He could be 28 and still be low IQ player. It's not a race who is older or younger. Eason came into the league aged 20 - 21. He was already a decent player. KPJ was a bad apple before he entered the league, not much has changed, he is more grateful to Houston than Cleveland.
Not talking about wins, talking about the players' individual performances. SGA's production improved greatly every season. In his third year he was already up to 25, 6, and 5 per 36 on pretty good efficiency. KPJ has not shown that type of improvement, and frankly, he has shown almost no improvement at all since his second year in the league.
KPJ’s PPG and RPG have increased substantially this year, as has his TS% (.55 from .53). In fact, KPJ’s TS% this season (his fourth) is nearly identical to SGA’s last season (his fourth). Edit: Now, to clarify, I’m not saying KPJ and SGA are comparable. SGA is one of the best players in the league IMO. I’m just saying it’s not fair to say that KPJ hasn’t improved this season. He’s scoring more on much better efficiency.
Honestly it looks like fairly minor statistical improvements to me? His PER went up from 13.5 to 15.6. His points per 36 went from 17.9 to 19.7. His rebounds went up from 5.0 to 5.8. His assists per 36 actually went down year over year. I'll acknowledge it's possible he's improved a little, but it's so close season-to-season that it could just be random variance. It's not uncommon to see swings this size when a player is basically the same as he was the previous year. Contrast that from SGA who in his third season went from 17.7 to 21.6 PER, 19.7 points to 25.3 per 36 minutes, and .568 to .623 TS%. It's a much, much bigger jump in performance, and this kind of jump is pretty common from players who became all-star guards in the league. KPJ SGA
Guy has balled this year and not been a complete daily blatant black hole... Now he picks and chooses his black hole moments ..
KPJ reminds me a lot of Jeremy Lin when we had Harden. We have a guy who is ultimately a good player but gets in the way of (supposedly) franchise sg. He gets a lot of flack on this board but thats cuz we are trying to make him the pg when really he should just be thinking of scoring and defending his guy. Also no way KPJ is 6'4 he is 6'5 at least. He is taller than JG.
I swear, only on this board could a player’s numbers go up virtually across the board, including a big jump in points and efficiency, and people will claim, “Eh, he hasn’t improved.” I also don’t think it’s fair to just assume all good players will see similar jumps in year 3. For example, Beal’s jump came in season 5. All I’m saying his KPJ has improved and it’s silly to claim otherwise.
I believe if KPJ was allowed to just be the SG, he would be a lot better, but because he has been asked to change to PG, it is a WIP, and he is making great progress. He sometimes reverts to SG a bit too much but so did Harden - and now look at him - KPJ is still learning in a system which has had little structure and few teammates that could consistently shoot as they rise up in consistency so will he. DD
Just remember guys… when Jalen, Sengun, Jabari, and Tari turn 22, that’ll be the player they are and they won’t get any better
SGA is a superstar so not sure why you are comparing him to KPJ. Even if you use an all star as a comparison, all stars are obtained with lotto picks and get max extensions. KPJ was obtained with2nd round protected pick and will get 15M+unguaranteed contract. Why dont you use unguaranteed contracts as the baseline? How many players with inguaranteed deals give you 19/5/6 at age 22?
Yeah, I'm not really understanding the comparison, either. No one is saying KPJ and SGA are comparable. But just because a player isn't a budding superstar doesn't meant he doesn't have significant value or isn't improving.
I wasn't using him as a player comp. I was using him to show the kind of jump you expect to see when a player has more left to unlock. Going up the amount of efficiency and volume stats @Houston77 is talking about can easily be random variation. The improvements are just too small to be certain they even mean anything, let alone that they show he can still get a lot better, which he needs to if he wants to be a long-term NBA starter. Most players fluctuate up and down a little from year to year. Go look up any player with a long career and you will see that bouncing up and down about 2 PER or a .020 TS% or a couple points per game is extremely common and doesn't necessarily mean anything about a player's long-term outlook. Right now, KPJ is giving you Trevor Ariza-level offensive production with nowhere near Trevor Ariza-level defense, and he's not showing signs that he has much more improvement left. Again, this is not a player comp, just an illustration of value. If Ariza was an average NBA starter, what does that make KPJ?
And again, I don't dislike KPJ as a player, just to be clear. I think he's clearly NBA-caliber. I just don't see him as a core piece or as a long-term starter.
Nah Eason had multiple years in college and can still barely make a layup at 22. Bro was straight airballing 3 ft shots. KPJs first year was Covid so it was cut short & second year was split between gleague vipers, Walls backup, and starting. Last year was his first full season
KPJ is playing out of position. He's not a good floor general, at least not yet... "But Rocketeer, his assists numbers and TO ratio...", honestly its not about that. The biggest issue is that he kills the flow of the offense too often, and things like when a guys gets hot, he tries to mix things up instead of feeling out his teammates. I have to admit he's been a lot better at this since he came back from injury. I like KPJ, the fire and his confidence especially in crunchtime. His offensive skillset is underrated around here and we also gotta give him some time, or at least another look with a different coach.
Porter went the regular way. Green and Bari got 30 mpg in their respective first year and 10-14 shot attempts. Rookies have to pay their dues, that's old school.
He has def gotten better especially the second half of the season. This is the first season where he's shown marked improvement especially in advanced stats areas. Still a ways off from hopefully his prime, but a step in the right direction. I do however still have serious concerns about his mental state and on-court "antics". Thankfully he hasn't had an episode like driving home at halftime last year (lol), but there's been a lot of bad looking clips of him pouting and whatnot. I think he (and the rest of the Rockets) need a couch to hold him more accountable, but I am for some reason worried about how he would react to a stricter coach.
I dont think you can use stats as a baseline to see if a dude has more left to unlock or not. He is only 22 and playing a brand new position. Regardless whether his stats increased or not you dont put a cap on a dude at age 22 thats like the age of some rookies wtf. You are right KPJ's statd barely improved but thats the same for Jalen Green as well you think Green doesnt have anything left to unlock? Green's efficiency even went down so he is washed and on the decline in his 2nd year? Btw Ariza wasnt an "average NBA starter" he is guy we sent to guard Kobe, KD, Lebron, Paul George etc while shooting 35% from 3 on 6 attempts. Thats not average at all, he is one of the best 3nD role players in league history. With that said, Ariza: 12 ppg/ 5 reb/ 2 ast KPJ: 18 ppg/5 reb/ 5 ast I dont see how 6 ppg and 3 ast more is Ariza level offensive production on offense lmao.
I dont think you can use stats as a baseline to see if a dude has more left to unlock or not. He is only 22 and playing a brand new position. Regardless whether his stats increased or not you dont put a cap on a dude at age 22 thats like the age of some rookies wtf. You are right KPJ's statd barely improved but thats the same for Jalen Green as well you think Green doesnt have anything left to unlock? Green's efficiency even went down so he is washed and on the decline in his 2nd year? Btw Ariza wasnt an "average NBA starter" he is guy we sent to guard Kobe, KD, Lebron, Paul George etc while shooting 35% from 3 on 6 attempts. Thats not average at all, he is one of the best 3nD role players in league history. With that said, Ariza: 12 ppg/ 5 reb/ 2 ast KPJ: 18 ppg/5 reb/ 5 ast I dont see how 6 ppg and 3 ast more is Ariza level offensive production on offense lmao.
