Phx-Suns.Net

The Bobster wrote:PF - Chriss, Bender
SF - Warren, Jackson, Dudley, Jones, Peters
C - Chandler, Len (RFA), Williams (RFA)
SG - Booker, Knight, Barbosa, Millsap, Reed
PG - Bledsoe, Ulis, Price (UFA)

I think Dudley's a goner. Len and Barbosa are questionable too. Price obviously won't be re-signed. Millsap, Peters and Reed are all on the bubble.

If Knight plays better (which is likely - he was incredibly bad last year) and Chriss and Bender progress, I think maybe they threaten for the 8th spot in the West. It would be a disappointment if they don't.

Millsap is gone, and I would be surprised if both 2nd round picks make the roster.I actually want to bring Price back, because I think it's important to have old pros who have been around that know they aren't going to play.

Still hoping for a trade this summer, because I want to go into the season with everyone having fair expectations about their minutes.

I think the west is going to be a dog fight this year. Although, we need to see how free agency plays out. I'm pretty confident in Warriors, Spurs, and Rockets returning. Jazz will be back for sure if Hayward returns. Could get interesting if he leaves. Clippers are a toss up. I think Griffin is gone, but Paul probably returns and if he stays healthy, he'll get them in the playoffs.

Grizz, Thunder, and Blazers should all be about the same. Nuggets will put up a fight, so will Pelicans and Wolves. Mavs could make a splash in FA to give Nowitzki a chance at the playoffs before he retires. We've got some talent and I think we'll win some games, but Kings and maybe Lakers look like the only bad teams out west and I think the lakers will be decent. If they land George, they could make the playoffs. West is stacked!

Love the pick. I can't believe I'm saying that about a decision coming from the Suns. Jackson was my top choice. Way to go! A plus

Not a fan of the 2nd round picks. Alot of other guys who I thought were way better were available. Probably won't matter much.

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I haven't had a chance to watch a ton of highlights around Jackson but WOW. This kid looks like a future superstar.

AmareIsGod wrote:[youtube][/youtube]

I haven't had a chance to watch a ton of highlights around Jackson but WOW. This kid looks like a future superstar.

To be fair that's why some argue that he might turn out to be the best in a few years but it's all about the jumper. I wish his mechanics were better so he didn't have to worry about maybe tweaking it. I believe he's a gym rat and would put in the time/repetition so here's hoping it can become a reliable part of his game because as the video shows his athleticism is fun to watch

bajanguy008 wrote:

AmareIsGod wrote:[youtube][/youtube]

I haven't had a chance to watch a ton of highlights around Jackson but WOW. This kid looks like a future superstar.

To be fair that's why some argue that he might turn out to be the best in a few years but it's all about the jumper. I wish his mechanics were better so he didn't have to worry about maybe tweaking it. I believe he's a gym rat and would put in the time/repetition so here's hoping it can become a reliable part of his game because as the video shows his athleticism is fun to watch

I think if he already had the silky smooth shooting mechanics, he would have easily been the #1 pick. It's probably for the best that he doesn't have that down yet because it allowed us to snag him at #4.

Bill Simmons ranked him a 9/10 on the in game dunker scale. He thinks he's gonna be dunking on guys a lot in the NBA. For reference he also listed Dominique as a 10 and James Worthy as a 8 or 8.5

Interesting observation, Jackson has some of that aggressive, try to dunk everything, attacking style in his game that Amare had. I'd love for some of that to rub off on Chriss. Chriss has the size and athletic ability to be incredible, but he seems to be a little too soft when faced with aggressive defenders. He'll make mistakes, but I'd love to see him just try and attack people like Amare did.

A lot of guys look good in highlights

http://web.draftexpress.com/article/Mic ... port-3967/ (start at 1:40)

I didn't see anything in that highlight reel that wasn't a dunk. Kid can't shoot, and that severely limits his utility to us, given hardly anyone else on the team can either.

Wormwood wrote:I didn't see anyone in that highlight reel that wasn't a dunk. Kid can't shoot, and that severely limits his utility to us, given hardly anyone else on the team can either.

Well, ya, it is a highlight reel, of course, it is going to be full of dunks. If you want a better idea about what he is capable of, you should watch a scouting tape.

ShelC wrote:A lot of guys look good in highlights

http://web.draftexpress.com/article/Mic ... port-3967/ (start at 1:40)

That's a good point, but at least Jackson's highlights are better.

It's important to note a couple things though

MKG is actually a good player, he can still do what that highlight video suggested. He's a great defender and rebounder and can finish in transition. He just has absolutely zero shooting ability and the NBA has exposed him offensively. Still a fine player, at not what you want from a #2 pick.

Wormwood wrote:I didn't see anything in that highlight reel that wasn't a dunk. Kid can't shoot, and that severely limits his utility to us, given hardly anyone else on the team can either.

I think it's funny how much this "kid can't shoot" narrative has taken hold. Isaac and Tatum both often get shooting listed as a strength, they both shot 35% from 3. Jackson shot 38% from 3. It doesn't look pretty but it went in. I'm not naive to think that he doesn't have issues, the 55% ft shooting is concerning, but he's not broken. He's not MKG who shot 25% from 3.

JJ will stuff the stat sheet like Marion used to. Steals, blocks, assists, rebounds, points. I like his court awareness, I certainly think he will help our team passing which has been abysmal.

Shooting 55% from the line as a perimeter player is never a good sign. Even getting it up to 70ish is still barely average. And FT% is usually an indicator of a guy's ability to shoot it overall.

iLLmatic wrote:JJ will stuff the stat sheet like Marion used to. Steals, blocks, assists, rebounds, points. I like his court awareness, I certainly think he will help our team passing which has been abysmal.

Totally agree with this. Shawn Marion is one of my favorite all time players, and I think Jackson brings a lot of what Marion did.

Excuse my optimism. Clearly we drafted a flawed player that can only provide highlight reel dunks. Carry on...

phx-pessamists.net

ShelC wrote:Shooting 55% from the line as a perimeter player is never a good sign. Even getting it up to 70ish is still barely average. And FT% is usually an indicator of a guy's ability to shoot it overall.

Not a good sign, but not a death sentence. Here's a list of players who shot under 60% from the FT line in college and still turned out ok as shooters

Chris Webber (never became a good ft shooter or 3pt shooter, but decent mid range)
Blake Griffin
Chandler Parsons
Baron Davis
Antwan Jamison
Aaron Gordon (not a great example, but he's not terrible)
TJ Warren (again, not a great example)
Avery Bradley
Ron Artest

O_Gardino wrote:I actually want to bring Price back, because I think it's important to have old pros who have been around that know they aren't going to play.

That's Knight's job. And for $14M a year, he'd better be damn good at it.

Split T wrote:

Wormwood wrote:I didn't see anything in that highlight reel that wasn't a dunk. Kid can't shoot, and that severely limits his utility to us, given hardly anyone else on the team can either.

I think it's funny how much this "kid can't shoot" narrative has taken hold. Isaac and Tatum both often get shooting listed as a strength, they both shot 35% from 3. Jackson shot 38% from 3. It doesn't look pretty but it went in. I'm not naive to think that he doesn't have issues, the 55% ft shooting is concerning, but he's not broken. He's not MKG who shot 25% from 3.

I checked BR for guards and wings who came into the league shooting less than 60% from the line: http://bkref.com/tiny/M4Gxq

Aside from Pooh Richardson and Scottie Pippen, it's a pretty discouraging group.

Ugh, Jackson shot 55% FT? That seems like a problem. If he can't raise that significantly, he will be a guy you can't leave on the floor at the end of a game. Still really concerned about his shooting.