Nothing criminal, just isn’t very good at decision making in his personal life - the people around him are not good when it comes to focusing on basketball and a lot of immaturity. Basically he isn’t locked in or focused on basketball and doesn’t have the habits that lead to winning and improving over time. At 25-26 years old, he should be getting better and he isn’t. Some of that is injuries and suspensions - but some of that is his lifestyle and lack of focus.
Wouldn't close the book on him at least as a 2nd Option in case he matures.....his injuries are not serious enough, it is all mental. We have seen Lebron performing at age 40 so he has ample time to turn it around. Sports science actually keeps elite athletes like him in the 'game' as we speak.
Lebron is 1 of 1. Even guys like Steph and KD who are younger are showing more signs of aging more so than Lebron. It's the Tom Brady fallacy. Just because he was elite past 40 doesn't mean most or any other elite/good QB's can do it too. It's rare. Plus Morant relies so much on his quickness and athleticism which will fade quickly.
Morant's value is dropped to the bottom, sure, I just don't see the doom and gloom of Rocket fans who talk up their own players but dismiss players of other teams. I don't talk and think in extreme terms that is.
I don't think I was talking in extremes. I was just pointing out that a lot of Morant's current game isn't the the type that ages well into mid 30's, and using Lebron as an example that he has infinite time is not the best comparison as he is such an outlier. Right now Morant still only a baby at 25 yo. He could still grow a lot mentally and add game skills to be a true alpha in his prime which he technically hasn't even hit yet.
The argument was not even about him aging (I referred to the fact that his head and heart are not in basketball) ......that goes for players with high mileage. Dude rarely even plays......and the point that in this time and age of load management and all sorts of resting players, he has a chance to age proportionally well. I could also use Vince Carter who wasn't a slow player either. I agree that he is still a very young player.
Carter turned himself into a near 40% 3 point shooter early in his career. Morant is meanwhile showing decline from being a below average shooter. I would argue that Russell Westbrook is a decent template for Morant into his 30s - hard to build a winning team around that.
But Carter changed his game half-way through his career. He was not longer the play-maker. When he joined the Nets, Kidd was the alpha and Carter learned to play of him. After the Nets' run, Carter was basically a role player and quickly became a 6th man. Not to mention Carter was 6-6 and Lebron is 6-9. Even PG's who aged well were bigger than Morant or much more well know for their defense and other parts of their game than just scoring. Again. I'm not saying there is no chance. Nothing is ever that binary. But it is a low chance for a 6-2 or smaller, primarily scoring combo guard who has never shot better than 34% from 3 pt to age well and continue to be an alpha/star into his 30's.
Well, don't build around him, people have this fixed idea that you have to build around someone.....and then dump on every player on their way ...this is not finding your single true love. If he balls out again, he will find another team..... There should still be space to talk about him in a more positive and moderate manner.
Dude, you realize I never said, the Rockets and any team should sign him outright to the Super Max. I was riffing about his comeback.....there is no reason to get ultra ballistic about certain comparisons. I feel like you are starting a war movie, and I am still in that long arse arthouse flick. All is still very much fluid.
And Westbrook is and was very strong, underrated in the strength department, he could play micro ball Center. So he is his own archetype.
I guess you have a soft spot for Ja, which is fine. But a realistic conversation about him must include the bright red flags about his character, his mentality, the people he hangs with and the gangster/gun culture he's been fascinated with since his early teens. When you said the Grizzlies "are not a stable ground for basketball", I hope it was with the understanding Ja is the #1 reason for that. Maybe a new start somewhere else would solve all of his problems.
That is of course what I was implying but I do think the Grizz organization and that GM Kleiman are a tad questionable themselves. I see them sacrificing (Leeroy) Jenkins, and I would not be shocked if they'd sacrifice Morant as well.....post his gun affair.
