[natevalParticipant]

I have been trying to catch as many Michigan games as I can to see Nikki Buckets play the kid is pretty exciting. The more I watch him play the more he reminds me of Gordon Hayward. Do you guys see that as a good comparison? If not what is a good comparison?

[ProudGrandpaParticipant]

 Kobe.

 

Nah, but really, I think Hayward is a much better distributor.  Stauskas doesn’t need to be compared to a white guy!  I like Klay Thompson as a comparison.

[ProudGrandpaParticipant]

 Kobe.

 

Nah, but really, I think Hayward is a much better distributor.  Stauskas doesn’t need to be compared to a white guy!  I like Klay Thompson as a comparison.

[natevalParticipant]

Never really thought about the white guy thing more just similarities in their game. I think Hayward plays better defense but Stauskas can really get to the hoop better then I thought he has underestimated athleticism like Hayward too. I dont watch Thompson a ton but from what I have seen I think Stauskas handles the ball more then Thompson I could be easily wrong on that but that’s why I see the Hayward comparison

[natevalParticipant]

Never really thought about the white guy thing more just similarities in their game. I think Hayward plays better defense but Stauskas can really get to the hoop better then I thought he has underestimated athleticism like Hayward too. I dont watch Thompson a ton but from what I have seen I think Stauskas handles the ball more then Thompson I could be easily wrong on that but that’s why I see the Hayward comparison

[The Scare Crow RisesParticipant]

 If i had to compare him to a NBA guy it would be Mike Miller circa his Florida days

[The Scare Crow RisesParticipant]

 If i had to compare him to a NBA guy it would be Mike Miller circa his Florida days

[Scrooge McDuckParticipant]

IMO, Nik Stauskas compares to Reggie Miller.

[Scrooge McDuckParticipant]

IMO, Nik Stauskas compares to Reggie Miller.

[Chilbert arenasParticipant]

Marco Belinelli

[Chilbert arenasParticipant]

Marco Belinelli

[XYRYXParticipant]

Thank you for this topic, I have been wainting for a discussion about this young man way too much!

I have to say I’m extremely high on this guy entering the pros this summer. 

There is the top tier guys in this draft class batteling for the top 3 to 5 spots, after that the top 10 with Vonleh, Smart, Exum and others in the mix and after that an insane number of guys who could pan out as stars as well or just flat out very good fits for teams in need of skills like shooting or lenght or athletic abilities. 

I could fill pages and am working on a little list of under the radar kind of players to discuss here within the next few days with guys like Rodney Hood, Ennis or Saric (who could be a bomb compared to Peja or a similar version of Tony Kukoc turning just 20 next month!). 

 

I truely believe that Stauskas has the mindset to be really good. I know his limitations on the defensive end or his athletic ceiling and he may slip in the draft but this might be a blessing in disquise for him. I saw a video doku about him in College and his trainers said that he came to them and told him he wants to be Klay Tompson or Steph Curry level of a shooter. That he said is his major goal for himself aside from trying to become a more multidimensional player.  

The coaches looked at him and wondered if this might not a bit too near the top end but he showed them that he has incredible skills shooting the long ball which opens the game for a shooter with delivering qualities in a very big way. There are some very nice self made videos of him and his dad working out at home and even setting records for most threes in different time spans or for most 3s in a row. Here is a link to a video showing him shooting as many threes as possible in 5 minutes at his home backdoor basket      –     in the rain…

youtu.be/yuH5mqHKIUk 

The outcome was not disappointing at all: 70/76 (.920) including 46 in a row

I’m not saying but even greats like Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, Allan Houston, Kerr, Glen Rice, Ritchmond or Mullin were not born with a NBA ready 3pt game as rookies. Coming out of college is a very big change in todays basketball world as it was much less of a problem let’s say 20 years ago, when the game was way more similar and comparable. The game is much faster now with rules allowing teams to shoot a lot and play fast attacking the basket. I partly blame the new rules more for beeing the reason why so many explosive players go down over the last 3 seasons. The heavy schedule and traveling is made to let your body receiving heave pressure and exhaustment while some of the rookies might still be growing and all of them trying to fill out their abecedarian (I just discovered this fantastic english word as a non english speaker ;-)) frames. Everyone needss to adept turning pro especially when you’re not a top notch athlete but I see few reasons why Stauskas shouldn’t be an important part of a successful rotaion at many teams in the league down the road. Shooting is always needed with shooting numbers from beyond the arc still growing gigger and bigger. 

