Bradon Ingram is baby KD. Wemby is super KD.

All good, what are the chances anyone in his retirement home listens to podcasts

Mike Korzemba’s fault

Legit thought he would be the key difference maker for the Bucks and transform our team being able to space the floor, he looked pretty good for a few games and I thought I was a genius calling it

Thon Maker just bit his tongue like wtf!

We’re talking the same Thon Maker here? His flying kicks were legendary.

The whole age thing did bother me I won’t lie. Like that shit sketches me out in all sports.

Thon ‘Ron Baker’ Shot Maker

I thought he had gotten more KG comps than KD

Arguably the bigger effect is giannis,porzingis and kawhi. Giannis and kp got like every project pick drafted high for like 5 years while kawhi got every non shooting good defensive wing a contract on the belief they can learn to shoot

That’s not the point. They are drafting the tall players who cannot shoot/dribble/understand the game.

“Oh we can teach that stuff”

No you can’t, just about every time. If they didn’t learn anything in 10 years of youth/college* ball, they are not going to make the jump in the NBA.

Was thinking the same thing. Complaining about teams wanting to draft the next superstar wing who has PF height, can playmake & shoot like a SG, and score like a SF doesn’t roll off the tongue but is essentially what they’re saying when they want to draft the next KD. 

Could say the same for wanting to draft the next Pippen or Bird as well. 

U missed the point

Its a lil more complex than that. Durant definitely changed player evaluation in a way that is gonna be hard for reddit to give him credit for.

Thong Maker

Hey Durant, we’re good bro. Thon Maker is here

Remember KG saying thon maker was going to win an MVP

His take is out of date by like seven seasons

Emoni Bates in grade 10

Then his arms stopped growing for some reason

His game never developed

Really? I feel like any tall shooter has gotten that comp. I’ve heard the comps for MPJ, Emoni and Ingram pretty often

Brandon ingram

believe it or not, Kevon Looney

Two years away from being two years away from finding out*

People were literally calling Wemby the next KD.

Convinced these comments are trolling bro, Rivers is right lol.

I feel like Chet was compared to KD a lot.

Brandon Ingram. Emanny Bates, Jabari Smith

Didn’t Brandon Ingram get a lot of KD comparisons?

His point wasn’t about tall, skilled players. Everyone knows that height is an advantage and no team is going to actively say no to a Wemby/KD-like phenom. He was saying that tall, athletic player who have no ability to handle or shoot are being picked ahead of shorter guards who are more skilled with the assumption that they can develop those skills and have innate advantages on defense, rebounding, etc. His argument is these prospect rarely pan out (someone who has played 8+ years since a teenager and hasn’t developed a jumper probably isn’t going to now) and teams would be better off drafting for existing skill.

The problem is that at the high school and collegiate level there are legitimately thousands of extremely tall dudes with insane handles who have a well developed shot, but to be in the NBA having top 1% handles in the country isn’t good enough you need top .01% handles to really strive, and that jump from 1% to .01% is a massive crater.

Yeah he’s been out the league for nearing a decade now

Especially coming from a guy who got drafted on merit, but only got a second contract because his dad signed him

Patrick Williams was one, every Bulls fan hyped themselves up into thinking he would be the next Kawhi for whatever reason (including me of course). He has just straight up not been a productive player and has not developed at all. After that experience, I am certainly going to be much less loose with my next Kawhi predictions.

There’s so many “Kawhi 2.0” or “the next Kawhi “ videos out there lol

Kawhi and Jimmy Butler both had that impact for a while.

Guys like Stanley Johnson and Justice Winslow got big rep boosts after teams saw that elite defenders like those two could become high level offensive weapons. Over time it became more Kawhi specific though but I think a lot of that is about already drafted players not their draft comparisons.

Also Paul George to a lesser extent reinforced the belief that athletic defenders had huge offensive potential

There’s an Arlington sized graveyard of guys that are just “a good jumper” away from being all-stars

And when has it even worked to try and find a doppleganger of a unique player? Teams that win are teams that understand the unique value of their best player and build a roster around that, and have some luck with injuries. 

Outside of Kobe notoriously using Jordan’s moves, it hasn’t worked out for a superstar to try and emulate someone elses game. And that only worked because Kobe had a freakish work ethic and winning attitude. 

Sometimes it blinds people and I swear bad GM step over dollars for dimes because they see the narrative more than the potential

I’m sorry, but I can’t move from that leap from you. Top 5 center or top 10 SF all time. The simultaneous disrespect to KD and over inflation of Jokic.

If Jokic retired today or didn’t win another championship, he’s not above Wilt, Shaq, Kareem, Bill, or Hakeem. Likewise, after LeBron and Bird, KD has a toss up anywhere: Dr. J, Elgin Baylor, Scottie, Kawhi, Dominique. KD has a serious argument to be placed above them.

Is he? How many players were actually drafted because teams thought they were the next KD? He references Thon Maker who was drafted in 2016 and hasn’t been in the league for 5 years. Who else is there? Bruno Cabloco? He was drafted in 2014.

I’m not really sure what Rivers is “tired” of here. And the draft is a crap shoot. You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Sometimes teams take a big swing on the raw prospect and get Giannis and sometimes you get Bruno Cabloco. Other times teams take a shot at a well established college player and you get Keegan Murray and other times you get Thomas Robinson.

I don’t really think Rivers is making some thought-provoking point here.

Top 10 SF? The only SF above KD is LeBron. Bird and KD are debatable for 2nd

Right about mediocre wings being projected way to high off “potential”.

However I have reservations about “put the best players in the league”. I’ve been watching NBA for a few decades; I was there through the “DIVA” era where teams gave franchise player opportunities to inefficient, ball-dominant ISO guards and forwards. Hell, look at Austin Rivers - he was the best player in high school ball and one of the best coming out of Duke. Just to become a journeyman role player at this level. He had every opportunity in life that Steph Curry had, but nobody was excited to play with Austin.

If the best player is an ISO guy, teams have every right to be hesitant on their ability to integrate to a system. The best players in today’s game - SGA, Joker, Luka - have been leaders and team players their whole careers.

Maybe Derrick Williams. Not as tall as KD but he was supposed to be a super athletic stretch 4.

His shooting just didn’t translate into the NBA.

Donte Greene

Wemby is just as much of an outlier as KD for different reasons. He’s not the next KD he’s just the first Wemby.

One guy where it worked out vs who knows how many who didn’t. So many guys you’ve probably never heard of cause they either don’t even suit up or they are garbage time only players.

Wemby is not a tall wing. Yeah he can handle and shoot but it’s not his main game like it is for KD; he’s fiest and foremost a DPOY level C.

The difference in height between Wemby and KD is the same as between KD and SGA (if we assume KD is 6’11).

Did we just forget Brandon Ingram?

Congrats on misspelling both names