Draymond also sets great screens. So when he’s not in the dunkers spot he’s freeing someone else up.

And he’s one of the best passers from the short roll in recent history

Apart from Sengun and Queen.

There are no FUTURE bigs that can create their own shot. Duren, Mobley and Chet are just rim runners/pop at this point

Amen can block game winners from the tallest center in the league. Amen needs to develop a 10 ft jumper and he’ll be OK. 👍

he also doesn’t have Ime Udoka “coaching” him

doesnt matter what his offensive rating is

teams don’t guard him in the halfcourt and it absolutely kills the pistons, especially in the playoffs

watch the games, don’t just look at numbers

He should

Easy to say when he’s playing his worst stretch of basketball. The guy was forced to play out of position with no jump shot but still averaged 18 a game and still showed an incredibly high ceiling.

The Rockets sub wasn’t the only group who placed him on a high pedestal. A good chunk of the media, ex players, etc were vocal that Amen was who we needed to be building around.

Is he the rockets version of Lakers’ Vando from the ECF run?

Having a wing that is a complete 0 in the half court is a lot more of an issue than having a big that can’t space.

Like yes he is an elite defensive player, but he makes offense harder for everyone else on the floor in the half court, and that’s hard to overcome

he’s a massive problem in the half court

Yall overrate players who provide nothing on offense.

I wonder if the difference is last year Ausar was PG and off guard was Shep (probably not ready for that role and not a good defender) Okoge (not a good offensive player) or KD (can handle the ball but can’t get to spots like he used to and needs more guard play to be at his best). This year FVV is a way better PG with securing the ball, passing, and defence while being able to play next to any of the guards on the roster without issue, and Smart is a much better offensive player than Okoge who can play point even if he’s not used as much in that role, and can be the bigger, more physical guard with Fred or Shep. Shep also always has a good defensive backcourt mate while always at least being treated as a threat to shoot even if they shots haven’t hit yet means more with better spacing. Fred being a better shooter and playmaker just makes sense for the positive effects it has on everyone compared to before. I kinda do wonder how Amen at the ³⁄₄ would fare more but Jabari has been killing it so far so not like you’d see him playing more forward with KD like he might have before Jabari was putting it together

that’s rather more negative than neutral, right?

People really think Kawhi is a replicable formula.

People really think if you just get someone in the gym with Ray Allen they’ll improve. These guys have been playing their whole lives, by the time they get to the nba they largely are who they are and rarely improve with things like shooting. Obviously there are some outliers, but 9 times out of 10, you either got it or you don’t at this point in your career

Shooting is a talent. It’s teachable for sure, but it’s also something some people are gonna be way better at, and way worse at.

I think shooting can be taught but I think most players probably don’t have the willpower to put in the time day after day to improve for years. Jason Kidd is one player who didn’t shoot well when he first came into the league. By the he eventually was a 40% 3 point shooter for several years.

I think Kawhi Leonard wasn’t a good 3 pt shooter in college but with the Spurs shooting coach he developed into a pretty decent shooter. He was 25% in college over 70 games according to what I saw.

Its also why cross era comparison is just dumb, even your none superstar starters are just so much better in skillsets compared to the 2010s and definitely 2000s that it more than makes up for offensive favorite rules. Your Kenneth Faried, Roy Hibbert just can’t exist in 2026 as legitimate starters

not really even that, just more like you need to have one skill on offense AND defense instead of just one or the other - we saw it a lot with the Lakers roleplayers the last few years where all of them were strictly one way players

Said last year I’d rather draft someone whose only elite skill was shooting over someone who was elite at everything but shooting. It was somewhat hyperbolic but I still kind of stand by it.

I mean, one ELITE skill does guarantee you a roster spot. Like Ausar would start on a lot of teams just based on his defense, let alone just get a contract. Klay is basically just a shooter and he got a contract.

Really as long as you aren’t a vibe killer, you’ll have a roster spot.

Draymond post 2022 is washed enough offensively that there’s a case. Pre 2022 he was a lot better on offense. 2016 Draymond in particular

I will say Curry shooting is such an outlier that it helps lineups with not a lot of shooting besides him

Draymond passing and screen game was a key component to the prime Warriors. He’s a bit different to the twins imo.

He does now, but when GSW were winning titles Draymond was one of the best screen setters in the league and a very good passer for a non-primary ballhandler. When playing with Curry that made him an above-average offensive player.

He could also defend the 5 at very high level. Being a poor shooter is fine for a defensive center. You don’t need all five guys to be good shooters, you just can’t have multiple bad shooters.

You sag off Dray entirely and you get a free 3 for Steph out the handoff. Amen might be able to develop that skill but who are you running it with outside of KD? Maybe Shep can do that

For those that aren’t able to catch on to the underlying message, this post suggests that a team’s defensive rating will be higher when they can score and then subsequently set their defence.

Which is unlike him. This 10 game stretch has been an anomaly in his career. Not the shooting but his impact on the game otherwise on both sides of the floor, yet this sub is acting like he’s been a net negative since he was drafted.

Issue is that the two guys you mentioned decided to become full-time pensioners.

Last night we sat Alpi whilst down 20 because Phoenix were able to penetrate us at will. Shifting Bari to the 5 helped a lot but long term we need either of the two to come back fit.

Really not close to accurate to what happening though.

Anyone who calls Alpi an “abysmal defender” is a casual who goes with the sub’s narrative. He’s, at worst, a middling defender. There’s a few match ups that gets spammed when they are founded but he overall can and does bring it on defense.

He just recently had a game where he had 6 steals and I think a few blocks. His defense has single handedly won them some games in previous years.

The discussion is overblown

Lol. No dude. That aint it.

Adam’s has played a grand total of 8 minutes this season. Capela has been hurt for the last week and change as well.

It’s a lot harder to play a guy off ball who can’t shoot than on ball imo

Yes especially since I am pretty sure he had the best metrics in the last couple of years, in Houston I mean

I haven’t watched him super closely every game, but last night he just seemed lazy af (well the whole team did). He also just got straight lost a few times and gave up some open shots.

Oh trust me, I feel even stronger about this with him.

That sucks to hear. I really am a fan of his game his defense can be spectacular

His reputation as a defender is going to remain anchored to that one block

And teams only just started doing that this year?