Dude, WTF? You ask 3 different questions in the thread title, the poll, and the actual post. Could Jeremy Lamb score 15+ PPG? Sure, it's not a huge reach. Will he? Eh, probably not. Usually only 1 or 2 rookies average that much and they're usually elite players in the making and/or are on VERY bad teams where they're already the primary option. It's possible, but the odds are against it. Will he average 20 ppg? No way in hell. As you mentioned, Durant averaged 20 ppg as a rookie and he had to shoot 17 times a game to get there (the next highest on the team was 10). By comparison, Scola and Martin led the Rockets last year with 13 attempts per game. Yao's career average was 15. Lamb's not going to dominate the ball the way Durant did as a rookie and he's not going to get anywhere near enough attempts to average 20 ppg.
If Kmart is moved before the start of the season this is likely. With Kmart on the team Lamb would struggle to find the minutes to achieve this.
You take the time to change your font size every paragraph but don't take the time to read the guy's last name
It's a shame I'm going to be cast into a group composed of people like this because of my join date Wish I hadn't been lurking for so long. But yea given 25+ minutes a game I do believe he has the offensive skill set to put up 15+ ppg easily....Now if we could just work on that defense..
As the thread title ask -- Could? Yes, anybody technically could! As the poll ask -- Will? -- Depends on which team he is playing. Orlando -- Yes; Houston -- No. Clutchfans....home of the tainted polls!
could Lamb be a 15 ppg scorer as a rookie? Yes he is capable. the question is, will he get the court time? If we don't move Martin in a Dwight/Bynum trade, we likely hold onto him till the deadline, which means Lamb coming off the bench. However, he's actually big enough to play some 3, so it wouldn't surprise me to see him get some minutes there, especially if we finally see the error of our ways, and stop tying to turn Morris into a 3.
He reminds me a lot of McGrady when I see him move with the ball. The fluidity and the wingspan he has a great feel for the game.
Well, he certainly could average 15+ ppg. The thing I don't get from many of the posts is why are people hating on his defense so much? He really is anti-Martin on the defensive side of the ball. Lamb could possibly turn into an elite defender during his career. The most comprehensive scouting report I could find is below. http://swishscout.com/?page_id=4991 Lamb can make brilliant defensive plays with his length and quick feet that can help make him a choice NBA defender. As an on-ball defender he is imposing with his length and lateral quickness. Doesn’t sit in his stance defensively and always move his feet, showing signs of a lack of effort. He is very “swipey” defensively when he gets beat by his man, using his reach to try and make a play on the ball from behind. Has great defensive anticipation and instincts playing passing lanes, picking off lazy passes to go the other way for a quick two points. Doesn’t show up much on the stat side of the defensive end with only 1.3 steals and .7 blocks per 40 minutes, but has a great grasp of that end of the floor at a young age. With his seven-foot wingspan he would make an excellent and imposing inbound defender. Has a natural feel of when to help and rotate on defense in addition to using that length when getting a hand up while contesting shots. When defending off ball, he loves to reach on passing drivers in the lane to help out and try to knock the ball away. Shows great persistence fighting over screens off ball when trailing his man but can get screened out due to a lack of strength. Does a good job defending the pick and roll by fighting over screens and staying on his man, but as the screeners defender needs to do a better job of showing instead of giving the opposition a clear lane like he occasionally does.
I think Lamb wil shoot a very high percentage. 41% seems way low to me, I think 45% - 50% is more like it. Yep I know that is a high percentage as a shooting guard put that's how high I am on the kid.
Though Lamb is clearly the best SG from the draft, expecting him to get such high FG% seems to be unrealistic. The kid will have to adjust to strength/speed of players who won't let him get clean shots or won't let him get to the spots he likes. He might get 15+ ppg but it won't be anything near 50% efficiency.
As post stated, with Martin gone, yes 15 easily, 20 would be ceiling. As poll stated, no, because Martin is in a contract year, and prolly stays on the team till the trade deadline.
Anything over 18 ppg would be shocking. I've seen greater players barely average 18-21 ppg in their rookie year. 14-17 is realistic. 11-13 wouldn't necessarily be shocking either. I love his game and summer league performances, but he's got to go up against big timers first, before I can push the final OK to all-star caliber. All-star potential and caliber are two different things.
I believe he can, but it is relative to less production from other players. Our overall total points score average might not be in the top 10, in other words.
