just sayin', but nephew started almost all his rookie year and all our playoff games during his rookie year as the 15th pick
Leonard looked bigger in college than Carter Bryant. Then Leonard rookie season was the 66 game season, where the season started later. He fixed his shot in the off season and had more time. He just came into the NBA with an NBA body.
Also Leonard avg 15 and 7 in his college year while CB avg 6 and 4. CB has a long way to go to being rookie Leonard.
Yes but Kawhi played a completely different position in college. He was a PF and had to learn how to play SF in the league. Plus Kawhi couldn’t shoot worth in college. As slow as you say Bryant’s release is (and let’s not pretend that Sochan has a fast release or a good shot himself) he is miles ahead as a shooter than Kawhi.
Also we don’t need Vassell as a starter. We have too many scorers as is in the starting line up with Castle, Fox, and Wemby. We need role players who can hit open shots and play defense. That’s not exactly Vassell’s calling card either. Our starting SF should be getting about 6 shots per game ideally. Vassell is a chucker who plays no defense and isn’t going to like his role as a spot up shooter. Better to play the rookie who has no ego and will be happy to even have a role vs Vassell who thinks he should be getting more shots, not play defense, and be unhappy in his role
Leonard was a 19 YO Sop re draftee who played way more college minutes.
I'm psyched to see where CB aligns on the NBA spectrum.
It will be interesting to discover where the Spurs see him, too. He seems like he has great potential to contribute as a 3 & D guy, eventually.
Tempering my expectations though, as he's so young and will have a lot to learn.
One thing to keep in mind while projecting Bryant’s rookie year defense is just how much more complicated NBA defenses are compared to college. Physically he can probably be just fine, but how quickly can he process it at an NBA level. He did this very well in college, so there’s reason for optimism.
I doubt his processing will be worse than Devin's or Keldon's.
Is this guy the Primo project round 2? Hopefully minus the show and tell.
Castle won RoY last year.
I’m gonna at least wait until he plays in a summer league game before I join the “Bryant should be starting” bandwagon
Our recent track record of picking “promising” guys who were bench players in college is… not great.
Carter Bryant had limited box score numbers, and a usage rate that's concerning - most eventual 3&D guys have higher usage in College. The rate stats were very positive, especially with steals and blocks. I think expecting him to be good the first year is a recipe for disappointment - almost all rookies are net negative players.
Something like Jaylen Wells would be a huge win as a rookie year.
Yes guys pls let’s see how he does in summer league before we write him off for the year. It doesn’t tell us everything but it can tell us a lot.I’m gonna at least wait until he plays in a summer league game before I join the “Bryant should be starting” bandwagon
Our recent track record of picking “promising” guys who were bench players in college is… not great.
He didn’t score a lot, but I wouldn’t call 4 rpg, 1.9 Stocks, 37% from range in 19 mpg mediocre stats. He played a role, but I can tell you this, he and that role were a catalyst for Arizona turning its season around.
And, his percentage from range increased peaking in March at 50% in the conference tournament.
Per 36 that’s going to be 12 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 stocks.
Not Carter’s fault Tommy Lloyd went with a veteran heavy starting unit with all upperclassmen and 2 seniors.
I seem to remember Sean Elliot commenting that Arizona didn’t like to play freshmen. If so, this explains the limited playing time CB received.
Last edited by OldMan88; 07-04-2025 at 08:31 PM.
In 4 years and multiple 4 and 5* Euros and multiple domestic McD AA and 4* preps, Tommy Lloyd has yet to start a single one, or play one more than 22 minutes.
Next year will be a change in that, starting 2 McD AAs alongside three seniors.
We’ll see what works best. IMO, Carter should have been a 27-28 mpg player by Conference because he was better and more dynamic than the senior starting in front of him or more playable both ends than the junior at SF. But he started slow and Arizona struggled, so Tommy leaned into leadership.
Castle was one of UConn's stars when he was in college.
He was a bench player who averaged 11.1 pts. He was in no way a star at UConn. If he had even been in their top 3 options, he probably would have gone #1 overall
NIL changed how players get time. Guys getting more money likely get more PT
I don't think so. IIRC Primo graduated a year early which made him eligible for being drafted a year earlier than most of the others. I read that the Spurs took him so early because they believed that if he had been the same age as the others during his freshman season he would have been a top pick.
I guess where they are similar because they were both drafted based off of perceived untapped potential but CB's situation was more based on his limited playing time at Arizona, not his age. The biggest difference though is that CB was seen by the basketball community as a lottery pick and view his draft position as a steal for the Spurs. So I don't think he'll have the same learning curve that Primo did.
Look forward to seeing SL. Carter is a player we need, a 3 & D player who may or may not be ready. If not, we need someone who is ready.
Uh, did you even watch March Madness? He started for UConn through the tournament. The commentators were calling him one of the team’s stars.
Castle started 30 of 34 games for UCONN.
It changed it even more than simply transactional.
You now need to maintain agent relationships. Promise an agent you’ll feature their transfer, and you better do it. If you don’t, you’ll be out cold on that agents next options.
This is more of a Transfer Portal element of NIL, but agents came with NIL.
C'mon now. Castle was a starter at UConn. He was arguably their second most important player. And he won more Freshman of the month awards in the Big East than any player ever has, and that's a huge number of great players. He was a star.
Offense aside Bryant is going to have to learn the speed of the game defensively. Our rotations are horrible. Its gonna take a half a season to get anywhere near being able to handle game speed.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote
