Let's be realistic about James Young

[Atzar]

If he's a part of a deal that brings in an already established talent, I won't be too upset.

But to call him a bust after one season is way too early.  I agree that he wasn't that impressive to watch while out there, and while he was the leading scorer for Kentucky the one year he was there, it wasn't a "powerhouse Kentucky team", heck they lost in the first round of the NIT.

I vote to give him one more year, see if he can play well enough to crack the rotation and be a legit part of it.  But if next season is more of the same like this past season, then I think it's time to move on.

Wait, what?  James Young's Kentucky team lost to UConn in the NCAA Championship game.  He also wasn't the leading scorer... Randle was. 



He has a lot of work to do.  We'll see what a full offseason of training does for him.  He says the right things to the media, but I also think there was a lot to be read between the lines in Gerald Wallace's comments a few weeks ago.  So his approach to the next few months, IMO, will be very telling.  I hope he takes advantage of his opportunity.

[rondohondo]

If he's a part of a deal that brings in an already established talent, I won't be too upset.

But to call him a bust after one season is way too early.  I agree that he wasn't that impressive to watch while out there, and while he was the leading scorer for Kentucky the one year he was there, it wasn't a "powerhouse Kentucky team", heck they lost in the first round of the NIT.

I vote to give him one more year, see if he can play well enough to crack the rotation and be a legit part of it.  But if next season is more of the same like this past season, then I think it's time to move on.

huh?

no they didn't, they played for the national title against UCONN

[D.o.s.]

Contrary to what people think about young players developing, you can get a good idea of how the player will develop in their rookie year.

Draymond Green as a 22 year old rookie averaged 13.4 minutes a game.  His per 36 stats are...

7.7 pts, 8.8 rebs, 1.8 assists, 1.4 steals, 37% from 2, 21% from 3.

James Young as a 19 year old rookie averaged 10.7 minutes a game.  His per 36 stats are...

11.4 pts, 4.6 rebs, 1.4 assists, .9 steals, 52% from 2, 25% from 3.

After his third year in the league, Draymond Green is now looking at getting a near-max contract.

Everyone can have opinions, but it would be nice if they spent 5 FREAKIN' MINUTES doing a little research to see if their opinions have any basis in reality.

Mike

Wait, so, what's your point? Just because you (in the general sense, not you specifically) weren't paying attention to Draymond Green doesn't mean that the Warriors weren't. And I know Yoki, among others, have been hyping DG for a long, long time. He just snuck up on people because they weren't paying attention to the 2012 Warriors, and because he tore his Achilles (or ACL? something like that)

[The One]

James Young will be good.  Not great, but good.

Can't hate him for that...

[GC003332]

How many players look totally awful and raw as a rookie, that can't even make a NBA roster, end up as any sort of real player in the league.  I honestly can't think of one.

Gerald Green, Avery Bradley, Shabazz Muhammed, Jimmy Butler, Chauncey Billups, Tyson Chandler, Monta Ellis, Dennis Schroeder, Solomon Hill, Rudy Gobert, Donatas Moteijunas, Draymond Green, Paul George, Eric Bledsoe, Hassan Whiteside, Jeff Teague, DeMarre Carroll, Patrick Beverly, Kyle Lowry....

almost none of those guys are anywhere near the same as Young.  Most spent almost all their time in the actual NBA as a rookie, and most performed far better than Young has at the D-League level at the actual NBA level

Maybe John Starks

He didn't get drafted and had to make the rounds before he caught on.
Ended up have a solid career , even made an all star team.
Just hope for James Young's sake he doesn't have a game 7 in the Finals like  Starks did especially if it is with the C's.

[littleteapot]

Ben Wallace played 197 minutes as a 22 year old rookie.

[Celtics4ever]

Ben Wallace played 197 minutes as a 22 year old rookie

  Always thought he was on the juice.

[GC003332]

Ben Wallace played 197 minutes as a 22 year old rookie

  Always thought he was on the juice.

I dare you to say that to his face

[Forza Juventus]

Makes me long for the days when players stayed in college or overseas when they needed to develop instead of taking up a roster spot.

That is very selfish of you.

