Maybe Dunn is a better version of Smart, I don't know, but it does concern me that he's a senior. He and Smart were the same year in college and as freshmen Dunn averaged 5.7 ppg while Smart was considered one of the best players in the country. As a sophomore, Dunn averaged just 3.8 ppg before injuring his shoulder after just 4 games. Dunn played really well his junior and senior seasons, but he wasn't exactly dominant. How would Smart have looked if played college this past season? I've also seen Dunn compared to John Wall, but Wall played just one year of college. I would imagine that Wall would have toyed with college competition if he stayed through his senior season.
I think the issue is the way people look at draft picks.
People are obsessed with looking at numbers, rather than skills. Every discussion has to involve age, or height, or length, or weight, or PPG, or 3PT%, etc.
Of course these 'numbers' are all important considerations, but they are not the ONLY things you need to look at because the College game and NBA game are not the same. The competition is not the same.
Guys who have superior size/strength/athleticism but lack skills tend to be stars at the college game, and role players at the NBA level. That's why there is a risk with guys like Smart, Randle, Okafor and Brown - those guys dominated the college game because they were so much bigger/stronger then everybody else that they just got by on bully-ball. Then when they have gotten to the NBA they've realised that tactic doesn't work anymore..and unless they have a special set of skills they can utilise, they struggle to translate that dominance in the NBA.
On the other hand guys who have well a superior size/strength/athleticism AND also have a high skill level - those guys tend to do very well at the NBA level.
Smart falls into the former category. His biggest selling point was always his physical tools - the size, the strength, the physicality. His wasn't entirely without skills, but 'skill level' was never listed as a strength on a Marcus Smart scouting report. At least not on the offensive end - nobody ever gushed over Smart's shooting, his ball handling, his passing.
Dunn is different because he's a guy who has the physical tools (size, strength, athleticism) to excel at the college level, but he also has the skill level to make the most of those physical tools at the NBA level.
This is why Dunn is so much more promising as an NBA prospect then Smart was, even though Smart was probably just as good in college.
It's also why Karl Anthony Towns has become so much better an NBA player then Jahlil Okafor has, even though Okafor was just as dominant at the college level. When those guys moved to the NBA and suddenly their physical advantages over their opponents became less pronounced, they found themselves having to rely on their skill for an advantage. Towns was able to utilise a number of skills to get the upper hand, while the only special skill Okafor was able to leverage was his post game - which is why he translated to such a one dimensional player in the NBA.
This is why I am adamant that Ben Simmons is going to be a very good NBA player. Because he doesn't only have the physical advantages (the strength, the athleticism, the size), - he has a phenomenal set of basketball skills / talents that he can leverage to give him an advantage against any number of matchups.
Then you have guys like Valentine who have the opposite problem - the "Olynyk Syndrome". These guys have very impressive skill sets, but a lack physical tools. Those guys find themselves at a physical disadvantage on many nights, so they need to rely on their outstanding set of skills just to ensure they can earn a role in the league. Valentine should be a very nice an servicable player at the NBA level and will probably be the type of guy who increases team wins everywhere he goes (like Shane Battier) - but it's unlike he'll ever so much as sniff stardom.
Topic: Woj Celtics more than likely keeping pick (Read 13695 times)