How many years of "believing" does Jalen get? Stars usually show more by their 4th season. Is Reed going to get 4 years of starting to decide on his future?
Jalen turned 23 this year. The vast majority of “stars” really start hitting their stride around 24 - 25. And regardless, why is the analysis so extreme? If Jalen isn’t a star, he’s worthless? Bane isn’t a star and just went for four FRPs and a swap.
I would be fine with this as end result: FVV Brooks Durant Smith Sengun With Amen playing starter minutes off the bench backing up Jabari and FVV. I would limit FVV to about 25 minutes a night. Get Reed 25 minutes a night off the bench. Sign some vets to replace depth... I would prefer to start Amen at PG but think that may happen by end of year. I like Tari, but the injuries make me hesitant to extend a bench player for what he's going to get offered on the market to start somewhere else. If he saves us a pick in a durant deal I would move him.
I'd like to introduce you to D'Angelo Russell (6'3 guard, drafted second in 2015). In his rookie year, DLo scored 39 points in a game, the most by a Lakers rookie since Elgin Baylor in 1959 (per Wikipedia). He has been productive throughout his long career, but has also been wildly erratic.
Bane is a much more consistent 3pt shooter and plays better defense. Jalen improved greatly on D but his offensive game is not improving. Tell me what these guys were doing in year 4: Tyrese Haliburton Anthony Edwards Tyrese Maxey Jaylen Brown Luka Doncic Jamal Murray Devin Booker Tyler Herro Darius Garland SGA Cade Cunningham Lamelo Ball Ja Morant Trae Young Almost all those guys were top 10 picks. Which ones would you pick Jalen over at the same stage of their careers?
I would hope so, but I don't think it matters who starts if Amen is playing the most minutes on the team.
You're absolutely correct on all fronts! However, skills are learned over time, you have to agree? And considering he lead the team in scoring on, as you say, natural ability, no skills, can you envision what he's going to be like, once he gets a floater or a go to move or more strength?? I can recall Tony Parker and Kwahi Leonard having absolutely NO OFFENSIVE SKILLS but after their 3rd, 4th yr, they became All - Stars
u The better question is how many years is Ime going to get rolling out his lame offense and deferring to a journeyman PG? If they do the right thing and get rid of FVV and bring in Durant or another solid shooter, then Jalen gets next year. If he doesn’t improve with an unclogged lane then trade him. He had 2 years with the worst coach in NBA history and 2 years with a defense only coach. We will see.
more from the athletic this morning, who seem to feel the T-Wolves are a dark horse candidate: The Rockets and Suns have had meaningful discussions about a deal, team sources said. Houston has a firm offer on the table but Phoenix, to this point, has been seriously underwhelmed by it. The Spurs, league sources say, have been conservative in their pursuit of Durant.
Good idea. Only comes up to $45m though, wonder if that's enough. My bigger concern is I don't think that beats the offers of teams who are happy with a 1 year rental. We're walking a thin line of offering a better deal than all those teams (Wolves, Raptors) while not giving up too much.
Of course Reed can get 4 years if he can be a leader of his draft class in 20, 30 and 40-pt games. Jalen's around because of his peaks and because a development coach would rather teach someone to raise their floor than teach someone to drop 30. Much easier.
Bane is obviously more efficient, but I’m not sure he’s much better on defense. They had virtually identical defensive rating. “4th season” is a red herring. What matters is age. At 22, a bunch of those guys weren’t doing much of anything. Brown averaged 13 ppg. Maxey 20. Murray 18. And, as I said, most hit their stride around 24 - 25. It’s simply too early on Green.
Why should I believe that he’s gonna magically develop a floater or a go-to move? That he’ll magically develop a midrange game? He’s been in the NBA for 4 seasons and still hasn’t gained any meaningful strength for every Tony Parker or Kawhi, there are a thousand times more players that never made meaningful improvements and people really gotta stop bringing up the likes of Kawhi when talking about a young player that can’t shoot or isn’t highly skilled offensively…Kawhi is an extreme outlier Jalen’s FG% 1st 4 seasons: 42.6%, 41.6%, 42.3%, 42.3% 3 point percentage: 34.3%, 33.8%, 33.2%, 35.4% free throw percentage: 79.7%, 78.6%, 80.4%, 81.3% midrange: 38.5%, 39.9%, 39.7%, 36.2% TS%: 54.7%, 53.8%, 54.1%, 54.4% basically little to no meaningful improvement in any category after 4 years but sure, this will be the year he develops a bunch of skills and gains some strength…