People always tend to forget that you don’t have to look at all the weaknesses young prospects have when they come to league. Giannis is extremely unpolished and not existing in offensove rotations as a scorer but his pure hustle, length, quickness and overall allround play at a young age is pretty impressive to us all. Young guys need trust and increasing playing time. If a guy isn’t really ready play don’t overplay him. The Pistons have been bashed pretty hard in Drummonds Rookie season for not playing him as a starter after some point or play him starter minutes but to me I would have done exactly the same. His body needed to adapt and his play was great for stretches but not entirely grow. If I now look at Sta(t)uskas I may not see a diamond like Drummond, Giannis or Ray Allen but he has one outstanding talent he already maximised in training drills so why should a good NBA training staff fail to implement someone like him into a decent rotation player if not more at some point in 2nd or 3rd year? Even if won’t really pan out as starter material due to internal competition or is turnover prone, getting blown out defensively on a regular basis (which he clearly ins’t getting on college level) he still has this one talent over most of his teammates wich will give him minutes at the 1, 2 or even 3 depending on matchups over stretches. 

He is projected to go late 1st to erarly 2nd in most mocks and is sliding a bit and that’s absolutely okay to me because draft position is one of the most overrated aspects to me all over drafting in general. Who ever did it a favor to be selected early in a draft) (not considering that you most likely won’t end up with the same team if you have been selected late 1st to eraly 1st originally).

 To be a late pick is fantasitic from team view. You’re cheap, you may be good to very good at the costs way below the league average (tanking is extremely cheap at the point of having it already done having many rookies and expiring contracts on the roster (like Philly or like Utah respectively). Basically all teams have selected when it came to the early second except the teams who have no picks like the knicks. Imagine Stauskas falling to a team like the Spurs playing two more years under Pop along Parker, Green, Kawhi and Manu who will at some point leave for good. Then you have Stauskas to prove beeing a 6th man himself or maybe even as a starter on top level salarie. 

At worst he ends up on a dysfunctional team like the Kings where he might sit on the bench forever like Jimmer did. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jimmer having success in Chicago as the next Kirk Hinrich now btw. 

Teams who are amongst others selecting in late 1st or early 2nd round: OKC (2x), LAC, HOU (2x), SA, CLE, DAL, LAL, CHI, TOR, UTH, PHX (2x), CHA, SAC, PHI (30x). There is a really good chance that he ends up on a contender or rebuilding young squad maximising young players and again on an unbeatable cheap rookie deal. Lance’s contract was 3.35 mil over 4 years which is insane even for just half decent young guys at the end of some benches. A low draft position gives you way more time to develop that a high draft pick. Do you guys think Thomas Robinson would have been traded twice if he would have been selected around #15? 

I’m almost convinced that Nik Stauskas will be allright as a pro and I am really rooting for him to be even batter than that. As I said before he has lofty goals and the  talent is there to be special but his biggest strength is his will to be great and I love players with that mindset. 

 

 

 

[XYRYXParticipant]

 Oh forgot the comparison. I’m not really sure about that because he is not a safe pick to really blossom into an All Star but his ceiling could be really somehere around 19 to 20 points, with 4 boards and 3-4 assists and 13-14 shots with a lot of damage from deep and 0.850 from the line. He is as talanted as someone like Allan Houston in my opinion and the both are 6’6" around 200-210 pounds and underrated athletes. Houston once tried to compete in the dunk contest and to me pretty much showed me that he is not really an impressive athlete but still gets it done and when really needed can go above the rim shooting 0.470 FG% and 0.430 3PT%. He may fall short to this but he will be fine imo. 

His floor is someone like a poor mans version of JJ Reddick but I really don’t like to fall into this compare white guy to white guy stuff, more of a Cuttino Mobley kind of career. 

[XYRYXParticipant]

 Oh forgot the comparison. I’m not really sure about that because he is not a safe pick to really blossom into an All Star but his ceiling could be really somehere around 19 to 20 points, with 4 boards and 3-4 assists and 13-14 shots with a lot of damage from deep and 0.850 from the line. He is as talanted as someone like Allan Houston in my opinion and the both are 6’6" around 200-210 pounds and underrated athletes. Houston once tried to compete in the dunk contest and to me pretty much showed me that he is not really an impressive athlete but still gets it done and when really needed can go above the rim shooting 0.470 FG% and 0.430 3PT%. He may fall short to this but he will be fine imo. 

His floor is someone like a poor mans version of JJ Reddick but I really don’t like to fall into this compare white guy to white guy stuff, more of a Cuttino Mobley kind of career. 

[XYRYXParticipant]

Thank you for this topic, I have been wainting for a discussion about this young man way too much!

I have to say I’m extremely high on this guy entering the pros this summer. 

There is the top tier guys in this draft class batteling for the top 3 to 5 spots, after that the top 10 with Vonleh, Smart, Exum and others in the mix and after that an insane number of guys who could pan out as stars as well or just flat out very good fits for teams in need of skills like shooting or lenght or athletic abilities. 

