https://twitter.com/Sam_Vecenie/status/1671518857721266179?s=20

He shot 32.4% from the NBA line in the G-League as what should've been a freshman in college. I'm not going to say that's lighting up the perimeter, but, like, if Scoot had shot 36% from 3 in college against worse competition, people would say "he can potentially be a good shooter," but if you shoot between 32 and 33 percent from the NBA line against grown men *and* prove you can shoot at a *very* high-level from the mid-range *and* show an impressive floater game... you get labeled a non-shooter by people (especially people who didn't watch the G-League).

Like, Brandon Miller's obviously the better shooter from distance, especially off the catch, but he also struggled with separation some against more athletic college defenders, he struggled to finish at the rim for a guy who's 6'9... it's not like Miller doesn't have questions to his offensive game as well.

Everyone needs a 3-and-D wing in today's NBA, so I'm also high on Miller for that exact reason (absolutely zero reason he should escape the top 3)... but I think (a) people grossly under appreciate how much harder the G-League is than college basketball, and (b) plenty of teams also need lead guards who have an elite combination of skill, motor, and top-5th-percentile-in-the-NBA athleticism. He's strong as hell, he creates for himself and others, he has a beautiful handle... like, there's just *so* much to love about Scoot's game imo.

And while it's true that 6'2 isn't a height where we've seen a lot of PGs have major success... we've also very rarely seen 6'2 guys with his intersection of length (6'9+), strength, athleticism, and body control. Like, Derrick Rose was 6'3 with a 6'8 wingspan-- and Scoot absolutely has Rose's athleticism and strength. (He also has more mid-range pull-up and floater game and isn't as much of a barrel-into-defenders guy, so you'd like to think he's less of an injury risk than a player like Rose.)

As for the fit questions, because Melo is tall and shoots the ball well, I definitely think you can play the two of them together (although that pair would work a lot better if Melo ever chose to give a fuck on defense lol). For Portland, Dame and Scoot... is definitely tougher, but you can't pass on Scoot for, like, Cam Whitmore or whatever. If you're at 3, and you don't think Scoot is *your* dude, you just trade back.

And a Scoot-for-Zion trade... I mean, look, there's a lot we don't know behind the scenes in New Orleans, but if they're just *over* all the Zion stuff, especially because Zion seems to be over them? I think you could do a lot worse than getting Scoot, lol. I don't know what else they can get in that deal due to Zion's injury concerns to date... but I think Scoot has very, very high potential, and you're more likely to extract max value in the draft in a Zion trade at this point than for actual players imo. Teams will be too coy with genuine proven star assets due to Zion's injuries and the overwhelming feeling that Zion demanding an exit is probably coming sooner rather than later, lol.

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