Kekgeek preseason grades G3 vs Knicks

[SameOldNudityDrew]

Yes, Donte is better than NAW overall. He's certainly a better all-around player and I'm really excited to have him on the team.

It is a shame that NAW's offense was not great in the playoffs and that he hasn't taken the strides on that end that we'd like.

Let's also remember that NAW is probably one of the best on-ball defenders in the league, which is probably one of the most important things a team will need in the playoffs.

Shai, Ja, Curry, Kyrie, Murray, Fox. We'll need a blanket to be able put on those attacking guards if they get really hot. Hell, if the Rockets improve as expected, we might need somebody to put on Fred Van Vleet, Jalen Green, or even Reed Sheppard. Jaden is great too, obviously, and Ant can lock in when needed, but as a go-to on-ball defender for those quick little guards, NAW is really freakin' good.

Donte is a better multitool, but sometimes, especially in the playoffs, you really just need a specialty tool. So let's hope for NAW to show more improvement offensively and also not lose sight of what he does best and why that's important.

[Q-is-here]

It seems like NAW started losing some confidence during the playoffs, and it has persisted through the summer and pre-season. I also thought he would be coming in for Conley, with DiVo the first wing off the bench, but I'm leaning in the same direction as you are, Q. My initial thoughts about DiVo were that he wasn't PG material based on how he was used in NY. He's always seemed like a guy who likes to move without the ball and isn't as comfortable with the ball in his hands. But now I think that was only because he was playing next to a ball-dominant PG in Brunson. I hope NAW gets his confidence back, because he is still a big part of our league-best defense...nobody slips through screens as well as he does. But right now, DiVo looks like he'll be our first guy off the bench.

And deservedly so. DDV has trended in the opposite direction of NAW. He started really heating up as the year wore on last season and then became the Knicks second leading scorer in their playoff run. It appears he has carried that into camp and the pre-season with the Wolves.

He is a different player now than he was just a couple years ago with Golden State. Kerr and Curry must have sprinkled some magic dust on him because he was a decent bench guard before the Knicks, but now he's one of the best in the business and could probably start for a lot of teams.

NAW 3pt shooting
Playoffs: 29%
Olympics: 0%
Preseason: 18

Still a small sample size in mostly exhibition formats but it’s concerning. We have to remember NAW was on the path to being out of the league before traded to the wolves. Was last year just an outlier? I hope not but his role and opportunity is going to shrink this year theoretically

He shot 38% from 3 on 159 attempts in '22-23, which includes his time in Utah and Minnesota that year. So he put together two consecutive seasons of reliable 3-point shooting, which makes last season less of an outlier. But still, the trend starting in last year's playoffs is concerning!

[Q-is-here]

Yes, Donte is better than NAW overall. He's certainly a better all-around player and I'm really excited to have him on the team.

It is a shame that NAW's offense was not great in the playoffs and that he hasn't taken the strides on that end that we'd like.

Let's also remember that NAW is probably one of the best on-ball defenders in the league, which is probably one of the most important things a team will need in the playoffs.

Shai, Ja, Curry, Kyrie, Murray, Fox. We'll need a blanket to be able put on those attacking guards if they get really hot. Hell, if the Rockets improve as expected, we might need somebody to put on Fred Van Vleet, Jalen Green, or even Reed Sheppard. Jaden is great too, obviously, and Ant can lock in when needed, but as a go-to on-ball defender for those quick little guards, NAW is really freakin' good.

Donte is a better multitool, but sometimes, especially in the playoffs, you really just need a specialty tool. So let's hope for NAW to show more improvement offensively and also not lose sight of what he does best and why that's important.

Yeah, it may end up he goes back to a more narrowly defined role of 3 & D wing vs. 3 & D swiss army knife that can play some PG. Just guard and hit your catch and shoot 3s for 16 MPG.

[FNG]

Yes, Donte is better than NAW overall. He's certainly a better all-around player and I'm really excited to have him on the team.

It is a shame that NAW's offense was not great in the playoffs and that he hasn't taken the strides on that end that we'd like.

Let's also remember that NAW is probably one of the best on-ball defenders in the league, which is probably one of the most important things a team will need in the playoffs.

Shai, Ja, Curry, Kyrie, Murray, Fox. We'll need a blanket to be able put on those attacking guards if they get really hot. Hell, if the Rockets improve as expected, we might need somebody to put on Fred Van Vleet, Jalen Green, or even Reed Sheppard. Jaden is great too, obviously, and Ant can lock in when needed, but as a go-to on-ball defender for those quick little guards, NAW is really freakin' good.

Donte is a better multitool, but sometimes, especially in the playoffs, you really just need a specialty tool. So let's hope for NAW to show more improvement offensively and also not lose sight of what he does best and why that's important.

Yeah, it may end up he goes back to a more narrowly defined role of 3 & D wing vs. 3 & D swiss army knife that can play some PG. Just guard and hit your catch and shoot 3s for 16 MPG.

