The NBA rookies Thread

[bksballer89]

LMAO at Kuzma potentially being a superstar. He is a good player but superstar? Hell no.

I would give Ingram a much better chance of becoming a superstar than Kuzma.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

Cmon now.

Kuzma with superstar potential? I know you are a Laker homer, but that is ridiculous.

Superstars are the best 3-5 players in the entire league. Is it possible one of those guys gets there? Yes. But not likely. Virtually impossible for Kuzma.

How did Kobe do in his first year? How about Jimmy Butler? Isaiah Thomas?

How about Steph Curry? How did he do in his first THREE seasons? Are you saying he's not on the superstar level?

Are you seriously going to discredit players who haven't even played half a season?

 

[bksballer89]

How did Kobe do in his first year? How about Jimmy Butler? Isaiah Thomas?

How about Steph Curry? How did he do in his first THREE seasons? Are you saying he's not on the superstar level?

Are you seriously going to discredit players who haven't even played half a season?

IT & Jimmy Butler are not superstars.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

IT & Jimmy Butler are not superstars.

Sure, i'll take that back. How about all-stars?

 

[bksballer89]

It is extremely hard to get to a superstar level as a pass first PG in this league. Outside of CP3, I'm not sure there's been a pass first PG who came into the league in the last 15 years or so who I would call a superstars.

 

[bksballer89]

Sure, i'll take that back. How about all-stars?

That's fine but there is a pretty large difference in being an All Star and Superstar.

Right now, I would say there's less than 10 Superstars in the league. In no specific order, here are the superstars currently IMO.

Lebron
KD
Curry
Harden
Russ
Greek
Kawhi

I would maybe add AD to this list but not too sure.

 

[tlance]

How did Kobe do in his first year? How about Jimmy Butler? Isaiah Thomas?

How about Steph Curry? How did he do in his first THREE seasons? Are you saying he's not on the superstar level?

Are you seriously going to discredit players who haven't even played half a season?

Jimmy Butler and Isaiah Thomas aren't superstars.

As for Curry? I will agree nobody projected him as a future superstar, but his performance his first 3 years was out of this world compared to Ball and Ingram. His minutes were limited because of the ankle issues, but he averaged nearly 20 points and 6.5 assists per 36 minutes wth a true shooting percentage near 60%. He was pretty damn good when on the court.

Kobe was 18 and many thought he had superstar potential, including grassroots basketball guru Sonny Vaccaro. Addidas thought so much of him they signed him to a huge show deal before his first NBA game.

Lonzo has similar hype to Kobe, but not the same projectability to be great. I am not discrediting anybody, just being realistic. A franchise superstar is capable of being the best player on a legit title contender. None of your Lakers have shown that type of game breaking ability.

 

[trojanfan12]

Not foundational superstars though.

We have no idea if they are foundational superstars or not. We're talking about rookies and 2nd year players ffs.

I wonder if you thought Kobe was a foundational superstar in his first 2 seasons? Jason Kidd?

Probably not.

 

[trojanfan12]

It is extremely hard to get to a superstar level as a pass first PG in this league.

Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash and John Stockton all say Hi.

Just because there hasn't been a pass first point guard superstar in the past 10 or so years, doesn't mean there won't be again. There haven't any pas first point guard superstars because there haven't been many, if any, pass first point guards in the league in awhile (at least not that you would want shooting). It's been about score first point guards.

The league moves in cycles. There were no pass first superstar point guards before Magic came along. Then everybody was a pass first point guard. Now we're back to score first point guards.

Perhaps Lonzo restarts the trend back to pass first?

 

[bksballer89]

Magic Johnson, Jason Kidd, Steve Nash and John Stockton all say Hi.

Different league now compare the way is was then which was why I posted this additional part that you didn't include

Outside of CP3, I'm not sure there's been a pass first PG who came into the league in the last 15 years or so who I would call a superstar

I know there been several pass first superstar point guards in the league 20,30, or 40 years ago. In this new generation of NBA basketball, outside of CP3 there hasn't been another pass first PG superstar who entered the league in the last 15 years.

 

[trojanfan12]

Different league now compare the way is was then which was why I posted this additional part that you didn't include

Go back and re-read the whole post. I addressed the additional part that I didn't include, genius.

 

[tlance]

We have no idea if they are foundational superstars or not. We're talking about rookies and 2nd year players ffs.

I wonder if you thought Kobe was a foundational superstar in his first 2 seasons? Jason Kidd?

Probably not.

Kobe?

Yes. Definitely. Young Kobe was electric and it was pretty clear even in limited minutes that he was heading toward big things.

Kidd? wasn't sure his rookie year, but his second year? He was an allstar and had one of his best statistical seasons. He looked to be on his way. He also dominated Sports Center highlight packages in a way I have never seen from a pass first player.

Again, I am not saying it is impossible, just unlikely. I am sure most non Laker fans would agree based on what they have shown so far.

 

[bksballer89]

There haven't any pas first point guard superstars because there haven't been many, if any, pass first point guards in the league in awhile (at least not that you would want shooting). It's been about score first point guards.

Wall, Conley, and Rondo are 3 that comes to mind almost immediately.

 

[trojanfan12]

Yes. Definitely. Young Kobe was electric and it was pretty clear even in limited minutes that he was heading toward big things.

Kobe didn't even start his first season. He didn't show anything electric. The only thing electric was the hype around him.

I am sure most non Laker fans would agree based on what they have shown so far.

This kind of bullshit comment used to be beneath you. What happened?

 

[trojanfan12]

Wall, Conley, and Rondo are 3 that comes to mind almost immediately.

Didn't realize they were superstars. Or that anyone ever hyped them to be.

 

[bksballer89]

Didn't realize they were superstars.

I misread your post.

 

[trojanfan12]

I misread your post.

No worries. I misread my posts sometimes. lol

 

[tlance]

Kobe didn't even start his first season. He didn't show anything electric. The only thing electric was the hype around him.



This kind of bullshit comment used to be beneath you. What happened?

@Shaqdaddy11 posting homerific stuff and you defending it.

And BS on Kobe not showing anything electric. His body wasn't NBA ready as an 18 year old, but he absolutely had some serious highlights flashing supreme atheltic ability. I followed him pretty closely because he and I are 1 month apart in age. He and Jermaine O'Neal were the first 2 players in the league I was actually older than.

Yeah Kobe had a lot of hype, and rightly so. In his case it was about a lot more than just the stats, but he did average 17.6 points per 36 minutes, so he showed the ability to score even then when he was clearly not physically ready.

 

[trojanfan12]

@Shaqdaddy11 posting homerific stuff and you defending it.

I didn't defend anything. I just said I'm not ready to determine how a first or 2nd year players entire career will pan out. There have been several superstar level players over the years who didn't start their careers looking like they'd amount to much.

Not my fault you're foolish enough to think that determining how a first or 2nd year players entire career will pan out is a good idea.

Your issue with Shaqdaddy is just that, your issue. You automatically discount anything she posts because you don't like her. The fact that you think I defended anything shows that.

And BS on Kobe not showing anything electric.

I watched every single game his first season. He didn't look like he would become anything close to what he did.

His body wasn't NBA ready as an 18 year old, but he absolutely had some serious highlights flashing supreme atheltic ability.

Exactly. Just like Ingram and Lonzo.

 

[Shaqdaddy11]

Your issue with Shaqdaddy is just that, your issue. You automatically discount anything she posts because you don't like her. The fact that you think I defended anything shows that.

The guy has an issue with me so everything and anything I say is wrong in his eyes.