Youth Movement-- Player Comparisons

[FindingTim]

what's happening ISH?

As the years pass, I find that one of the most enjoyable aspects of being an NBA fan is gauging young talent and potential. It's a delight watching raw, undeveloped "projects" like Rajon Rondo or Andrew Bynum evolve into all-stars. Drafting young players is like gambling; for every Marc Gasol there are five Patrick O'Bryants. And the uncertainty-- the unknown-- makes evaluating young players highly compelling.


So I've come to you, good posters of ISH, to give a brief analysis or player comparison for some of the leagues youngest players. Will Nicholas Batum evolve into Scottie Pippen lite? Will Ricky Rubio be more Pete Maravich or more Jason Williams? Will DeAndre Jordan ever become more than a non-autistic Javale Magee? Is Damian Lillard a superstar-in-training or just a smooth-shooting borderline all-star?

These are the questions that need answers. Feel free to comment on as many players as you like.
Your input is highly encouraged! Ideally, posts would include an NBA player comparison (i.e. Anthony Davis = Kevin Garnett) and a brief explanation.

Let us begin:

James Harden

Evan Turner

Derrick Favors

Anthony Davis

Jeremy Lin

Blake Griffin

Tyreke Evans

Damian Lillard

DeMarcus Cousins

Nicholas Batum

Andre Drummond

Klay Thompson

Stephen Curry

Brandon Knight

John Wall

DeMar Derozan

Jonas Valunciunas

Iman Shumpert

Paul George

Thomas Robinson

Thaddeus Young

Jordan Hamilton

Avery Bradley

Greivis Vasquez

Jrue Holiday

Kenneth Faried

Serge Ibaka

Chandler Parsons

Goran Dragic

Kemba Walker

George Hill

Patrick Patterson

Gordon Hayward

Alec Burke

Enes Kanter

Nikola Vucevic

Greg Monroe

Isaiah Thomas

Jeff Teague

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

Roy Hibbert

Javale Magee

Larry Sanders

Dion Waiters

Bradley Beal

Alexey Shved

Harrison Barnes

Kyle Singler

Eric Bledsoe

Ed Davis

Austin Rivers

Tyler Zeller

Bismack Biyombo

Terrence Ross

Derrick Williams

Perry Jones III

Meyers Leonard

Markieff Morris

Marcus Morris

Norris Cole

MarShon Brooks

Jimmer Fredette

Austin Daye

Chase Budinger

John Jenkins

Jared Sullinger

Jeremy Lamb

Donatas Motiejunas

Kendall Marshall

I attempted to list young players with potential, whose future value is not abundantly clear. If you notice the omission of a young player worth discussing, bring them up.

[Chapallaz]

James Harden - Late Portland Drexler

Evan Turner - Toni Kukoc

Anthony Davis - KG

Blake Griffin - More athletic Boozer

Tyreke Evans - Bigger Steve Francis

DeMarcus Cousins - Derrick Coleman

Paul George - Danny Granger

Thomas Robinson - Byron Houston with more hype

Thaddeus Young - Derrick McKey

Jordan Hamilton - Danilo Gallinari

Avery Bradley - Nate McMillan

Jrue Holiday - Look up which players achieved 17 pts/8ast/4reb 45%fg at his age and you tell me.

Kenneth Faried - More talented, levelheaded pre strwss fracture Danny Fortson

Kemba Walker - Damon Stoudamire

Chandler Parsons - Chase Budinger

Greg Monroe - Brad Daugherty

Javale Magee - Tyrus Thomas with less brains

Larry Sanders - Samuel Dalembert

Eric Bledsoe - Better Kyle Lowry

Ed Davis - Antonio Davis

Austin Rivers - Vincenzo Esposito

Derrick Williams - Michael Beasley with better work ethic

Perry Jones III - Anthony Randolph

MarShon Brooks - Rodney Williams

Jimmer Fredette - Reddick

John Jenkins - Michael Redd

Jared Sullinger - Al Jefferson

Jeremy Lamb - James Harden

Kendall Marshall - Calderon

[FindingTim]

Blake Griffin - More athletic Boozer

Paul George - Danny Granger

Jordan Hamilton - Danilo Gallinari

Jrue Holiday - Look up which players achieved 17 pts/8ast/4reb 45%fg at his age and you tell me.

Kemba Walker - Damon Stoudamire

Chandler Parsons - Chase Budinger

Blake Griffin - More athletic Boozer
I'm still on the Blake bandwagon. I think he is about to evolve into a Malone/Barkley/Kemp hybrid.

