Every other player on earth gets a thread so I figured why the hell not. Also, I own exactly 0 Rui cards, I'm waiting until Prizm and Optic come out and I'll probably buy a few then endlessly hype them
I tried to tell everyone about this kid pre-draft and ninja is the only person who listened.
**I've watched every Wizards game this season and rewatched all of his possessions on nba stats**
His main knock was that he didn't project out to 3pt range but his mid was so sweet I didn't understand how people didn't think he's be able to extend that out a few feet.
He does have kind of a weird shot where his release is on his way down. He hasn't shot well from deep so far this season. All of his misses have been front or left rim it could be because the shot is too flat or he's just trying to dial in. He was getting a lot more arc on his 3s last night so hopefully that's something him and the shooting coach are working on.
His mid range is excellent as expected and I just love watching him hit post fades. It's so Kobe-Jordanesque it's beautiful.
He's crafty in the post and has great footwork. He's an offensive threat almost anywhere on the court (although I've noticed he prefers the left side or the top of the key).
He's a better rebounder so far than I thought he was and he's got a good handle in transition. I'd like to see him add some more dribble moves eventually because he has the quickness to take guys off the dribble his handle just isn't there yet.
The defensive awareness can definitely get better but when he's locked in he's able to hold his own in man up situations.
Behind Ja I think he's got the most upside out of anyone else in this class (and yes ninja, that includes Zion ). He's obviously still a very raw player but he's got perennial all-star+ upside and I think he's a perfect forward for today's NBA. I'm sticking with my 17-7 prediction for this season but I think give it a couple years and he's going to be a real problem on the offensive side of the ball.