Does he improve knowing at the start of the season that his role is consistently coming off the bench behind Poeltl?
How does Darko with his development mindset potentially help Precious’ game?
How will the roster changes help him (having more bench help with Dick, McDaniels and potentially Schroeder if Scottie starts at PG)?
Statline predictions?
by earlyearlgray
11 Comments
Tbh I think he will still be barely playable especially offensively –
He is extremely raw offensively, can’t shoot the ball, and has pretty low basketball IQ –
Ppl hold onto that 20 game stretch where he shot incredibly from 3 however in all lvls of basketball HS, college, and most of his NBA career he has never been a shooter and has had below average 3pt and FT%….
Some treat him like a raw 18yr old prospect but he’s going to be 24 this season…
He provides value defensively no doubt but how many one way defending guys are there in the NBA that get consistent minutes?
if he can be relatively consistent, shooting around 35% from 3 and building on his improved finishing and FT shooting from last season, he could play his way into a 7th man role as a versatile defensive forward who can slot in anywhere from 3-5. But if he can’t be consistent and continues having stretches of suspect BBIQ and bad shooting he may not hold onto a spot in the rotation at all.
this is do or die for him, he should be playing not only for his first real NBA payday but also for his future in the league. I hope he can make it happen.
Achiuwa is an absolute wildcard. There are times he looks like an all-star and other times where he’s unplayable.
If he’s good, the team will be a lot better. If he underwhelms like last year, the team will lack some depth.
>Does he improve knowing at the start of the season that his role is consistently coming off the bench behind Poeltl?
I would think Koloko is Poeltl’s backup and Precious/Mcdaniels back up Pascal/Scottie.
> How will the roster changes help him (having more bench help with Dick, McDaniels and potentially Schroeder if Scottie starts at PG)?
I don’t think it helps that much, because minutes will be more scarce and he didn’t respond well when Poeltl arrived. But if the offense is better organized with more shooting then it could open things up for him.
He’s really going to have to show out if he wants to secure a bigger role on the team going forward. The raw potential is there but he needs to convert that into production.
I’m not a fan.
Doesn’t seem to have a lot of feel for the game, and I don’t think he has great fundamentals. His footwork seems off.
I’d be so happy to be proved wrong though. Great size and athleticism, so if he figures it out, he’d be amazing.
Same is my prediction .
Same as last year would probably be the safest prediction, I hope he’s amazing tho.
I’m hoping very hard for a slight improvement and then a 4 year extension that’ll end up being an underpay. He’s an extremely versatile defender, has the ability to put the ball on the floor and has shown the ability to finish around the basket. The IQ and shooting is obviously the biggest issue but the flashes are so great that’d I’d be willing to invest in him and let him play when he’s cold. He could be extremely valuable to us in games and as an asset if he can put it together.
mediocre. he tries to do too many things. there are too many if’s that he has to check off to really crush it. Keep in mind we will have a new system that will offensively rely on players who move the ball and make quick decisions. He currently does not.
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He would need to take leaps in the following area:
-situational awareness on court (knowing when to pass and when to drive) and make those decisions within 2 seconds instead of the 7 seconds it took him last year.
-shoot from the corners at a rate of 35% minimum.
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-Finish around the hoop at a rate of 60 percent at a minimum.
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Ideally precious would be given two things.. drive and yam it or shoot corner 3’s no other decisions on court but he doesn’t want to do that based on what he is working on and his past comments
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Precious can do these things but Precious does not see that its sometimes necessary to do the simple things well in order to get a chance to do the more fun things like pull up 3’s. The athleticism is nice but the feel is more important especially for what this team is….. as someone once told me … his range is at the rim… and even that he doesn’t finish well aat.
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He also doesn’t get to the line enough because again.. he likes to “show case his talents”.
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Based on who else is sitting on the bench and the current construction of the roster combined with his skillset and the way he wants to play… i dont think he should really get a ton of minutes beyond spot minutes or injury. Harsh? Yes, but let’s go through a few examples considering there are really two pathways for minutes. Forward spot or Center mintues.
A. Jalen Mcdaniels is currently better overall with his shooting, provides switchability, and knows how to make a pass on a regular basis and is similar in age.
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B. Koloko, back up center spot is something I dont see him or Boucher providing on a regular basis. Koloko has a much better understanding of defence hence the pac 12 defensive player of the year award but also its just clear when you watch him on the court. We have a lot of other guys defensively do we need a center who can’t protect the rim? I would prioritize the 7 footer instead of always wondering who is going to cover _____ center who is bigger.
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C.Boucher, this one is tough but he likely gets minutes over boucher, but the truth is boucher is the better player he is basically what you hope precious can be but it took boucher how long to accept his role and start cutting on a regular basis (thad had to tell him).
D. Otto, though injury prone Otto is obviously the better player.
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I dont think he gets center minutes with regularity except in the case of injuries. I can see him fighting Boucher for minutes because of the age factor, but either way both are at the 10th spot in a rotation. Precious locked in can be a great cutting player who is good within a well defined role but I think the first 20 games of the season would require us to iron out a lot of his bad habits and again I dont know if he wants to play in a way that would allow him to optimize his role within the raptors rotation and yield the best value for his second contract.
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Personally he isn’t an x factor in this teams success. But I am very high on koloko to be fair. He isn’t a complementary player and requires others to adapt their games to him to make it work. For that reason it’s tough to have too many of that kind of player on the roster at a given time getting regular minutes without risking others being….put in a place that underutilizes them.
Better or worse or the same imo
Make it or break it. If he plays like he did last year I can’t see the FO offering him a decent extension.
Rooting for him. But not sure I’m betting on him