What is your point in the context of my response? Seems you and others are missing my point. Also was Lebron the greatest passer in high school history as claimed? What made Lebron a generational prospect was the combination of his size, athleticism, and playmaking. Paolo isn’t a generational prospect and never claimed he was. However it is hard to deny Paolo has great playmaking abilities at his size. Paolo started off as a guard before growing into a PF.
Stop backpedaling and just take the L. I can't believe this is the hill you want to die on. You were shet out of your mind wrong on this. Lebron was touted as the next Magic coming out of HS. That's not Paolo on his very best day.
Lol butt hurt DRock is here… Seems my comments are being twisted. Was Lebron the greatest passer ever coming out of high school as claimed? Yes or no? Did Lebron enter the league as an all time great passer? Of course not, he developed into that. Where did I say Lebron and Paolo were equal in passing? Where did I say Paulo and Magic were equal in passing? Now run along kid…
The only upcoming player that has been considered maybe the best prospect since since lebron is Victor next draft at least from the few articles i seen on google.
Greatest passer coming out of HS is YOUR fvckwad narrative. Go to sleep dipshet. You glom onto tangential nonsense whenever you get put in your place for your ignorant takes.
Nope.... You are wrong AGAIN. I tried figuring out where Lebron ranked in high school, but no one ever answered me. Go jack off to Lebron cupcake. And you can't follow a conservation and end up looking like ignorant. Stop playing your insecure "gotcha" game and intelligently follow a conservation.
He was 13th in APG in his rookie season in the NBA. He pretty much already was an all-world caliber passer when he got to the league. He had almost 6 per game, despite getting the most shots and being the #1 scoring option in the team.
Not here to take sides but LBJ was a great passer when he got drafted, was questions of whether he was going to be a PG in the NBA at the time pre sure.
And that's why Lebron was a generational prospect and Paolo isn't. I don't understand the disconnect? Lebron entered the league as a great passer, but he got into the top ten all time as his career developed. No? Lebron entered the league as a great scorer, but he got into the top ten as his career developed? No? Lebron entered the league as a great defender, but he got even better as his career developed? Lebron not only lived up to the hype but arguably surpassed it. Paolo isn't Lebron but they share some similar attributes due to their size, strength, and playmaking.
And no one is disputing that. And no one is saying Paolo has Lebron level passing abilities. I just feel folks are putting the cart before the horse because Lebron has about 20 years of NBA basketball under his belt. As I said, it's pretty obvious now that Lebron has not only lived up to his hype but exceeded it.
That's fair but I was trying to make a prospect to prospect comparison. There's just not many 6'9" and above prospects that can handle the rock, score, and playmake in such a way which is why I said "shades of Lebron". Clearly, Paolo doesn't have the total package that Lebron did as a prospect.
Not speaking for anyone else but my point was simply that the standout skill that made LBJ a consensus #1 overall prospect was his intuitive floor vision and pass-first approach with the ball Maybe the others were implying that his vision at that stage was as good as any 18yo since Magic I wouldn't disagree with that, although I don't go back far enough to weigh in on 80s HS ball I'd throw JKidd, Doncic, CP3 and maybe a couple others in that group w LBJ personally As far as comparing to Paulo at this stage ... It's the playmaker vs scorer mindset that stands out to me as a key difference LBJ came in as a primary ballhandler and a point forward type He had to work on his shooting and learned how to be a go-to alpha scorer after he was drafted Paulo is already a polished 3-level scorer Scoring is his most developed skill now and should remain so throughout his career I project him more as a secondary BH, but not a guy that will initiate the OFF regularly Just as Bron eventually became an unstoppable iso scorer, perhaps Paulo evolves into a Jokic style of point-big ...? I just don't see that development as inevitable like Bron leading the league in scoring
Paolo has a little bit off everybody. Lebron's handle and size with 2 feet explosiveness but of course doesnt have Lebrons generational first step . Zion's bully ball technique with many options from 3point line to midrange to rim attacks. He's not rigid and dumb like Randle or a soft 3 point chucker like Tatum, stop with those 2 comparisons.
I'd add it was his combination of size and floor vision/handles. JKidd was a greater passer entering the league, but wasn't 6'9". Someone claimed Lebron was an all time high school passer and I just wanted to get that quantified and never did. I think that led to a lot of confusion. Lebron was the unquestioned alpha and omega on his HS team and ran the show on the court. Paolo played on a very talented Duke team under a coach that has a far more egalitarian system than Lebron played in high school. I think Paolo has the potential to be a primary ball handler in a NBA system. Again potential. Lebron clearly had far more potential entering the NBA.
I don't really think there's any way to easily quantify high-school passing talent that translates to the NBA easily outside of direct professional scouting; by definition, anyone who's good enough to play in the NBA is almost assuredly the best at literally everything on their HS team. If you're an NBA prospect, your team is probably going to be better off having you shoot a contested, double-teamed jumper over having you pass to your wide-open second-best teammate who is maybe going to walk on at a mid-major. Pretty much the only guys who can rack up huge assist numbers will be guys on stacked national recruit teams like Oak Hill or Montverde. By and large, most draft profiles had LeBron's #1 skill be his court vision. It was not that he was going to be a scorer first. A sample of scouting reports below. And read the Charley Rosen one to realize that a-holes like Tim Doyle have always been a part of basketball analysis since well before Twitter... Look, nothing is impossible; basically anyone who can make an all-NBA team by definition has probably exceeded the ceiling put on them as a draft prospect. The current back-to-back MVP was a second rounder whom everyone missed the boat on. The back-to-back MVP before him averaged less than 10 points per game playing in a second-tier European league the year before he was drafted. And the back-to-back MVP before LeBron's reign of terror was traded prior to his third year in the league and shot 36% from the field and 37% from the three point line. Paolo could develop otherworldly court vision that becomes his signature in the league. Remember that Russell Westbrook was drafted predominantly as a defense-first player. But it seems that his most likely carrying tool is going to be as a scorer first who you want to be finishing plays, rather than a facilitator.