I could fill pages and am working on a little list of under the radar kind of players to discuss here within the next few days with guys like Rodney Hood, Ennis or Saric (who could be a bomb compared to Peja or a similar version of Tony Kukoc turning just 20 next month!). 

 

I truely believe that Stauskas has the mindset to be really good. I know his limitations on the defensive end or his athletic ceiling and he may slip in the draft but this might be a blessing in disquise for him. I saw a video doku about him in College and his trainers said that he came to them and told him he wants to be Klay Tompson or Steph Curry level of a shooter. That he said is his major goal for himself aside from trying to become a more multidimensional player.  

The coaches looked at him and wondered if this might not a bit too near the top end but he showed them that he has incredible skills shooting the long ball which opens the game for a shooter with delivering qualities in a very big way. There are some very nice self made videos of him and his dad working out at home and even setting records for most threes in different time spans or for most 3s in a row. Here is a link to a video showing him shooting as many threes as possible in 5 minutes at his home backdoor basket      –     in the rain…

youtu.be/yuH5mqHKIUk 

The outcome was not disappointing at all: 70/76 (.920) including 46 in a row

I’m not saying but even greats like Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, Allan Houston, Kerr, Glen Rice, Ritchmond or Mullin were not born with a NBA ready 3pt game as rookies. Coming out of college is a very big change in todays basketball world as it was much less of a problem let’s say 20 years ago, when the game was way more similar and comparable. The game is much faster now with rules allowing teams to shoot a lot and play fast attacking the basket. I partly blame the new rules more for beeing the reason why so many explosive players go down over the last 3 seasons. The heavy schedule and traveling is made to let your body receiving heave pressure and exhaustment while some of the rookies might still be growing and all of them trying to fill out their abecedarian (I just discovered this fantastic english word as a non english speaker ;-)) frames. Everyone needss to adept turning pro especially when you’re not a top notch athlete but I see few reasons why Stauskas shouldn’t be an important part of a successful rotaion at many teams in the league down the road. Shooting is always needed with shooting numbers from beyond the arc still growing gigger and bigger. 

People always tend to forget that you don’t have to look at all the weaknesses young prospects have when they come to league. Giannis is extremely unpolished and not existing in offensove rotations as a scorer but his pure hustle, length, quickness and overall allround play at a young age is pretty impressive to us all. Young guys need trust and increasing playing time. If a guy isn’t really ready play don’t overplay him. The Pistons have been bashed pretty hard in Drummonds Rookie season for not playing him as a starter after some point or play him starter minutes but to me I would have done exactly the same. His body needed to adapt and his play was great for stretches but not entirely grow. If I now look at Sta(t)uskas I may not see a diamond like Drummond, Giannis or Ray Allen but he has one outstanding talent he already maximised in training drills so why should a good NBA training staff fail to implement someone like him into a decent rotation player if not more at some point in 2nd or 3rd year? Even if won’t really pan out as starter material due to internal competition or is turnover prone, getting blown out defensively on a regular basis (which he clearly ins’t getting on college level) he still has this one talent over most of his teammates wich will give him minutes at the 1, 2 or even 3 depending on matchups over stretches. 

He is projected to go late 1st to erarly 2nd in most mocks and is sliding a bit and that’s absolutely okay to me because draft position is one of the most overrated aspects to me all over drafting in general. Who ever did it a favor to be selected early in a draft) (not considering that you most likely won’t end up with the same team if you have been selected late 1st to eraly 1st originally).

 To be a late pick is fantasitic from team view. You’re cheap, you may be good to very good at the costs way below the league average (tanking is extremely cheap at the point of having it already done having many rookies and expiring contracts on the roster (like Philly or like Utah respectively). Basically all teams have selected when it came to the early second except the teams who have no picks like the knicks. Imagine Stauskas falling to a team like the Spurs playing two more years under Pop along Parker, Green, Kawhi and Manu who will at some point leave for good. Then you have Stauskas to prove beeing a 6th man himself or maybe even as a starter on top level salarie. 

At worst he ends up on a dysfunctional team like the Kings where he might sit on the bench forever like Jimmer did. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Jimmer having success in Chicago as the next Kirk Hinrich now btw. 

Teams who are amongst others selecting in late 1st or early 2nd round: OKC (2x), LAC, HOU (2x), SA, CLE, DAL, LAL, CHI, TOR, UTH, PHX (2x), CHA, SAC, PHI (30x). There is a really good chance that he ends up on a contender or rebuilding young squad maximising young players and again on an unbeatable cheap rookie deal. Lance’s contract was 3.35 mil over 4 years which is insane even for just half decent young guys at the end of some benches. A low draft position gives you way more time to develop that a high draft pick. Do you guys think Thomas Robinson would have been traded twice if he would have been selected around #15? 

