So the point of this post is to determine where we are in terms of young talent around the league. What you do: pick the best prospects out of NBA players that are 23 years old or younger. This is an exercise I saw on Twitter (and it's been posted here somewhere at least once) and I think it's important to us as fans to really determine what the teams needs, strengths, and weaknesses are. So I'm going to jump right in. Feel free to comment on my list or create your own. Tier 1 (MVP potential) Giannis Antetokounmpo- Speaks for himself, but he's incredible. Karl Anthony-Towns- He's taken somewhat of a step back defensively, but still amazing. Joel Embiid- Health and mentality are going to be important, but talent is there. Tier 2 (Multiple Time All-Star) Kristaps Porzingis- He can do things that other players can't. Has a great approach. Andrew Wiggins- Another guy who has apparently hit a ceiling, but great talent. Ben Simmons- Incredible talent. I'm still unsure of his mentality. If he wants it, he can do it. Lonzo Ball- Efficiency aside, he's putting together a REMARKABLE rookie season. Devin Booker- Inflated or not, he's one of the better young SGs. Jayson Tatum- Tremendous wing talent. Too bad he plays for the green jerks. Nikola Jokic- Still underrated, but quickly approaching a ceiling. Donovan Mitchell- If you aren't paying attention to this kid, please do. Great talent. Myles Turner- He has plateaued in many ways, but defense is improved. Brandon Ingram- His growth since March of last season has been utterly impressive. Tier 3 (One Time All-Star/Long-term Starter) Clint Capela- I actually don't think he's that great, but he's on a great team. D'Angelo Russell- I just don't know if he's got the mental fortitude to do more than this. Kyle Kuzma- Could be more, but let's see his defense continue to grow. Elfrid Payton- I'm not a big fan, but Orlando is giving him plenty of opportunity. Jamaal Murray- Immaturity aside, he's got solid talent. Gary Harris- I like Gary a lot actually. He could break into Tier 2. Aaron Gordon- He's taken an enormous leap forward this season. Jaylen Brown- I debated leaving him down on the list, but he's a starting caliber player. Lauri Markannen- He's been better than I expected, but has a lot of growing to do. Tier 4 (Occasional Starter/Solid Bench Piece) Rondae Hollis-Jefferson- He's taken a step forward in scoring, but he hasn't been the defender he needs to be. Kelly Oubre- Scoring punch, but not much else. Domantas Sabonis- Looks pretty good, but I'm not sure I see "starter" there long-term. John Collins- Plays like an energy big, but he has potential for more. Terry Rozier- Some decent talent, but he needs to put it all together consistently. OG Anunoby- Solid wing player, but unspectacular thus far. Tyus Jones- Has played well when given opportunities. Julius Randle- Should honestly be up a Tier, but he is being pushed into this one. Jordan Bell- Looks like a solid bench big. Bobby Portis- Punching a teammate actually seems to have lit a fire under him. Dario Saric- A year ago people were saying he was better than Julius Randle. Justice Winslow- He's been underwhelming. Heart is a question. Stanley Johnson- He plateaued last season and hasn't changed that narrative this season. Dillon Brooks- Looks really undersized at times in the NBA. Marcus Smart- I've never been impressed. Screams C**** idiot now. Taurean Prince- Solid player. I know he starts now, but I'm not sold long-term. Jusuf Nurkic- See above. Marquese Chriss- Dumb as a rock could keep him from even being in this Tier. Josh Hart- I love this kid. I think he is a champion of this Tier. Ivica Zubac- Obviously plateaued, but could excel in a slower offense (Memphis) Emmanuel Mudiay- A disappointment and one the Nuggets are quickly burying. If a kid didn't make this list it's because either a) they haven't done enough to make it or b) they're not good enough to make it. Guys I almost put on this list: Dragan Bender, Semi Ojeleye, Willy Hernangomez, Skal Labissiere, Jonathan Isaac, Dejountae Murray, Nerlens Noel, Jarrett Allen, Jakob Poetl. They could all be put on this list in varying areas, but haven't shown enough to me that they'll be here long-term. Anyone in the list I just gave might as well be considered "permanent bench player". As you can see: Denver, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, and Boston come up a lot. Indiana is making some noise too.
I think Simmons should be in Tier 1. He's special. Kills me that we were so close to having Simmons, KAT and Lonzo. UGH!
