Is Diamond Stone A Bust?

[Tugg Speedman]

He's on the Clippers, has appeared in only 5 games and logged a total of 20 minutes in the NBA.  Sent down to the NBDL and I stumbled accross this story dated January 13.

Or maybe Doc is punishing him for not going to MU.

Diamond Stone’s Inexplicable Stint in the Non-Development League
You don’t normally send young guys down to sit on the bench.
by Lucas Hann@LucasJHann  Jan 13, 2017, 5:59am PST

http://www.clipsnation.com/2017/1/13/14259518/la-clippers-diamond-stone-stint-non-development-league-nba-dleague-prospect

Diamond Stone hasn’t been able to get minutes for the Clippers this season. That’s not surprising and probably for the best—he’s a 19-year-old rookie, taken in the second round, who is seen as a “project” player. It seemed pretty clear from the beginning that Stone would spend plenty of time during his rookie season in the NBA D-League, getting game experience.

On December 26th, when the Clippers assigned Diamond to his current stint with the Salt Lake City Stars, Doc’s reasoning was simple: “We have enough bigs, he’s not playing, and I want him to play. I think it’s important for him to play.”

The sentiment is totally correct, and this is conventional thinking in the NBA: when teams have young players who aren’t good enough to get on the court, they send them to the NBA D-League where they’ll get more run and presumably be a focal point of the team. Just last year, Doc Rivers used the D-League regularly to provide opportunities to C.J. Wilcox and Branden Dawson.

Here’s the problem: Stone hasn’t been able to get on the court in Salt Lake City. After posting relatively decent stat lines in his first two games (17 points, 9 rebounds, 7-14 FG in 23 minutes; 7 points, 10 rebounds, 3-8 FG, 1-1 3PT in 22 minutes), he hasn’t played in the team’s last 4 games. Four straight “Did Not Play—Coach’s Decision” labels in the box score. This isn’t a criticism of Stars coach Dean Cooper. I don’t know anything about him, and I haven’t watched Stone’s game film. While those stat lines look decent, there’s certainly cause for concern—he fouled out of his first game and had 5 fouls in his second, and in that second game he also added 5 turnovers. And in the first game, even though he scored 17 points, his +/- was -24 in 23 minutes of a 1-point victory.

It’s entirely possible that Dean Cooper, doing his best to win basketball games, made a rational and fair choice to bench Diamond Stone. Coach Cooper isn’t the problem here—but the Clippers need to adjust to this reality and develop their prospect instead of letting him rot on a bench in Utah. They made an investment in this player by selecting him in the draft and the franchise owes it to themselves to maximize his development during the span of the two-year contract they signed him to.

When I asked Doc about this last night following the Clippers’ win over the Orlando Magic, he seemed fine with Diamond’s situation: “He’s gotta earn it. Just because you go down doesn’t mean that you’re gonna play, and it’s probably a good lesson for him. I think a lot of guys from our league, they go down to the D-League and they assume it’s gonna be all about them. There are D-League coaches that are trying to win too. He’ll play, but he’s gonna have to earn it.”

[wadesworld]

Yes a second round draft pick is a bust 4 months into his professional basketball career. 

[GGGG]

It very well could be for a non-basketball reason as well.

[Tugg Speedman]

Yes a second round draft pick is a bust 4 months into his professional basketball career. 

If you cannot get on the floor in the NBDL ...

[ChitownSpaceForRent]

The only reason I even remember Diamond Stone is because he was in a promo for Bill Nye's new Netflix series.

[4everwarriors]

Translation: Da dude isn't puttin' out the work effort ta warrant prime time minutes. AKA lazy, hey?

[MerrittsMustache]

When I asked Doc about this last night following the Clippers’ win over the Orlando Magic, he seemed fine with Diamond’s situation: “He’s gotta earn it. Just because you go down doesn’t mean that you’re gonna play, and it’s probably a good lesson for him. I think a lot of guys from our league, they go down to the D-League and they assume it’s gonna be all about them. There are D-League coaches that are trying to win too. He’ll play, but he’s gonna have to earn it.”

