Bouk nailed to the bench in opener

[husky429]

The G-League has lost a lot of the negative connotation that existed previously. Would be disappointing but it's definitely a place Bouknight can develop

They really need to send him to the g-league. Let him play a bunch of PG, make a ton of mistakes, and makes some moves next off-season to find him a spot and compliment the roster with someone else. Maybe a big.

 

[RayRay]

They really need to send him to the g-league. Let him play a bunch of PG, make a ton of mistakes, and makes some moves next off-season to find him a spot and compliment the roster with someone else. Maybe a big.

I’ve been thinking about this. I wonder why they haven’t sent him to the g league yet? Did their season not start yet? If that’s the case, that would make sense. Otherwise, it kind of feels like they’ve been keeping him around because he’s actually close to getting some pt, and maybe they think that it will also hurt his confidence. Wish we had some insider info…this is painful to watch the games and just not know if he’s close to playing or not…

 

[navery12]

I’ve been thinking about this. I wonder why they haven’t sent him to the g league yet? Did their season not start yet? If that’s the case, that would make sense. Otherwise, it kind of feels like they’ve been keeping him around because he’s actually close to getting some pt, and maybe they think that it will also hurt his confidence. Wish we had some insider info…this is painful to watch the games and just not know if he’s close to playing or not…

G League season started tonight

 

[RayRay]

G League season started tonight

Ok, thanks. Worth seeing if he gets sent down in the next week or so.

 

[LIuconn]

Getting 3 min at the end of the game tonight

 

[RayRay]

Getting 3 min at the end of the game tonight

I was very encouraged by the fact that Borrego only put in Mcdaniels, Bouk, and then Richards. Good to see he didn’t throw everyone at the end of the bench on. So that’s at least a great sign that Bouk has at minimum separated himself from the end of the pack and is very close to being given some time, or at the very least is the next man up.

 

[Dogdeacon]

I'm no scout, but I've watched enough of Bouk to know how explosive he can be offensively & I truly believe that he has the potential to be a 20+ppg guy on a winning team. He had zero business staying in college & belongs on an active roster - nothing against the G-League, but he's better than a lot of bench players league-wide right now.

He flashed such a dynamic skillset during the pre-season that I thought he was a lock to be the 6th/7th man to start the season. I was borderline shocked at the first DNP & thought it was a fluke - coach sending him a message, or an off the court issue. After 8-games, he's played a total of 2-minutes...that's just ineptitude by the coaching staff, IMO.

I don't care how loaded the position is on the roster [it's really not], it was a log-jam at the 1/2 last year & Lamelo got run right off the bat. Watching other rookies lighting it up [Green, Mobley, Duarte, etc.] is painful to watch - especially after seeing him slip a bit in the draft. I truly hope he gets his chance soon & seizes the opportunity.

FLASHED is the key word. Obviously the coaches see far more than us so its impossible for anyone who doesn't attend practices to know who should get minutes. If Bouk is too good for G-league it will be self-evident and therefore shouldn't be feared.

While I think he's got potential, in-game intensity needs work and game-to-game consistency will likely take a couple years to develop. He could find an offensive role this year as a microwave hot or not guy, but no idea if he can hold up his end of bargain on D.

 

[Letsgohuskies11]

Rozier was terrible last night. Miles Bridges continues to impress me but he didnt get much help last night. I only stayed away for the first half but the first quarter of play was real sloppy by both teams. Pooles was another bright spot.

 

[Chief00]

They really need to send him to the g-league. Let him play a bunch of PG, make a ton of mistakes, and makes some moves next off-season to find him a spot and compliment the roster with someone else. Maybe a big.

Quite frankly, PG requires a mindset of getting more satisfaction from making a great pass and seeing a teammate score than hitting a bucket yourself. This is the maturity process Chief talked about in the spring that well intended casual fans didn’t fully comprehend. I hope you are right, if he gets sent to the G League, he will use that time as an opportunity to do that vs. scoring more buckets himself. I hope he starts to really listen to people like Coach Hurley, who has his best interest at heart. While separating from inexperience advisors who don’t really understand the college or pro game nor the expectation of coaches and ownership.

 

[RayRay]

Should we be reading into this?

 

[UofCT]

Should we be reading into this?

Probably

 

[Chief00]

Greensboro is a nice town, been there on business quite a few times. Expect Chief to catch a couple games. Looking forward to catching up on things with James.

 

[UconnU]

They’re getting destroyed early. Could see him in at some point.

 

[NowInStorrs]

They’re getting destroyed early. Could see him in at some point.

You would think but he's still stuck on the bench. Hornets have been pretty terrible the last three games and he still hasn't gotten any minutes.

McDaniels just came in. Maybe Bouknight will follow.

 

[Castlevania]

He just threw up a ugly brick 3 pointer in garbage time. Its pretty easy to see with his physique alone that he could have stayed in college and hit the weight room a good bit more.

just missed a floater off the front end of the rim. now 0-3. turned the ball over the last play of the game on a penetration pass to Richards.

 

[NowInStorrs]

Played the last 3 minutes. Lamba already recapped what happened.

