You have to put in the right training, recalling Wayne Hall. If Tmac had done 10.000 hours with Wayne Hall he would be a bodybuilder. 10.000 hours with Tim Grover, different story.
If you mean in terms of production level over his career yes, Jalen can reach it with his potential. Will he is the question? This is where his long term work ethic and adding skills each year add up. The great ones added at least one new skill every year to get better. The comparision should be done over an entire NBA career not as a young rookie or year 3 players. Ja had two full years as a point guard and was the man at Murray State for 65 college games. He didn't go to Duke or Kentucky and have to defer to other top draft picks, it was all his show for two full years and was 20 years old as an NBA Rookie. Jalen had 15 G league games, had to defer to vets a bit and Kuminga and was 19 as a rookie. This will greatly help your skill building when you hit the league or as a young player. Jalen is slightly bigger in frame than Ja, very explosive athletically, and I think has better outside shooting potential. Ja could potentially lead the league in assists, But Jalen could potentially lead the league in scoring. As Jalen gains strength and even more athletic, gets better in isolation, scoring though contact on drives and playmaking we will start seeing him reach higher levels. Both of their High School numbers were these, which I think are around the ceiling of both players NBA wise, with perhaps more assists or a point for Morant. If Jalen hits near that or a little less and you consider that on Morant's level of production over his entire career, then yes. Again this is all hypothetical, no one has a crystal ball, as even Morant himself was unknown to scouts until later in college. "As a senior in 2019-20 at Prolific Prep in Napa, California, Green averaged 31.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game and helped lead Prolific Prep to a 31-3 overall record and the Grind Session World Championship." https://www.usab.com/basketball/players/mens/g/green-jalen.aspx#:~:text=HIGH SCHOOL NOTES:,the Grind Session World Championship. Ja Morant's High School stats for those interested: Following his high school career, Morant left as Crestwood's all-time leading scorer with 1,679 points. He also set a career-high of 47 points in high school. Throughout his junior and senior years in high school, he averaged 27 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists per game. https://www.lines.com/nba/players/ja-morant-2266#:~:text=Following his high school career,and 8 assists per game.
Someone in here earlier said it best.. it’s not CAN he reach Ja status.. it’s WILL he? He obviously has the talent within him to be one of the best players in the league one day. Especially if he continues to make some plays on defense and dish the rock in his spare time.. another thing.. when Jalen lined up in front of Ja.. Ja couldn’t hold his left nut sack.
"Huge" is a bit of an exaggeration. Ja is definitely better, but Jalen does things on the court that only the elites can pull off. He's gonna be really damn good.
He's becoming more consistent in his play. The big plays are nice but I'm waiting on him to take over. Similar to Ja's previous four game stretch. That's when I know he's made it
Ja is way better at passing, right now but Jalen can certainly average 28 points in year 3. Morant is also averaging 6.6 assists. So he's no James Harden yet. He can also be a defensive liability and that's a really hard cap on his ceiling. Defense is 50% of your whole impact on the floor, no matter whether you choose to play it or not. Still an iffy shooter in year 3 at 34% his best ever. By Jalen's year 3, I can see him becoming almost as good as him offensively (29 points, 5 assists), while being much much better defensively which is a comparable or better player.
I think an interesting point is seeing how Jalen uses his athleticism to make plays on the defensive end. Ja has his moments too but it’s a part of JGs game that could MAYBE elevate him above Morant.
Jalen is a very competent passer and when he becomes more efficient at scoring, he's going to have more gravity that will lead to more assists BUT he doesn't have to court vision of Morant, Harden, etc. and that's OK. I see him as a top 5 scorer in this league for many years.
