It may be that there is a lot of importance in being able to execute basic fundamental passes that may not be eye catching but get the offense moving.

Yep. A lot of the people who question is ability to stick at PG underrate his fundamentals as a playmaker/passer.

The other thing worth noting is the author’s astute observation that Frank’s pull up shots fall short when he doesn’t use his momentum going to the basket. To me, that is a tell-tale sign he hasn’t built up requisite leg strength. In my opinion, him developing stronger legs through maturation and physical training will be huge to his development in the upcoming years. I predict you will see more explosiveness and improved range on his shot with steady work and growth as his frame will allow him to get bigger and stronger.

Drives — 41% (96)
Catch and shoot — 44% (21)
Pull ups — 36% (85)

These stats don’t bode well for Melo’s recovery. He’s always been a good catch-and-shoot guy, and still is this year. But his drives and pull-ups are garbage now. Those are the kind of things that get worse as you age.

If he can’t get more efficient on drives and pull-ups, the only thing he can do is take less of them.

I was pleased to see this.

“He’s actually shown to be both a willing and capable passer, as expected, with plus vision who can make the two most important passes for a modern point guard: the pocket pass and the skip pass.”

It seems to me that during the Isaiah years there were discussions about being able to make entry passes and such as being something that not everyone is competent at it.

It may be that there is a lot of importance in being able to execute basic fundamental passes that may not be eye catching but get the offense moving.

Edit: Cleveland v OKC works really well

We need 2 more legitimate star players.

We have all our picks.
We have a few young players with upside.
We have Frank, who could exceed expectations and become a legitimate star 2-way star on his own.
We have the ability to selectively add role players via free agency.
We could have cap space 2 years after this season depending on what else we do.

Those 2 stars do not have to come via the draft or from among the talent we have now. We can use the assets we have and those we accumulate going forward to make deals also.

Look at Houston. They got both CP3 and Harden via trade.

Boston accumulated assets via both trade and draft.

Plenty of contenders are built using all available options. The key is accumulating good players on fair/attractive contracts. That way, whether we want to grow organically or trade our way into contention, we have the assets to pull off the important deals. Of course, we’ll have to be good enough to attract star players. No one serious is going to come to a tanker.

Yeah, it’s not ideal or perfect by a long stretch but if we’re taking a long view I’m okay. The only thing that really bothers me is the Noah deal, otherwise I’m very pleased with what I’ve seen of Porzingis, I am a very big believer in Ntilikina’s potential and I like some of the potential long term supplementary pieces we have in place or can retain like THJ, McBuckets, Kanter, Willy, Dotson, Baker, all of our 1sts, etc. It’s not an overwhelming collection of super talents like Philly, but I honestly prefer it to some of the other young cores of teams that have been tanking/unintentionally sucked balls (the Knicks method) for awhile like Orlando, Sacramento, Phoenix, LAL, Minny, etc.

All things considered, if we keep our eyes on 2019 and beyond we should be alright.