Castle ROTY watch

[Dejounte]

Sarr and Risacher where drafted for that raw talent and potental. They played outside US, so adaptation is part of process.

I think it’s exactly the opposite. Sarr and Risacher came off of professional Euroleague basketball. They’re supposed to be ready compared to the NCAA.

[Knoxxx]

https://hashtagbasketball.com/nba-rookie-rankings

Right now I'd go:

1) McCain
2) Edey
3) Knecht
4) Castle

We probably blew the #8 pick when we could have had one of the above other players. But, that will take a long time to play out having punted the pick to 2030-31. We will start to have a better idea though next year with who we add from the 25 draft class. If we find one player better than McCain or Knecht I like how that is looking.

The answer as to why we punted the #8 pick may be simply because we knew we could afford to.

McCain is on a terrible team, so I think that hurts him. If the Lakers keep winning and Knecht keeps shooting so highly, he may emerge as the favorite and is trending well. I like our odds to have Castle beat out Edey based on the way I like to hope or guess this season is trending and Castle being a riser that keeps getting strong minutes.

[ambchang]

I haven’t watched too much McCain or edey. Watched some knecht and as much as he is a strong finisher, his defence is suspect as best. Really good concept of spacing on offence and quick shots. I’m not sure about his creation yet. Have to watch more. I know people hate this comparison but he really does remind me of McDermott quite a bit.

Edey, of the few highlights, slow, but effective in the paint, almost robotic in his ability to carve out space and score. Ridiculously strong. His style of play does clog up the lane and I’m not sure if he’s good enough to be the centrepiece of an offence, so he’s hard to build around. His lateral movement seems to be very slow. Again just mostly highlights so could be totally off the rails.

[Mr. Body]

Right now I'd go:

1) McCain
2) Edey
3) Knecht
4) Castle

We probably blew the #8 pick when we could have had one of the above other players. But, that will take a long time to play out having punted the pick to 2030-31. We will start to have a better idea though next year with who we add from the 25 draft class. If we find one player better than McCain or Knecht I like how that is looking.

The answer as to why we punted the #8 pick may be simply because we knew we could afford to.

McCain is on a terrible team, so I think that hurts him. If the Lakers keep winning and Knecht keeps shooting so highly, he may emerge as the favorite and is trending well. I like our odds to have Castle beat out Edey based on the way I like to hope or guess this season is trending and Castle being a riser that keeps getting strong minutes.

I think they were wary of a roster slot and guaranteed salary to a rookie they couldn't entirely count on being good. It's easy to say they should have picked McCain or Knecht when there were a lot of players available there and it could have just as easily have been Williams or Buzelis. We don't get to pick players in retrospect. If they passed on Dillingham, they were likely going to pass on McCain as well. Both small no-defense guards.

As far as using the pick, the cap space they had was pretty much exactly enough to absorb Chris Paul's salary from Golden State. Maybe throw a couple second round picks or whatever. IMO this was their #1 goal, to get veterans, and taking the pick would mean doing so was impossible as far as CP goes. It turns out not only did they get CP but they still got another veteran out of that cap space.

So... the calculus is this... [a swing at one of a number of rookies, many of whom are not great] vs. Chris Paul, Harrison Barnes + future pick, future swap, future swap.

Personally, I think the long-term boost CP and HB will provide this team even with one or two years with them will be more valuable than even Knecht or McCain would be. If you factor in the likelihood that the pick would have been someone else, this is a no-brainer.

[Knoxxx]

I think they were wary of a roster slot and guaranteed salary to a rookie they couldn't entirely count on being good. It's easy to say they should have picked McCain or Knecht when there were a lot of players available there and it could have just as easily have been Williams or Buzelis. We don't get to pick players in retrospect. If they passed on Dillingham, they were likely going to pass on McCain as well. Both small no-defense guards.