Paul George - Danny Granger
this made me laugh, due to their current situation, but George will soon be an another level entirely. He has a lot more "it" than Granger.

Jordan Hamilton - Danilo Gallinari
I am really impressed with Hamilton. Every time he comes in for the Nuggets he stands out, and seems way too skilled to be a 10th man. I love how smooth and fluid he is, and at 6'7 I think he will be a very good NBA pro.

Jrue Holiday - Look up which players achieved 17 pts/8ast/4reb 45%fg at his age and you tell me.
Jrue is turning a lot of heads this season. I was checking out his game logs, and his assist totals were really impressive. Jrue is a straight baller.

Kemba Walker - Damon Stoudamire
great comparison.

Chandler Parsons - Chase Budinger
ohh god my eyes, I am blind, soo much white! Seriously though, I think Parsons is already clearly superior to Budinger. Just the other night Parsons put up 24-8-5, and he has filled up the stat sheet all season. Budinger has nothing on Chandler Parsons.

[28renyoy]

Kevin durant should be included. He's younger/the same age than a lot of those players

[FindingTim]

Kevin durant should be included. He's younger/the same age than a lot of those players

I instinctively excluded Durant because he is already so... established.
But I suppose he is worth a mention, because in all likelihood, his best is yet to come. Personally I think he is a transcendent player who will be top 15 all-time when his career is over. A true "all-time" great.

[Myth]

Chandler Parsons - Chase Budinger

This one confuses me because Chase is still a young guy too who should hopefully improve.

[Chapallaz]

This one confuses me because Chase is still a young guy too who should hopefully improve.

Basically I just threw them out there because the Rockets have a system which enables such SF's to excell and contribute across the board.

[KG215]

No Serge Ibaka on the list? He's just 23 and I think he's just starting to scratch the surface of his potential.

[Purch]

I firmly belive that these 4 players are our core going forward.

Gorden Hayward- He's an excellent player in transition. He's shown flashes of being an excellent defender ( especially since he went to the bench). The thing that really is going to hold him back is really inconsistency on his jumpshot. He's really like Gallinari in that regard, because for whatever reason people assumed he's a great shooter, but in all actuallity he'll have a lot of game where he can't hit a jumper to save his life. Whiles other games he'll look like he can't miss, and that's the definition of inconsistency. It's not even like he's trying to create them off the dribble, we screen for him and half the time he just lacks the abilty to hit shots. Like Gallo that might prevent him from going to the next level.

Alec Burks- Alec Burks is really promising. Earlier this year he was in Corbin's doghouse, but now that he's geting minutes you're starting to see why Jazz fans are so high on him. As a second year player, he's already the best penetrator the Jazz have had since D-Will left. He has the abilty to move his body in weird ways when he's driving the lane so he can finish the layup. He's also really good at getting to the foul line in limited minutes. I think he's also shown improvement on the defensive end of the floor. The biggest knock on him has always been his outside shot, and for good reason. But that being said he's a great option going forward.




Derrick Favors- Favors is going to be a dominant force going forward. He's athleticlly gifted, and a real force on the defensive end. I belive he's going to be at the level of Chandler as a defensive anchor once he gets a starting role. On offense he seems to be getting more confortable taking mid range jumpers, which are still inconsistent however. He's a really strong offensive rebounder, and he's really good at getting to the foul line. However, he still needs more improvement on his foul shooting, and his offensive game is really raw. He'll never be a dominant post player based on his skill but I think he has the abilty to overpower people inside with his athletic abilty like a young Dwight. If he develops that mid range jumper he's going to be a real threat in p&r situations. However, where he shines is his potential to anchor a defense. And luckly he doesn't need to be that post presence playing next to Kanter as a starter soon enough.

Enes Kanter- Kanter is a flat out post presence. He's really similar to Al in that regard, except he doesn't settle for jumpshots and he's always trying to bully his man inside. He has a nice pump fake, a couple up and unders, and he's really good at getting what he wants inside. However he does have a tendancy to get his shot blocked by sometimes attempting pump fakes when he should just go straight up. The difference between him and Jefferson, is that he's already a better defender, and he's fast enough where he can be effective in the pick and roll. Another big difference that helps him playing with Favors, is that he knows how to box out for the other big he's playing with, so they can get the rebound rather than only boxing out when he feels he can get the ball. However, he still has to work on his passing, and reading the defense. I Think he has the abilty to be a quicker,better rebounder, and all around better version of Al Jefferson who won't completely stop the offense.