They mentioned in the broadcast that out of 30 first round picks, only 3 have not scored a point in the NBA yet. Two of those are on Charlotte: James Bouknight and Kai Jones.

 

[UofCT]

Played the last 3 minutes. Lamba already recapped what happened.

They mentioned in the broadcast that out of 30 first round picks, only 3 have not scored a point in the NBA yet. Two of those are on Charlotte: James Bouknight and Kai Jones.

Hornets are starting to lose now, lost 3 in a row. His time is coming.

 

[Chief00]

Respectfully, Chief thinks that playing time for James isn’t about how many games Charlotte loses in a row but the preparation progress James makes both on and off the court. While James was definitely a victim of poor advice by inexperience advisors during the draft process, he is empowered now to paint his own portrait. Chief wishes him the best.

 

[auror]

While James was definitely a victim of poor advice by inexperience advisors during the draft process, he is empowered now to paint his own portrait. Chief wishes him the best.

What you've seemingly never been able to grasp is that the ability "to paint his own portrait" in the NBA is the whole reason why he didn't need to come back to school in the first place. You don't need to be a finished product your rookie year in the NBA and plenty of kids mature once they're in the league. But yeah, poor Bouk with the terrible advisors that advised him correctly to lock in life changing guaranteed lottery money.

 

[Chief00]

What you've seemingly never been able to grasp is that the ability "to paint his own portrait" in the NBA is the whole reason why he didn't need to come back to school in the first place.

The OTE “guaranteed money” is now there for a 16 year old. Using your logic, the player should have so little confidence in his long term future, he should grab that short term and sighted money at age 16 and mortgage his long term future away, while Jeff Bezos gets a healthy % of future cash flow. There are reasons why some guys become billionaires.

Of course too, the NBA “guaranteed money” is conditional and the player must be mature enough to uphold some basic contractual protections for the team. Setting a player up for early failure diminishes his brand, sometimes irreparably. Additionally, anyone who is advising a lottery pick type player, should be considering the player’s preparation for the second contract, which is of course where the really big money is at. Torpedoing that contract opportunity is a strategic long term mistake. While Chief may be privy to information others might not have access to, there were reasons to believe things would play out exactly as they have. James does have amazing talents that can be cultivated under proper guidance and wholistic management. NBA teams have multiple talented players to focus their resources on, a player needs a degree of on/off court readiness to take advantage of that opportunity window, before they move on to the next guy. While many here were applauding certain inexperience advisors, they were taking James down an unnecessarily risky path given all the circumstances in play.

 

[auror]

The OTE “guaranteed money” is now there for a 16 year old. Using your logic, the player should have so little confidence in his long term future, he should grab that short term and sighted money at age 16 and mortgage his long term future away, while Jeff Bezos gets a healthy % of future cash flow. There are reasons why some guys become billionaires.

Of course too, the NBA “guaranteed money” is conditional and the player must be mature enough to uphold some basic contractual protections for the team. Setting a player up for early failure diminishes his brand, sometimes irreparably. Additionally, anyone who is advising a lottery pick type player, should be considering the player’s preparation for the second contract, which is of course where the really big money is at. Torpedoing that contract opportunity is a strategic long term mistake. While Chief may be privy to information others might not have access to, there were reasons to believe things would play out exactly as they have. James does have amazing talents that can be cultivated under proper guidance and wholistic management. NBA teams have multiple talented players to focus their resources on, a player needs a degree of on/off court readiness to take advantage of that opportunity window, before they move on to the next guy. While many here were applauding certain inexperience advisors, they were taking James down an unnecessarily risky path given all the circumstances in play.

The NBA guaranteed money is not really as conditional as you make it seem. It's basically impossible not to get 2 years which for a lottery pick is at minimum $6 million and overwhelming likely to get 4 for at least $15 (Bouk is getting $8.5 with 4 year upside of $19.2). Because even if 1 team doesn't like you, you're an asset on the books and they can trade you to a more risky/patient team with the 2nd team hoping the experience or their developmental infrastructure rattles you into line. The OTE money is not even in the same ballpark with we're assuming more strings attached. You're misconstruing or misunderstanding the argument: It isn't to always take any guaranteed money, it's to definitely take set for life guaranteed money. $6/$15+ million fits that description.

I admit this part is more my opinion/preference, but you're over-emphasizing the second contract. The most important contract if you're a lottery or mid 1st round pick is the 1st, as this is what sets your family up with lifetime security. If you were a 2nd round pick or maybe late 1st or in the NFL, then yes, the 2nd contract is the important one. But if you've already made $20 million, you don't NEED a 2nd contract, even if it is larger. Sure it's great to have, and you can do a lot of good with it, but it doesn't really offer any additional security since the 1st took care of all of it. So when you're talking about strategic mistakes, I think the strategic mistake would be risking your family's lifetime security by returning to school.

