young players compared to other/past NBA players.

I've been reading some article around the web comparing NBA rookies to past players and was wondering if anyone has ideas on some of our younger players.

for instance I have seeen Smart compared to D-Wade and to Marcus Banks (remember that blast from the past?). now most likely he will fall somewhere between those two...LOL.

so what about it, anyone have ideas on some or all of our younger guys?

Zeller?

Fav?

Sully?

Kelly?

Young?

Turner (well we already may know what he is)

Bradley (dido to Turner)

Smart?

pressey?

just some thoughts until Dannys next deal

kdp,

Without jumping into the middle of this right away I would say it doesn't make sense to compare players of one era to players of another era.  The league has gone through multiple iterations and the style of play is different today than it was 20-30 years ago, much less 50-60 years ago.  For example, there are people who have claimed that Kobe Bryant is the greatest Laker.  Well, he's certainly "up there" but is he really better than "The Logo", Jerry West?  Kobe has never had to try to do his thing with a defender's hand riding his hip non-stop.  He hasn't, regularly, driven to the hoop for a lay up and gotten laid out for his attempt instead.  Jerry West's numbers are without 3pters.  Not only does that lower his stats, it also let's the defense arrayed against him collapse, since they don't have to run players off of a deep perimeter line. On the other hand, Kobe has won more championships than West.  How does that figure in?  Should it figure in, since Championships are TEAM achievements and not individual ones?

Comparing modern players to aging modern players makes more sense. So, could Kelly end up somewhere between Scola 2.0 and Dirk 2.0? That sort of thing.



bob



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kdp,

While it may not be appropriate to compare players of different eras, I believe it is possible to compare the ROLES of players from different eras.


I could see Smart eventually morphing into a modern day version of Dennis Johnson, who wasn't the greatest shooter or ball distributor but was one of the best competitors and strongest floor generals ever.  DJ had the good fortune to play with one of the great ball-distributing forwards in Larry Bird, and it's possible that Smart could forge similar relationships with Sully and/or Kelly.

Sully = Silas?  Below-the-rim player.  A little undersized, but has all the strength that Kelly lacks.  Likely a prime-time rebounder over the years.

Pressey = Brevin Knight.  Undersized floor general, not a great shooter, but very good career backup at the position.

Zeller = Ed MacAuley.  Runs the floor well; good pop shot; ; good ball handler and passer out of the center position; a little heftier than Easy Ed but probably only an average defender and rebounder like Ed.

That's it for now.

Sam