[clover]

I really don't understand how NBA teams seem to treat their end-of-bench young players. Other than a few weeks in Maine, Young was around all season, under contract, and with only intermittent opportunities to attend full practices--since full practices are rare, mid-season.

So I don't understand why he's not doing hours of drills a day on the, for example, ball handling skills he needs to improve on--such that you see huge improvement over a six-month season.

[littleteapot]

I really don't understand how NBA teams seem to treat their end-of-bench young players. Other than a few weeks in Maine, Young was around all season, under contract, and with only intermittent opportunities to attend full practices--since full practices are rare, mid-season.

So I don't understand why he's not doing hours of drills a day on the, for example, ball handling skills he needs to improve on--such that you see huge improvement over a six-month season.

Because playing in the NBA is really really hard. I'm sure he's working out and working with various coaches on different aspects of his game, but he's not going to look great immediately.

[MBunge]

Contrary to what people think about young players developing, you can get a good idea of how the player will develop in their rookie year.

Draymond Green as a 22 year old rookie averaged 13.4 minutes a game.  His per 36 stats are...

7.7 pts, 8.8 rebs, 1.8 assists, 1.4 steals, 37% from 2, 21% from 3.

James Young as a 19 year old rookie averaged 10.7 minutes a game.  His per 36 stats are...

11.4 pts, 4.6 rebs, 1.4 assists, .9 steals, 52% from 2, 25% from 3.

After his third year in the league, Draymond Green is now looking at getting a near-max contract.

Everyone can have opinions, but it would be nice if they spent 5 FREAKIN' MINUTES doing a little research to see if their opinions have any basis in reality.

Mike

Wait, so, what's your point? Just because you (in the general sense, not you specifically) weren't paying attention to Draymond Green doesn't mean that the Warriors weren't. And I know Yoki, among others, have been hyping DG for a long, long time. He just snuck up on people because they weren't paying attention to the 2012 Warriors, and because he tore his Achilles (or ACL? something like that)

*Sigh*

1.  Green was drafted in the 2nd round.  That means NO ONE in the NBA, not the Warriors or anyone else, really thought he'd be anywhere near as good as he's become. In fact, Golden State picked Festus Ezeli before Green, so don't try and pretend otherwise.

2.  While Green played more and better as the rookie went along, he averaged less than 22 minutes a game in his second year.  That's fewer minutes than Harrison Barnes.  So, it is not true that Green in his first or even second season was really blowing anyone away.

3.  Green did all this while being three years older than Young and after playing four years in college, not only giving him an advantage as far as how developed his game was but giving everyone and their brother a chance to closely examine his play.

Here's what we can say about James Young.  He's almost certainly not going to become a Durant/LeBron-level superstar because almost all of those guys looked like they'd become Durant/LeBron-level superstars when they were Young's age.

Beyond that, Young could be out of the league after his rookie contract or he could become a multi-time all star.  Who knows?

For pete's sake, Reggie Miller came into the NBA three years older than Young and he didn't really become a great player until his third year.  That's 25 years old compared to Young's 19.

Mike

[clover]

I really don't understand how NBA teams seem to treat their end-of-bench young players. Other than a few weeks in Maine, Young was around all season, under contract, and with only intermittent opportunities to attend full practices--since full practices are rare, mid-season.

So I don't understand why he's not doing hours of drills a day on the, for example, ball handling skills he needs to improve on--such that you see huge improvement over a six-month season.

Because playing in the NBA is really really hard. I'm sure he's working out and working with various coaches on different aspects of his game, but he's not going to look great immediately.

But in six months of intensive work with NBA-level coaches--the dude even had his own dedicated coach, though not an especially knowledgeable one--you'd think you could see significant improvement on a key skill such as, again, ball handling. I mean, regular pros who are working too hard during the season playing actual games can generally come back with noticeable improvements after just a few months work in the summer.

[D.o.s.]

Contrary to what people think about young players developing, you can get a good idea of how the player will develop in their rookie year.

Draymond Green as a 22 year old rookie averaged 13.4 minutes a game.  His per 36 stats are...

7.7 pts, 8.8 rebs, 1.8 assists, 1.4 steals, 37% from 2, 21% from 3.

James Young as a 19 year old rookie averaged 10.7 minutes a game.  His per 36 stats are...

