Knicks Morning News (2018.05.16)

From yesterday’s thread… the comp between Smart and Frank is a really interesting one. Clearly Smart grades out better on a number of stats from his rookie year. But the track record of euro players improving their shooting percentages early in their careers is good and it’s not unreasonable to think Frank could exceed Smart’s production for their age 20 seasons.

I really like Smart as a Swiss Army knife player who can defend multiple positions, create a bit of offence etc. He’d be good outcome for Frank in my view.

The Marcus Smart / Ntilikina comp is an interesting one –

look at their per-36 stats just from this year (age 23 for Smart, age 19 for Frank)

Frank – 9.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 1.4 steals. FG% 36.4, 3P% 31.8, FT% 72.1
Smart – 12.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 5.8 assists, 1.5 steals, FG% 36.7, 3P% 30.1, FT% 72.9

Certainly at this point in Frank’s career, he and Smart are similar-type players. Obviously Smart is much more impactful right now but he’s also 4 years older than Frank.

Frank really does project to be an impact defender. Look at his percentiles by defensive play-type:
Iso – 86th percentile (0.7 PPP)
PNR-BH – 90.3
PNR-roll man – 79.7
Post-up – 97.7
Spot-up – 7.4 (no one’s perfect)
Handoff – 72.2
Off-screen – 33.7

As a 19 year old I feel pretty comfortably that these are elite-type stats. Offense… not so good though.

btw I’ve generally been happy with the Mills/Perry regime, but the idea that we couldn’t dump Courtney Lee and KOQ on the Cavs for salary relief + a pick seems like a huge missed opportunity. Jordan Clarkson is awful, Nance barely plays, Hood sucks, and they gave up a 1st round pick to boot.

Courtney isn’t great, but he tries on defense, is a fantastic 3 point shooter, and can be a secondary playmaker at times. KOQ would be huge in a series like this, providing much of what Thompson does on the boards while also not being a zero on offense otherwise and also giving rim protection.

To be fair to Sexton, it sounds as if he is a high level defender as well as a super competitive dude. There have been a fair number of DeAaron Fox – Sexton comparisons and to be honest it sounds as if Sexton compares favorably — super fast, just as good a defender, and clearly a better shooter (even if he’s not a great shooter). But yes, I think it would be ridiculous to have Frank, Sexton, Burke, and Mudiay all on the roster at the same time. And like others have said – I think the only way you draft into such a position of “strength” is if the guy really is that good — and it’s hard to see that he is really that good. Bad 2p%, shaky shooting numbers, <1 steal/game, poor assist/TO ratio, and on top of that he's probably just a 1 position defender even if he's a good defender at that position. Pass.

Don’t we already have a score-first, short, bad-on-D guard named Trey?

Joking aside, if we draft another guard – Sexton, Trae, SAG – it’s going to be hard to continue to root for the team, because it’ll only be a matter of time before the inevitable dumb trade of Frank for 2 second round picks.

Not a big fan of Sexton, but I can see a future where Frank is capable of defending both wing spots so it wouldn’t be a huge long term problem. If Sexton is who they think is BPA then they should take him, I’m just skeptical he is or should be the BPA when we’re on the board at 9.

In Sexton’s favor is he’s a very high character kid and an insanely hard worker. He was an unranked recruit in his junior year in HS who through hard work turned himself into a 5 star.

Sexton had a schedule at Pebblebrook High School (Mableton, Georgia). He’d rise before 6 a.m. to pump iron and run lung-busting conditioning drills. Then it was off to school (he carried a 3.7 GPA) before heading to practice with either his high school or AAU team. After practice, he’d go through a skill-focused workout that saw him repeat different dribbling, shooting and lay-up moves until he could execute them in his sleep. The session couldn’t end until he’d drained 300 jump shots. Sexton never shared these grueling workouts on social media, because he never had interest in creating an account. No Instagram, no Twitter, no Snapchat, no nothing. “You can’t follow me on social media. Don’t have it. In my opinion, it’s a waste of time. Likes won’t make you better at anything,” Sexton wrote in a piece for The Player’s Tribune.

…….

Washington bought him an altitude mask to help him prepare. Sexton worked out three times a day, often in the blistering south Georgia sun, with that mask affixed to his face. “He wanted to be on that team so bad,” Washington told SB Nation. “A lot of those other guys had been there before, so they were privileged. His job was to be the hardest worker. I told him, if you out work everyone, they can’t deny you.” Sexton bolted through the tryout and impressed the coaches with his elite conditioning. He went on to make the team and win tournament MVP at the 2016 U17 FIBA World Championships:

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I have no problem with Frank not being developed as a full-time PG. I have a problem doing that while we have a gazillion 2-guards on the roster.

Well, no, Mudiay is trash but he is clearly a PG (who should play in China and not here, but nevermind). Trey is a PG but his size makes his ceiling just a good bench player. It’s THJ and Lee who are clogging the rotations (and the payroll).

To me, this draft is either Mikal Bridges, Wendell Carter or bust. Primarily, I want a defender that fits. I might be talked into Miles Bridges if they think he can defend multiple positions. I’m more skeptical of him because I don’t think he’s long enough to handle some PFs and actually is more of PF than SF, but I like his rebounding teamed with KP.

BPA is a great theory on paper, but when we are talking about really young kids, no one knows who the BPA is within a tight range of 3-4 players outside the top couple. So why pretend we do?