4th sounds right in the area to me. Hard to crack the top 2 and SG is probably weakest position in the NBA but that takes nothing away from what CJ has already done and can continue to do. But to be honest I really don't see Harden as a SG. I know he can be and shoots plenty but he plays the role of PG more than anything.
IMHO, you could put either C.J. or DeRozan at 3 and the other at 4. DeRozan actually had a bounce back season last year (contract year) after a subpar 2014-15 when he shot the ball horribly and was a very inefficient volume scorer (aka: chucker). DeRozan scored more, mostly because he gets to the line more, but C.J. is a better shooter, a better ball handler and better at creating for himself and others. For his superior size and elite athleticism, DeRozan is a very indifferent defender. In spite of playing fewer minutes, and being smaller and less athletic, C.J. averaged 30% more steals and as many blocks as DeRozan. You could make a case that DeRozan had a better 2015-16 season, but this ranking is for 2016-17. C.J. is younger and improving. DeRozan is in his prime and unlikely to show similar improvement going forward. So, maybe C.J. will be clearly better in 2016-17. We shall see... BNM
A bit high. Jimmy Butler is a SG. Derozan is so much better at getting to the line, while keeping similar assisting numbers. And you could argue that Middleton is better than CJ as well when you consider his ability to defend (granted he's out with injury). And Wade when he plays is about equivalent as the current CJ if not better. Unbiased, I'd put him around 5-7, with potentially climbing up this season.
No CJ would play PG. We'd have him there if we had no Dame. Harden plays with and always has played with a PG. He's a 2 just like Brandon was. CJ is s combo G that would always Point of we drafted say Drummond instead.
Disagree. If we didn't have Dame, we'd find a 3-and-D type PG to pair with CJ so he can dominate the ball while still playing his more natural SG position. Dame and CJ are both combo guards, with Dame leaning slightly toward the PG side and CJ leaning slightly toward the SG side of the fence. The latter is basically how Roy and Harden play.
Not in 2016-17. The Bulls will start Rondo at PG, Wade at SG and Butler at SF. As I said you could make an argument for DeRozan over C.J. and vise versa. Not sure why they left Middleton completely off the list. Probably due to the injury. He's expected to miss 6 months, and that wouldn't put him back on the court until late March, Might as well shut him down for the season at that point. Wade has been in a steady, gradual decline for the last four seasons. At almost 35, I expect this year will see a continuation of that trend for the fifth year in a row. And, of course, C.J. won Most Improved. One is on the way down, the other on the way up. And, since this is for the 2016-17 season, if those trends continue C.J. should be better than Wade this season. Other than age and health, I see Wade's biggest problem this year as the lack of a 3-point shot. As a SG who can't shoot the 3 (.159 3FG% last season, .284 career), Wade is a dinosaur in today's NBA. And, they are pairing him with Rondo (career .289 3FG%) in their starting backcourt. It seems like opposing defenses will just sag off both Wade and Rondo, clog up the paint and dare them to shoot 3s - making life more difficult for both of them. These are predictions for this season, not where they are right now. They are predicting C.J. will be the third best SG in the NBA for the 2016-17 season. So, if you think he's already 5th and expect him to move up, you are in pretty close agreement with what they are predicting. BNM
Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni said Harden would become the team's full-time point guard this season. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2665981-james-harden-will-play-as-rockets-full-time-point-guard
LOL! I remember last season, or going into the off-season, that Butler was angling for PG duties. Now he's been bumped even further from the position he coveted!
There seems to be a huge disconnect in Chicago between what they wanted to do and what their GM has actually done. The fired Tom Thibodeau and brought in Fred Hoiberg because they wanted a modern NBA offense with a faster pace, lots of motion and 3-point shooting to spread the floor. And then they go out and assemble what may be the worst 3-point shooting starting back court in history. You want a modern NBA offense, look no further than Golden State, where Steph Curry and Klay Thompson combined to make 678 3-pointers last season. By comparison, in 11 seasons for Rondo and 13 seasons for Wade, they have a combined career total of 576 made 3-pointers. That's right. GSW's starting back court made 102 more 3-pointers last season than Chicago's geriatric staring back court has made in their entire NBA careers. Last season, Dwyane made a total of 7 3-pointers all season. Steph Curry made more 3-pointers (8) on Halloween than Dwyane Wade made all season. Note, I said on Halloween, not by Halloween. Curry had 9 other made 3-pointers in October. So, that means Curry made 10 more 3-pointers in October than Wade did all season. That ripping sound you hear is Fred Hoiberg tearing up his entire playbook and starting over. Wade and Rondo are an upgrade in talent, but a horrible fit with what CHI was supposedly try to build. They may be better this season on talent alone, but it will require huge changes in their game planning and execution. BNM