Within our control we could have had Ingram, Lonzo, and Porzingis... So there's that. I think with Simmons I'm just not convinced he has the killer in him that he needs.
gordon should be tier 2, his growth this season is ridiculous, from a sub 30% 3pt shooter to 40% making 2+gm,wanted him that yr, thought orl reached but hes finally playing up to expectations
1/4 of the way in, still solid %. i haven't seen any of his gm to be honest but hes had some impressive nights, mainly the recent one against okc 40/15 on 6/12 from 3s then did 29/7 against gsw 2 days later, thats impressive, hes prototype pf Zo would kill for
That's the problem is it's just a couple of nights. It's easy for me to see Ingram every day and of course Ingram is a couple years younger. It's part of why Julius is lower on the list too: going into the fourth year of a guy's career doing things he hasn't done ever before, is it a mirage? It's fair to put him higher.
What makes me feel better when things like this are echoed is lets say we did get KAT and or we did get Porzingis. No way would be have had a bad enough record to get Lonzo and maybe in a situation to get Kuzma. Heck, you could even say if we got KAT we may not have had a bad enough record with our other pieces which also weren't great to get Porzingis the next year. We've been extremely fortunately to land three #2 picks in these last couple of years. But yes it is definitely fun to play the what if game.
I won't look a gift horse in the mouth of course, but if you look at the records from Minnesota and New York it's possible we still could been in position to draft in the lottery. It's possible. I'm happy where we are though. We have a number of very, very talented young players.
I don't like these lists as very few people ( especially the so called experts) watch enough of these players to have a reliable opinion .( I don't either) Of course we don't have the very best prospects but they are hated on . You can't watch Lakers games then tell me with a straight face than Thon Maker , OG whatever his name is or even Murray are better prospects than Ingram LMAO
Well that's why I wanted to make my own list. I was hoping more people were watching more of these other kids too. But the point is I've been seeing nonstop drooling over Tatum and I find that offensive. He's doing well on a really good team. Put him here or in Sacramento or in Orlando and nobody is paying attention to him. You put Ingram in Boston and they'd be drooling over Ingram instead. It's offensive.
Not sure how Kuzma isn’t in Tier 2 if not Tier 1. He’s having an incredible rookie season. He has been as consistent as anyone on this team. Yes his defense needs to improve, but so do most rookies. He’s finally given us a stretch 4. Can also play SF. Moves without the ball. Can attack off the dribble. Good craftiness around the basket. Unselfish as well. I agree about Ingram and Lonzo. Ingram is a different player this year in terms of mentality as well as being stronger. He is developing into that alpha male. That #1 option. Would like to see him more aggressive at the end of games, but he’s getting there. Big thing with him is improving the free throw shooting. Doing everything else at a high level. Lonzo is getting better too. Clearly. He’s taking less three’s and the one he does take are more without the flow of the offense as opposed to forcing it. Very good defensively. Starting to get more assertive attacking and collapsing the defense opening up his passing. He may never be a great shooter, but he’ll be good enough to get defenses to respect him which will make him lethal as a passer. Personally I’d put our young guys against anyone.
I think we stack up quite well. We've got a core of extremely promising young players in Ball, Ingram, and Kuzma. It's a shame we passed on Porzingis because he would have given us that very top tier talent who is realizing his full potential right now as opposed to the future with our guys. We should have taken him instead of DLO but hindsight is 20/20 and I don't think there was more than one or two folks on this board who thought we should take him at 2. I was wrong myself, being firmly in the Okafor camp. I think Porzingis is in the 1 tier personally. I do remember that Mitch was high on him and I think he would have been our second choice. In the meantime we've positioned ourselves nicely to add one or two top tier Free Agents and get back on the path to contention. We just have to convince those FA's to actually join us.
i didnt think they shouldve taken porz at 2 but i wouldve been ok trading down with nyk at time n take zingus at #4. our mgmt werent very creative, as much as i hate bos/ainge dude is a master at hedging his picks, getting Tatum n more future pick was genius. From what i read Phil was in love with okafor, we shoulve explored that
I love Kuz, but he's not tier 1. No one is building a team around him. He's a really nice part. We got lucky. But if we signed him to a max and expected a title out of him this year, our attitude would be different.
Yeah. I put Zinger in Tier One. But no one wanted to draft Zinger #2 on this board that I remember. The problem is you need a Tier One guy to win a ring. Other than the Pistons that one season, no one has won a ring without a Tier One player in the modern NBA. PG-13 isn't that player either, IMO.
This is the difference between playing with Irving and Horford and playing with Lopez and (Deng). I agree the quality of the team the prospect is playing on should be taken into account . This is why I would have Porzingis at number 2 if I made a list by the way .
i'd have ingram down a tier, payton down a tier, and sabonis and gordon each up a tier. zubac way off the list. i agree with others that zinger and simmons might be top tier guys, too.
