Getting to know the new Suns: What does Cheick Diallo bring to a revamped frontcourt?由NBA集锦屋 发表在PlanetOrange https://bbs.hupu.com/687
The Suns introduced draft picks Cameron Johnson and Ty Jerome and free-agent signee Ricky Rubio at last month’s Las Vegas Summer League, then reintroduced Kelly Oubre Jr. in Phoenix after he signed a new contract.
But with the quiet portion of the NBA calendar upon us, Phoenix is unlikely to hold any other formal player introductions until its annual media day prior to the start of training camp.
To satisfy fan interest until then, we have tapped into The Athletic’s full roster of NBA beat writers for insight on the Suns’ other additions.
Today: Pelicans reporter Will Guillory, who covered reserve big man Cheick Diallo during his tenure in New Orleans.
Were you surprised Diallo became a victim of New Orleans’ dramatic roster reconstruction under new VP David Griffin?
Once the Pelicans took Jaxson Hayes with the No. 8 pick in this year’s draft, the writing was pretty much on the wall that Diallo’s time in New Orleans was over. The team liked his development over the years, but getting a true starting center next to Hayes and Jahlil Okafor was the obvious path that needed to be taken after draft night.
Diallo was once the top high school prospect in the country. He has not quite lived up to that status in college or the pros. But he’s still an interesting young player. At this point, what is his ceiling?
I think he still has the potential to be a spark plug at the five with bench units. He lacks the rebounding prowess and defensive consistency to be a starting center, and his outside jumper isn’t good enough to be a four. But he runs really well for a big guy and can be an excellent finisher at times around the basket. The biggest thing for him this summer has to be working on his hands and being more disciplined on defense. He gets caught out of position at times chasing blocks and gets lost in pick-and-roll every now and then. But when he’s playing with confidence, he can score from a few different areas in pick-and-roll.
Entering training camp, Diallo is expected to slot behind Deandre Ayton and Aron Baynes on the center depth chart, and behind Dario Saric and Frank Kaminsky at power forward. How successful has he been at making the most of sporadic or inconsistent playing time?
That’s pretty much been his entire career up to this point. He’s never been a guy who complains about playing time, though, and he puts in the work to improve his game regardless of the circumstances. He does have issues with his confidence if his shots aren’t falling on offense, but his effort is always consistent. You can always depend on Diallo to go after boards and be the first big down the floor for every offensive possession. He’s also one of those guys who loves cheering teammates on from the bench. You’ll see a lot of him waving towels and giving high-fives after big Devin Booker shots.
What is Diallo’s underrated skill? How about the area of his game that requires the most improvement — aka the aspect for which teammates will need to most compensate?
He’s unbelievably efficient on those little one-handed push shots from 5-10 feet away from the basket. I would say that might be his best offensive skill at this point. He has really nice touch on those shots, and he knows how to take his time and hit them over taller defenders. Even though he’s a pretty good shot-blocker, Diallo doesn’t necessarily have the greatest leaping ability around the basket. He makes up for that by using his long arms and dropping in those little shots when teams least expect it. He can hit them from around the free-throw line or on the baseline. It’s his overall defensive awareness. When Cheick is playing well, he’s really fun to watch. He brings a ton of energy to the floor, and he encourages everybody else to run the way he does. But when his defense is bad, it’s really bad. He gets lost in pick-and-roll when teams bring him out to the perimeter, he has trouble predicting what ballhandlers will do when they come at him and he gets in foul trouble often because of those mental mistakes.
It sounds like Diallo has a terrific personality. How do you envision him fitting in Phoenix’s locker room, which includes a lot of young players mixed with high-character veterans?
Everybody in the Pelicans locker room loved Diallo. He’s one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and he’s always in a good mood. What they loved about him the most was the fact that he always put the work in to improve and he always took the job seriously — even if he gets a little goofy at times. It’s always good to have a guy like that on the bench that brings positive energy to the locker room and enjoys putting a smile on the face of all his teammates. I expect him to become a fan favorite pretty early in his Suns career, and it’ll only be a matter of time before they start throwing up the “Wakanda Forever” sign (from the movie Black Panther) like Diallo does after all his dunks.
