Any time he’s gotten time and there wasn’t a lot jam of ball handlers (Dipo, Gordon) he’s been very impressive. Even last night, sharing the backcourt with Wall, he was great. He needs to live in the gym to work on his shot and continue to mature. He can be star. Wont say he’ll be anything close to Harden but the mold is there. The Rockets need to give him every chance for him to grow (within reason) and reap the benefits. It’s exciting to have a prospect like this in our system and hopefully 1 or 2 more guys like him in the coming years.
Would you trade him right now for a future second? Then why does it matter what he got traded for before?
Dude has the tools, just gotta put in the work and have the poise to get better and be the best.. A lot of it has to do with the mentality of someone
Jalen has a better jumper than him. He has more hops than him. There is no doubt that KPJ is a better passer and he might be a better finisher around the basket. Jalen seems to be the better defender. @ApacheWarrior
In the 5 games he has started for the Rockets, he’s averaged 22 ppg. That’s top 25 PPG right there. Take out the game against the Celtics and it goes up to close to 24. Not only that, but he’s getting better and better. The last game was textbook efficiency. I realize this is a limited window, but he dominated the G league and was solid his rookie season. The fact is, when he starts, so far he’s played much better than a “solid starter.”
25 and 7 assists a night. How many players average that? Show me the list and place him there as his potential. Are those franchise player numbers? Shot selection and flopping needs to be improved. The 2 shots he missed in the paint he was fouled hard. His only reaction came after the no call. You have to method act into that lane as soon as the shot goes up. From the previous KPJ thread add Tony Snell to the guys who were horrific from three in their first season or two. But I also saw Ricky Rubio last night, who I could barely recognize with the beard, and said man if he could have just developed a shot somewhere in his 30 years of age. Any kind of shot. Ricky's assists are borderline white chocolate exciting. I also liked that Silas staggered his minutes.
Right. He has a lot to work on and none of that is guaranteed but he’s shown flashes of brilliance at age 20. The question isn’t how good is he right now.
5 games. Remember last time we valued a PG based on limited sample size? Linsanity was 26 games. I'm not trying to be argumentative. I agree with you that he has looked good and has undoubtedly shown promise and potential. I just think it's too early to say too much
Right. And if he works on those things, he can be a solid starter. Right now he is not a solid starter, he's an interesting offensive player on a horrible team. To be clear, by solid starter I mean someone who could start in the playoffs and not be a liability.
The difference being that Lin's hype was not based on his skills but solely on his fluke performances on a bad Knicks team during a brief stretch. KPJ's hype is based on his skills as a 20 year old. Now sure he's got work to do, every 20 year old player ever has, but he's already a solid starter and if he improves his 3 point shot and some of the mental side of defense, he'll be a perennial all star. Like I said before, the kids is further along at 20 than Harden was at 20. The next 3 years of work will determine if he washes out of the league due to off-court BS, regress to being just a guy, stays right where he is, or becomes something truly special.
I picked franchise player. I'm betting that this coaching staff can bring the best out of him. All signs are pointing to him being a 25+ pt a game scorer in 2 years. Now he has to get stronger because he is a bit soft. Plus I'm a little concerned about him being somewhat injury prone.
If you don't see star potential then I'm not sure what sport you are watching. Kid is averaging 22 and 7 as a starter. The handle for his size is unteachable. The ability to create space and a shot for himself is advanced, but still needs to improve on converting, although 85% at the rim (72% as a rookie) and 60% inside the arc are great signs. 3pt% is the issue, but after a slow start last year he shot 36% after the first month. This year from what I have seen his spot up has been fine, but he has upped his off the dribble threes by a lot due to his new ball handling responsibility leading to lower %. That should increase with more reps. His defense and outside shooting are the biggest question marks. His shot creation and playmaking are his biggest strengths. Meaning, he has zero characteristics of a role player so I'm really not sure what some of you are talking about. He is the definition of boom or bust, either he fails to reach his potential and isn't a nba player, or he is a hit and his skillset is that of a star player, there is very little in between.
People will not like this but if Lin had stayed with that Mike D's system his averages wouldn't have dropped. The thing with Lin was he could never develop the outside shot. While he was excellent getting to the basket, his lay ups gave you a cardiac arrest and the indecision was terrible. Porter is not erratic like that. He is poised when getting to the hoop and sees the entire floor.