Comparing Jaylen Brown's college stats to Kawhi Leonard's

[IDreamCeltics]

Jaylen's freshman numbers

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/jaylen-brown-1.html

Kawhi's freshman and sophomore seasons

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/kawhi-leonard-1.html

With the exception of rebounding the numbers are shockingly similar.  Your thoughts?

[BudweiserCeltic]

My thoughts is that they don't matter one way or another other than point of argument against some of the overreactions over the pick.

[snively]

Leonard has a big advantage in standing reach and wingspan - 3+ inch advantage in both categories. That makes him a much more versatile defensive weapon and floor presence.

He also played less like a bull in a china shop - struggled like Jaylen shooting the ball, but didn't have the same weaknesses (turnover machine, tunnel vision) or strengths (explosive first step) as a slasher.

[greece66]

Jaylen's freshman numbers

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/jaylen-brown-1.html

Kawhi's freshman and sophomore seasons

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/kawhi-leonard-1.html

With the exception of rebounding the numbers are shockingly similar.  Your thoughts?

Not the best comparison IMO.

Leonard's performance at college was unimpressive, this is why he was picked at #15.

A very small % among players with such a modest college presence will go on to become top-10 in their third year in the League.

[IDreamCeltics]

Jaylen's freshman numbers

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/jaylen-brown-1.html

Kawhi's freshman and sophomore seasons

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/kawhi-leonard-1.html

With the exception of rebounding the numbers are shockingly similar.  Your thoughts?

Not the best comparison IMO.

Leonard's performance at college was unimpressive, this is why he was picked at #15.

A very small % among players with such a modest college presence will go on to become top-10 in their third year in the League.

I couldn't disagree with you more... his sophomore year he averaged 15 pts 11 rbs 2.5 ast with 1.4 steals.  Calling that unimpressive is really underselling it. 

He went 15th because the 2011 draft was loaded with NBA talent.   

1. Kyrie Irving
2. Derrick Williams
3. Enes Kanter
4. Tristan Thompson
5. Jonas Valanciunas
6.
7. Bismack Biyombo
8. Brandon Knight
9. Kemba Walker
10.
11. Klay Thompson
12. Alec Burks
13. Markief Morris
14. Marcus Morris
15. Kawhi
16. Nikola Vucevic
17. Iman Shumpert
18.
19. Tobias Harris
20. Donatas Motiejunas
21.
22. Kenneth Faried
23. Nikola Mirotic
24. Reggie Jackson
25.
26.
27.
28
29. Corey Joseph
30. Jimmy Butler

Notable second rounders:
38. Chandler Parsons
60. Isaiah Thomas

If you were a GM in 2011 it was hard to NOT draft a legit NBA player.

In retrospect it really indites the 8 teams that didn't pull decent nba players out of the first round of that draft.  Of course... Sacramento made up for picking Jimmer Fredette in the lottery by picking Isaiah Thomas with the last pick.

But regardless, Kawhi most years would have been a top 10 pick.

[Smartacus]

Jaylen's freshman numbers

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/jaylen-brown-1.html

Kawhi's freshman and sophomore seasons

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/kawhi-leonard-1.html

With the exception of rebounding the numbers are shockingly similar.  Your thoughts?

Not the best comparison IMO.

Leonard's performance at college was unimpressive, this is why he was picked at #15.

A very small % among players with such a modest college presence will go on to become top-10 in their third year in the League.

I couldn't disagree with you more... his sophomore year he averaged 15 pts 11 rbs 2.5 ast with 1.4 steals.  Calling that unimpressive is really underselling it. 

He went 15th because the 2011 draft was loaded with NBA talent.   

