Re: 2021-22 NBA Trade Deadline
A shell of himself probably not but nobody is talking about him being a shell of himself. You’re acting like there is no lost progression, or that it’s silly to pick Ja at this point knowing what we know now. Ja is winning games, in MVP talks, voted to the AS as a starter based on his play not popularity.. this dude misses the rest of this season (which he will) and he’s only played 3 more games than Oden did in his first 3 years. I think you’re underplaying just how much time he’s missed and how big these injuries have held him back.
Even if he comes back 100% exactly what he was he’s still lost like 100 games of progression towards being that “franchise” level guy that he hasn’t even shown he can be yet. Getting double teams on a bottom tier team isn’t really what they drafted him for and doesn’t necessarily showcase him being a franchise altering player. He’s missed more games at this point than he’s played and that number has been climbing since December.
I think everybody hopes he comes back and looks his best when he does but you have to realize that isn’t realistic at this point? I don’t think anybody is ruling it out or calling him damaged goods but you’ve got basically the same odds right now if him being Oden as you do him being that “next LeBron” level player because he’s not even having the chance to develop into that type of player.
He’s 3 years into his career and hasn’t even had the chance to adjust to the speed of the game yet. Even his good games like the highlight you posted is just him getting into the lane throwing the ball towards the rim and crashing the offensive glass in case it’s a miss. He’s doesn’t have that natural “feel” a lot of other guys either just have or have developed. Guys like Ball, Ja, Giddey, Cade, Garland, Luka, Trae, you don’t speed them or slow them down. They have that control, pace, understanding of how to control the game in that sense. Not saying he had to have that at the level of those guys considering his raw athletic gifts but how long do we expect those to be tier 1 level when he’s blowing his legs out at this rate already?
I don’t think anybody thinks he’s going to step back on the court and just not remember how to play basketball. But even at his best he wasn’t “THAT GUY” yet, he’s not going to miraculously be better now after missing all this time, having set back after set back, and stuck playing for some team he doesn’t even want to play for.
A shell of himself probably not but nobody is talking about him being a shell of himself. You’re acting like there is no lost progression, or that it’s silly to pick Ja at this point knowing what we know now. Ja is winning games, in MVP talks, voted to the AS as a starter based on his play not popularity.. this dude misses the rest of this season (which he will) and he’s only played 3 more games than Oden did in his first 3 years. I think you’re underplaying just how much time he’s missed and how big these injuries have held him back.
Even if he comes back 100% exactly what he was he’s still lost like 100 games of progression towards being that “franchise” level guy that he hasn’t even shown he can be yet. Getting double teams on a bottom tier team isn’t really what they drafted him for and doesn’t necessarily showcase him being a franchise altering player. He’s missed more games at this point than he’s played and that number has been climbing since December.
I think everybody hopes he comes back and looks his best when he does but you have to realize that isn’t realistic at this point? I don’t think anybody is ruling it out or calling him damaged goods but you’ve got basically the same odds right now if him being Oden as you do him being that “next LeBron” level player because he’s not even having the chance to develop into that type of player.
He’s 3 years into his career and hasn’t even had the chance to adjust to the speed of the game yet. Even his good games like the highlight you posted is just him getting into the lane throwing the ball towards the rim and crashing the offensive glass in case it’s a miss. He’s doesn’t have that natural “feel” a lot of other guys either just have or have developed. Guys like Ball, Ja, Giddey, Cade, Garland, Luka, Trae, you don’t speed them or slow them down. They have that control, pace, understanding of how to control the game in that sense. Not saying he had to have that at the level of those guys considering his raw athletic gifts but how long do we expect those to be tier 1 level when he’s blowing his legs out at this rate already?
I don’t think anybody thinks he’s going to step back on the court and just not remember how to play basketball. But even at his best he wasn’t “THAT GUY” yet, he’s not going to miraculously be better now after missing all this time, having set back after set back, and stuck playing for some team he doesn’t even want to play for.
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