June 29, 2018

Denzel Valentine
SG/SF – 6’6, 214lbs - 24 years old – 2 years of experience

The idea that Valentine could be the same sort of primary or secondary playmaking perimeter player at the NBA level like he was at Michigan State now looks dispensed with. The NBA is a bigger, quicker game, and while Valentine is just about passing out as an NBA athlete, that limited physical profile needs a higher skill level than he has for him to be able to fill that role.

Valentine also seems to have changed his mentality as a pro. The look-to-pass instinct has given way to an eternal desire to shoot the ball, and in his rookie season, that did not go well. Getting his off-hand in the way of his own shot far too often, Valentine was a mediocre three-point shooter as a rookie (35.1%), and considering he also had a knack for turning the ball over (often egregiously), he fit no obvious offensive role on the team. And the defence was worse still.

This year, though, the shot improved. The form is still not one to mimic, yet Valentine has made it work for him as a catch-and-shoot player from the wings. Still with the passing vision, Valentine powered through quite a lot of streakiness (and a complete avoidance of contact at the rim, instead preferring an ugly floater that goes in enough to be justified but which he really should pass out of sometimes) and became a useful offensive player for whom a future can now be foreseen.

The defence still needs a lot of work. But at the very least, Hoiball found a willing participant.

Player Plan: Two years of rookie scale salary remaining. Keep and see what happens.

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June 29, 2017

Denzel Valentine
SG/SF, 6’6, 212lbs, 23 years old, 1 year of experience

Valentine had a forgettable rookie year in which he played largely minor minutes with the occasional rotational turn. As of right now, the three-point line looks too far away, and the speed of the game too quick for him. The former of those is learnable with reps, and Valentine’s college career was build on a headiness that should translate in time. Yet in being a complete non-factor at the basket, and in not having the lateral speed to be especially projectable defensively, the shot will have to come around quickly for Valentine to win a rotation spot.

Player Plan: Three rookie scale seasons remaining. Year one was poor. Needs much more production.

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