Waiting for Devontae

[Jackie Kong]

OH, HELLO THERE!
  by Jackie Kong & Shaq

    “ For my whole life, I didn’t know if I even really existed.
But I do, and people are starting to notice."
- Arthur Fleck

    Today we have with us Clippers' GM Shaq for some Questions and Answers about Devonte' Terrell Graham! So much fun! So, what's up with Graham? More than last season for sure. Actually, him going from no one to someone is the reason of this article and what we want are some answers to this mystery! But before heading to the questions let's bring some memories on league's perception about Devonte over the past season.


LAST SEASON

    Graham's D720 career started with lack of love to say the least. Draft results show him as going 45th to Clippers' former GM Gregg Popovich but he actually went 51th per draft board because Pop missed the clock. Even worse, Pop was quoted just before the pick saying "Give me anyone dudes"! So, yes. That wasn't Graham's day...

    Later that season, Pop was replaced by Shaq and Devonte was motivated till he realized his DRs were never going to be picked up.

    After months of waiting, Graham was finally traded to the Timberwolves as a filler. Minnesota was seen as a big loser of that trade but what people didn't know was that they were actually receiving a hidden gem that day. Unfortunately, GM Kg didn't know it either because days later, Graham would be on his way out again to Indiana. Pacers received McCollum, Kanter and Graham in this new trade and it remains unknown if GM Reggie was brilliantly going for Graham or if he just got lucky; Why? When he accepted he said and I quote "I will get 2 very good players". As a side note on that last trade, people thought Graham's value was so low that TC member Steve Jobs had to use 14 '<' comparators to describe him.

    After that, Graham finally found a home with the Pacers and the rest is history. So now, let's get straight to the questions for Shaq!


QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

 " Shaq, How would you describe Graham from last season? "

  "Last season,Devonte Graham didn't really get opportunities as I took over as the Clippers' GM mid season. He was a young player with some potential but there was a large chance that he would not reach that potential ever based on his play last season."

 " Did you consider not picking up his DRs? "

  "Picking up Devonte's DR was in my mind but a good deal presented itself and based on Devonte's play, his inclusion was not a deal breaker. Hence, he was shipped off to the Wolves."

 " Did you ever imagine he could become into the player he is now? "

  "Honestly, no one would have imagined Devonte would become the player he is now. Props to him for working on his game in the summer and developing into such a talent."

 " Do you think he will be able to keep it up? "

  "I think Graham can keep up his stellar play but I feel like this is his ceiling and he will not improve a lot from here and can only fall off."

 " Can we expect another Graham sliding through your fingers in the future? "

  "We have had a great draft this year. Washington has impressed a lot. Edwards has been good too. I have expectations from Guy and Admiral too. Thybulle wasn't our pick but we were high on him in the draft and that's why we traded for him and he has been a beast on defense. We trust these young guys and are gonna be patient with them. We have rejected the offers that came in for Thybulle, Edwards and even Kurucs as we have faith in them and do not want to trade them away. Opportunities have also been provided to them as Washington and Thybulle have been inserted in the starting lineup as rookies and Kurucs as a sophomore. So I don't think we will see another Devontae Cacok slipping from our hands."

FINAL NOTES

    Sometimes, you just can't tell who is going to be good or what star is going to leave to make room for young prospects to take over. League is so competitive that a lucky break can make the difference for a player between getting a opportunity or being out of the league before even signing a guaranteed contract. Who knows? Maybe GM Billy gets to laugh at last when Devontae becomes the next Devonte.

    The idea for the note came as a result of many funny quotes surrounding Graham's rookie season and it wouldn't have been possible without Shaq's predisposition so thumps ups for his contribution to this piece. Last question was only meant to sound funny and to give Shaq a chance to punch back. Also, I reckon it is virtually impossible along the way not to trade some young prospect that ends up breaking out when you trade as much as the people speaking.


    Anyway, Hope you enjoyed the read, thanks and Merry Christmas!

[Jackie Kong]

By the way, I will split whatever amount of Billy Bucks I can get for this piece with Shaq O'Neal . Thanks.

[Stuff The Magic Dragon]

Devonte Graham = Jeremy Lin

[Scott Pilgrim]

epic piece

[billy]

I thought this was about the cool devontae

[Jackie Kong]

Article mostly intends to get people to write again. Even the simplest report is nice. You don't even need the fancy format. I reckon it is hard sometimes but you will feel good when you are finished. And going back to old stuff you made is nice too.

[billy]

also 15k billy bucks is my vote :D

[Deleted]

15k

[Stuff The Magic Dragon]

15,000 Billy Buckets

[billy]

I really like the whole interview a gm format. Keep em coming!

[Steve Jobs]

In fairness, what I actually said, was “Delon Wright + a 1st >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Devonte’ Graham”. Considering Graham looks to be just a sharpshooter (but mostly an inefficient volume scorer, and bad defender) who is getting way more shot attempts than he probably deserves on a horrible Hornets team, and the opposite side of that comparison is Wright (playing good basketball for the Mavs) and a 1st round pick that fell where several good rookies were still on the board. If I had to pick one side of that equation, I’d still lean towards Wright and the 1st. Graham has a long way to go to prove he’s good enough to warrant treating him like an actual Star.

[Jackie Kong]

Yeah, I know. But like in movies you need some dramatization or else the article would be boring.

Graham has a 50.6 eFG% though. That's not inefficient.