As far as using the pick, the cap space they had was pretty much exactly enough to absorb Chris Paul's salary from Golden State. Maybe throw a couple second round picks or whatever. IMO this was their #1 goal, to get veterans, and taking the pick would mean doing so was impossible as far as CP goes. It turns out not only did they get CP but they still got another veteran out of that cap space.

So... the calculus is this... [a swing at one of a number of rookies, many of whom are not great] vs. Chris Paul, Harrison Barnes + future pick, future swap, future swap.

Personally, I think the long-term boost CP and HB will provide this team even with one or two years with them will be more valuable than even Knecht or McCain would be. If you factor in the likelihood that the pick would have been someone else, this is a no-brainer.

I thought Knecht was a no brainer at 8 because of how badly we needed shooting. The only question mark I had was his defense, time will tell on that, but he looks like a long-term NBA solid player.

[Mr. Body]

I thought Knecht was a no brainer at 8 because of how badly we needed shooting. The only question mark I had was his defense, time will tell on that, but he looks like a long-term NBA solid player.

He's pretty old for a rookie, doesn't do much other than shoot, and is a poor defender. Some of those may change (other than the age), but those aren't things the team is looking for right now. They seem to be prioritizing 1) veterans, which they got, and 2) multi-use players with size, like Castle. Not disagreeing that Knecht could have been their guy, but they ultimately saw the value of keeping the space and going for their 1) goal, which worked.

[exstatic]

I thought Knecht was a no brainer at 8 because of how badly we needed shooting. The only question mark I had was his defense, time will tell on that, but he looks like a long-term NBA solid player.

We would not have Harrison Barnes right now if we drafted Knecht.

[ginobilized]

Castle is definitely the best 2-way player among his class.
If Castle keeps improving and avoids injury, he will be in the running, no doubt.

[DAF86]

We would not have Harrison Barnes right now if we drafted Knecht.

That's not a good excuse at all. You don't avoid drafting a guy that can give you a good 10 to 15 years just to get a veteran that can give you a couple good ones at most.

[rjv]

Castle is definitely the best two-way player of this rookie class.

[LeBowen]

Castle is definitely the best two-way player of this rookie class.

He's already one of the better guard defenders in the league.
Who's better? Jrue, Derrick, Caruso, Smart, SGA, Suggs, KCP...and that would be about it? I'm not counting 6'8 guys like Herb as guards.

[Tyronn Lue]

That's not a good excuse at all. You don't avoid drafting a guy that can give you a good 10 to 15 years just to get a veteran that can give you a couple good ones at most.

Agreed, at least not Harrison Barnes. But it depends on the goal. Developing 3 or 4 new guys with high potential with a sunsetting coach would be difficult at best. When you have Victor, maybe the focus needs to be to get enough veteran presence around him to develop him, understanding other, less brilliant diamonds are going elsewhere. Basically those rookies probably don't help develop Victor, since there's only one ball.

[SpursBills]

Dyson Daniels, Anthony Black, Amen Thompson, and Castle are going to be an interesting group to watch moving forward. All about 6'6"-6'7", lead guard skills, great defenders, read the game well, questionable jump shots going into the draft

Pre-draft, I would have probably had 1) Thompson 2a/2b) Castle/Daniels 3) Black

Today as perimeter defenders, by my eye it's probably 1) Daniels 2) Thompson 3) Black 4) Castle with Castle being the youngest and least experienced of the 4, which roughly tracks based on defensive EPM

The big swing factor is the jumper - Castle's looks like it's going to translate the best and that will be huge moving forward for his potential as a lead guard

If you asked me to pick today based on how their careers pan out, it's probably 1) Castle 2) Thompson 3) Daniels 4) Black

[Cabrito]

On the Warriors broadcast last night, they were talking about the Spurs getting Paul and Barnes and brought up Terry mings playing with the Warriors at the end of his career. mings commented that “young players don’t need more younger players.” Our young players need to learn how to win and get the stench of losing out of the building. We didn’t need yet another young player to develop with the 8th pick. McCain and Knecht are nice players, but I am not going to hand wring over getting Barnes and future draft capital over them.