11.4 pts, 4.6 rebs, 1.4 assists, .9 steals, 52% from 2, 25% from 3.

After his third year in the league, Draymond Green is now looking at getting a near-max contract.

Everyone can have opinions, but it would be nice if they spent 5 FREAKIN' MINUTES doing a little research to see if their opinions have any basis in reality.

Mike

Wait, so, what's your point? Just because you (in the general sense, not you specifically) weren't paying attention to Draymond Green doesn't mean that the Warriors weren't. And I know Yoki, among others, have been hyping DG for a long, long time. He just snuck up on people because they weren't paying attention to the 2012 Warriors, and because he tore his Achilles (or ACL? something like that)

*Sigh*

1.  Green was drafted in the 2nd round.  That means NO ONE in the NBA, not the Warriors or anyone else, really thought he'd be anywhere near as good as he's become. In fact, Golden State picked Festus Ezeli before Green, so don't try and pretend otherwise.

2.  While Green played more and better as the rookie went along, he averaged less than 22 minutes a game in his second year.  That's fewer minutes than Harrison Barnes.  So, it is not true that Green in his first or even second season was really blowing anyone away.

3.  Green did all this while being three years older than Young and after playing four years in college, not only giving him an advantage as far as how developed his game was but giving everyone and their brother a chance to closely examine his play.

Here's what we can say about James Young.  He's almost certainly not going to become a Durant/LeBron-level superstar because almost all of those guys looked like they'd become Durant/LeBron-level superstars when they were Young's age.

Beyond that, Young could be out of the league after his rookie contract or he could become a multi-time all star.  Who knows?

For pete's sake, Reggie Miller came into the NBA three years older than Young and he didn't really become a great player until his third year.  That's 25 years old compared to Young's 19.

Mike

So, basically, you picked Green as an entirely arbitrary example of a player who doesn't work into this conversation beyond fitting into your criteria.

I agree with your assessment, by the way, just not the example.

[Moranis]

Contrary to what people think about young players developing, you can get a good idea of how the player will develop in their rookie year.

Draymond Green as a 22 year old rookie averaged 13.4 minutes a game.  His per 36 stats are...

7.7 pts, 8.8 rebs, 1.8 assists, 1.4 steals, 37% from 2, 21% from 3.

James Young as a 19 year old rookie averaged 10.7 minutes a game.  His per 36 stats are...

11.4 pts, 4.6 rebs, 1.4 assists, .9 steals, 52% from 2, 25% from 3.

After his third year in the league, Draymond Green is now looking at getting a near-max contract.

Everyone can have opinions, but it would be nice if they spent 5 FREAKIN' MINUTES doing a little research to see if their opinions have any basis in reality.

Mike

Wait, so, what's your point? Just because you (in the general sense, not you specifically) weren't paying attention to Draymond Green doesn't mean that the Warriors weren't. And I know Yoki, among others, have been hyping DG for a long, long time. He just snuck up on people because they weren't paying attention to the 2012 Warriors, and because he tore his Achilles (or ACL? something like that)

*Sigh*

1.  Green was drafted in the 2nd round.  That means NO ONE in the NBA, not the Warriors or anyone else, really thought he'd be anywhere near as good as he's become. In fact, Golden State picked Festus Ezeli before Green, so don't try and pretend otherwise.

2.  While Green played more and better as the rookie went along, he averaged less than 22 minutes a game in his second year.  That's fewer minutes than Harrison Barnes.  So, it is not true that Green in his first or even second season was really blowing anyone away.

3.  Green did all this while being three years older than Young and after playing four years in college, not only giving him an advantage as far as how developed his game was but giving everyone and their brother a chance to closely examine his play.

Here's what we can say about James Young.  He's almost certainly not going to become a Durant/LeBron-level superstar because almost all of those guys looked like they'd become Durant/LeBron-level superstars when they were Young's age.

Beyond that, Young could be out of the league after his rookie contract or he could become a multi-time all star.  Who knows?

For pete's sake, Reggie Miller came into the NBA three years older than Young and he didn't really become a great player until his third year.  That's 25 years old compared to Young's 19.

Mike

being a great player and looking like you could be a great player are two entirely different things.  Reggie Miller sure looked like he could be a great player his rookie year, even if he wasn't there yet.  James Young has looked awful.