For some players returning to college is less risky than others, but the ironic thing about your argument is that if you're arguing that he needs maturity and has off the court question marks, then it is MORE likely that something happens to tank his stock in the future. It is actually riskier for him than others. Your implication is that UConn or Hurley are strong enough forces to heal whatever mystery ails him and so returning would better prepare him for the NBA, but apparently it didn't happen in 2 years. The NBA has MORE staff per player than college programs do and more resources per player AND much more invested in him financially, so your argument about UConn focusing more on him is hogwash.

 

[8893]

@Chief00 's sole mission in this thread is to get back at @Abe1 because Abe won the source-off.

 

[Chief00]

@Chief00 's sole mission in this thread is to get back at @Abe1 because Abe won the source-off.

Chief will let recent events tell the story of whose sources and evaluation was of much higher quality.

 

[Chief00]

The NBA guaranteed money is not really as conditional as you make it seem. It's basically impossible not to get 2 years which for a lottery pick is at minimum $6 million and overwhelming likely to get 4 for at least $15 (Bouk is getting $8.5 with 4 year upside of $19.2). Because even if 1 team doesn't like you, you're an asset on the books and they can trade you to a more risky/patient team with the 2nd team hoping the experience or their developmental infrastructure rattles you into line. The OTE money is not even in the same ballpark with we're assuming more strings attached. You're misconstruing or misunderstanding the argument: It isn't to always take any guaranteed money, it's to definitely take set for life guaranteed money. $6/$15+ million fits that description.

I admit this part is more my opinion/preference, but you're over-emphasizing the second contract. The most important contract if you're a lottery or mid 1st round pick is the 1st, as this is what sets your family up with lifetime security. If you were a 2nd round pick or maybe late 1st or in the NFL, then yes, the 2nd contract is the important one. But if you've already made $20 million, you don't NEED a 2nd contract, even if it is larger. Sure it's great to have, and you can do a lot of good with it, but it doesn't really offer any additional security since the 1st took care of all of it. So when you're talking about strategic mistakes, I think the strategic mistake would be risking your family's lifetime security by returning to school.

For some players returning to college is less risky than others, but the ironic thing about your argument is that if you're arguing that he needs maturity and has off the court question marks, then it is MORE likely that something happens to tank his stock in the future. It is actually riskier for him than others. Your implication is that UConn or Hurley are strong enough forces to heal whatever mystery ails him and so returning would better prepare him for the NBA, but apparently it didn't happen in 2 years. The NBA has MORE staff per player than college programs do and more resources per player AND much more invested in him financially, so your argument about UConn focusing more on him is hogwash.

NBA teams have access to multiple talented players. It’s not like a college team that has one scorer with the ball. A DNP guy on the bench is much closer to the G League than the type of scenarios you discussed. NBA contracts do have various conditions - ask Kyrie Irving.
Having said that, if James changes his mindset and does the work, he has the talent to have a very good career.

 

[pj]

The NBA guaranteed money is not really as conditional as you make it seem. It's basically impossible not to get 2 years which for a lottery pick is at minimum $6 million and overwhelming likely to get 4 for at least $15 (Bouk is getting $8.5 with 4 year upside of $19.2). Because even if 1 team doesn't like you, you're an asset on the books and they can trade you to a more risky/patient team with the 2nd team hoping the experience or their developmental infrastructure rattles you into line. The OTE money is not even in the same ballpark with we're assuming more strings attached. You're misconstruing or misunderstanding the argument: It isn't to always take any guaranteed money, it's to definitely take set for life guaranteed money. $6/$15+ million fits that description.

I admit this part is more my opinion/preference, but you're over-emphasizing the second contract. The most important contract if you're a lottery or mid 1st round pick is the 1st, as this is what sets your family up with lifetime security. If you were a 2nd round pick or maybe late 1st or in the NFL, then yes, the 2nd contract is the important one. But if you've already made $20 million, you don't NEED a 2nd contract, even if it is larger. Sure it's great to have, and you can do a lot of good with it, but it doesn't really offer any additional security since the 1st took care of all of it. So when you're talking about strategic mistakes, I think the strategic mistake would be risking your family's lifetime security by returning to school.

For some players returning to college is less risky than others, but the ironic thing about your argument is that if you're arguing that he needs maturity and has off the court question marks, then it is MORE likely that something happens to tank his stock in the future. It is actually riskier for him than others. Your implication is that UConn or Hurley are strong enough forces to heal whatever mystery ails him and so returning would better prepare him for the NBA, but apparently it didn't happen in 2 years. The NBA has MORE staff per player than college programs do and more resources per player AND much more invested in him financially, so your argument about UConn focusing more on him is hogwash.

Yes, Chief's approach made more sense when the NBA money was smaller and wasn't guaranteed. $6M is life-securing if it is handled frugally and conservatively (which it all too rarely is - it's easy to assume more is coming and spend it or give it away, or make risky investments).

There are no guarantees that a player will develop in either college or the pros. Bouk and his advisors have to decide which place is better for his development. College is more patient, but pros provide full-time support. What does Bouk need more, patience or coaching?

I have no idea myself, but with the financial benefits of going pro, it's hard to choose college. Worst case, the NBA gives up on him, he would still get a chance to develop in Europe.