1. Kyrie Irving
2. Derrick Williams
3. Enes Kanter
4. Tristan Thompson
5. Jonas Valanciunas
6.
7. Bismack Biyombo
8. Brandon Knight
9. Kemba Walker
10.
11. Klay Thompson
12. Alec Burks
13. Markief Morris
14. Marcus Morris
15. Kawhi
16. Nikola Vucevic
17. Iman Shumpert
18.
19. Tobias Harris
20. Donatas Motiejunas
21.
22. Kenneth Faried
23. Nikola Mirotic
24. Reggie Jackson
25.
26.
27.
28
29. Corey Joseph
30. Jimmy Butler

Notable second rounders:
38. Chandler Parsons
60. Isaiah Thomas

If you were a GM in 2011 it was hard to NOT draft a legit NBA player.

In retrospect it really indites the 8 teams that didn't pull decent nba players out of the first round of that draft.  Of course... Sacramento made up for picking Jimmer Fredette in the lottery by picking Isaiah Thomas with the last pick.

But regardless, Kawhi most years would have been a top 10 pick.

My favorite draft to follow since becoming a fan, unbelievably stacked class.

For what it's worth the only team that really mispicked someone else at his position was Washington taking Jan "the Janchise" Vesley over Kawhi(and maybe the teams who took the Morris twins). Most of the mocks had Leonard as a nice piece to put next to John Wall but IIRC they still had Ariza back then so they thought they'd for swing for the fences with Vesley.

Arguably one of the top draft misses of the last decade maybe Kawhi wouldn't be as good as he became on the Spurs but you think John Wall wouldn't mind having Kawhi to kick it too over nowadays over his brief time spent with Vesley?

[RAAAAAAAANDY]

Jaylen's freshman numbers

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/jaylen-brown-1.html

Kawhi's freshman and sophomore seasons

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/kawhi-leonard-1.html

With the exception of rebounding the numbers are shockingly similar.  Your thoughts?

Kawhi was actually good at defense.

[BornReady]

Jaylen's freshman numbers

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/jaylen-brown-1.html

Kawhi's freshman and sophomore seasons

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/kawhi-leonard-1.html

With the exception of rebounding the numbers are shockingly similar.  Your thoughts?

Not the best comparison IMO.

Leonard's performance at college was unimpressive, this is why he was picked at #15.

A very small % among players with such a modest college presence will go on to become top-10 in their third year in the League.

I couldn't disagree with you more... his sophomore year he averaged 15 pts 11 rbs 2.5 ast with 1.4 steals.  Calling that unimpressive is really underselling it. 

He went 15th because the 2011 draft was loaded with NBA talent.   

1. Kyrie Irving
2. Derrick Williams
3. Enes Kanter
4. Tristan Thompson
5. Jonas Valanciunas
6.
7. Bismack Biyombo
8. Brandon Knight
9. Kemba Walker
10.
11. Klay Thompson
12. Alec Burks
13. Markief Morris
14. Marcus Morris
15. Kawhi
16. Nikola Vucevic
17. Iman Shumpert
18.
19. Tobias Harris
20. Donatas Motiejunas
21.
22. Kenneth Faried
23. Nikola Mirotic
24. Reggie Jackson
25.
26.
27.
28
29. Corey Joseph
30. Jimmy Butler

Notable second rounders:
38. Chandler Parsons
60. Isaiah Thomas

If you were a GM in 2011 it was hard to NOT draft a legit NBA player.

In retrospect it really indites the 8 teams that didn't pull decent nba players out of the first round of that draft.  Of course... Sacramento made up for picking Jimmer Fredette in the lottery by picking Isaiah Thomas with the last pick.

But regardless, Kawhi most years would have been a top 10 pick.

My favorite draft to follow since becoming a fan, unbelievably stacked class.

For what it's worth the only team that really mispicked someone else at his position was Washington taking Jan "the Janchise" Vesley over Kawhi(and maybe the teams who took the Morris twins). Most of the mocks had Leonard as a nice piece to put next to John Wall but IIRC they still had Ariza back then so they thought they'd for swing for the fences with Vesley.

