"But he’s not going to get more athletic (and Dwyer details how non-fluid he looks on the court), which kind of caps development you’d wish for with other 23 year olds."
You can easily shit on this deal without saying nonsense like this.
I do think it is more plausible to expect, at age 23, Zach LaVine to become a better defender. Didn't happen but not due to athleticism.
I similarly never had high hopes for Patrick Williams to improve on the ball because he was so unathletic.
yes could Giddey get better defensively, and provide more on-ball shot creation, with experience and development, I just don't find it as likely due to his innate limitations
The Bulls backed themselves into a Giddey corner the minute they made the Caruso trade. Personally I think we're living in one of the best possible post-trade multiverse scenarios from a Giddey standpoint. (But the trade was bad)
But I want to pivot to saying that there is an annoying years-long epidemic of NBA GMs backing themselves into corners. It's partly a function of the CBA, ("Bird rights", capped "max" contracts you don't see in other leagues) and/or the current levers of power being in the hands of agents, but each year there are dozens of examples of clearly deficient guys getting extended or re-signed to exorbitant contracts who really don't deserve it, or raise the team's ceiling. And you can't explain it any other way than "it's worth overpaying a schlub vs. losing them for nothing, even in a league where almost every team enters each off-season without significant cap space."
Too many examples to list them here, but just go to the list of guys making $30-$35M next (between top 40-60 players ranked by salary) and pick out those who will be #2 or #3 options on winning teams? And SGA will be paid the exact same as freaking Michael Porter Jr. Etc., etc.
"But he’s not going to get more athletic (and Dwyer details how non-fluid he looks on the court), which kind of caps development you’d wish for with other 23 year olds."
You can easily shit on this deal without saying nonsense like this.
what's nonsense? that Giddey is not athletic, or that it's easier to improve skills with experience?
I do think it is more plausible to expect, at age 23, Zach LaVine to become a better defender. Didn't happen but not due to athleticism.
I similarly never had high hopes for Patrick Williams to improve on the ball because he was so unathletic.
yes could Giddey get better defensively, and provide more on-ball shot creation, with experience and development, I just don't find it as likely due to his innate limitations
Would need someone with access to confirm, but I'm working on the theory that there are actually no sentient decisionmakers in the Bulls FO.
The Bulls backed themselves into a Giddey corner the minute they made the Caruso trade. Personally I think we're living in one of the best possible post-trade multiverse scenarios from a Giddey standpoint. (But the trade was bad)
But I want to pivot to saying that there is an annoying years-long epidemic of NBA GMs backing themselves into corners. It's partly a function of the CBA, ("Bird rights", capped "max" contracts you don't see in other leagues) and/or the current levers of power being in the hands of agents, but each year there are dozens of examples of clearly deficient guys getting extended or re-signed to exorbitant contracts who really don't deserve it, or raise the team's ceiling. And you can't explain it any other way than "it's worth overpaying a schlub vs. losing them for nothing, even in a league where almost every team enters each off-season without significant cap space."
Too many examples to list them here, but just go to the list of guys making $30-$35M next (between top 40-60 players ranked by salary) and pick out those who will be #2 or #3 options on winning teams? And SGA will be paid the exact same as freaking Michael Porter Jr. Etc., etc.