It seems pretty clear from Doc's quotes that Diamond wasn't putting in the work required to be a D-League player, let alone an NBA player. He's currently back up on the Clips' NBA roster so he must have figured something out.

[tower912]

19 year olds aren't busts.  However, it is fair to say that he has a ways to go before he is ready to contribute in the NBA.

[Tugg Speedman]

It seems pretty clear from Doc's quotes that Diamond wasn't putting in the work required to be a D-League player, let alone an NBA player. He's currently back up on the Clips' NBA roster so he must have figured something out.

He was with them for a week, played a few minutes at the end in a blowout and was sent back down.

Diamond Stone Back with Salt Lake City
Hopefully things go better the second time around...
by Jonathan Hu  Feb 1, 2017, 7:00am PST

http://www.clipsnation.com/2017/2/1/14464660/diamond-stone-back-with-salt-lake-city

The Clippers announced Monday that Diamond Stone had been sent back to the NBA Development League. Stone had been recalled just a week ago. During his short return with the Clippers, Stone did see the court during the Clippers’ blowout loss to the Golden State Warriors. He accumulated approximately five minutes of floor time and compiled 4 points with 1 rebound. On the season he has played a grand total of twenty minutes over five games.

Interestingly Stone was assigned once again to the Salt Lake City Stars. This assignment is interesting given that Stone’s prior stint with the Stars was low-lighted by his lack of playing time. While the Clippers could have sent Stone to any Development League team (like perhaps the Santa Clara Warriors which Stone played with earlier this year), the Clippers decided to send him back to the team that infrequently played him. On that note, we will soon get to see if Stone will be riding the Stars’ bench again as they play tonight at 5:30 PM PST against the Northern Arizona Suns.

Here is his game log

http://stats.nbadleague.com/player/#!/1627754/gamelogs/

Still not starting.

[Tugg Speedman]

19 year olds aren't busts.  However, it is fair to say that he has a ways to go before he is ready to contribute in the NBA.

Agreed, he is not a bust ... but like I said about Henry (who is also not a bust), they are on the road to being a bust but still have time to get off that road.

[tower912]

I watch Henry again over the weekend.  Starting to show definition in the muscles in his arms.  Starting to try to play defense.  I think he gets regular minutes next year.

[MerrittsMustache]

He was with them for a week, played a few minutes at the end in a blowout and was sent back down.

Diamond Stone Back with Salt Lake City
Hopefully things go better the second time around...
by Jonathan Hu  Feb 1, 2017, 7:00am PST

That article is from February 1. Starting or not, those are some pretty good stat lines since that January 13 article (averaging 19-7) which is probably why...

He was called back up last Thursday.
http://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/clippers-diamond-stone-recalled-from-d-league-25774855/

He's listed in Saturday's box score as "DNP - Coach's Decision"
http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/id/400900213

[Tugg Speedman]

That article is from February 1. Starting or not, those are some pretty good stat lines since that January 13 article (averaging 19-7) which is probably why...

He was called back up last Thursday.
http://www.cbssports.com/fantasy/basketball/news/clippers-diamond-stone-recalled-from-d-league-25774855/

He's listed in Saturday's box score as "DNP - Coach's Decision"
http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/id/400900213

Wow, he's called up and down every week but has only see five minutes with the Clippers in the last two months.

From your post ...

Stone likely won't see the floor if the game remains competitive. Stone is a bit buried on the depth chart and probably needs a few injuries to occur higher up before he's given a chance to see a bigger role.

Sounds like they called him up but don't expect to use him.  Maybe they want him "teach" him something (like ... "Diamond, DeAndre makes more in a week than you will all year.  Now watch how hard he works in practice.  You cannot hold his jock so why are you NOT working harder than DAndre?")

[RJax55]

Agreed, he is not a bust ... but like I said about Henry (who is also not a bust), they are on the road to being a bust but still have time to get off that road.

