NBA Rookie Watch - Edwards v. Others

[Lipoli390]

Vassell tonight against the Rockets: 11 points, 4 rebounds and 4 steals in 32 minutes. He hit 4 of 8 FG attempts and 1 of 2 three-point attempts. He's having a really good preseason so far. I'm sure someone will attribute his success to the Spurs' magical ability to develop players. But the reality is that they're just good at identifying and drafting talent. Vassell is the most recent example of that. Of course, there were a lot of folks on this Board who like Vassell a lot.

[kekgeek]

Leonardo Balmero: 9pts (3-6, 1-2 from 3), 1 reb 2 asts

[Lipoli390]

Leonardo Balmero: 9pts (3-6, 1-2 from 3), 1 reb 2 asts

Get him over here now. :)

[Duke13]

Game 2

Toppin: 4 pts (1-9), 4 rebs 1ast 2 TO

Hayes: 6 pts (2-11), 5 rebs, 4 asts 1 TO

P. Williams: 13 pts (3-12), 4 rebs, 0 asts 4 TO


D. Avija: 15 pts (6-6), 4 rebs, 2 asts 1 TO

Haliburton: 11 (5-11), 6 rebs, 7 asts 1 TO

Okongwu: DNP foot injury

C. Anthony (ROY): 16 pts (6-10), 4 rebs, 4 asts 1 TO


So a massive mixed bag. The guys drafted 4,7,8 shot 6-42 today (14.2%)

I think we all need to relax and not overreact to 1 preseason game.

Agreeance, smh

[kekgeek]

Leonardo Balmero: 9pts (3-6, 1-2 from 3), 1 reb 2 asts

Get him over here now. :)

Haha! Questions is will he win 3 or 4 NBA MVPs

In all seriousness his numbers are not pretty but when he does get extended run he plays pretty good. Just based on stats he can get to the line and he has a 10 ast game this year. He also plays on a very good team.

Who knows how he will be but think we should be posting his stat lines here

[FNG]

It will always be interesting to compare Edwards with other options we realistically could have pursued (like selecting Wiseman or Ball), but let's not kid ourselves about the likelihood of what many here (including me) would have preferred- that is, a trade down. I would have loved to have picked up a combination like Haliburton and Vassell in trade for the first pick, and I think it's likely Rosas would have also. But the fact of the matter is this- NBA GM's are generally as smart as we are and they saw what we saw- a relatively deep draft with uncertainty at the top. And as attractive as that made a trade down for us, it made it equally unattractive for other GM's. Rosas has said he was on the phone constantly looking for deals, and I have no reason to doubt him- a trade-down was the obvious move. But I also believe there were no trade-up options that any of us would have considered attractive enough to jump at.

So that leaves us with Edwards, Wiseman and Ball, and so far none of them has proven worthy of the first pick. Ball has been downright terrible, Edwards has shown some flash on both sides of the ball but has generally been erratic at best, and the best information we have on Wiseman is a lot of video of him dunking against 6'4" high school players because he only played 3 college games and Covid has kept him from starting his NBA career. So it will take a long time to decide who of the three was the best pick. It will be fun to follow though.

It will also be interesting to follow guys Rosas could have chosen with the later picks to see if they ultimately are better than picking up Rubio, McDaniels and the Eurostash. Even though were a lot of guys I liked at 16 (and even later in the draft), I also recognize non-lottery picks are generally a shot in the dark. Much more data to come, but right now I'm loving the certainty of Rubio and the potential of McDaniels over the potential of some of the guys I liked out of the lottery. We'll just have to see, but let's continue to post relevant performances here.

[Wolvesfan21]

The thing is too which I posted before the draft. A GM is really putting his job on the line if he trades up to number 1. If that player busts or is simply mediocre then he's gone. It's too much risk and I felt that it wasn't going to happen. Versus staying put, make a lower pick. No one is calling for the GM's head if he whiffs on a 10th overall pick.

[kekgeek]

The thing is too which I posted before the draft. A GM is really putting his job on the line if he trades up to number 1. If that player busts or is simply mediocre then he's gone. It's too much risk and I felt that it wasn't going to happen. Versus staying put, make a lower pick. No one is calling for the GM's head if he whiffs on a 10th overall pick.

You say this but then you expected Thibs to trade an all nba player plus other draft capital for the #3 pick..... mmmmm.... interesting

[Camden [enjin:6601484]]

The thing is too which I posted before the draft. A GM is really putting his job on the line if he trades up to number 1. If that player busts or is simply mediocre then he's gone. It's too much risk and I felt that it wasn't going to happen. Versus staying put, make a lower pick. No one is calling for the GM's head if he whiffs on a 10th overall pick.

You say this but then you expected Thibs to trade an all nba player plus other draft capital for the #3 pick..... mmmmm.... interesting

Very interesting indeed... even though we all know that deal wasn't available. The contradiction is real, though.

[FNG]

The thing is too which I posted before the draft. A GM is really putting his job on the line if he trades up to number 1. If that player busts or is simply mediocre then he's gone. It's too much risk and I felt that it wasn't going to happen. Versus staying put, make a lower pick. No one is calling for the GM's head if he whiffs on a 10th overall pick.

You say this but then you expected Thibs to trade an all nba player plus other draft capital for the #3 pick..... mmmmm.... interesting

Very interesting indeed... even though we all know that deal wasn't available. The contradiction is real, though.

I tend to agree with WolvesFan21 here. I'm sure Rosas tried hard to find someone dumb enough to give up significant assets to move up to #1 in a draft with no clear #1 like Zion, but I'm not surprised that the assets offered weren't promising enough to swing the deal. There was a lot of advocacy here about trading the #1 pick for two other first rounders (I would have loved this too), but this would have had to involve three teams, one of whom was salivating about Edwards, Wiseman, or Ball. Good on Rosas for trying, but there just wasn't much likelihood of arriving at a deal that would have pleased us.

But as a newcomer, I'm not familiar with the Thibs deal you guys are saying WF21 was advocating. What was it, and how does it contradict his current stance?