Solid starter is his ceiling. I think it's safe to say he'll never be a primary or secondary playmaker because of his poor handles, but it is theoretically possible that he improves his 3pt shooting someday. His defense is way overrated here, but he's not horrible. So if he improves his 3-ball and just got better on defense from more experience, I see starter as his ceiling.
He’s been missing a lot of dunks recently, isn’t really blocking many shots and his 3pt shooting is pretty poor. So the only reason I’d regret trading him would be if it was a salary dump or for some injury prone bust (cough MPJ cough cough).
his BBIQ and hands are the biggest things stopping him from blossoming. it isn't his size. guy has absolute stones for hands. drops so many passes and bricks tons of dunks because of this reason.
I think he could be a good starter. His length lowers his ceiling as a 4 and his shooting and handle currently limits his ceiling at the 3. But his per 36 numbers are solid for a starter.
I really do like the kid but I don’t see him as anything more than a rotation guy for 5-6 years at best in the NBA. If an NBA unicorn is a guard in a big’s body, then the exact opposite of that is what KMJ is. It’s just not a particularly valuable package of skills for an NBA starter . I do think he could have a long professional basketball career if he wanted to as a spot minute rotation guy or end of bench player in the NBA before turning to international leagues as he ages which is no slight at all because very few people are that good at basketball to even have that much of a career…but he would need to completely transform his game to be a regular starter in the NBA.
He still gets lost out there at times which I'm not sure is a BBIQ thing or just an age/experience thing. I believe he has had a huge advantage by having his Dad so involved in his development. I want to believe he will continue to improve his game and get savvier on the court but then I think about how little time these guys have to work with the tools they have and I start to doubt a bit. He seems like a guy who in 2 years will have fully acclimated to the intensity and speed of the league and will be a 15 and 6 guy with 1.5 blocks a game on starters minutes. If I had to give a firm projection, that would be my best guess for his ceiling.
I don't see anything to suggest he'll ever be an impact scorer. If the shot starts to fall he has all the tools to be a top tier role player, and the requisite tools to defend multiple positions which is invaluable in the modern NBA. The best option for us is to hold onto him to see if those important role player skills develop, then maybe we can get a first from a contending team.
https://theathletic.com/3064221/202...alen-green-and-rest-of-houstons-young-roster/ Kelly Iko: I’ve kept you long enough but wanted to ask you one last thing. With the focus on the rookies, is there anything to glean from the development of guys like Jae’Sean Tate and K.J Martin? What about the long-lost Usman Garuba? Sam Vecenie: […] Martin is still a fascinating project worth investing time and developmental effort into, but I’d still label him as a project at this stage. He’s an elite athlete who has real potential defensively as a difference-maker, but it’s all going to come down to the shooting and comfort on offense for him. He’s a great smaller four-man option due to his explosiveness. But for that to work, I think he’ll need to shoot long-term or be able to use his driving ability to pass and make plays for others. He doesn’t really have either of those things in his repertoire now at a high level. The good news is that they have him for two and a half more years under contract at a bargain-basement rate, so it’s worth continuing down this road with him. I think I’d rank him below Garuba currently in terms of guys I’m interested in on this roster, because Garuba is more polished on defense already, in my opinion, from having watched him at different levels pre-draft, but I think the Martin pick has gone well for the Rockets given where they took him. Most guys taken in the back 10 picks of the draft end up off rosters or never coming over. Martin has stuck as a developmental project proven to be worth continued investment.
Nice find. I would have to agree with everything said except for Garuba being a more interesting prospect because he has been awful. Martin does everything WAY better than Garuba at this point.
I wish we started him over Tate. Tate to me might thrive as an energy guy off the bench and leading the second unit, and KJ is actually a better shooter than Tate from 3, so he could help stretch the floor.
