**Tl;dr: verno said yesterday that Jake playing well is good solely so we can move him easier and he can get run somewhere else. Is that everyone’s opinion, or could you see a possible spot in the rotation for him? Though I think it’s less likely than the alternative, I can–and it comes down to his rebounding and skill game.**
As we all know, Jake has put together a string of productive games as of late, going back to at least the Portland series. Particularly his 3 pt shooting, footwork, and rebounding have looked great–it just took being healthy and playing meaningful minutes for a reasonable stretch of games. However, yesterday on Verno, Chris talked about how this is good for both parties for basically just one reason–he’ll be easier to trade and he could never crack the rotation here. But is that really the ceiling here?
First, we did and do have a logjam at the wing position… too many bodies, not enough talent. Roddy, Z, Smart, Konchar, Bane, now VWJ and GG and Yuta. But watching Jake play, his good size + lack of speed seems to pretty obviously indicate he’s a natural 4 in the NBA. We don’t have the same logjam at the 4 as we do at the 3/2.
Aldama is tbe current backup 4– a player with mixed sentiments around him currently. He’s certainly an NBA level player but I don’t think anyone would describe him as irreplaceable. The other guy at this same spot I’d say is Lamar Stevens. I love him and he has a super high motor, but he’s not under contract for next season still, and anyway, I’m only talking about whether or not there’s a possible path for Laravia here.
I also don’t think the breakouts of VWJ and GG preclude Jake from having a shot here, either. Obviously roster spots aren’t limitless and rotation spots even less so, and it’s taken a crazy number of injuries for laravia to even have this chance.
But the one thing that really makes me like Jake’s fit is his rebounding. He and Stevens have both shown they have a nose for the ball, crucially on the offensive glass. We are an **undersized team**. Our rebounding this year has been nonexistent and the last 2, it was just “Steven Adams.” It’d be really great to have a double-double threat coming off the bench. Like, really great. And Jake is a good size for a 4. Plus, lots of people felt his ceiling was far higher than Roddy’s coming out of college. Watching him play it’s evident why; he has great footwork and is a skill player (silly turnovers aside). Impressively developed game for a prospect. He puts people in the slow cooker sometimes off the dribble and it’s [fun to watch ](https://streamable.com/75bx1g).
I will admit I don’t think it’s even the most likely outcome. But to me he looks more polished than Z- and if Jake can just be a santi-or-better level shooter who is liable to go for 15 and 10 on any given night, is that not an upgrade? We also don’t know what BC will look like, and who knows if he’s the same guy. That’d leave the backup 4 AND 5 open, and Santi is a 7 footer at least.
A couple negatives are his contract–still a rookie deal but because of his draft position, I wouldn’t say it’s a great value or anything. And his defense is not great, but Santi is literally the worst nba defender I’ve ever seen, no hyperbole. Oh, and the whole constantly-injured thing isn’t confidence inspiring.
Enough rambling, I’m just curious if everyone views this as just a shot to up his nonexistent trade value, or if he has a chance of staying. What do you see with him? Of the 5 projects it seems like Jake is the biggest question mark and has gotten the least amount of run so far.
by electricvelvet
10 Comments
“If Jake could do what Santi can wouldn’t he be better?” He can’t. Can’t shoot like Santi. Can’t playmake like Santi. Can’t be tall like Santi.
Jaren BC Santi & GG + whatever new big we get will have all the 4/5 minutes.
Jake would need to do a lot to take Santi’s job. Santi isn’t perfect, but he is a known commodity who is reliably healthy. Jake has barely been healthy for two years now, and has only just started playing decent ball like a week ago. Being as good as Santi through the rest of the year won’t be enough, Jake would need to be leaps better or provide different skills entirely to become the backup 4. If Jake is just a smaller Santi, why wouldn’t we just keep playing Santi?
The realistic best case scenario that I can see is Jake keeps his play up and solidifies himself as a good 3rd string PF or a guy we can put in a trade deal for a new C as a positive asset (or at least a neutral asset used for salary matching).
>Particularly his 3 pt shooting
He’s shooting < 30% from three over the last four games… I took Verno’s comments differently but trade value is definitely a part of it.
Position, who cares – just play your five best players. What is your idea of a natural 4? Because to me a 4 would provide secondary rim protection on defence which LaRavia doesn’t really provide but I always thought he was a good nail defender which would be more of a natural 3. And on offence he’s a connective piece which could be anything. I also don’t agree he has good size for a 4 – league is getting larger and more skilled every year. Like against DEN, LAC, MIN he doesn’t have good 4 size – against OKC I guess he has okay 4 size and that’s just the top 4. Again, I don’t care about the position but that’s my pov.
I think a four game sample size is entirely too small to be making any judgements just as 50 games was too small of a sample size to say he was a bust. Last 20-ish games will be very important.