The Suns introduced draft picks Cameron Johnson and Ty Jerome and free-agent signee Ricky Rubio at last month’s Las Vegas Summer League, then reintroduced Kelly Oubre Jr. in Phoenix after he signed a new contract.
But with the quiet portion of the NBA calendar upon us, Phoenix is unlikely to hold any other formal player introductions until its annual media day prior to the start of training camp.
To satisfy fan interest until then, we have tapped into The Athletic’s full roster of NBA beat writers for insight on the Suns’ other additions.
Today: Pelicans reporter Will Guillory, who covered reserve big man Cheick Diallo during his tenure in New Orleans.
Were you surprised Diallo became a victim of New Orleans’ dramatic roster reconstruction under new VP David Griffin?
Once the Pelicans took Jaxson Hayes with the No. 8 pick in this year’s draft, the writing was pretty much on the wall that Diallo’s time in New Orleans was over. The team liked his development over the years, but getting a true starting center next to Hayes and Jahlil Okafor was the obvious path that needed to be taken after draft night.
Diallo was once the top high school prospect in the country. He has not quite lived up to that status in college or the pros. But he’s still an interesting young player. At this point, what is his ceiling?
I think he still has the potential to be a spark plug at the five with bench units. He lacks the rebounding prowess and defensive consistency to be a starting center, and his outside jumper isn’t good enough to be a four. But he runs really well for a big guy and can be an excellent finisher at times around the basket. The biggest thing for him this summer has to be working on his hands and being more disciplined on defense. He gets caught out of position at times chasing blocks and gets lost in pick-and-roll every now and then. But when he’s playing with confidence, he can score from a few different areas in pick-and-roll.
Entering training camp, Diallo is expected to slot behind Deandre Ayton and Aron Baynes on the center depth chart, and behind Dario Saric and Frank Kaminsky at power forward. How successful has he been at making the most of sporadic or inconsistent playing time?
That’s pretty much been his entire career up to this point. He’s never been a guy who complains about playing time, though, and he puts in the work to improve his game regardless of the circumstances. He does have issues with his confidence if his shots aren’t falling on offense, but his effort is always consistent. You can always depend on Diallo to go after boards and be the first big down the floor for every offensive possession. He’s also one of those guys who loves cheering teammates on from the bench. You’ll see a lot of him waving towels and giving high-fives after big Devin Booker shots.
What is Diallo’s underrated skill? How about the area of his game that requires the most improvement — aka the aspect for which teammates will need to most compensate?
He’s unbelievably efficient on those little one-handed push shots from 5-10 feet away from the basket. I would say that might be his best offensive skill at this point. He has really nice touch on those shots, and he knows how to take his time and hit them over taller defenders. Even though he’s a pretty good shot-blocker, Diallo doesn’t necessarily have the greatest leaping ability around the basket. He makes up for that by using his long arms and dropping in those little shots when teams least expect it. He can hit them from around the free-throw line or on the baseline. It’s his overall defensive awareness. When Cheick is playing well, he’s really fun to watch. He brings a ton of energy to the floor, and he encourages everybody else to run the way he does. But when his defense is bad, it’s really bad. He gets lost in pick-and-roll when teams bring him out to the perimeter, he has trouble predicting what ballhandlers will do when they come at him and he gets in foul trouble often because of those mental mistakes.
It sounds like Diallo has a terrific personality. How do you envision him fitting in Phoenix’s locker room, which includes a lot of young players mixed with high-character veterans?
Everybody in the Pelicans locker room loved Diallo. He’s one of the nicest guys you will ever meet and he’s always in a good mood. What they loved about him the most was the fact that he always put the work in to improve and he always took the job seriously — even if he gets a little goofy at times. It’s always good to have a guy like that on the bench that brings positive energy to the locker room and enjoys putting a smile on the face of all his teammates. I expect him to become a fan favorite pretty early in his Suns career, and it’ll only be a matter of time before they start throwing up the “Wakanda Forever” sign (from the movie Black Panther) like Diallo does after all his dunks.
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