***OFFICIAL 2018-19 WINS PREDICTION THREAD***

[Crazysauce]

I kind of prefer the trade dealing Dlo for Simmons as I think it's more realistic we could keep Jaden with that deal. I think Dlo and a a 1st for Simmons. I worry though that Dlo and Embiid probably hate each other since kat and Embiid hate each other so likely the Sixers wouldn't want Dlo. Also the Kat factor is there too. I worried this would happen when we dealt for dlo but no matter what Kat wont want his best friend traded. I could see Kat throwing a fit over it as well.

[Lipoli390]

FNG, I get what you are saying about Jaden's summer league performance. But it's not like he didn't play good on offense, he just wasn't great like we had hoped. But it was only a couple months since the regular season had ended, he wasn't going to make a huge transformation in that time. Let's hope that with a full training camp and preseason he can just continue to make consistent progress. Maybe he doesn't take a big step forward until year 3.

I agree, Cool. Looking back, a lot of really good players don't make a big leap until their 3rd seasons and sometimes not until their 4th or 5th. The great things about Jaden is that he's already a terrific defender. So he has that solid foundation, which will also improve even more over time. On the offensive side of the ball, McDaniels already has a nice-looking shot and good instincts along with his terrific length and athleticism. He needs to improve his handle to become an all-star caliber two-way player down the road. I'll just note that Paul George had a questionable handle coming into the NBA and he had 2 years of college under his belt.

[Coolbreeze44]

FNG, I get what you are saying about Jaden's summer league performance. But it's not like he didn't play good on offense, he just wasn't great like we had hoped. But it was only a couple months since the regular season had ended, he wasn't going to make a huge transformation in that time. Let's hope that with a full training camp and preseason he can just continue to make consistent progress. Maybe he doesn't take a big step forward until year 3.

I agree, Cool. Looking back, a lot of really good players don't make a big leap until their 3rd seasons and sometimes not until their 4th or 5th. The great things about Jaden is that he's already a terrific defender. So he has that solid foundation, which will also improve even more over time. On the offensive side of the ball, McDaniels already has a nice-looking shot and good instincts along with his terrific length and athleticism. He needs to improve his handle to become an all-star caliber two-way player down the road. I'll just note that Paul George had a questionable handle coming into the NBA and he had 2 years of college under his belt.

Good points Lip, it's also worth noting he didn't have much of a summer in 2020 in terms of team activity. This year will be different and he should get better coaching. Again, I thought he was good offensively in SL, he was just a little too comfortable in deferring to his less talented teammates. I hope he can develop some alpha mentality like George did.

[Lipoli390]

FNG, I get what you are saying about Jaden's summer league performance. But it's not like he didn't play good on offense, he just wasn't great like we had hoped. But it was only a couple months since the regular season had ended, he wasn't going to make a huge transformation in that time. Let's hope that with a full training camp and preseason he can just continue to make consistent progress. Maybe he doesn't take a big step forward until year 3.

I agree, Cool. Looking back, a lot of really good players don't make a big leap until their 3rd seasons and sometimes not until their 4th or 5th. The great things about Jaden is that he's already a terrific defender. So he has that solid foundation, which will also improve even more over time. On the offensive side of the ball, McDaniels already has a nice-looking shot and good instincts along with his terrific length and athleticism. He needs to improve his handle to become an all-star caliber two-way player down the road. I'll just note that Paul George had a questionable handle coming into the NBA and he had 2 years of college under his belt.

Good points Lip, it's also worth noting he didn't have much of a summer in 2020 in terms of team activity. This year will be different and he should get better coaching. Again, I thought he was good offensively in SL, he was just a little too comfortable in deferring to his less talented teammates. I hope he can develop some alpha mentality like George did.