I’m almost convinced that Nik Stauskas will be allright as a pro and I am really rooting for him to be even batter than that. As I said before he has lofty goals and the  talent is there to be special but his biggest strength is his will to be great and I love players with that mindset. 

 

 

 

[MadDogParticipant]

 A more athletic JJ Redick is what he looks like to me. Great shooter with some shot creating and playmaking.

[King CaluchaParticipant]

Nik used to play a lot like JJ Reddick but now he handles the ball a lot more. I agree with the guy who threw Mike Miller as a comparison. I think 2nd-3rd year Mike Miller (without the rebounding skills) type of player is very likely.

[King CaluchaParticipant]

Nik used to play a lot like JJ Reddick but now he handles the ball a lot more. I agree with the guy who threw Mike Miller as a comparison. I think 2nd-3rd year Mike Miller (without the rebounding skills) type of player is very likely.

[MadDogParticipant]

 A more athletic JJ Redick is what he looks like to me. Great shooter with some shot creating and playmaking.

[The8thDeadlySinParticipant]

 Jodie Meeks

[The8thDeadlySinParticipant]

 Jodie Meeks

[reanimatorParticipant]

 Jodie Meeks? I couldn’t stop laughing for a good 5 mins 

[reanimatorParticipant]

 Jodie Meeks? I couldn’t stop laughing for a good 5 mins 

[Jester87Participant]

I think Belinelli is the best name threw out here. Hayward is more athletic, stronger, plays a lot better on defense and he’s not as good a shooter as Stauskas. Thompson and Reggie Miller both plays more off the ball, running through screens and all that stuff, while I haven’t seen Stauskas do that much in college, he has the ball in his hands a lot and he doesn’t move much without (which is something that might hurt him a little, I guess). Also Thompson is a very good on ball defender. It’s pretty much the same for Redick, he constantly moves without the ball and he has such a great footwork on the perimeter and he’s very good coming off screens. That’s a thing Stauskas has to work a lot on in my opinion if he wants to be more than a spot a specialist in the league. Mike Miller is a big thick small forward, while I can somehow see the comparison, because he handled the ball a lot in college, he is 6’9" 230.

I like the comparison with Belinelli because he’s a smart player, with some ball handling skills, who can play the pick and roll and pass the ball, doesn’t rebound a lot, shoots mostly on spot up situation and rarely come off of screens. Right now I think it’s the most realistic comparison, if Stauskas works on his off the ball game and some other things (like team defense) he could be more like JJ Redick, but right now he’s not that kind of player.

[Jester87Participant]

I think Belinelli is the best name threw out here. Hayward is more athletic, stronger, plays a lot better on defense and he’s not as good a shooter as Stauskas. Thompson and Reggie Miller both plays more off the ball, running through screens and all that stuff, while I haven’t seen Stauskas do that much in college, he has the ball in his hands a lot and he doesn’t move much without (which is something that might hurt him a little, I guess). Also Thompson is a very good on ball defender. It’s pretty much the same for Redick, he constantly moves without the ball and he has such a great footwork on the perimeter and he’s very good coming off screens. That’s a thing Stauskas has to work a lot on in my opinion if he wants to be more than a spot a specialist in the league. Mike Miller is a big thick small forward, while I can somehow see the comparison, because he handled the ball a lot in college, he is 6’9" 230.

I like the comparison with Belinelli because he’s a smart player, with some ball handling skills, who can play the pick and roll and pass the ball, doesn’t rebound a lot, shoots mostly on spot up situation and rarely come off of screens. Right now I think it’s the most realistic comparison, if Stauskas works on his off the ball game and some other things (like team defense) he could be more like JJ Redick, but right now he’s not that kind of player.

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

I like the Klay Thompson comparision..

He’s not as creative offensively nor have the playmaking ability like Hayward & Miller..And Mike Miller is an underrated defender,defense is something Nik will have to get better it….

[RUDEBOY_Participant]

I like the Klay Thompson comparision..

He’s not as creative offensively nor have the playmaking ability like Hayward & Miller..And Mike Miller is an underrated defender,defense is something Nik will have to get better it….

[The Scare Crow RisesParticipant]

 And he wasn’t a good defender until his later years. I think Staukas would be lucky to become what Mike did but he can get there with hard work. 

[The Scare Crow RisesParticipant]

 And he wasn’t a good defender until his later years. I think Staukas would be lucky to become what Mike did but he can get there with hard work. 

[theprophetParticipant]

david wingate

[theprophetParticipant]

david wingate

[Author]

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