Yes, I think he’s on the cusp if Shai takes his game up another level this season while Josh Giddy improves his defensive footwork and does the team thing and becomes the best Sixth Man in the league.
Obviously, Kevin Durant was a generational player in his prime… right now he’s just a notch and a half below LeBron and on my list pretty much even with Steph and Kawhi.
I always had Nick as my fifth guy on Sam Presti’s OKC original Fab Five because of Nick’s elite passing, his elite understanding of team defense, and his elite vision in the two man game with James Harden. You know…somewhat like Boris Diaw on those elite San Antonio teams.
So on this new Fab Five I go in this order for the time being depending on how fast Chet Holgren assimilates his game to an arduous 82 game regular season slate. I’ve never questioned Chet’s skill set in that he is a five skill player while Josh is a three skill set player. What I still wonder about with Chet is how many games can he go in a reagular season when you start going back to back and three games in four nights.
My current Thunder Fab Five goes in this order ‘right now’,…. 1 SGA, 2 J-Dub, 3 Chet, 4 Josh, and 5 J-Will.
J-Will….has El Prez lost his mind while wrestling with cancer? No… not at all. I’ve been following J-Will since his days at Arkansas and if ever there was a replica of Nick Collison it’s J-Will. If anything… J-Will should be better than Nick because he can step back and hit the three when it’s required in a clutch situation. Nick never really had this in his arsenal, hence Nick was a four skill player on my TSSN metric sheet…but a wonderful four skill quitessential team player.
So what does this mean for me on my blog? It means I’m still going to feature Golden State 1, Denver 2, and OKC 3 as I attempt to weave a three team coverage depending on my health. OKC with Chet is clearly a story, one in fact which I’m sure all passionate NBA fans will be interested in following if they’re real NBA fans.
It’s physical therapy day for me at 1:00pm. Audra is my PT mate today. I’m jacked…. I actually love physical therapy…I’m weird in that way. I’ll tell you this, cancer non-withstanding… if I can get to the point where I can get the right knee replaced El Prez could be on the cusp his ownself of becoming his own Bad Little Dude….just saying.
Until you’ve had a brush with your own mortality….you never really realize what a God given privlege it is to be alive and enjoying the company of family and friends.
More rain scheduled for Deer Creek tonight. The ranch has never been lusher or greener.
Have a wonderful Summer League week..