Unrelated to Jake but Santi is definitely not the worst defender you’ve ever seen. He’s actually a good secondary rim protector and has been all season. To me Jake and Santi have minimal overlap in direct position they don’t really do the same things on defence but there is overlap on offence.
I’d take Laravia over Z if he keeps up his production. Seems to have a slightly tighter handle and possibly better defense. At least he has the physicals for it ( 6’8 235).
I drafted a response but it was too long, even by my loquacious standards. I’ll try to be more concise.
**tl;dr: 1.)** *most of those people you named aren’t really under any serious consideration as wings and* **2.)** *they’ll probably keep Jake and trade more valuable assets this summer like Marcus Smart and/or Luke Kennard in order to open up salary space*.
**Read on if you like UNABRIDGED THOUGHTS**
Bane and Smart aren’t wings and shouldn’t be considered as part of any “*logjam*.” Neither is Vince but I’ll concede he’s been getting a lot of minutes at the wing, I just expect that to change when our roster is more healthy. Jitty isn’t a real consideration at the wing either because he’s not the sort of person who beats anyone out of minutes anywhere, he’s the sort of guy who is meant to slot in when/where needed.
I don’t think our two-ways should be serious considerations here either though a number of them have played well. Stevens could make the roster but I don’t think Yuta will. Roddy’s already gone. GG is the future and has solidified his place. He’ll be the starting wing eventually.
That leaves Jake and Z. It’s hard to truly talk about Jake if you don’t put him in context of Luke, though.
Luke has a singular purpose on a healthy roster and that’s for floor spacing. He’s shown ball handling ability but on a healthy roster he’s way too far down the pecking order to see any real minutes where he’d be a playmaker. He’s not a cutter, doesn’t finish through contact, doesn’t rebound and isn’t much of a defender.
That’s the context of Jake LaRavia. Jake can shoot threes —*though obviously NOT as well as Luke*— as well as rebound, finish through contact, has a good since of when to cut to the basket when the D isn’t paying attention (*something Z also does well, incidentally*) and doesn’t appear to be a worse defender than Luke. He also plays a position where we need solid people.
The worst kept secret of this Grizzlies team is not that we have some logjam at the wing, it’s that we have a logjam at the 2-guard and are playing a bunch of 2-guards either at the point or at the wing because we don’t have enough minutes for them all at the 2. Luke is a part of **that** logjam and if we were healthy, it would be much more clear.
So the question surrounding Jake is: *does he offer more advantages on the wing than Z does?* and the answer to that, unfortunately for Z, is “*Yeah. Probably.*” If Z could only have developed into a better defender who could capably guard a range of positions, the team would 100% live with his offensive flaws. If he developed into a defender like Vince, Z would be the starting wing. All he’d need to do was catch lobs from our playmakers and not be a total wash beyond the arc.
But, unfortunately, Z isn’t a defender of note, and if defense is off the table, then you’re comparing him to Jake offensively. If Jake shows he can be consistent while he’s getting all these minutes, then he really makes the case that he should be the keeper.
Here’s my thing about Jake. While he has had unreal injury “luck”, he’s also certainly earned his fair share of criticism. Here’s one thing that doubters will never be able to explain though.
For the past month, l’ve been buying Jake Laravia’s trading cards, and the more I buy, the happier I become.
Please please just get rid of him, I’ve had enough of this cycle of depression with him, putting up good numbers on this g league squad isn’t gonna change my mind
I know I’m being harsh but this is an opportunity to get rid in the summer and avoid the dead money we’d get from waiving him
TLDR but I saw Jake’s name in the title and felt the anger in my thumbs so I have to type this out. Jake is similar to Ben Simmons in a way, the guy shows up in chains and likes to strut around like he’s a big part of the team. When in reality he’s a mediocre basketball player who can easily be replaced.
I really like this post. And your point of LaRavia at the 4 is (imho) spot on. Santi doesn’t want to bang down low or muscle for rebounds the way I have seen Jake do in the past few games. Eye opening really when you think about it. Frankly, I don’t see why you wouldn’t keep 2 of either Santi, Jake or Z with Z the most likely trade fodder. I don’t know who these magic wings who will solve all our issues and will play for less than 10M/yr are. Or where they grow. When I hear the names, I go lurk in the team subs and believe me, those fans want that guy traded, or he’s overpaid, or he’s ass. We have the three guys who can go get points when needed. We have a vet who can guide the team. The rest is Money Ball. Spend the pick for a solid rebounding and defending 1, sign another back up point and let’s go. We’ll send our thanks for everything’s to Yuta and Derrick.
He has less place on this team than Roddy did. If some team gets stuck with him after we have moved on they will play him as much as Roddy is getting in Phoenix…none with some trash time at the end of blowouts about 3 mins every 4 games or so. As everyone affiliated with online Suns coverage is saying “Roddy is nothing more here than an expiring contract and draft space.” Jake and David will be superstars with the Jiangsu Dragons. I hear Kyrgyzstan is nice this time of year.