Celtic Rookie Comparisons

[johnnygreen]

Tremont Waters reminds me of Trae Young. Young is obviously a better 3 point shooter.  But on the flip side, Waters is a much better defender. They are of very similar height and length. They both have a good feel for the flow of the game, and court awareness.

Not saying Waters will become as valuable as Young. But heck, their games are very similar.

I think Young is considerably better as a passer, and has better court vision. There's a reason why the player he's being compared to is Nash rather than Curry.

Who's being compared to Nash rather than Curry?

[Wretch]

Grant Williams game reminds me of Sabonis, the younger not the elder. Smart, good and willing passer decent range and a hard worker who is willing to do the dirty work.

[KG Living Legend]

 Gwill Draymond with less D and More Offense.

 Carsen Vinny Microwave Johnson.

 Tremont Waters  Mini Andre Miller

[celticsclay]

Tacko Fall - Joel Embid

[Surferdad]

Grant Williams game reminds me of Sabonis, the younger not the elder. Smart, good and willing passer decent range and a hard worker who is willing to do the dirty work.

I’m hoping Grant becomes a better version of Ryan Gomes. Always liked Gomes as a ‘glue’ guy, but Grant could be more talented.

[Csfan1984]

Langford=Young Tyreke Evans. Good size, good ball handling, decent athlete and nice finishing.

GW=Ryan Gomes (year 3). A tweener foward that is still learning to stretch his game. Shows a decent IQ and a willingness to do the blue collar work.

Edwards=Eddie House. Has that elite sniper scoring touch. When hot they just keep attacking. Quick shots and good moving without the ball. House was a good athlete when he was in shape. So won't say Edwards is more athletic than him.
 
Waters=Poor-man's Kenny Anderson. A general with some scoring potential. Slightly on the small side but plays with toughness. Love that Waters has the small guy "dribble catch" it helps him stay on the move and not get locked down.

Strus=Young Joe Harris. Primarily just a shooter right now and needs to work on his defense and ball handling. Joe Harris has been slowly getting better and Struss could too.

Tacko=1997 pre-injury Yao Ming. Tacko runs well in transition but lacks quick twitch that most guys 6'9+ lack in the half court. Needs a ton of reps before he gets good. Yao trained 10 hours a day to reach the NBA so he was much more polished when he got to the league. Tacko needs reps and a lot of practice to be even half what Yao was his first three years. There is still potential there.

Edit I forgot VP
VP=Very poor man's LA. A generic bench big man. I think he will do okay. Like most NBA bench bigs he will have some good night's and bad ones.

[gouki88]

Langford: as others have said, a bit of Tyreke Evans. Maybe a bit of Joe Johnson too. Obviously have to see how his shooting comes along. Tyreke took until 2016 to become a respectable three point shooter, but sadly that's coincided with him becoming injury-prone.

Grant Williams: I see him as potentially being a Paul Millsap, but with better shooting from deep and passing, and obviously considerably less scoring and probably a few fewer rebounds. I clearly don't see Williams as an All-Star, but maybe Denver Millsap.

Carsen Edwards: like the Patty Mills comparison, but I think Edwards is considerably stronger. I also think Edwards' ability to catch fire is more like Jason Terry's (think of this kind of game for reference: https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200012120ATL.html).

Tremont Waters: really hard to find a comparison for Waters. Some blend of Strickland and Kenny Anderson, but worse and smaller than both of them, lol.

Tacko: Francisco Elson with more blocks? And 6 inches taller?

Strus: poor man's Anthony Morrow

VP: early career Javale McGee, with less bounce

[Who]

More along the lines of a best case scenario ... but how about Avery Johnson for Waters?

A 3rd string PG who came good and became a starting PG on a title winning team. Never much of a scorer. A distributor and floor general. Size limited him on defense & on the boards.

Needs to add more muscle to become a sturdy as Avery was on defense. Avery spent a few years bouncing around the league before latching on in San Antonio.

[droopdog7]

Trae Young is 6’2” which is fine for a PG.  if waters was 6’2” he would have been a first rounder for sure.  Unfortunately he’s not.

I love waters but we’re comparing a maybe role player to a potential multiple times all star.

[Wretch]

Not to nit pick but young was 6-1 3/4 in shoes at the combine.  I haven't seen the new "official" height for him but he's probably around 5-11.  That said he's a superior player to Waters.

[droopdog7]

Not to nit pick but young was 6-1 3/4 in shoes at the combine.  I haven't seen the new "official" height for him but he's probably around 5-11.  That said he's a superior player to Waters.

Looks like young was measured at 6’1/2” at the combine.  I guess that rounds to 6’1”.  Meanwhile, waters measured at 5’10” and I suppose he could be 5”9 and change.  So they may be as much as three inches different.

