I'm a Hield fan, but saying he's tall enough because he's the same height as Jerry West seems to forget that Jerry played 40 years ago.
You might be on to something there.
Actually, I just looked it up: Adam Morrison was a full 3 inches taller than Hield. I'm sad now.
I don't know if Adam Morrison ever truly got his shot in the NBA. He got off to a rough start and then nursed injuries. Like a thoroughbred horse or a prizefighter, rookies need to be brought along. I always wondered what might have happened, had he been drafted later and then given time to develop. There are some great stories of his play in pick-up games after practice.
Unfortunately, it didn't translate to hardwood. There are way to many stories like this.
Wonder if Hield will be another one of them. So much about pro basketball is about the human psyche and opportunity.
That's not really the case.
Morrison certainly got his chance and showed a bit his rookie year, making the 2nd team rookie squad and scoring about 12 ppg. The problem is that he actually got worse his rookie year, going from scoring 14-15 points a game the first month or two to scoring under 10 at the end of the year. His biggest supposed strength - shooting - was pretty miserable with a TS of .450.
Then he didn't "nurse" injuries. He blew out his ACL. For a player whose biggest concern was "limited athleticism" when he was drafted, that was like the kiss of death.
So it wasn't opportunity or bringing him along slowly. It was skill (lack thereof) and bad luck with an injury he couldn't afford to have. Maybe if he didn't blow out his knee he might have been able to round into a decent pro aka JJ Reddick. But that knee injury was the end of his shot.