Blake Griffin vs Kevin Durant vs Derrick Rose

[NuggetsFan]

They've been in the league longer. More time to adjust to the competition in the league, more time to build team chemistry, and more time to find their niches. When people say Griffin was raw, they may be underestimating how green this entire team was in itself. If fielding the youngest squad with key players injured over significant time (Davis, Kaman, Gordon) wasn't already a difficult situation to come into, everyone on the team had to adjust to a coach who is notorious for running a terrible rotation and half-court offense. What more was Griffin supposed to do with Ryan Gomes starting? Or a 2 guard out of Kentucky playing 1 in the NBA, the unequivocally hardest position to play professionally? LeBron James himself would have had a difficult time taking this team to anything past a 7th seed in the West.

It's hard to understand for anyone who didn't watch every single Clipper game this year (who would, other than the miserable few of us?) because Sportscenter would rather highlight his gravity defying dunks over his smart basketball plays 9 times out of 10. Ergo, the braintrust on ISH starts to perpetuate verbal nonsense like "Griffin is only a dunk machine!" or "His play had no effect on the games whatsoever, they only won 32" which brings me to my point of context being everything. I'm undoubtedly going to receive a few replies from people who claim to have seen him all year, but take it from a miserable Clipper fan who can tell you 10 things wrong with this team before he says 1 thing right: Griffin is going to be a stud in this league for years.

I wasn't saying Blake won't be a stud. I'm not saying Blake only dunks. Just was responding to buddy. He was going on about how Blake's a future MVP, scoring champ, but the same guy's in the comparison are already there. They've already done the "he's got potential to do".

All I was saying.

[Fiasco]

I wasn't saying Blake won't be a stud. I'm not saying Blake only dunks. Just was responding to buddy. He was going on about how Blake's a future MVP, scoring champ, but the same guy's in the comparison are already there. They've already done the "he's got potential to do".

All I was saying.

Cool, cool.

[ballerz]

Durant
Rose
Griffin

[senelcoolidge]

I wasn't saying Blake won't be a stud. I'm not saying Blake only dunks. Just was responding to buddy. He was going on about how Blake's a future MVP, scoring champ, but the same guy's in the comparison are already there. They've already done the "he's got potential to do".

All I was saying.

You know those other guys have 2-3 years more in the league than Griffin.

[brisbaneman]

griffin>rose>>>durant

[Cali Syndicate]

Durant is last. I don't see that much potential in him. I really think he is done growing as a player. I can't see him getting better in any other areas.

Durant's next step is learning how to move better off the ball. Seems like a lost art among today's perimeter stars. He also has a lot of room getting better as a play maker. Has potential to be a very solid defender due to his length similar to how Tayshaun Prince was.

Rose needs to play with better IQ and stop shooting so many 3's. I know 3's are a huge part of the game now but someone as quick as he is needs to utilize that quickness before it starts diminishing. If he could develop a Ellis type stop and pop midrange game, he would be far more effective offensive player. Wouldn't hurt to apply a pick n' roll to his repertoire.

Blake is an athletic beast but very unpolished. It's easier to assess Rose and Durant since they've at least been in the league a few years. Still need to see Blake's progression to make a better assessment.

With that being said...

Durant
Rose
Griffin (only because he only has one year. If we were comparing rookie seasons, the list goes the exact opposite)