Arguably one of the top draft misses of the last decade maybe Kawhi wouldn't be as good as he became on the Spurs but you think John Wall wouldn't mind having Kawhi to kick it too over nowadays over his brief time spent with Vesley?

yeah i love looking back at drafts
esp 2011 because of the talent

i remember scouts saying that this was a weak draft before it
they had irving number 1 but he also had an injury
scouts were divisive of who was number 2
people saw derrick williams as either an all-star or michael beasley

not many people paid attention to klay thompson, kawhii leonard, jimmy butler, or isaiah thomas
with all that talent, its too bad we drafted jajuan johnson in the 1st round with jimmy butler, isiah thomas, and chandler parsons still on the board
though etwaun moore was ok

i think jaylen and kawhii are similar but kawhii was much better at defense in college and played more in the post offensively in college compared to jaylen

[greece66]

Jaylen's freshman numbers

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/jaylen-brown-1.html

Kawhi's freshman and sophomore seasons

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/kawhi-leonard-1.html

With the exception of rebounding the numbers are shockingly similar.  Your thoughts?

Not the best comparison IMO.

Leonard's performance at college was unimpressive, this is why he was picked at #15.

A very small % among players with such a modest college presence will go on to become top-10 in their third year in the League.

I couldn't disagree with you more... his sophomore year he averaged 15 pts 11 rbs 2.5 ast with 1.4 steals.  Calling that unimpressive is really underselling it. 

He went 15th because the 2011 draft was loaded with NBA talent.   

1. Kyrie Irving
2. Derrick Williams
3. Enes Kanter
4. Tristan Thompson
5. Jonas Valanciunas
6.
7. Bismack Biyombo
8. Brandon Knight
9. Kemba Walker
10.
11. Klay Thompson
12. Alec Burks
13. Markief Morris
14. Marcus Morris
15. Kawhi
16. Nikola Vucevic
17. Iman Shumpert
18.
19. Tobias Harris
20. Donatas Motiejunas
21.
22. Kenneth Faried
23. Nikola Mirotic
24. Reggie Jackson
25.
26.
27.
28
29. Corey Joseph
30. Jimmy Butler

Notable second rounders:
38. Chandler Parsons
60. Isaiah Thomas

If you were a GM in 2011 it was hard to NOT draft a legit NBA player.

In retrospect it really indites the 8 teams that didn't pull decent nba players out of the first round of that draft.  Of course... Sacramento made up for picking Jimmer Fredette in the lottery by picking Isaiah Thomas with the last pick.

But regardless, Kawhi most years would have been a top 10 pick.

Tbh, I do not think much of these comparisons as Leonard is Leonard and Brown is Brown. Even if their stats were literally identical so what? It would not mean in any way that their NBA careers would be similar.

But anyway, since you want to make the comparison and were kind enough to make a list of the 2011 draft...

First, even if the numbers of the two players were identical one would have to consider context such as the team he played for, age etc.For instance, you are comparing Leonard's second year with Brown's first and only.

Moreover, you nitpick Leonard's best stats, leaving aside his FG% and 3P% which is what scared most ppl at the time. As for rebounding and steals, these are two areas of college bball that often translate badly in the NBA, so again, many were suspicious - esp. of the rebounding ability of a SF.

The one thing where they are similar is that they both were seen as physically gifted yet raw players when drafted. But Leonard's transformation in the couple of years after the draft, esp. regarding shooting is astonishing. We can only wish Brown has a similar transformation - for now, all we know is that he and Leonard shared a similar weakness at the beginning of their career.

tl;dr Jaylen Brown in 2016 is a better prospect on paper than Leonard was in 2011; but this does not mean that Brown will become a top-10 player. We'll have to wait and see.

[clover]

The most telling shorthand of the differences is in their college ORtgs--98.4 for Brown to 111.2 for Leonard.

Also, Leonard's WS/40 was about double at .204 to Brown's .117.

[mmmmm]

The most telling shorthand of the differences is in their college ORtgs--98.4 for Brown to 111.2 for Leonard.

Also, Leonard's WS/40 was about double at .204 to Brown's .117.

