year. This kid has a seruious chance to be the new age Bruce Bowen, a guy who can become a 1stteam all defensive player, who plays with reckless abandon, but can also really, really rebound the ball and helps gets easy hoops. How much more can you get from a 19 yo 2nd round pick? Yes, hes got some raw parts, but he is one helluva good player to bring off the bench to spark the D.

That's why I'm totally against trading him. Guys like Ariza turn into valueable parts for championship contending teams. I kinda see either a short version of Marcus Camby, but also some Tayshawn Prince in him, b/c he causes havoc on the defense, but still brings a little bit more on the offense, than Bruce Bowen. He has a couple of moves in the tank as well. Championship teams need defenders. Trading him would be a huge huge mistake. I honestly view him as the only untradable of the team.

a couple questions briggs....

1) is shelden williams from duke suppose to be in this years draft?

2) with our projected pick, would it still be possible to land him?

i think he can become a pretty good rebounder and a player similiar to jason williams of the nets....

Reezy should not be traded unless we get burned like GS did with Arenas and we can't sign him. Reezy can be Grant HIll! Grant was not a smooth and polished until his junior and senior years at Duke.

I might be a tad optimistic, but he is the best thing to happen to this team this year! He keeps Isiah from the dog house for the time being.

HE still needs work on his shot, and ball handling, but this kid is great. Anfernee should be waived!

Posted by Mac:

Posted by RonRon:

a couple questions briggs....

1) is shelden williams from duke suppose to be in this years draft?

2) with our projected pick, would it still be possible to land him?

i think he can become a pretty good rebounder and a player similiar to jason williams of the nets....

I'm no Briggs, but I like Williams. He's undersized for a center, but is the best shotblocker in college.

I'll third this one. I love the grit Shelden Williams plays with. I would say Josh Boone has more potential as an NBA shotblocker with his size and knack for the ball, but Shelden is up there.

I think Shelden will go somewhere from 8-14, so we should have a shot at him.

Though, I'm no Briggs either.

It's not going out on a limb at all to say that Ariza will be a lot better than Bowen. Bowen is just a defensive specialist who can hit threes. Ariza may not become the type of defender Bowen is (which is no knock), but already he's shown some very nice tools. When was the last time Bowen dunked on someone, or grabbed 10 rebounds? Ariza is also an above average passer for his position, and you can already see a huge improvement in his J from the start of the season up until now.

I think a pretty conservative estimate for what Ariza will be able to do as a starter in his prime is 15ppg/8rpg/3apg. I would not be shocked to see him do something more like 18ppg/9rpg/4apg. Really, he's already shown he has the tools to put up those kind of numbers with some polishing and work, and since he's only 19, you can bet he's going to get a lot better.

Posted by tomverve:

I think a pretty conservative estimate for what Ariza will be able to do as a starter in his prime is 15ppg/8rpg/3apg. I would not be shocked to see him do something more like 18ppg/9rpg/4apg. Really, he's already shown he has the tools to put up those kind of numbers with some polishing and work, and since he's only 19, you can bet he's going to get a lot better.

Good post tomverve! When did you show up? This is your second post I have completely agreed with.

Reezy can be Grant HIll! Grant was not a smooth and polished until his junior and senior years at Duke.

Grant Hill is one of my fav players in the NBA. I love Reezy's game but I just dont see him turning into a Hrant Hill. If he does, I will be the first to change my name to NalodPart2 or something. Damn!! Imagine Ariza turning into a Grant Hill type player. I would love it.

I love when he soars up in the air for a high rebound. He can really really get off the ground.

The Grant Hill comparisons are definitely too optimistic. I could kind of see Kirilenko, but there's no way Ariza will be that kind of shot blocker, and he almost definitely won't be as dominant on D overall either. If I had to make a comparison, I'd say he'll be something like a Cedric Ceballos who plays D.

Ceballos was a great rebounder for his position and was a very good scorer/finisher overall, though he wasn't a guy you ran plays for. He got most of his points off of slashing, driving, and putbacks-- hustle type plays. He had a good jumper that he could use as a weapon, but it wasn't lights out. That's basically what I see Ariza doing. Ariza will be better on D, though, and could be among the league leader in steals at some point.

[Edited by - tomverve on 03/22/2005 16:32:29]

[Edited by - tomverve on 03/22/2005 16:32:48]

Posted by tomverve:

The Grant Hill comparisons are definitely too optimistic. I could kind of see Kirilenko, but there's no way Ariza will be that kind of shot blocker, and he almost definitely won't be as dominant on D overall either. If I had to make a comparison, I'd say he'll be something like a Cedric Ceballos who plays D.

Ceballos was a great rebounder for his position and was a very good scorer/finisher overall, though he wasn't a guy you ran plays for. He got most of his points off of slashing, driving, and putbacks-- hustle type plays. He had a good jumper that he could use as a weapon, but it wasn't lights out. That's basically what I see Ariza doing. Ariza will be better on D, though, and could be among the league leader in steals at some point.

[Edited by - tomverve on 03/22/2005 16:32:29]

[Edited by - tomverve on 03/22/2005 16:32:48]

Cedric Ceballos!! I always like that guy, even though he was a bit of a knucklehead. Remember when he and Richard Dumas were the starting forwards for Phoenix? Party hearty!!

I would think of Shawn Marion as a modern day Ceballos, though a better all-around player. I think Ariza is already much better of a passer and shows a lot more court presence than Ceballos. The closest player in comparison for me at the moment would be a thinner version of Richard Jefferson.

I don't see the offensive upside of Ariza being that great. How about a Desmond Mason type? But a little taller. Both are very active and athletic and wreak havoc on the boards and in transition.