you know who is same size and weighs 15 pounds less? Harrell you know who he plays for? clippers if bennett can be active, he can easily match up with Harrell size and speed wise
My motto regarding these reclamation projects: Except little or nothing, hope to be pleasantly surprised.
Obviously he's a very talented player, that's why he went #1 overall. Having said that, for a #1 overall pick to be ousted from the league as quickly as he was, some pretty serious issues must have been present. Both the G-League numbers and video look very encouraging. High volume, sustained 3% from all over the court (not just corner 3's) with a very quick release. If nothing else, that shooting ability will translate. That sort of stroke from a Power Forward is very rare and something that could/should be lethal in our offense. The real question is what's between the ears. From what I've read, sounds like he had incredibly sub-par effort and attitude, which can make even elite-level talent completely worthless (see: Terrance Williams). Maybe time out of the league gave him some perspective, maybe he's a lost cause. Either way, its a very low-risk move and I can't imagine a better situation for him. He's literally the only true PF on our roster, and he's going to get more wide-open looks than he ever has in his life. We aren't asking him to be a star, just asking him to accept and play hard in his role. If he can't make it work here, he has no place in the NBA.
he isn't good and nobody should be expecting some every night rotational player. he'll be lucky to even make the final roster to begin with
You sound like someone who has never competed a day in his life. Getting better is a process and you might not have the vision or work ethic to see it through.
this didn't make much sense but whatever. he didn't "get better" nor does it have anything to do with vision etc. he's merely getting a chance on an actual nba roster, that's forced to take chances because they have no money to spend. houston is notorious for this. is this the same attitude you had when the rockets signed mcw and thought he got better and its a process. relax. if you have some high expectations boy are you going to be disappointed. its the same thing with ben. player coming out of kansas with plenty of hype. he didn't get better. this team is just strapped on making certain moves so hes getting a chance. the thing with him is hes always been a shooter and hes athletic. however, not that bright. so houston in turn is giving him a chance. at this point guys like this are bottom barrel. they're bodies to fill an entire camp and given the opportunity to see if they have even anything positive to give.
Yeah I get it. Like I said, everyone's low on him for a good reason. His history proves he's not good. I just think his good shooting will be highlighted in the Rockets system. He's a bad player who can contribute only because he fits our offense. Agree his defense sucks, but I'm just talking about 12 mins a game against opposing benches. Just look at all the players who looked great with us by playing next to harden then moved on and dissapeared. Especially Parson, Ariza and Prince Luc. Look at players who were not doing well, then revitalized their career next to Harden, eg. Eric Gordon and Ryno.
EG and Ryno did just fine for themselves before they got to houston. ariza hasnt disappeared. hes still out and about collecting nice big checks. moute's health went south while he was here. parson was fine the season after he left.
As the first overall pick in the draft he is a bust but as a g leaguer trying to make the team in a position of need that cost minimum sure why not.
the only guys that are for sure making the team are: capela-chandler-harty tucker-clark gordon-house harden-green russ-rivers Bennet, Mclemore, Clemons, chiozza, frazier, davis, Duval, ponds, McDowell-white complete our 20 man off-season roster. none of them really belong on an nba team with the exception of maybe Clemons. the rest proved they're end of bench guys at best. g leaguers most likely. point is, don't get your hopes up about any of these guys. 9 guys fighting for the last 4 spots on the team. whoever makes the team shouldn't see any real playing time either.
if tuck or house goes down w/ injury we are Fcked. i have to believe that the front office is going to add at least 1 rotation forward to the roster. some guy willing to take the vet min of course
I think Ben Mclemore is an nba player. Maybe not a rotation guy but he has nba size athleticism and can shoot well enough to play in the league. Clemons looked good in summer league but dude is tiny and got hit from 3 at the right time. He wasn’t that good from 3 in college was just 35% so I don’t see him as an actual nba player but we’ll see. As much as I root for the little guys there impact on D is so bad they just make little since to any team unless they can score like IT on the Celtics a few years ago. And now IT might be out the league after this year if he doesn’t get it together he’s been awful since Boston. I think bennet has a good shot at making the team. He’s a position of need and I think he’ll look good in preseason playing with what little time he sees the court with harden or Russ. This offense is made for bigs who can shoot and roll to the hoop. His D and rebounding are super suspect tho. The other guys I don’t know much about. But good call on Clark I forgot about him I actually think he’s the one guy that could take a big leap this year and that would be a welcome. He has potential as a shooter from deep and was decent at help side rim protection. If he can get more confidence he might get some playing time this year. The team could use him and his 6’8 size.
1. Bennett takes and makes 3's above the break easily. Not just the corners. 2. He has a quick release. Quicker than Ryan Anderson. 3. He has Ryan Anderson range behind the 3- point line. 4. He has the ability to upfake, then dribble drive into the paint for the finish. A skill Anderson cannot replicate. 5. He can finish with the hammer or with the short J in the paint. 6. He has good post-up skills when he's mismatched with a small OR with a slow big. (Something else Anderson can't do.) To summarize, If Bennett can get his confidence going (I believe he will) then he is an offensive mismatch waiting to happen that can spread the court and require the full attention of a defender like Draymond having to face guard him up top on the weak side. That is huge for our offense now that we will be playing with essentially a non-shooter driver in Westbrook. You've got to have quick- trigger shooters like Bennett and Gerald that have deep range if we're going to maximize Westbrook. So Bennett could really thrive here and be lightning for us offensively He's a better offensive player than Ryan Anderson. Now defensively.... The comparison to Ryan Anderson defensively is comical. He's much quicker and stronger than Anderson. I have no doubt he's a better defender than Anderson. And I'm pretty sure he's probably a better defender than Gerald is since all Gerald does is play the passing lanes and gamble for steals. So for less than a tenth of whst we paid Anderson we can get a better Anderson with actually some defensive upside and more offensive skills? That is a no-brainer. Get him to camp. If he acclimates quickly then offer him the balance of the TMLE ($2.1 million) for 3-4 years with staggered guarantee dates.
I'm also really worried about depth. great starting 5, austin and chandler are nice off the bench, chandler is good depth but will miss half the games. we will be relying on clark for about 20-24mpg and harty for about 12-15mpg when chandler is out. they didn't look like they were ready for those roles in summer league. bennet is good end of bench depth, but to play 20-24mpg you have to do more than shoot open shots well. especially when playing with brodie who is a shaky defender. i would've loved 1 more combo forward who we know can earn 24mpg like carroll, crowder, morris, jamychal, iggy, etc... but that would involve going over the tax. i would've also loved another vet backup center to play when chandler can't. noah is still unsigned but he and chandler probably both want consistent minutes. maybe gortat? hopefully harty and clark are ready but they sure didn't show it in vegas.