ORtg as an individual stat is pretty crappy already at the NBA level.  With the small sample of a college season (not too mention the differences in the way the game is played with 40 min games dominated by short rotations) it is truly useless.  It's so heavily influenced by the team around the player.

WS/48 is a bit more useful, but again, we are talking about a very small sample size in a college season.

Also note that we are comparing Brown's single, freshman age 18 season to two seasons by Kawhi at ages 18 & 19.

Team situations are so varied in college and the stats are so small, I think the good GMs have to rely far more on physicals, demonstrated skills and visual scouting.

I have no idea if Brown will come close to having the career that Kawhi has had, but I do think he has the potential for a pretty impressive career.

[diconzo]

Jaylen's freshman numbers

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/jaylen-brown-1.html

Kawhi's freshman and sophomore seasons

http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/kawhi-leonard-1.html

With the exception of rebounding the numbers are shockingly similar.  Your thoughts?

Not the best comparison IMO.

Leonard's performance at college was unimpressive, this is why he was picked at #15.

A very small % among players with such a modest college presence will go on to become top-10 in their third year in the League.

I couldn't disagree with you more... his sophomore year he averaged 15 pts 11 rbs 2.5 ast with 1.4 steals.  Calling that unimpressive is really underselling it. 

He went 15th because the 2011 draft was loaded with NBA talent.   

1. Kyrie Irving
2. Derrick Williams
3. Enes Kanter
4. Tristan Thompson
5. Jonas Valanciunas
6.
7. Bismack Biyombo
8. Brandon Knight
9. Kemba Walker
10.
11. Klay Thompson
12. Alec Burks
13. Markief Morris
14. Marcus Morris
15. Kawhi
16. Nikola Vucevic
17. Iman Shumpert
18.
19. Tobias Harris
20. Donatas Motiejunas
21.
22. Kenneth Faried
23. Nikola Mirotic
24. Reggie Jackson
25.
26.
27.
28
29. Corey Joseph
30. Jimmy Butler

Notable second rounders:
38. Chandler Parsons
60. Isaiah Thomas

If you were a GM in 2011 it was hard to NOT draft a legit NBA player.

In retrospect it really indites the 8 teams that didn't pull decent nba players out of the first round of that draft.  Of course... Sacramento made up for picking Jimmer Fredette in the lottery by picking Isaiah Thomas with the last pick.

But regardless, Kawhi most years would have been a top 10 pick.

My favorite draft to follow since becoming a fan, unbelievably stacked class.

For what it's worth the only team that really mispicked someone else at his position was Washington taking Jan "the Janchise" Vesley over Kawhi(and maybe the teams who took the Morris twins). Most of the mocks had Leonard as a nice piece to put next to John Wall but IIRC they still had Ariza back then so they thought they'd for swing for the fences with Vesley.

Arguably one of the top draft misses of the last decade maybe Kawhi wouldn't be as good as he became on the Spurs but you think John Wall wouldn't mind having Kawhi to kick it too over nowadays over his brief time spent with Vesley?

yeah i love looking back at drafts
esp 2011 because of the talent

i remember scouts saying that this was a weak draft before it
they had irving number 1 but he also had an injury
scouts were divisive of who was number 2
people saw derrick williams as either an all-star or michael beasley

not many people paid attention to klay thompson, kawhii leonard, jimmy butler, or isaiah thomas
with all that talent, its too bad we drafted jajuan johnson in the 1st round with jimmy butler, isiah thomas, and chandler parsons still on the board
though etwaun moore was ok

i think jaylen and kawhii are similar but kawhii was much better at defense in college and played more in the post offensively in college compared to jaylen

If my memory is correct, we were going to pick Reggie Jackson if OKC didn't take him one pick in front of us at #24. That would've been a great addition to that 2011-12 team.


Also, Kawhi was projected around 8-10 but when he slid, the Spurs traded up with Indy, trading George Hill for him. Go figure, the Spurs knew what they were doing again.