re: Murphy and Jones stock up, Didi and Kira down

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I said it to start the season, that rookies that are good will get minutes early no matter what, and they may struggle, but during that struggle, you can still see their potential, and it's why they continue to get minutes to work through it. Sometimes they need a few games to kind of sit back and observe, maybe work on a few things before being thrusted back out there, but there's a reason Kira was basically the last 1st round pick to get a meaningful minute to start the season, and it's not b/c SVG doesn't like rookies, it's b/c he didn't look ready in practice playing with NBA talent like so many other rookies did that got early minutes.

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So, I guess you're out on NAW, too?

To be fair to Teddy he was the first, and for a while only one trying to drag us back to reality regarding Kira and it looks like he was right.

For Kira to be a long term piece, even off the bench, he needs to be as good off ball as he is running a P&R. In the Summer League game against the Cavs he did just that and scored 22 points. I'm not saying he needs to score 20 off the bench, but I was shocked when I looked at the box score and saw he had that many points. It was a quiet 22 because he did a lot of his scoring off ball. IIRC he was 3 of 4 on 3s with 2 of those come from spotting up and Trey getting the ball to him.

It’s still a little early to completely call Kira a non factor but he’s got a long long way to go that he probably will never get there. He’s very fast and he’s actually not that bad as an on ball defender because he can stay with anyone because of his speed. His shot is just not good though besides his floater and he’s small. If he can shoot 37%-40% from 3 he’d have a nice career but he’s got to improve this year and he’s going to get every chance as one of the 2 main backup guards.

I dont beleive they are even similar players, but do we believe Fox was good his rookie year? DF was trash his rookie year, he was one of the worst full time, offensive players in the league. Being overreactionary and hot takey after Fox's rookie year wouldve been a bad look

I believe we have to give Kira more than 54 games, ya?

I think one trap people fall into is thinking players need to be strong enough to lift Zion and Ingram up. Everyone else on the roster are tools for Zion/BI to use. Kira doesn't need to be D'Aron Fox. He needs to make the defense react to him to get Zion easy looks.

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The idea that "almost everyone" said Kira would be as good as Fox is just a bit overstated.

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Right

I think most of us are thinking/hoping that Kira can be a competent change of pace 6th man that can contribute in a few different lineups

For the record, I’ve been extremely high on him, and I’m not bailing because a few rough outings in summer league.

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The idea that "almost everyone" said Kira would be as good as Fox is just a bit overstated.

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you're right. a bit overstated.

All i did was point out how odd I thought it was that he wasn't getting any run to start the season, and how uncommon that is for a guy that eventually becomes a high quality nba player. You expect rookies to struggle, but you let them work through those struggles on the court as much as you can, assuming it isn't so bad that its causing you to lose multiple games, and that assumes you're a playoff team, or at least trying to make the playoffs.
And i always said it was way too early to call him a bust or anything close to that, and i still think he can be a good player in the league, i just dont' see him being a starter, at least not anytime soon or really ever for a championship level team. I mean DJ Augustine isn't a bad player. He could start for someone at his peak, but he wasn't going to be a starter on a deep playoff type team. Doesn't mean he can't be a big contributor to a deep playoff team as a backup. Collison was the same way. Payne seems to be following that same path as well.

And i wouldn't look at Fox's stats his rookie year to make any assessments. You dont' expect most rookies to be good their first season, but do you actually see with your own eyes when you actually watch them, the potential they have? Do you see flashes of what they can be? Are there games where they stand out, even in the summer league.
We've yet to really see that from Kira. We saw that from NAW and Jaxson, despite them not playing as much as you'd expect. When NAW was given heavy minutes, same as this year, he looked better. We are all here, and have been here talking about NAW and Jaxson's potential. It's b/c we know what we see when they are out there. Yeah most rookies don't really break out until year 3, and that time is now for NAW, so we'll see what he's really made of this year hopefully.

do what you want man. i'm just giving an opinion. Doesn't mean you have to accept it. Also doesn't mean i'm right.

I've never been big on stats. obviously everyone uses them, but you have to use your eyes as well, and too many people simply don't do that. And that's not me saying stats are useless by any means, b/c they are very important, but there are other factors to consider at times. You are the one that brought in stats of Fox and Kira. I was strictly giving my opinion of Kira based on what i saw, and how he was played.

Lonzo Ball is a better 3 point shooter than Pelicans Mirotic, so the stats would say. Lonzo was actually much better at catch and shoot 3's.
But which one would pretty much anyone say is the better 3 point shooter? Mirotic.
Which would gets followed around constantly and everyone on the court knows to pay attention to and not let him have open looks? Mirotic.
are you capable of seeing the difference there, b/c i feel like you wont' since i used Lonzo as an example. You can subsitute Etwaun Moore for Lonzo if you like.
Use your eyes and stop basing opinions solely on stats.
you saw what NAW and Jaxson did in the summer league. Kira came no where near that. You saw what Murphy just did. use your eyes. You didn't need to look at any summer league stats to tell you NAW and Jax could be special, same with Murphy.

It's ok to be wrong when giving your opinion. No one's perfect.

For sure

For a 19 year old, I think he showed good awareness last season, all things considered. Not many teenage PGs protect the ball like Kira did. Small building block. I think he felt some pressure, probably from SVG, and never really just let it fly. Played timid. His main goal should be to find his niche to contribute and flash some progress.

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For a 19 year old, I think he showed good awareness last season, all things considered. Not many teenage PGs protect the ball like Kira did. Small building block. I think he felt some pressure, probably from SVG, and never really just let it fly. Played timid. His main goal should be to find his niche to contribute and flash some progress.

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nice opinion. 100% I agree.