Cool - I think Jaden has some alpha in him. Maybe a better take is that he seems mentally tough. He isn't afraid to take on a new challenge, including taking a big shot. It's a quiet toughness. So I'm not worried at all about his mentality. What I noticed in Summer League was his need to develop his ball-handling skills. I like that he wasn't afraid to try, but it was clear that he still has work to do in that area of his game. The good news was that's he's not a terrible ball-handler and we've seen players like Paul George develop that skill substantially after getting to the NBA. I know he has a long way to go to become the player I think he has the potential to be. But I'm really high on his upside and I also like his floor as a good defender and solid perimeter shooter. That's why I have him on my personal no-trade list in the Simmons sweepstakes.

[Monster]

I kind of prefer the trade dealing Dlo for Simmons as I think it's more realistic we could keep Jaden with that deal. I think Dlo and a a 1st for Simmons. I worry though that Dlo and Embiid probably hate each other since kat and Embiid hate each other so likely the Sixers wouldn't want Dlo. Also the Kat factor is there too. I worried this would happen when we dealt for dlo but no matter what Kat wont want his best friend traded. I could see Kat throwing a fit over it as well.

Simmons Russell and Towns are all friends. I have no idea if Embiid chills with Russell or not. I was looking up some stuff about Simmons and Russell and ran across and article about how Simmons was the "peacemaker" in that showdown between Towns and Embiid a couple years ago. Fun times. Lol

[Monster]

FNG, I get what you are saying about Jaden's summer league performance. But it's not like he didn't play good on offense, he just wasn't great like we had hoped. But it was only a couple months since the regular season had ended, he wasn't going to make a huge transformation in that time. Let's hope that with a full training camp and preseason he can just continue to make consistent progress. Maybe he doesn't take a big step forward until year 3.

I agree, Cool. Looking back, a lot of really good players don't make a big leap until their 3rd seasons and sometimes not until their 4th or 5th. The great things about Jaden is that he's already a terrific defender. So he has that solid foundation, which will also improve even more over time. On the offensive side of the ball, McDaniels already has a nice-looking shot and good instincts along with his terrific length and athleticism. He needs to improve his handle to become an all-star caliber two-way player down the road. I'll just note that Paul George had a questionable handle coming into the NBA and he had 2 years of college under his belt.

Good points Lip, it's also worth noting he didn't have much of a summer in 2020 in terms of team activity. This year will be different and he should get better coaching. Again, I thought he was good offensively in SL, he was just a little too comfortable in deferring to his less talented teammates. I hope he can develop some alpha mentality like George did.

Cool - I think Jaden has some alpha in him. Maybe a better take is that he seems mentally tough. He isn't afraid to take on a new challenge, including taking a big shot. It's a quiet toughness. So I'm not worried at all about his mentality. What I noticed in Summer League was his need to develop his ball-handling skills. I like that he wasn't afraid to try, but it was clear that he still has work to do in that area of his game. The good news was that's he's not a terrible ball-handler and we've seen players like Paul George develop that skill substantially after getting to the NBA. I know he has a long way to go to become the player I think he has the potential to be. But I'm really high on his upside and I also like his floor as a good defender and solid perimeter shooter. That's why I have him on my personal no-trade list in the Simmons sweepstakes.

If Jaden actually did grow that is not going to make your ball handling better it's going to be something to adjust to.

I LOVED watching McDaniels making all those shots working 10-15 feet of the rim. Looked easy. If that's a legit part of his game that's a pretty big deal.

[Lipoli390]

FNG, I get what you are saying about Jaden's summer league performance. But it's not like he didn't play good on offense, he just wasn't great like we had hoped. But it was only a couple months since the regular season had ended, he wasn't going to make a huge transformation in that time. Let's hope that with a full training camp and preseason he can just continue to make consistent progress. Maybe he doesn't take a big step forward until year 3.

I agree, Cool. Looking back, a lot of really good players don't make a big leap until their 3rd seasons and sometimes not until their 4th or 5th. The great things about Jaden is that he's already a terrific defender. So he has that solid foundation, which will also improve even more over time. On the offensive side of the ball, McDaniels already has a nice-looking shot and good instincts along with his terrific length and athleticism. He needs to improve his handle to become an all-star caliber two-way player down the road. I'll just note that Paul George had a questionable handle coming into the NBA and he had 2 years of college under his belt.