[footey]

Trae Young is 6’2” which is fine for a PG.  if waters was 6’2” he would have been a first rounder for sure.  Unfortunately he’s not.

I love waters but we’re comparing a maybe role player to a potential multiple times all star.

The size of a player generally is less important on offense and more important on defense. So, even if Young is an 1" or 2" taller than Tremont (whoop de dang doo), Waters is an excellent defensive player (conf defensive player of the year) and Young is considered one of the worst defenders in the NBA.

Waters' handle, in my view, is just as nifty as Young's.  Young's only noticeable advantage is his outside shooting and range. And at .324 so far from 3 in his NBA career, not sure that the advantage is all that.

Young has way more hype, but the differences between them are less that most of you are making them out to be. 

[W8ting2McHale]

I hadn’t thought of Grant as a Sabonis type player, but that would be an excellent outcome, but I think he’ll end up short as he’s already a couple inches shorter to start.

He has the IQ and talent to contribute but his size will limit his ceiling.

I think he’ll have a Nick Collison or Ryan Gomes type career, not that he plays exactly like them either, just as quality rotation players and sometimes role playing starters. As long as he’s not Luke Harrangody 2.0 he’ll do fine.

[droopdog7]

Trae Young is 6’2” which is fine for a PG.  if waters was 6’2” he would have been a first rounder for sure.  Unfortunately he’s not.

I love waters but we’re comparing a maybe role player to a potential multiple times all star.

The size of a player generally is less important on offense and more important on defense. So, even if Young is an 1" or 2" taller than Tremont (whoop de dang doo), Waters is an excellent defensive player (conf defensive player of the year) and Young is considered one of the worst defenders in the NBA.

Waters' handle, in my view, is just as nifty as Young's.  Young's only noticeable advantage is his outside shooting and range. And at .324 so far from 3 in his NBA career, not sure that the advantage is all that.

Young has way more hype, but the differences between them are less that most of you are making them out to be.

As I noted above, the difference could be as much as 3 inches.  That the difference between a PF and SF in the classical sense.  Size does matter (no pun intended).

Like I said, I love Waters.  I mean, I love the kid.  But in my mind he projects as a specialty player in part because of his size (and the fact that he doesn't have spectacular athleticism to make up for it).

[Tr1boy]

Fun activity. NBA fans love to compare players to other NBA players. I don't like getting crazy, but it can be helpful. These are not projections for this season, but for what I think is the likely outcome of their prime.

Carson Edwards: Patty Mills
Career with Spurs 19 mpg, 9 ppg, 2.5 apg, 2 rpg on 43/39/86 shooting splits. Can single-handedly swing a game with a hot stretch in a quarter. Not great at running an offense, but can in spurts. Decent scheme/team defender.

Grant Williams: PJ Tucker since returning from Europe 30 mpg 8ppg, 6rpg, 2 apg, 1spg on 42/36/75 shooting. Great team defender. Strong enough to play small ball big in spurts in an open offensive scheme. I actually think Grant will be a better passer than PJ Tucker ever was, but will be a minimal scorer like Tucker.

Romeo Langford: Jeremy Lamb last two seasons 27 mpg, 14ppg, 5rpg, 2apg on 45/36/87 shooting. A rotational wing that puts pressure on the defense and can score in bunches slashing to the rim.

Vincent Poirier: Alex Len last season last season 20 mpg, 11ppg, 5rpg, 1bpg on 49% shooting. I actually think Poirier has better hands and a better feel for the game offensively than Len ever will, but he hasn't done it at the NBA level yet.

Tremont Waters: Monte Morris/Yogi Ferrell. There's tons of small guards that try to carve out a role in the NBA. Many can't. If Waters can, it will be a in the 3rd-4th ball-handler role as a backup guard. I think he might have what it takes.

Tacko Fall: Alexis Ajinca. I'll get crucified for whatever I say here. I'm not sure he is an NBA player. Similarly to Ajinca, he is going to struggle to cover ground and contest shots. If a player dribbles right into a rhythm block, he will get him, but otherwise, I don't see the reaction time necessary to protect the rim or defend pick-and-rolls. Still he can be a difficult player to adjust to in his minutes on the court.

Max Strus: Joe Harris. I really think Strus has the ability to play in a rhythm spread offense and succeed. I like his shooting stroke. I like his movement. I like how quickly he makes decisions. I think he is ok on defense.

Jevonte Green: Darius Miller. He looks like a guy who could play in an NBA game without getting killed, but he just looks like a guy to me. Hopefully he gets an NBA contract from somewhere. He has energy and athleticism to bring to an NBA team on a cold January night.

My comparisons

-Tremont Waters imo is more like Patty Mills

-Carson Edwards - Derek Fisher

- Grant Williams - PJ Tucker

- Romeo Langford - Larry Hughes