[Steve Jobs]

Dec 25, 2019 21:20:54 GMT -5 Jackie Kong said:

Yeah, I know. But like in movies you need some dramatization or else the article would be boring.

Graham has a 50.6 eFG% though. That's not inefficient.

The only thing he does efficiently (or at all, really) is shoot threes. His 2pt FG% is an atrocious 35.8%.

[Jackie Kong]

Dec 25, 2019 20:20:34 GMT -5 billy said:

I really like the whole interview a gm format. Keep em coming!

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar should do one. If he is not going to trade he has time to answer questions. An interview about his strategy, the ups and downs of it and that sort of things could be nice.

About Graham, I don't even claim him being a star. Just saw an article opportunity there.

Some other ideas could be the following,

- The Kareem interview I already said.

- A compilation of questions and answers to GMs with some of the biggest draft steals (Ex.: David Robinson with Siakam). Could be nice to know what they saw in those players, if they had doubts and if they ever considered another player.

- Questions to GMs about how it was to integrate to the league and if they faced any difficulties or whatever.

- former champions interview (if they are available for questions, lol)

- GMs that were most unlucky like Theodore Duncan with Cousins and Porzingis injuries. How they felt when it happened, how they handled it and if they did the right call or not. Theo could have an article alone on that one, lol. Like he made decisions on both Cousins and Porzingis and it seems like it worked. Porzingis is good again and Cousins is still injured but he was traded.

- Questions to random GMs about GMs that lasted for a couple of weeks or longer that had something funny about them like Frank Reynolds (former Ron Burgundy) or the "yo" guy Robert Horry.

- An article or most epic Playoffs series (I know billy loves to talk about that time he almost beat the Sonics).

- Something on the biggest contracts handled to restricted FAs and the take of the people that offered them (mostly Paul Pierce lol) and the GMs that had to decide whether to accept them or not. And if they were happy or not with their decision.

- An interview to GMs that won the lottery. How it felt like and in some cases, if they wished they didn't win it and if they originally wanted a player but they felt forced to pick someone else. For the 2nd question, I am mostly talking about someone like Fultz or someone else.

- Maybe something on missed opportunities like something you are offered a superstar, you reject and then, regret it? Or maybe you are offered a player that then becomes a star but you declined when he still wasn't one.

All those could be fine I think and interesting.

[Jackie Kong]

Some questions and answers with Allan Houston would be really nice too. He won a title but before that, he had to make some bold decision like deciding not to pay big money to Horford. Also, he won a title even after losing Durant! And he had Jokic when he was mostly a prospect. Kemba as well.


Maybe, @xavier0717 could do one as well, ha.

Brian Scalabrine too starting with his playoff run with Bosh.

[Paul Pierce]

You couldn’t pay me to y’all about that KCP signing :(

[Brian Scalabrine]

Hell yeah I'd do an interview

[Doc Rivers]

Nice job Jackie Kong

[Doc Rivers]

Dec 25, 2019 23:35:25 GMT -5 Paul Pierce said:

You couldn’t pay me to y’all about that KCP signing :(

Kong should interview you about winning the lottery in unprecedented fashion, but drafting Markelle Fultz and then actually getting something in return for him which has ib part, lead you to a 9-1 start to the season this year.

[Jackie Kong]

Dec 27, 2019 9:53:05 GMT -5 Doc Rivers said:

Dec 25, 2019 23:35:25 GMT -5 Paul Pierce said:

You couldn’t pay me to y’all about that KCP signing :(

Kong should interview you about winning the lottery in unprecedented fashion, but drafting Markelle Fultz and then actually getting something in return for him which has ib part, lead you to a 9-1 start to the season this year.

Yeah, Pierce's perspective on Fultz' shooting and the fluid in his shoulder should be fun to read. He also unexpectedly got 3rd this season but this time he traded beforehand. Not sure if we had the "rotoworld" sidebar back them but I bet they had plenty of fun with Fultz that year.

D720 has lot to tell if you think about it.

[Jackie Kong]

Probably not right now but I am willing to do more of these next year. If interested, just pm with an specific conversation for the article and we will keep in touch.

I also encourage others to make a duo for the questionnaires. Or you can answer your own questions. A segment of "Talking to the Hand".

[Steve Jobs]

Dec 29, 2019 20:09:49 GMT -5 Jackie Kong said:

Probably not right now but I am willing to do more of these next year. If interested, just pm with an specific conversation for the article and we will keep in touch.

I also encourage others to make a duo for the questionnaires. Or you can answer your own questions. A segment of "Talking to the Hand".

Just in case anyone has forgotten, the Woj account is definitely still an option for any articles you want to post. Request an article for me to write from the perspective of Woj delivering an exclusive interview (or I guess Kong, he makes some pretty article formatting), or you can even write the article yourself and send it in to me, and I’ll post it up from the Woj account.

[Jackie Kong]

Graham killed the real life Mavericks tonight.

[Jackie Kong]

Dec 29, 2019 21:30:41 GMT -5 Steve Jobs said:

Just in case anyone has forgotten, the Woj account is definitely still an option for any articles you want to post. Request an article for me to write from the perspective of Woj delivering an exclusive interview (or I guess Kong, he makes some pretty article formatting), or you can even write the article yourself and send it in to me, and I’ll post it up from the Woj account.

Some Woj action would definitely be nice. And if a format is required or wanted I am willing to look at the article before it is posted and send it back with a tentative format. Even willing to discuss it based on how you want it to look like. There are a couple of things that I noticed the tags in here don't like but for the most part, there are ways to get posts to look the way you want them to.