The weird thing with Jalen is, as inconsistent as he is on a game-to-game basis, he's been very consistent year-over-year. That is to say: His scoring efficiency and volume numbers have been almost identical each season. No real signs of growth. He has shown growth on the defensive end, credit where credit is due. But if we look at his performance this season, it's right there sitting very, very close to his career 42% field goal percentage, 33% three point percentage, and just-under-20 points per game. Similar number of field goal and three point attempts to his career average. Similar number of assists. Similar number of FT attempts. On the offensive end, he's just the same guy he was when we drafted him. That's my problem with saying "he's only 22, he will improve". We have three years plus a quarter of this season of data to look at now, and there is no trend of improvement as a scorer/playmaker. No evidence that it's actually happening or will happen. It's not like he's a 22-year-old rookie who just stepped foot into the league. He's been around for awhile, he's about to go into his second contract, and despite his relative youth, he's damn near a veteran at this point. For me to believe he's going to get better, he needs to show us something. Not just for like 5 or 10 games, but for an extended period.
That's my issue with any "what was x doing" at that age. It's not a just about performance, it's about trajectory. It's been a stable flat line since a few months into his rookie season. And he has been given a ton of NBA usage to improve. He will occasionally flash a legit great game,but most of his "amazing" stretches are just hot shooting not actual improvement.
Spot on: consistently inconsistent. Four years sample size is large enough, no more excuses of Silas, Porter Jr., Ime, Sengun or whatever. He will never be a franchise player. At this point, he is not even a competent starting SG if we want our team to be competitive.
Exactly, he is one of the most consistent players I've seen, if you look at his season to season numbers.
Patience. I too was frustrated about his performance last night but its wasn't just him , it was the whole team! However, if he was 24 - 25, I would be all for trading him but to me the last thing he's missing is CONSISTENCY. He has everything else, he's shown it.
He’s inconsistent because he still lacks a half court offense package. Open court Jalen is electric but half court sets are still very bad. If he can’t blow by his defender, his counter is to take a tough step back jumper. There needs to be more variety.
That's easily understandable .... and I have been one of his harshest and earliest critics. going back to his rookie year when he was shooting sub 20% on wide open catch and shoot 3's. His biggest problem is he can't shoot .... He's got pure athleticism that few can match, if he could up his shooting percentages a bit, he's all the sudden a productive player. Despite this being year 4, the dude is still just 22 .... that's crazy. Most of these guys are at their best after age 25. So, they keep giving him run and every once in a while, he goes on a hot streak showing what could be .... then he goes cold again.
People keep saying dude is only 22 as an excuse, but do not factor in Anthony Edwards is only 23. Also, Ime said youth was not an excuse during his introductory interview. At this point, I'm more mad at Ime than Jalen. Ime put Cam in the dog house for merely a few bad games, but he kept playing Jalen heavy minutes after so many disappointing games. I'd rather have Ime put Jalen into the end of the bench or send him to the G league where he belongs, and treat that 35+ mil as a sunk cost. For the sake of this team, it's time to stop the bleeding. We may need a trade for a backup center. Give Jalen's minutes to Reed, Cam, Tari, Amen or even Holiday. We are good to go.
I still don't think the extension was a bad idea, but I think he is the odd man out in the off season.
Jalen turned pro when he was 18 or 19.......he could have gone to College but he decided not to, instead becoming a G league player. It was solely his choice......he was a young professional. Just not really a good player overall.
I really think, looking back that he would have benefitted greatly from 2-4 years in college instead of going the g-league route. He came in a great athlete but lacking basketball skills. He was a poor shooter, poor ball handler and atrocious defender coming into the league. Four years in, he's a decent ball handler, passable defender and a streaky shooter. He was fortunate that Stone gave him that contract extension, otherwise he may have exhausted all his chances before getting it together, now he's got 3 more years to improve his shooting and polish his overall game - or else. Not many players get the opportunities he has been given. The real question is if he does eventually improve the shooting, is he still with this team or elsewhere.
I really hope the Jalen apology form thread will come alive again. That means he is good again. The Jalen fans gloating is annoying. But that is much better than watching bad Jalen.
Hopefully he'll be elsewhere. I think the team is closer to making a deep run in the playoffs than some think and Jalen is an anchor with his poor offensive iq and shooting. If they could make it work for a deal that makes sense id trade him before the deadline. But thats not likely so if he does not magically become a better shooter by years end (unlikely) then im definitely moving him in the off season.
I suspect he would have been a one and done whether he went to college or not. But man I wish we had drafted Mobley or Franz now. I used to defend the pick. And I still understand why they took the big swing on Jalen. We see it some nights. But man oh man. How much better would we be if we had Mobley or Franz on this roster?
