Brooks thought Harden was good enough to give him 23 mpg as a rookie... Lamb can't even get 5 mins. And Harden was 20 as a rookie as well. Again, people are reaching a bit for this guy I think.
He's not even getting 5 mins a game, if he had incredible "Tmac" like ability don't you think he'd be getting more time? The article is saying he's a great player, not a good player. He has his moments, but there is a reason he's on the bench for less than a half a quarter and it isn't b/c of Kmart.
m They were a lottery team before Harden's rookie season. They were a contending team before Lambs rookie season Harden had Thabo (way worse than now), Kevin Ollie and Kyle Weaver Lamb has Sefolosha (ALL-NBA defender) and one of the best sixth men in the game Kevin Martin, who doesn't always play HIS minutes Do you really want to compare their situations?
He obviously has the potential to become a star...BUT will he live up to that potential? The question everyone asks/makes during the NBA draft.
Uh, no. Perimeter guys with an "incredible feel for the game" average more than 3 assists. In the D-League. While is FT% is great, he also got to the line about than 4 times a game. In the D-League. That doesn't spell future dominance to me, certainly not on a Harden circa 2013 scale. I went to the home page of the article, and found luminary articles such as: -- "Is Paul Pierce as talented as Larry Bird?" (Answer - yes!) -- "Trying to figure out the future of non-Kyrie Irving, 2011 lottery prospects" (Get ready, Jimmer Fredette and his feel for the game talent grade out substantially better overall than Klay Thompson) I think Lamb will become a good player. The Thunder got Lamb, a very good stop gap in Martin, and likely a top 10-ish pick out of the deal.
This just reminds me of how excited I was that we actually drafted someone who wasn't a 6"9 power forward type from the draft. Then my mixed feelings towards trading said draftee to a team which made it to the finals last year, for Harden (who at the time I was still thinking of in a 'Sixth Man' sense). But after all this time, I can 100% say that I'm glad we traded Lamb rather than T-Jones. I mean just comparing their impacts in the D-League Jones is beasting all over Lamb's numbers across the board. I'm not sure what we'll be doing with Jones now that we've got another project (who surprisingly gets minutes) in Robinson, but as an asset (there's that word boys) Jones' potential and current production outranks Lamb's.
I am pretty sure that the Thunder would not have made that trade if they didn't already have Durant and Westbrook.
Big Benito was talking about how Jeff Green was the reason Brooks was holding Harden back in playing time. 23 minutes is pretty consistent for a 20 yo rookie who's coach doesn't like to play him because he's inexperienced. Sure they were short handed on SGs then with the veterans you mentioned (who hardly played b/c Harden was better than them) and Eric Maynor who they still have, but right now it doesn't look like Lamb would even get time over most of them with his numbers...again, if he was good, he could get time SOMEWHERE and not just 4.5 mins/game and he sure the hell wouldn't be playing in the D-League. Have you looked at some of his game logs? Not good. I'm not sure of why BB thought Green was taking his minutes considering he's suppose to be a SF/PF and Harden was a SG, but whatever. Anyhow, he'll get a chance to show everyone what he's made if Kmart gets hurt, it's amazing how resilient he's been this year which is an anomoly for him. Again I think, a lot of folks, and I guess you now, are ridiculous for thinking this guy is going to be a superstar...congratulations for sharing the same opinion as the dude who thinks Paul Pierce is better than Larry Bird. Sorry, I hope you can accept my opinion, maybe you can rewatch another Tmac highlight to cheer yourself up...I hear there are a couple great layups he did over 5'10" players from China you might like. Knock yourself out man!
But, but, but...he has great D-League and college numbers!!! I'm sure there are a ton of superstars that started out at such meager beginnings. Here, I've compiled a list of them below...
This is what I was going to say. There are some rare exceptions, but most of the time superstars-in-the-making show their meddle quickly and get playing time even in their rookie season. If Lamb was so incredible, I'd think his coach would notice.
He's definitely going to be a solid NBA player but it's the D-League... Just for comparison, here's his stats this season compared to Jeremy Lin's in the D-League: http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/jeremy_lamb/career_stats.html http://www.nba.com/dleague/playerfile/jeremy_lin/career_stats.html
maybe not superstar.... but definitely allstar material if he works hard and does not follow the Winnebago trail There have been allstars in the 2nd round Boozer, Ginobili,Michael Redd....... possible Parker close to second round
Dumb. Their average age is like 24 and they're all signed to multiple-year contracts. They'll easily be a contender at least for the next 4-5 years.
Although not a superstar, Lamb's game reminds me of a more athletic Michael Redd. Redd averaged 2.2 ppg as a rookie and peaked around 27 ppg before injuries set in.
