Jalen Green - what are your expectations for this year?

Yeah, he was much more explosive and decisive.

You could tell he had "IT".

I am not ******** on Green and yeah I wanted Evan Mobley but I am not a guy that's gonna hate on Green because of that I hope he ascends to a franchise guy or even a consistent all-star which I think is Mobley's ceiling.

Anyway, we have a long way to go so we will see.

 

Yes he showed up with his company issued laptop, his admin credentials, and tier 1 escalation tickets ready to roll on draft night - guy was ready to hit the service desk at game 1.

 

I was actually pleased watching him this last game. Thought he had moments where he started figuring things out.

Starting with overarching goals:archetype for green. He was always seen as a strict traditional two guard who could score on 3 levels and had elite jump/first second step. That archetype is akin to Levine and Beal. I wasn’t expecting great switchability or high level processing or a deep bag of handles.

defensively the kid competes. He slides his feet and tries to stay on his defender. I thought he did a good job of cutting angles down and rotating decently. He looks engaged. I think he’ll always try on D and when he bulks you he’ll be fine as a team defender.

processing is something I wasn’t ever expecting with him. I thought Mobley Cade Suggs and Barnes roves see the game better than him but you can see him making improvements on that end. He’s starting to hit the pocket passer better. He’s trying wrap around sand dump offs but either woods hands are worse this year and/or green is rushing his decisions. I think he’ll get to the point where reflex decisions will be adequate. Not sure if he’ll ever get to the point of running the offense completley but that’s not what his role seems to be or necessarily needed to win.

his handle has disappointed me a bit. He was advertised as having a bag. In reality I think his speed and shot are better than his handle. There was a couple moments throughout the preseason baseline raptors and spurs 3rd quarter where he felt natural and it showed in his step back. He covers so much ground on his step back it’s laughable. I think once the game slows down or he gets more comfortable his handle will look better. His speed and shot allow him to have a looser handle.

offensively he needs to add strength. His step gets him by everyone but his strength allows him to be bumped and he gets nervous at the rim. What impressed me is his mentality in the third the kid went and got 6 FTs. He started answering his drive and oooking for it. No one can stay with him. Once he has functional strength he’ll be a menace. He also seems to be a good spot up shooter and confident enough pull up Whittier and earned teams trust to movement shoot as evidenced by all his movement in brush screens.

he hasn’t set the league on fire but I’ve found moments where I can see him hitting his ceiling of volume scorer with decent efficiency.

my guilty pleasure hopes are that Silas adopts a horns or high post offense that runs through sengun who finds KPJ and green on the move to attack. Like baby nugs style.

 

I am not saying Green cannot be that guy because it's way too early but you can usually tell that guy pretty early.

Who was the table-setter facilitator for Donovan Mitchell?

That's a fair comp for Green and you could tell Mitchell was a cut above pretty early.

 

Or a bunch of posters who can call it like it is and have no agenda.

I hope he is everything and a bag of chips but will settle for him being a great piece on a championship team, I am not even hoping for a franchise guy I just want him to be a plus guy on a championship team.

 

Im not putting ROY expectations on Green or even super star. If there’s no superstar in this draft then it is what it is.

So you are saying you knew Ja had IT after his first preseason ever?

What I am suggesting it will take time for Green to get his NBA body.

 

It’s just weird to hear all these takes after his pre season.

 

Got it. So when you say, “I am not worried”, it’s basically because you don’t have lofty expectations… Depressing… Maybe it’s time to start talking myself into White KD..

 

How is it weird, you have been posting far too long here to think this is weird.

And people are gonna have takes after actually watching him play live.

 

Anybody having lofty expectations on a19 year old should check themselves anyway, especially considering the history of NBA draft picks.

There is no reason Green can't be a valuable piece on a contender, this is gonna be a long process.

 

I don’t quite agree. LeBron was 18, Luka was 19 and you could see superstars. Kobe was 19 his second year, and I knew. I remember the very play with Kobe, when the lightbulb went on: he had Mario Ellie on him, who was our best defender, and Kobe clowned him. I was like… yep, it’s over

 

I generally agree. Franchise-level stars show their stuff relatively early on. If we define "early", I'm going to say its pre-ASG rookie year. he hasn't had that yet. He has shown those few flashes already, but yes they have been far and few in-between. If he has the mentality to be great, he'll do it. It is just preseason still and he is very very young. I think we should know better by January where he's at.

 

I think I have realistic expectations based on the history of the draft. This wasn’t a Lebron or AD draft.

It’s only depressing if you’re expectations are such.

 

Fair enough, I sometimes forget how people live game to game.

I just think it’s ignorant to say this or that after his first preseason. Or making comparison to Ja, a completely different player.

I mean we have a poster who doesn’t think Green is masculine enough. So I guess it’s my fault for expecting a higher level of discussion.

 

Those are some very lofty players…..

 

Mitchell is more Harden than Clay Thompson - he can be the primary ball handler.

So far Green looks more like guy who isn't going to initiate the offense - he's the finisher - Reggie Miller coming off of picks and pin downs catching and letting it fly.
Initiating the offense he's got to be able to routinely beat people off the dribble , so far we haven't seen that happen more than a couple times a game.

 

How about you set an example of higher level discussion and tell us why your expectations are low? The athletic ability is otherworldly. explosiveness we haven’t seen since Stevie Franchise’s days. I don’t think he’s less explosive than Ja, purely on athletic ability.
In traffic elevation is Jordanesque. LaVine is a great fast break dunker, but the real value in basketball is if you can elevate in tight space, inside the defense. He has that. Shot is not great, but not terrible… What’s missing, in your opinion? You know what I think is missing, but tell us why your expectations are low?

 

Are they low? Because I don’t expect Luka? Or Lebron? Or Ja? Or Kobe? Because I don’t have an opinion on his masculinity?

Expectations for Green’s first season? Or his career?

 

Yes, you said you don’t have superstar expectations, no ROY expectations (even though JG himself has such aspirations). Kobe, Luka, LBJ, Ja are out of the picture. Why? What;s missing?

 

No, I’m just not putting those expectations on him. Not putting expectations on his masculinity either.

I prefer to actually watch him and go from there. I hope he is a superstar and I hope he wins ROY of the year. I hope he is worth taking #2.

I expect him to be a top 3 ROY finalists if anything.