I belive Favors-Kanter has the abilty to be one of the most dominant frontcourts in the leauge ones they get starter minutes, when AL and Sap are gone.

[FindingTim]

No Serge Ibaka on the list? He's just 23 and I think he's just starting to scratch the surface of his potential.

oops! fixed.

[selrahc]

none will be as good as kobe

[KG215]

Speaking of Ibaka, I'd like a player comparison from someone. A freakishly athletic elite shot-blocking PF with a semi-automatic mid-range jumper but very raw, yet poor back to the basket game? Just seems like a really odd combination of talent and skills and I'm not sure who he's comparable to and what his ceiling might be.

[FindingTim]

Speaking of Ibaka, I'd like a player comparison from someone. A freakishly athletic elite shot-blocking PF with a semi-automatic mid-range jumper but very raw, yet poor back to the basket game? Just seems like a really odd combination of talent and skills and I'm not sure who he's comparable to and what his ceiling might be.

maybe Serge is just Serge. Or maybe he is a Tyrus Thomas/Kurt Thomas/Theo Ratliff hybrid... or something...

(Tyrus' athleticism + Kurt's jumper + Theo's shotblocking) I am probably reaching here...

[Purch]

I firmly belive that these 4 players are our core going forward.

Gorden Hayward- He's an excellent player in transition. He's shown flashes of being an excellent defender ( especially since he went to the bench). The thing that really is going to hold him back is really inconsistency on his jumpshot. He's really like Gallinari in that regard, because for whatever reason people assumed he's a great shooter, but in all actuallity he'll have a lot of game where he can't hit a jumper to save his life. Whiles other games he'll look like he can't miss, and that's the definition of inconsistency. It's not even like he's trying to create them off the dribble, we screen for him and half the time he just lacks the abilty to hit shots. Like Gallo that might prevent him from going to the next level.

Alec Burks- Alec Burks is really promising. Earlier this year he was in Corbin's doghouse, but now that he's geting minutes you're starting to see why Jazz fans are so high on him. As a second year player, he's already the best penetrator the Jazz have had since D-Will left. He has the abilty to move his body in weird ways when he's driving the lane so he can finish the layup. He's also really good at getting to the foul line in limited minutes. I think he's also shown improvement on the defensive end of the floor. The biggest knock on him has always been his outside shot, and for good reason. But that being said he's a great option going forward.




Derrick Favors- Favors is going to be a dominant force going forward. He's athleticlly gifted, and a real force on the defensive end. I belive he's going to be at the level of Chandler as a defensive anchor once he gets a starting role. On offense he seems to be getting more confortable taking mid range jumpers, which are still inconsistent however. He's a really strong offensive rebounder, and he's really good at getting to the foul line. However, he still needs more improvement on his foul shooting, and his offensive game is really raw. He'll never be a dominant post player based on his skill but I think he has the abilty to overpower people inside with his athletic abilty like a young Dwight. If he develops that mid range jumper he's going to be a real threat in p&r situations. However, where he shines is his potential to anchor a defense. And luckly he doesn't need to be that post presence playing next to Kanter as a starter soon enough.

Enes Kanter- Kanter is a flat out post presence. He's really similar to Al in that regard, except he doesn't settle for jumpshots and he's always trying to bully his man inside. He has a nice pump fake, a couple up and unders, and he's really good at getting what he wants inside. However he does have a tendancy to get his shot blocked by sometimes attempting pump fakes when he should just go straight up. The difference between him and Jefferson, is that he's already a better defender, and he's fast enough where he can be effective in the pick and roll. Another big difference that helps him playing with Favors, is that he knows how to box out for the other big he's playing with, so they can get the rebound rather than only boxing out when he feels he can get the ball. However, he still has to work on his passing, and reading the defense. I Think he has the abilty to be a quicker,better rebounder, and all around better version of Al Jefferson who won't completely stop the offense.

I belive Favors-Kanter has the abilty to be one of the most dominant frontcourts in the leauge ones they get starter minutes, when AL and Sap are gone.

O yea as for Nba comparisons.

Hayward-Gallinari ( Don't know why but the seem to struggle with the same issues)

Burks- Having a brain freeze, but anyone who's been a great athletic slasher but lacks the abilty to hit jumpers.

Favors- Poor man's Dwight Howard?

Kanter- Rich man's AL Jefferson

[9erempiree]

It's very hard to compare these talents to players of the past because if they don't pan out, it would be a disappointment.

If they do pan out, we will always be comparing them to the players before them and why/why they are not better than the compared players.