If Stone doesn't make it, calling him a "bust" would be tough.

From an NBA perspective, he would not be. He was picked 40th overall. That in itself is indicative that the league didn't think too highly of him. Teams aren't drafting guys in the 2nd round with high expectations.

[brandx]

If Stone doesn't make it, calling him a "bust" would be tough.

From an NBA perspective, he would not be. He was picked 40th overall. That in itself is indicative that the league didn't think too highly of him. Teams aren't drafting guys in the 2nd round with high expectations.

Bingo.

2nd rounders who don't make it aren't busts. Period.

[EaglesNest]

He's behind DeAndre Jordan and Speights who are both good players.  Clippers are more loaded at center than most NBA teams.

[Tugg Speedman]

If Stone doesn't make it, calling him a "bust" would be tough.

From an NBA perspective, he would not be. He was picked 40th overall. That in itself is indicative that the league didn't think too highly of him. Teams aren't drafting guys in the 2nd round with high expectations.

You forgot ... he was a one and done.

one and dones that don't make it are busts.

[brandx]

You forgot ... he was a one and done.

one and dones that don't make it are busts.

What a dumb statement.

He is making more money than just about everyone on this board, so let's talk about who the failures really are. As a matter of fact, I would bet that no one here made $1.5 mil in their first two years in the workforce - even after 4-6-8 years of school. Plus he has no debt from his schooling. He went to college for one reason. To become a professional basketball player. That is what he is now.

One year in college = $1.5 million guaranteed. And I suspect he will sign another contract in 1 1/2 years.

[Tugg Speedman]

What a dumb statement.

He is making more money than just about everyone on this board, so let's talk about who the failures really are. As a matter of fact, I would bet that no one here made $1.5 mil in their first two years in the workforce - even after 4-6-8 years of school. Plus he has no debt from his schooling. He went to college for one reason. To become a professional basketball player. That is what he is now.

One year in college = $1.5 million guaranteed. And I suspect he will sign another contract in 1 1/2 years.

It's about the second contract.  That is where the real money is made.  Does he get a second contract?  If he does, he's not  a bust (note Lazar was a bust for this exact reason).

Would he have been better off staying at Maryland 2 or 3 three years and trying when older and more developed?   Or, is his ceiling far lower than most thought when he was in high school?

[brandx]

It's about the second contract.  That is where the real money is made.  Does he get a second contract?  If he does, he's not  a bust (note Lazar was a bust for this exact reason).

Would he have been better off staying at Maryland 2 or 3 three years and trying when older and more developed?   Or, is his ceiling far lower than most thought when he was in high school?

Lazar was a bust? In what world?

He was a 6'5" inside, power player in a league where he had to face guys 3" - 6" taller. He had no business even getting to the NBA, but through will and hard work, he did make it for a while making millions of $$$$ in the process.

[Tugg Speedman]

Lazar was a bust? In what world?

He was a 6'5" inside, power player in a league where he had to face guys 3" - 6" taller. He had no business even getting to the NBA, but through will and hard work, he did make it for a while making millions of $$$$ in the process.

First rounder that did not get a second contract.

[brandx]

First rounder that did not get a second contract.

Clueless.

[4everwarriors]

It's about the second contract.  That is where the real money is made.  Does he get a second contract?  If he does, he's not  a bust (note Lazar was a bust for this exact reason).

Would he have been better off staying at Maryland 2 or 3 three years and trying when older and more developed?   Or, is his ceiling far lower than most thought when he was in high school?

'Cept Stone likely "earned" 3 college credits durin' his first semester plus and woulda bin academically ineligble ta return, ai na?

[Tugg Speedman]

Clueless.

By your definition, The Packers pick of Tony Mandarich was not a bust.  He got paid!

Good luck with that.

[MerrittsMustache]

No NBA player taken outside the lottery should ever be considered a bust and even that's stretching it. You could probably take it down to outside the top 10.