Dane Moore's X has a clip which clearly shows how Finchie is looking at the backup PG position. NY has just scored and we're putting the ball in play under our basket. Finchie can be seen wildly waving at NAW to go down the court to set up in the corner so DiVo can bring the ball up. I didn't see it before the games started, but DiVo is our backup PG until Rob is ready.

[60WinTim]

Yes, Donte is better than NAW overall. He's certainly a better all-around player and I'm really excited to have him on the team.

It is a shame that NAW's offense was not great in the playoffs and that he hasn't taken the strides on that end that we'd like.

Let's also remember that NAW is probably one of the best on-ball defenders in the league, which is probably one of the most important things a team will need in the playoffs.

Shai, Ja, Curry, Kyrie, Murray, Fox. We'll need a blanket to be able put on those attacking guards if they get really hot. Hell, if the Rockets improve as expected, we might need somebody to put on Fred Van Vleet, Jalen Green, or even Reed Sheppard. Jaden is great too, obviously, and Ant can lock in when needed, but as a go-to on-ball defender for those quick little guards, NAW is really freakin' good.

Donte is a better multitool, but sometimes, especially in the playoffs, you really just need a specialty tool. So let's hope for NAW to show more improvement offensively and also not lose sight of what he does best and why that's important.

Yeah, it may end up he goes back to a more narrowly defined role of 3 & D wing vs. 3 & D swiss army knife that can play some PG. Just guard and hit your catch and shoot 3s for 16 MPG.

Dane Moore's X has a clip which clearly shows how Finchie is looking at the backup PG position. NY has just scored and we're putting the ball in play under our basket. Finchie can be seen wildly waving at NAW to go down the court to set up in the corner so DiVo can bring the ball up. I didn't see it before the games started, but DiVo is our backup PG until Rob is ready.

And there is a world where Rob is years away from a starting position, but thrives as a 6th-man-of-the-year type player coming off the bench for instant scoring and playmaking.

[Q-is-here]

Yeah, it may end up he goes back to a more narrowly defined role of 3 & D wing vs. 3 & D swiss army knife that can play some PG. Just guard and hit your catch and shoot 3s for 16 MPG.

Dane Moore's X has a clip which clearly shows how Finchie is looking at the backup PG position. NY has just scored and we're putting the ball in play under our basket. Finchie can be seen wildly waving at NAW to go down the court to set up in the corner so DiVo can bring the ball up. I didn't see it before the games started, but DiVo is our backup PG until Rob is ready.

And there is a world where Rob is years away from a starting position, but thrives as a 6th-man-of-the-year type player coming off the bench for instant scoring and playmaking.

The problem though is that if I were Finch, DDV would be a pure off-ball shooter and cutter, ala Klay Thompson, rather than having to carry some of the ball handling load. I know he's capable of it, but I'd rather him spend 100% of his time maximizing his strengths. I don't know....may be Randle plays some point Forward. That could be another way to offset our lack of "pure" PGs on the roster.

[rapsuperstar31]

Yeah, it may end up he goes back to a more narrowly defined role of 3 & D wing vs. 3 & D swiss army knife that can play some PG. Just guard and hit your catch and shoot 3s for 16 MPG.

Dane Moore's X has a clip which clearly shows how Finchie is looking at the backup PG position. NY has just scored and we're putting the ball in play under our basket. Finchie can be seen wildly waving at NAW to go down the court to set up in the corner so DiVo can bring the ball up. I didn't see it before the games started, but DiVo is our backup PG until Rob is ready.

And there is a world where Rob is years away from a starting position, but thrives as a 6th-man-of-the-year type player coming off the bench for instant scoring and playmaking.

If it takes a few years, guys like Tyus Jones, Monte Morris sign for the min, and Fultz is still sitting at home hoping someone will call him up.

[Monster]

I think people forget Donte was a starter for the Bucks the year they ended up winning a championship after he was hurt. He has started over half the games in his career.

He struggled coming off that injury the following year but the 2 seasons after that that he has obviously been pretty good. It's not like Donte wasn't good like 4 years ago but his shooting has clearly gone to another level.

It seems to me that Finch isn't a guy that is gonna have one guy bringing up the ball and operating with it for a lot of the possession anyway. He wants the ball moving not a classic PG driving around probing making plays.

To me what this trade may have done was add more playmaking all over the floor and that may help get up more 3's. There are a lot of guys that would benefit from catch and shoot 3's not just Donte. It's not a perfect Stat but Donte's usage rate last year was the highest of his career.

Looking back at that stretch of months once the calender flipped to 2024...dude was ball'n. This is fun in 25 games between February and March he took 306 three pointers. That's around 30 attempts less than NAW took all season. He was scoring 20ppg although it was on a bunch of minutes. You usually don't score 20ppg for a couple months without having some more game than 3's and some transition buckets etc.