I went with DMo because his offensive ability is stellar, but I'll say that Robinson has the potential to do well both ways. I think PFs get scared when Robinson faces up. He looks great when he faces up. He just needs to work on his FTs so fouling him becomes a liability on defense.
Potential means nothing...unless your a fan of a team that is not the Rockets. Remember that we are dealing with Daryl Morey here; and Morey has already proven (Marcus Morris, Terrence Williams, Thabeet, etc.) that he gives "projects" about 1/2 to 2/3 season to prove themselves, and if they are not semi-studs by that time, he trades or releases them. I remember earlier this season seemingly everyone on Clutchfans was talking about Jeremy Lamb...how much "potential" he had, how great he would be in three years' time...not realizing that in a few weeks time he would be traded to OKC. With Morey, the future to a great extent is now. The rest of this season, the summer league, the beginning of next season...if the "project" is not playing like a star (or near-star) power forward, than Morey will set forth to craft some move. Some GM's (like whomever was the GM in Boston who had long patience with Rajon Rondo, waiting three years for Rondo to develop all the while he was average at best) will wait around for a "project" to develop. Morey is not one of these GM's. Morey is a NOW guy.
If Morey was a now guy, he would never have traded Patterson, Morris, amnestied Scola, etc... Lamb was traded for a stud only who is only 2 years older than himself. Morris and Patterson were better players then Robinson and Motiejunas, yet Morey decided to trade them to make space for higher upside players. If that is not a move for the future.....
You're taking my statement too literally and not reading it in its context. What I mean is that with Morey, the project-player's improvement is to be realized at a month-to-month level, not a year to year level. Another exmaple of this might be Johnny Flynn--who was a top 10 pick in fact. He stayed around for about half-a-season, right? Is Flynn still with us? Is TWill still with us? How about Thabeet? Obviously Morey wants to take time to develop these high-pick projects--and so he isn't a literal NOW guy. My point is that Morey--historicially--does not give project years to develop, he gives them months.
Most definitely T-Rob, also I don't know why you said he was undersized.. He's 6'10. D-Mo has good post moves and is a improving shooter, but T-Rob just has so much more potential. He could take the 2-Pat route and work on HIS game, his bread and butter, working the inside and rebounding. THEN he could learn a mid-range to even long-range jumpshot, when needed.
D-Mo, for sure. Like others already stated, his type of player (7footer with great offense and court vision) is just super rare to find. On other hand, every draft has T-Rob type of athletic SF/PF players, some drafts are even stacked with them.
I'm a huge fan of DMo's versatility, but he's got to work harder. If he's only going to average around six rebounds per game and make zero defensive plays, his talent likely won't be worth it. Scola had the worst athletic tools in the league. He had no second jump and could barely dunk, but he hustled and grabbed 8+ rebounds per game. DMo has to reach that level, hopefully higher. I pray that all he needs is more muscle.
I don't know who has more potential, but you can be absolutely certain that DMo will be granted more room for error, and more opportunity by NBA coaches...even in the face of apparent failure on his part. The reason is that DMo is entirely unique. He is unique because he is a seven-footer who can run the floor like a small forward, put the ball on the floor like a guard, shoot the three, has post moves like few other centers in the league today, and is a very good passer. No other 7-footer in the league can boast all 5 of these skills. The closest might be Dirk. I remember years ago the debate was: who's better: Yao or TMac. Obviously TMac was better, yet management time and again made clear that Yao was the only player on the team who was untradeable. Why? Because a skilled 7'6" big man is impossibly rare, while skilled 6'8" players like TMac--although rare also--weren't quite as rare. Take Thabeet. Year after year Thabeet sucks yet he's given opportunity after opportunity because of his unique size. DMo will be given a lot of chances and lot of leeway because he's basically a freak of nature, and coaches and GM's like that.
I am going to go with T-Rob. The guy is going to be a beast next season. Plus, i think his FT% also gives him an edge.
I doubt that you have overlooked this, but remember that Scola came into the league as a veteran of European play whereas DMo is like 21 or 22. DMo will grow. He's shown his willingness to work, as has TRob. I'm pretty excited about both. One is a legit rebounder/defender and the other is a legit stretch 4. (stretch 4 is a 4 that spaces the paint area, I believe)
Long term potential? I'd say DMo turns out to have a "Rik Smits" type career statline of about 14.8/6.1. He averages also over 2 assists per game, 1.3 blocks per game and plays above average defense because of his height and length. TRob ends up averaging 8.8 rebounds per game and 8.5 points. He is a solid defender, a top 20 steals guy and a decent passer for a PF. Most of his points are in isolation moves to the basket and in transition. His ppg would be higher were his FT% more than 60%.
T-Rob has only one move in his arsenal - spin to the basket (mostly to left as I remember) and shoot. And as soon opps would understand that - they would take a charge every time and it would cost turnovers with offensive fouls for T-Rob.
Really don't know, both are completely different, only time will tell... Terrence is up there too... Seems like we have a jack of all trades
If he is used like he is now, D-Mo will be out of the league soon. He is not a great shooter right now, and thats all he gets to do on offense. McHale, for whatever reason, refuses to allow D-Mo to work in the post, which is by far his most valuable tool. His shooting needs to get better, and he needs to get stronger, but he has all the tools Pau Gasol has. Every team has at least 1 or 2 players with similar skills to T-Rob, not that I don't like his game. But i don't see him being anymore than a great rotation player. D-Mo has perennial all star potential.
Depends. Which one will actually be able to improve their weaknesses? Mainly D-Mo needs to add some core strength and T-Rob needs a consistent mid range jumper. By all accounts they both are hard workers with good work ethic so it's hard for me to bet against either of them. Best case scenario, assuming they both make those improvements I still find it hard to pick one over the other because they are completely different players. It would be like having an improved version of Scola and Landry all over again. How do you guard a stronger D-Mo and how do you guard T-Rob if he can keep you honest with a jumpshot when his first step is so explosive? Robinson will probably always be superior defensively, but I think D-Mo gaining strength will be adequate as long as he can stop people from bullying him and make them shoot over his 7 foot frame. I just can't call it yet...need to see more. Both are rookies too with little playing time. Yeah, there are much better things from both of them on the horizon. We just have endure a few clunker games along the way while they learn and get better.
I understand where you are coming from but J. Lamb was traded for a star in Harden. If Morey traded these guys for an elite power forward it would not hurt my feelings at all.
