Player Recaps and Predictions: Brandan Wright

by Fantasy Junkie on Oct 26, 2008 11:23 PM PDT in Report Cards

Just a few more days until opening night aka GSOM Night 5 (did you get your tickets yet?) so we'll continue to finish up these player recaps and predictions. There's just a few more left. Up next is the guy who is most famous for being the guy we traded Jason Richardson (JRich!) for - Braces aka Brandan Wright.

On a side note, what will it take and how long will it take for people to forget that Wright was traded for JRich? (yea, yea, yea until GSOM stops reminding you haha).

Hit the jump for the recap and prediction. Leave your thoughts, grades, and predictions in the comments.

2007-2008 Season Recap
Grade: D+
Wright barely got any time on the court, whether or not that's his fault is up for debate. He didn't get time because Nellie doesn't play rookies? Or he didn't get time because he never earned it in practice? The fact is, he just didn't produce anything last year as the #8 draft pick. Unfortunately, he wasn't expected to produce anyways since everyone called him a project. That sure didn't help us get to the playoffs in consecutive years. Had we traded JRich for someone Nellie could have used in the rotation, I wonder how many more games we would have won. Supposedly, Wright is going to be a key piece in the Warriors' youth movement. Unfortunately, you have to produce something to be part of a youth movement. Wright just didn't do that. He had some nice games and even had a stretch towards the end of the season where he played decently, but overall it wasn't enough to get a better grade.

Last year he showed he was raw. At times, he looked nervous, tentative and unsure of what he was supposed to do out there. The only times he really looked comfortable were on the break where he was just running and letting his athleticism take over. The guy is a freak (in a good way). Apparently Mullin likes to draft athletic freaks right now (Wright and Anthony Randolph).

Defensively, he got pushed around but made the occasional highlight reel play by swooping in to block a shot. He did well challenging shots in the paint because of his freakishly long arms.

Overall, there was nothing about his rookie season made me think he should get anything higher than a D+.

2008-2009 Prediction
Wright is going to have every opportunity to play this season. There are no excuses this season. He's had one full year in the system, one full offseason to prepare, and now has nobody in front of him for the backup PF spot. If he's not on the court, nobody can blame Nellie for not playing the young guys, it'll be all on Wright's narrow shoulders.

He's got to show he can play in this league by playing 10-15 minutes (hopefully more) every night of every game. He shouldn't have any DNP-CD's. There's really no other option at backup PF right now so the job is his by default. Heck, even Nellie has verbally committed to playing the young guys more this year. Even though Nellie usually says whatever he feels like no matter if it's true, I believe that he's going to give the young guys every opportunity to play this year.

The one thing I'm worried about this year is that he's going to be playing against the big boys this year. Last year, in garbage time, he got to play the other end of the rotation guys. This year he'll be facing the second string guys and the starters. Not only does it get harder to score, but it's a lot more difficult defensively. If he can't hack it defensively, he just won't play.

No excuses this year for Wright. Either come to play or go home. I expect him to produce. I predict he averages 12 minutes per game and makes some nice strides in his development. Next year, year 3, should be his breakout year if everything goes according to plan (crossing my fingers). Given the glimpses of talent we saw towards the end of last year, if he worked hard during the offseason to bulk up and work on his weaknesses, he's going to be part of that Warriors' youth movement.

Even though it was garbage time, this was one of the best dunks of the season. At GSOM Night 3 no less.

Brandan Wright 07-08 Highlights

Poll

What will Brandan Wright achieve in his career?

Nothing. Bust. Ouch.

53 votes

Just a bench player

286 votes

Starter

383 votes

Star

147 votes

All-Star

68 votes

937 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs | Comment 18 comments

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Comments

He's not a bust

I think he still needs more time to bloom..well you never know actually, MAYBE HE’S OUR NEXT TRADING PIECE!

by Montizzle8 on Oct 27, 2008 12:05 AM PDT 0 recs

if

wright had randolph’s confidence he’d be a beast. Until then he is going to be a bench energy guy.

by saintdee on Oct 27, 2008 12:45 AM PDT 0 recs

if

only we could swtich their brains. dam wright with randolph attitude= super beast!

So I don't have a signature well these words would do! Who knew that upgrades can have downgrades too!

by 24k state fan since 87 on Oct 27, 2008 2:58 AM PDT up 0 recs

this year will be telling

last year he was a rook and there want much space for him on the roster. he should be gettin some more PT this year unless harrington does really good

by 3Kings650 on Oct 27, 2008 1:18 AM PDT 0 recs

let me think

He is somewhere at bust to a bench player right now. Or he might at starter at best. 15 and 8 that it. but he isn’t going to be no star player or all star at all. He might be playing like dale davis at best.

by warriorfan4life on Oct 27, 2008 11:10 AM PDT 0 recs

“15 and 8” doesn’t mean much on its own. What’s the context? If he plays 38 minutes and takes 14 shots to get the 15 and 8, he’s not helping. If he’s getting 8 rebounds in 30 minutes and 10 shots to get the 15, then he’s very, very likely changing hte games for the better.

by jae on Oct 27, 2008 1:55 PM PDT up 0 recs

I think

Nellie didn’t play Wright more because front office management stressed to coaches that winning was their first priority. And to win Nellie played his vets. I think it was a culmination of a lot of things such as 1. Wright being only one year removed from HS. 2. Underweight at his position. 3. Being relatively unskilled on the low-high block. 4. Being too raw. 5. Playing on a veteran led team. 5. Front office management. 6. Nellie not trusting him.

