The thing about that is that we all like to project and project big time in the most positive manners... the best case scenarios... And if some of us do the dirty work of imagining the worst case scenarios, we got the ungrateful job of being called 'names'.
Actually, the most meaningful takes should be not best case or worst case scenarios. They should be the most likely scenarios. When you are too invested in the best or the worst, you turn into some extremists and probably deserve to be called names. To me, the most like scenario is Green being a second tier star, Jabari and Tari being elite 3&D guys, Sengun being a valuable glue guy. If we have that, we have a chance to be a very good team may or may not be championship worthy. I am leaving out next year's pick. Not wanting to project anything we have no idea how it will happen.
You could look to other teams but the best comparisons stem from the own organization as there hasn't been a full rebuild for a decade now, there is not much to compare to Zero and zilch materials to lean on. I doubt I will turn into an extremist running amok.... Lmao nuance is the word at hand.
Curry was drafted coming off an all time great tourney run. Was already being looked at as an all time great shooter. 18 and 6 on high efficiency with all time great shooting already was star level projection for those first years. So even if he projected as a 24 and 7 pg with all time great shooting, he's in elite company. He exceeded that out of no where and stayed consistent since then for legendary status but that's very rare for a guy to explode that late. Still though, He was already showing enough to add to that list. The weak ankle is what put a dent on his early career and a split second fans wanted trade him and keep Monta. So even if he's an outlier, the fact is vast majority of top players through history start making an impact on the league almost immediately. Jalen has an under the radar scoring run to end his rookie season for the last place team sandwiched between really poor efficiency and ugly nights and an embarrassing dunk contest Shaqtin A fool moment. In total, pales compared to Steph's Davidson run alone. None of this is to hate on dude. I love Thriller and have since day 1. Just trying to be realistic and say the dudes not likely to be a top 20 all time player ever at this rate. That's not an insult at all. I'm just trying to draw a line and show just how above that line someone like Wemby can be and what it can do for a franchise from day 1. How would that have looked for Jalen? That end of season run peaked a good overall season and not a short moment to overshadow an awful majority of the season+ plus a legendary dunk contest instead of that embarrassment. Then i'd be hype that Jalen has kobe potential. He flunked his rookie season imo. Those big career highlight moments came and went and he missed them. Now i'm just hoping he gets another dunk contest invite, makes up for it x10 and throws together an insane end of season run and we're thinking next Shaq and Kobe come lottery night. extra rant: Spoiler There are hundreds of guys who had 20-25ppg seasons with not much else. Beal averaged 30 2x. Stackhouse averaged 30 when the league was an all time low scoring average, Stackhouse was an electric high pick with similar to Jalens scoring and efficiency first 2 years. Your Jimmy Jacksons, your Danny Grangers, your Kevin Martins. Hundreds of dudes out there. Greens not standing out from those guys a plenty yet. He can jump up to 25ppg next year or more and make the all-star team and win the dunk contest we'd all be thrilled and that's star stuff for sure. In the larger picture though, Zach LaVine, Bradley Beal, etc...they don't move the needle and i don't want Jalen to just be another of those guys. He's got to do it in a winning and impactful manner. I want Jalen to be on that young A.I. or young T-Mac or young Wade level and i'm giving him time because he didn't really play college and this team's a wreck. I want top 75 greatest for Jalen and can still see that potential with small enough % chance he explodes and becomes legendary. Doubtful like i said, but still possible. The only thing people will remember of LaVine is the dunk contest, and Beal will be one of those "remember x player, he was so underrated." Like a Mitch Richmond type. Jalen's got to be better. Bari's got to be better. It's not a good start. Plain and simple.
I am still good with Jabari, but I hope he gets stronger down low so he can dunk the ball when in the paint....at 6'11" tall we need him to go up strong. DD
I don’t get your logic sorry. We were talking specifically about your reasoning on what makes players “great”. Now you’re talking about “was already looked at as being a great shooter”. Lots of players were “already looked at” and projected to be lots of things including Sebastian telfair. I actually want to see a list compiled of the “great” players and where they were in their second year. Seems like a lot of grass is greener syndrome lots of rockets fans have.
To add to it, breh. Green in his third year should be able to carry his team to a reasonable amount of wins. Jabari in his third year should be able to post double doubles frequently and win 10+ games by himself. I do not think that is too much to ask for in their 3rd year in the league. If they are destined to be stars or superstars.
I think Green in his third year being able to carry his team to a reasonable amount of wins is probably a best case scenario. Jabari scoring in the teens shouldn't be hard for him when he hits his shots. Getting double digit rebounds may require some serious muscle on his body. I would love to see him do it in his second year, but can a 20-year-old body get that much bulk that fast? IDK.
Miswrote. 6.9 still better than Brown in his rookie year and multiple double doubles. Solid defense. Only 15 games in.
Jabari is elite defensively as a 19 year old. I'm more than fine being patient for his offensive game to mature.
I'm patient with Jabari as well, I have seen most of Jabari's game at Auburn and I do not know why he is missing so many shots. I'm surprised totally.
I stand by the opinion that they aren't running any plays for him (purposely). Just let him get settled and develop a couple of go-to moves for after the all star break. He is one of the youngest guys in the NBA and isn't a lost cause (yet). But we all wanted more than 30% from 3 early...
Dude leads the league in shooting the ball within a second of touching it. Doesn't even bother to look at who's open or pump fake.