He's way overrated by Lakers fans, and at this point slightly underrated by clutchfans. As R2K said, when he shows he can play at a high level for an entire season, then lets talk.
If Bynum is the next Yao, Landry is the next KG But if we are going to be real.... Bynum = Curry Landry = Kenny Thomas
To be fair, Curry is the worst defensive big man in the nba. T-mac averaged more blocks AND rebounds last season then Curry and McGrady is a swingman. Bynum is going to be good no doubt, I'm just not sure how much potential he actually has. My example must be Al Jefferson. Look at how amazing he is and a lot of that comes from having a large repertoire of post moves. However Big Al is awful at defending above average-elite big men and his efficiency is terrible while playing center. Bynum will probably be better defensively then Al Jefferson, but I don't think he will ever be as dominant in the post. That is my best case scenario, I don't think he will be that good. But as everyone else says, hes only 20, we will see.
I see no reason why he won't average 22/12 during his prime. He rebounds well and is pretty skilled for such a young player. I don't see him as the franchise player for a contending team (once Kobe is gone or old) but he will make one heck of a second banana. Now since his size/length are so important to his game I think he will always be outplayed by Yao in head to head matchups. All the so called "big" centers look pretty small and ineffective against the Great Wall. His health is the only thing holding him back.
He's overrated and only gets all the press cause he plays on the lakers. Put him on memphis and no one would be rating him this high.
Sure he catches a lot of Lobs, uses his length, has decent post moves, He is a good rebounder, shot-blocker and he is 0nly 20 years old. He can be one of the top 5 "Big-Men" in the league in the future, but he is nowhere near the skill level of Yao or Tim Duncan and nowhere near the aggressiveness of Amare or Dwight.
stats by month October 4.0ppg 4.0reb 1.0 blk 33.3 FG% November 11.4ppg 10.7reb 1.47blk 59.2 FG% December 13.9ppg 9.1reb 2.69blk 66.1FG% January 17.3ppg 12.2reb 2.33blk 70.0FG% in 29.5 minutes!! he was really balling right before he got injured, i think he is the real deal
I'm very curious to know how he will perform this year. If he stays healthy and puts up those numbers from January or better then I'll be ready to consider him a potential best in the league center. I wont' take a month's worth of games and declare him the next shaq/wilt/dream like over zealous Lakers fans. That being said, he shows alotta promise for a 20 year old. He could potentially be the most dominant center in 3-4 years but right now I would consider him overrated.
I can see why they would be excited over Bynum, and rightly so. He was improving every month last year, and was becoming more and more accustomed to the triangle offense. He knew where to get his points and had some chemistry developing with Kobe. That said, comparing him to Yao and Howard is asinine. They're (Laker fans) basing all this on his potential output instead of actual output. I think we all agree that Yao and Howard are on another level right now. I hope he does develop into a great center though, cause right now the only center match-up worth watching is Howard Vs. Yao.
This has come up before and the real question is whether Bynum's potential is overrated because nobody but the most insane Lakers homer would say he a top 3 center at the moment. Bynum's development has been phenomenal. After a washout rookie year and a 2nd year where he showed flashes, last year he grew game by game. The skills that Bynum shows on offense are exceptional and he will be an unstoppable offensive force eventually. Most members here either don't watch him enough or just dislike him for being a Laker. The only thing preventing him from being a true franchise center is desire. I've had my doubts about how Bynum reacts to signing a long-term contract. We will see. There is no argument with this. These stats at 20 years-old close the case that Bynum has a chance to be a very special NBA center. There nothing wrong at all comparing him to Dwight Howard and Yao because he's the one guy who could surpass them both if he continues working hard.
Neither. Bynum is locked in for next year but the Lakers can extend him long-term this summer. Next summer as a restricted free agent, they can extend him or give him the qualifying offer to retain the right to match. Two summers from now he can be unrestricted.
he's overrated just because he's part of the lakers big 3. "hey let me just bring a center that was injured for a whole season and replace him with lamar odom and make him pert of our big 3" uhhh no, he's not a bad player but he's very overrated
Tim Duncan is VERY under rated he should be in the comparison of Yao and Dwight as well.... Bynum really can't compare with the likes of Dwight, Yao or Gasol even. I think LA are going a little far calling Bynum the next best thing.. he hasn't really proved it thus far but he has shown great ability in adaping to the laker's offense and being a great rebounder. He'll make it as an all star, but their being a bit too optimistic!
Agreed entirely. Most bigs won't be able to cover him one-on-one which has to make Kobe/Gasol/Odom smile and the same vice-versa. It's just a question of heart, work ethic and durability. He could very easily be the next Eddy Curry. An all-world talent that got paid, got fat, stopped caring and now only goes through the motions. It's up to him to prevent that from happening because other than those concerns the sky is the limit.
If he remains a Laker, I think there will always be questions of whether he's good enough to be the alpha male. The fact that he's playing second or third fiddle to Bryant, along with Odom, Gasol and a strong group of role players, will make it hard to say how good he could be on his own. But the reality is that a very good, potentially great, big man will be added to a team that was already good enough to get to the finals. Even if Bynum's overrated and not nearly the Next Big Thing, it will still be pretty damn scary. And I'm really looking forward to seeing how Scola and Yao fare against the Lakers' improved frontcourt of Bynum and Gasol. It's going to be fun.
I think they will have a little growing pains adjusting to another big body clogging up the lanes, but defensively he will really help them right away if he is healthy and in shape.
Nah. Bynum has much more talent than Curry, who is a pillow-soft, fat, lazy sissy. I had him pegged early in his career and thought Isiah Thomas was insane for giving him that contract. Curry never had that big of an upside IMO. He is an all-world talent only in his own mind.