Good points Lip, it's also worth noting he didn't have much of a summer in 2020 in terms of team activity. This year will be different and he should get better coaching. Again, I thought he was good offensively in SL, he was just a little too comfortable in deferring to his less talented teammates. I hope he can develop some alpha mentality like George did.

Cool - I think Jaden has some alpha in him. Maybe a better take is that he seems mentally tough. He isn't afraid to take on a new challenge, including taking a big shot. It's a quiet toughness. So I'm not worried at all about his mentality. What I noticed in Summer League was his need to develop his ball-handling skills. I like that he wasn't afraid to try, but it was clear that he still has work to do in that area of his game. The good news was that's he's not a terrible ball-handler and we've seen players like Paul George develop that skill substantially after getting to the NBA. I know he has a long way to go to become the player I think he has the potential to be. But I'm really high on his upside and I also like his floor as a good defender and solid perimeter shooter. That's why I have him on my personal no-trade list in the Simmons sweepstakes.

If Jaden actually did grow that is not going to make your ball handling better it's going to be something to adjust to.

I LOVED watching McDaniels making all those shots working 10-15 feet of the rim. Looked easy. If that's a legit part of his game that's a pretty big deal.

Yes and yes. If he grew, he'll have to adjust to it and it might delay the development of his ball-handling. And yes, I too loved watching McDaniels make those 10-15 foot shots. I excited about the prospect of McDaniels making my whining on draft night last year look really, really dumb! :)

[Monster]

FNG, I get what you are saying about Jaden's summer league performance. But it's not like he didn't play good on offense, he just wasn't great like we had hoped. But it was only a couple months since the regular season had ended, he wasn't going to make a huge transformation in that time. Let's hope that with a full training camp and preseason he can just continue to make consistent progress. Maybe he doesn't take a big step forward until year 3.

I agree, Cool. Looking back, a lot of really good players don't make a big leap until their 3rd seasons and sometimes not until their 4th or 5th. The great things about Jaden is that he's already a terrific defender. So he has that solid foundation, which will also improve even more over time. On the offensive side of the ball, McDaniels already has a nice-looking shot and good instincts along with his terrific length and athleticism. He needs to improve his handle to become an all-star caliber two-way player down the road. I'll just note that Paul George had a questionable handle coming into the NBA and he had 2 years of college under his belt.

Good points Lip, it's also worth noting he didn't have much of a summer in 2020 in terms of team activity. This year will be different and he should get better coaching. Again, I thought he was good offensively in SL, he was just a little too comfortable in deferring to his less talented teammates. I hope he can develop some alpha mentality like George did.

Cool - I think Jaden has some alpha in him. Maybe a better take is that he seems mentally tough. He isn't afraid to take on a new challenge, including taking a big shot. It's a quiet toughness. So I'm not worried at all about his mentality. What I noticed in Summer League was his need to develop his ball-handling skills. I like that he wasn't afraid to try, but it was clear that he still has work to do in that area of his game. The good news was that's he's not a terrible ball-handler and we've seen players like Paul George develop that skill substantially after getting to the NBA. I know he has a long way to go to become the player I think he has the potential to be. But I'm really high on his upside and I also like his floor as a good defender and solid perimeter shooter. That's why I have him on my personal no-trade list in the Simmons sweepstakes.

If Jaden actually did grow that is not going to make your ball handling better it's going to be something to adjust to.

I LOVED watching McDaniels making all those shots working 10-15 feet of the rim. Looked easy. If that's a legit part of his game that's a pretty big deal.

Yes and yes. If he grew, he'll have to adjust to it and it might delay the development of his ball-handling. And yes, I too loved watching McDaniels make those 10-15 foot shots. I excited about the prospect of McDaniels making my whining on draft night last year look really, really dumb! :)

Yes let's both feel really good about that draft pick! :)

Also I though he had some really nice moments as a passer that are not considered enough.

[Coolbreeze44]

I'm with you guys. His development might be the biggest thing I'm looking forward to this year. He has an incredible canvas to work with.