So you can’t really just package a little-too-neat answer and say “there it is, that’s the reason why”. That’s not really a fair judgement (or Grade for that matter—D+?? WTF). I still have high expectations for Wright, although i fear he might be too soft is my only reservation. He seems to have the necessary tools, athleticism, and will to learn to be at least a successful starter in this league. He just needs to not get hurt like he’s been all too often and learn to play through a little discomfort (ankle, pinkie, toe, what else is next?).

Warriors, Stupidest franchise in the league.

by kenntoe on Oct 27, 2008 1:53 PM PDT 0 recs

D+ implies to me that he played poorly. Reality was that he just didn’t play. His actual numbers per minute when he did play were respectable. I never heard any rumors that it was because he wasn’t working hard enough such that Nellie was punishing him for poor work ethic. That’s an “incomplete”.

by jae on Oct 27, 2008 2:00 PM PDT up 0 recs

D+

What grade would you give him and why?

by Fantasy Junkie on Oct 27, 2008 4:55 PM PDT up 0 recs

It depends on how you look at Brandon Wright that should determine how you grade him.

As is the case with anything, you need to have context. Last season, Nelson had a win now mentality. By his own admission, Nelson’s coaching decisions were based on winning as many games as he possibly could to make the playoffs, as evident from the number of minutes Davis, Ellis, and Jackson played, and NOT player development. If that was the goal and frame of mind of the team, you can’t fault Wright for not playing as a rookie.

Now I understand that if he truly was good enough in practice, that should warrant more playing time. I can’t argue with that, but let’s look at some other factors to gain some more perspective. Brandon Wright should have been a SOPHMORE in college last year, and would be a JUNIOR this year. The kid has not fully matured and developed in terms of his playing ability or his physicality; therefore, it’s not prudent to judge him in relation to other NBA players who are more mature and developed.

The general learning curve for a young front court player is approximately three years. Three years to adapt to the speed of the game, the different nuances of the game, developing skills, developing physically, and acclimating to playing your game through contact. Wright is heading into year two.

To substantiate this point further, we don’t have to look far. Just look at Dirk Nowitzki who once played for Don Nelson. Dirk had a rough first year, good second year, and in year three became a perennial 20 ppg scorer. Bringing it back to the bay, just take a look at Andris Biedrins. He went from having a rough first couple of years, to having a good third year to warrant the Warriors committing to him long term.

I’m not disagreeing completely with this post, but just trying to give some further insight. Before Wright can truly be judged, we need to exercise some patience and get a bigger sample size of where he is today and where he will be tomorrow.

by friscoballer on Oct 27, 2008 2:55 PM PDT 0 recs

I do agree that we can’t really draw much from what we’ve seen of Wrightt but the Nowitzki comparison is a bit forced. In Dirk’s “rough” first year, he averaged 20mpg, appearing in 96% of his team’s games that season. I don’t know if that’s the right comparison to draw.

by jae on Oct 27, 2008 3:47 PM PDT up 0 recs

Nelson said

Wright has turned into a player this year , so I expect him to play.

Till I get free
I live my life in the Walmart
Cholesterol chasin me

by Skeptic con Urquell on Oct 27, 2008 3:11 PM PDT 0 recs

hm

That point about how wright will be playing more against starters and second stringers rather than scrubs was moot. The best moments of wright’s season last year was when he was starting games, he was going up against the 1st team and the 2nd team and holding his own.

by Bigben777 on Oct 27, 2008 4:20 PM PDT 0 recs

"second stringers"

moot or not, size does matter

Even keeping in mind Wright will be going up against the second line PFs around the league, in the West that includes the likes of

Paul Millsap 6-8 /258
Channing Frye 6-11/ 245
Nick Collison 6-9 /255
Joe Smith 6-10 /225
Brian Cardinal 6-8 /245
Nene 6-11 /268
Matt Bonner 6-10 /240
Ryan Bowen 6-9 /220
Carl Landry 6-7 /245
Louis Amundson 6-9 /225
Kenny Thomas 6-7 /245
Brandon Bass 6-8 /240
Tim Thomas 31 6-10 240

Plus one of these two from LAL, whoever is not starting with Bynam & Gasol:
Lamar Odom 6-10 /230
Vladimir Radmanovic 6-10 /234

Every single one is older and outweigh him by anywhere from 20-50 pounds.

This is the time when Nelson’s system really may be the key to Wright’s success – he’s got to out-run and out-hustle bigger, stronger men to help us on a nightly basis. His height and wingspan should help most nights…

Hendrix and Turiaf may have to play some PF for us to compete inside on the defensive end, but that limits us offensively, and again Nelson has never hesitated to "go small" .

reposted comment from: http://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2008/8/30/604400/wright-makes-the-list-will

by hardcore on Oct 27, 2008 6:29 PM PDT up 0 recs

Where's the

kid from draft day, who when drafted by the Bobcats was aked how he would feel about plaing Michael Jordan. His response was something about he didn’t think Jordan wanted to mess with him. Where did that confidence go?

Why don't you all quit bitching and just talk Warriors Basketball.

by danielholl on Oct 27, 2008 7:00 PM PDT 0 recs

Who said it left? Other than you.

Warriors, Stupidest franchise in the league.

by kenntoe on Oct 27, 2008 7:09 PM PDT up 0 recs

His response was something about he didn’t think Jordan wanted to mess with him.

and he was right, Jordon dint want to bother with him.

Till I get free
I live my life in the Walmart
Cholesterol chasin me

by Skeptic con Urquell on Oct 27, 2008 9:23 PM PDT up 0 recs

Wright needs some attitude...

In that highlight where Shaq elbows him on the way down the court, Brandan just lowers his head and has this “Aww Shucks” look on his face. I know Shaq is a big dude, but Wright needs to prove he belongs in this league. If not, he’s just another Carlos Rodgers.

by FiveAlarmFreddy on Oct 28, 2008 7:36 PM PDT 0 recs