2. Between Ersan Ilyasova, Stanley Johnson and Marcus Morris, who has the highest probability to flop this season?
Shackelford: It might be Stanley Johnson. He also probably has the highest ceiling of the three players because he’s the best two-way player, but rookies typically struggle with night-in, night-out production.
Fredericksen: Ilyasova. I like the tools he brings to the table and, hypothetically, he’s a better Anthony Tolliver. But he’s also annually injured and had a freakishly bad season shooting the ball two years ago. He rebounded last season, but I’m still not sure if he’s a guy who’ll thrive on all of the open looks or if he’ll be one who gets in a funk and never digs out of it.
Thielke: Well, Johnson is a rookie and we have almost no meaningful data on him, so he’s the obvious choice. But Ilyasova has had injury issues, so he wouldn’t be surprising. Honestly Morris wouldn’t be a shock either as there’s not much of a book on him either, but I’ll stick with Johnson.
Smith: I would word this differently and say that Ilyasova is the most likely to be a flop. I don’t mind that the Pistons picked him up since he was acquired for basically nothing (all due respect to Caron Butler and Shawne Williams), but he won’t stay healthy and isn’t especially reliable in any way. I’m a bit more optimistic about Morris, but I think there’s no way Johnson isn’t good, and the best of this trio both now and by season’s end.
Davidson: Ilyasova. Not only because of his history of injuries, but also because of the importance of his position in SVG’s offense. You can get away with a lack of scoring from the small forward position, but a power forward who can knock down shots is vital to this offense — and you have to be healthy to do that.
Garrett: That depends on how we’re defining “flop” here. Supposing we mean who is most likely to statistically underwhelm, the choice has to be Stanley Johnson; he’s a rookie who isn’t guaranteed minutes and has neither carved out a role on the roster nor a niche in the league. Now, the guy least likely to not live up to expectations is Ilyasova who has been up and down and injury prone in the past few seasons.
Brokke: The easy answer is the rookie, Johnson. Ilyasova is the solid veteran of the bunch. But I am somewhat leery of Morris’ ability to perform consistently without the use of his twin powers with brother, Markeiff.
Crowder: Ilyasova has the highest chance of being a flop, because his shooting has been slightly inconsistent throughout his career. He can also be a weakness on defense, and hasn’t played a full season once in his seven year career (81 games once), which brings up questions about his durability and whether he can play consistently over the course of a whole season.
LaBlue: Ilyasova reminds me, and a lot of other fans, of Charlie Villanueva. Ilyasova isn’t a great defender and other than his ability to shoot, his offense is just average. He will need to shoot the ball well in order to stay on the floor.
Morgan: There have been some good signs during the preseason for all three players listed. If I had to pick one to flop though, it would be Ilyasova and only due to his history of struggling to stay healthy. He has played more than 60 games only once during the last five seasons.
Next: Where does Stan Van Gundy -- as good a coach as he may be -- have to make the biggest impact this season?