[Mr. Body]

That's not a good excuse at all. You don't avoid drafting a guy that can give you a good 10 to 15 years just to get a veteran that can give you a couple good ones at most.

Again, this is retrospective thinking. It's easy to look back and say a team should have picked the obviously good player now. At the time it wasn't clear Knecht was going to stand out. Every draft pick has a range of outcomes and they decided not to take the pick. It's not like they decided against present moment Dalton Knecht.

[RC_Drunkford]

I don't see trading the 8th pick as a big deal tbh. Before the draft I still didn't know who I would've drafted with that pick and said I'd most likely trade it. There were some nice players to have, but our roster is decent and we got enough picks coming in. None of those players would move the needle much.

[DAF86]

Again, this is retrospective thinking. It's easy to look back and say a team should have picked the obviously good player now. At the time it wasn't clear Knecht was going to stand out. Every draft pick has a range of outcomes and they decided not to take the pick. It's not like they decided against present moment Dalton Knecht.

It isn't retrospective thinking. Many saw Knecht as safe a prospect can get to stick in the league (outside of generational talents). His shooting, size, underrated athletic ability and high IQ made him a very likely prospect to become a rotation player right away.

Proof:

Unlike most prospects in this draft (ike Castle, Holland, Williams, Salaun, etc.) this guy seems like a sure thing to stick in the league, at least as a rotation guy, imho.

[exstatic]

It isn't retrospective thinking. For a non generational prospect ala Wemby or Lebron many saw Knecht as safe a prospect as it can get to stick in the league. His shooting, size, underrated athletic ability and high IQ made him a very likely prospect to become a rotation player right away.

Proof:

That’s not proof, it’s an opinion.

[TimmyBuckets]

His numbers won't be high enough.

[DAF86]

That’s not proof, it’s an opinion.

It is proof of people seeing Knecht as a safe prospect and not being retrospective thinking, which is exactly what I said:

It isn't retrospective thinking. Many saw Knecht as safe a prospect can get to stick in the league (outside of generational talents). His shooting, size, underrated athletic ability and high IQ made him a very likely prospect to become a rotation player right away.

Proof:

[baseline bum]

I don't see trading the 8th pick as a big deal tbh. Before the draft I still didn't know who I would've drafted with that pick and said I'd most likely trade it. There were some nice players to have, but our roster is decent and we got enough picks coming in. None of those players would move the needle much.

Yeah I was rooting for Buzelis or Cody Williams at #8 once Holland went #5 and in retrospect not too disappointed about missing out on either now, though I'd still have loved to have gotten Holland despite his rough start. Once Dillingham measured way below what he was listed I was out on him, especially after the Spurs were virtually guaranteed to get one of Castle or Sheppard at #4. It's still funny talking about the 20131 dream though.

[scott]

Yeah I was rooting for Buzelis or Cody Williams at #8 once Holland went #5 and in retrospect not too disappointed about missing out on either now, though I'd still have loved to have gotten Holland despite his rough start. Once Dillingham measured way below what he was listed I was out on him, especially after the Spurs were virtually guaranteed to get one of Castle or Sheppard at #4. It's still funny talking about the 20131 dream though.

Buzelis actually starting to show something the last few games now that he's getting more minutes. Still to early to say anything about this class, really.

[100%duncan]

He should be in the running. He should be a starter even when all guys are healthy, because he's that good already. If he ups his per games to like 16-18ppg, 4 rpg, 5apg I don't see why he can't win.

Mccain may fizzle out or regress to the mean. And Knecth just doesn't impress me enough for ROY status yet, though I wanted him at 8. Knecth will have the propaganda with him though, LA media and all.

[playbonner15]

If Castle can have multiple 18-20 plus pt games this season, he might have a chance. But it's gonna be McCain or Knecht for now

[spursparker9]

McCain will be ROY. He is the only one with the free rein to take any kind of shots he want and he make it look effortless too