The whipping boy will likely be Brown imo, people are gushing over Hayward already so I expect him and Tatum (to a lesser degree) to be shafted in favour of golden boy because of the "HURR DURR WE PAID 30 MILLION FOR HIM SO HE NEEDS TO BE GIVEN A SUPERSTAR'S LEASH" logic. Here's hoping that Brown and Tatum get the opportunity they deserve, and Hayward is required to prove that he's good enough to take away shots from them.
I really don't understand how people can be upset with Brown overall. He plays with effort on both ends, he's not a jerk, he works hard, he doesn't tweet stupid things, he is a competitor who wants to win games... He seems like the most hate proof guy we've had when it comes to physically competing hard, playing well and being a quality guy personality wise. I see a lot less to criticize than with most other players. The only thing that annoys me with him is free throw shooting but that's very minor overall.
I think it's because he doesn't really exhibit the qualities people like when it comes to their "perceived" stars.
Most NBA fans notice (and like) the classic floor raiser, which has some of, if not all of the qualities which I'm going to list below:
1. Strong traditional isolation scoring (score 1 on 1 with a triple/double threat)
2. Strong creation ability (creation is the ability to draw in defenders and get your teammates open)
3. Decent to strong passing (not as important though, there can be "stars" who can't really pass)
Brown hasn't shown that he's great in any of those fields: he's a decent isolation scorer in the mid post, but his average handle limits him in terms of throwing defenders into the mixer and getting tough shots off. His creation is also around average-he can draw some attention when he has a full head of steam driving downhill or in the mid post, but he's not a guy who commands constant defensive attention from multiple defenders. His passing is neutral-he has shown flashes of making high leverage passes (especially in FIBA), but he still occasionally misses the easy read and flubs some passes.
However, what Brown is that makes me think he's a high impact player who's on the cusp of stardom is:
1. Above average three point shooting (putting more stock into his sophomore season than this season, where he was shooting with a fractured hand in the first couple of months) that can space the floor and open the lane for isolationists
2. Good straight line dribble drive player who can attack closeouts, and has shown flashes of being able to finish with more advanced moves
3. Improving passing to make high leverage passes occasionally to provide additive value to high quality offenses
4. Strong mid post game that imo can develop into a reliable way of above average efficiency volume scoring by drawing fouls with his size advantage over SGs plus athleticism
These qualities are more slanted towards a ceiling raiser than a floor raiser, who provides scalable offense and plus defense that is valuable to high quality teams.