Welcome to the Friday Feedback, which … ah, screw it.
overtheSEC said:
Da’Sean’s knee may not be healed yet, but he just leapt over Ebanks. Wow.
This angers me. Oh, it’s funny. It’s appropriate. There’s nothing wrong with it. I’m just disappointed I never thought of it.
Late in the first round last night there were a few teams with picks who’d worked Ebanks out and generated some sort of a buzz suggesting they might select him. You figured he’d go 24, 26, something like that, if he was in fact a first-round talent — and, quite clearly, there were questions if he was.
“He’s a very good rebounder,” ESPN draft analyst Jay Bilas said. “He’s got long arms. He’s a versatile defender. He’s not a shooter. He’s not a scorer. He’s not a guy who’s going to put the ball on the deck and get in the lane and get fouled. He’s kind of a motion offense player where he’s a cutter. He’s not a jump-shooter. He does make his free throws. He’s got some potential as a player, but he’s not an offensive player.”
Obviously, Ebanks wasn’t selected in the first round and once we got to pick No. 29 I asked if people might be interested in a bet. Who goes first? Butler or Ebanks? No one would take it.
Butler went first at No. 42 to the Miami Heat and Ebanks went a pick later. Initially, it seems like it can work for both. Ultimately, who knows?
Begin with Ebanks. Say what you will about his decision to go early, but he was picked by the two-time defending champions who didn’t have a first-round pick … which means Ebanks carries a little more weight. He’ll be around professionals and great influences. He’ll be on a winning team. He’ll get a chance to settle and grow. He even had a Trevor Ariza label applied to him and the Lakers never quite replaced the Ariza element after he went to Houston in free agency. Then again, it’s not like they missed it too much, either. I’m having a hard time finding a negative, to be quite honest, but I can stretch.
Whether or not Phil Jackson returns will be interesting with regard to Ebanks’s future – his familiarity and success with a motion offense translates to the triangle — and I do wonder if he can hang around on a bench for three, four, five nights in a row and then come in when the team needs him. He’s always played, but the Lakers aren’t going to need him right away. But again, it’s a good spot so he can have the right people show him the right way.
Butler’s position is a little more interesting. In recent years Miami has drafted and signed players who didn’t have elite talent, but had good skills and reputations — Mario Chalmers — and allowed them to grow into good players. Miami wasn’t one of the five NBA cities he traveled to last week, but we were led to believe it was one of the eight to 10 teams he met with in Chicago. The Heat traded out of the first round — another “first pick means more” possibility — and, it would reason, would like to make their pick stick.
Miami is going to be very active in free agency and it’s conceivable only one or two people on the end-of-the-season roster will be back. Perhaps they want to draft a guy they think can be had for cheap and contribute? It’s hard to sign a dozen free agents.
Conversely, it’s possible the Heat want to make as few commitments as possible to be as financially flexible as possible. As a second-round pick, Butler’s contract isn’t guaranteed and doesn’t count against Miami’s salary cap number, which is important because they want to have about $49 million free to go after three maximum salary free agents. The Heat can stash Butler for a year, allow his knee to recover, maybe even reintroduce him through the D-League, and it can work out for both. Or they can just never sign him. That’s true, too.
Onto the Feedback. As always, comments appear as posted. In other words, be a hound, not a bull dog.
oklahoma mountaineer said:
What does this say about Ebanks’ perceived value when a guy on the same team described as not a good athlete who blew out his knee in his last game goes above him…….half full answer is what it says about Butler.
Ebanks’ problems at the beginning of last year, coupled with his disappearing at times, during the season cost him……another solid year with improvements on the offensive end would have put him in the first round.
Fair point. It’s strange how two players in very different pre-draft situations were evaluated so closely and then picked so close together. I had two NBA teams call me to ask about Ebanks and the questions were predominantly about character and behavioral issues — by the way, I chose not to participate — and I know another person who was contacted by two other NBA teams for the same reasons. I never heard from anyone about Butler nor did I hear about such a thing.
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