You guys literally have no idea who will pan out the greatest among these college dudes.
All your analytics and advanced stats do NOTHING to the unknown future.
It's all on who works, and there's no statistic (that WE have access to) that measures that.
If you're not seeing these dudes UP CLOSE, able to monitor how much film study they do, how much partying they do, how married to the game they are, you know NOTHING of their future.
Every year, I hear "This dude could be LeBron, and this dude... I'm not saying MJ/Kobe, but, I mean, I can see it."
And it's amusing.
It's amusing because, again, people are so vehement that THEIR pick is THE ONE PICK that we HAAAAVE to make.
No, it's not.
The best dude from this draft could be a second-rounder. All it would take would be these top dudes getting injured or not working that hard, expecting their talent to get them by, while some second-rounder is grinding in film sessions and alone in gyms.
You would THINK that a bunch of Kobe fans would know this, considering that he has out-careered his entire class through hard work. And there are tons of examples, in ALL of sports, of exactly that.
Sure, dudes like Sidney Crosby and Lebron James and Magic and Griffey come in and the expectations are high, and they live up, immediately.
Anyone remember how highly sought after Tony Parker was? Yeah, the guy with multiple championships. Arguably the best PG in the league.
How they will work TOMORROW trumps how they are playing TODAY.
Period.
But continue on like YOUR guy is THAT DUDE.
(HOWEVER, those who are saying "But his back is already an issue!", I'm totally with you. That's nooooo bueno. I want none of that.)
Thing is, we're not setting anything in stone or saying it's done.
The point is, Kobe combined his hard work with world class athleticism, otherwise all his hard work would only make him Steve Nash. Who is a great player, but limited and can not do what Kobe Bryant can do.
Carmelo can be a very, very good defender, but he can never be LEBRON type defender. Not because he don't care, but because he doesn't have LeBron's skill set.
Jabari could absolutely be a decent defender someday, no question, but he will NEVER, EVER, be Paul George, LeBron, Anthony Davis in terms of defensive prowess. He doesn't have that athletic ability that they have. And that can be seen ahead of time.
That doesn't mean we shouldn't take him at 3-4 if we're there, but if you want someone who runs both sides of the court, he won't be able to accommodate you. But he could be a great offensive talent + decent enough defender, and that could be a real nice career. Think, Ray Allen.
