ESPN Insider: Top 25 Players Under Age 25 (Ed Davis 24th)

[Crazy-Canuck]

- Rose healthy is #2 on this list easy
- John Wall not being there is ridiculous

This list has to be based solely on the last couple of months.

Injury=not on list

[C_Money]

Is this the kind of crap you get when you pay for ESPN Insider? LOL.

[kwamebargnani]

Where's DeMar

[Undefeated]

No Klay Thompson? Dude's the next sharp-shooter once Ray retires.

[tracey_nice]

blake griffin is overrated.

[kmatrixg]

Every CP3 backup PG looks good filling in for Paul because their offence is so PG driven as a result of him. I like Bledsoe. I liked him in college, too, but I wouldn't be surprised at all to see him come crashing back down to earth in a new situation just as Darren Collison did. There was a time not too long ago when Darren Collison was being viewed as a star PG too after the #s he put up when Paul went down. We all know nobody's saying that about Collison since he left NOH though. The same thing happens in the NFL with backup QBs in QB-friendly systems.

You make good points about the PG-friendly system, Darren Collison etc. but to be honest, Bledsoe is twice the athlete Collison is, and is making an incredible impact on each game with just 19 mpg this year. You'd be hard-pressed to find just as good a plug-n-play PG as Bledsoe, and with starter minutes you know his TO rate will go down, eFG% will go up, and those steals and blocks? Oh man... He's at 0.7bpg in 19 minutes - as a point guard!

I don't see how either A) the Clippers keep him and sign him to a long term deal, or B) the Clippers aren't offered some extreme package for him.

[cookieman]

DeRozan may not be on the list but Holiday and Jennings both are. Both of them were also on the board when we picked DD, and both filled a position of need. BC knows best though. How do you best cover a mistake? Throw $40m at it!

Nice to see Davis on this list but still not really a fan of his game. His rebounding has tailed off with increased minutes, his offensive game is efficient but limited, and his defense is still poor to say the least. He has not been much of a shotblocker either (Bargnani-level shotblocking).

Sorry, the last sentence has basically taken all the credibility out of the post.

Forget the stigma and check the stats - 0.78 bpg and 0.71 bpg. We certainly expected more from Ed than 77th in the league in shotblocking, but it just ain't happening.

[Phenomenologist]

Can't believe DeAndre Jordan is in there. Lots of better choices I can think of...ahem, Drummond lol too soon.

Well, Lillard and Anthony Davis made it, nut not Drummond, ahem.

MPG.

[KnickerBonkerz]

LOL at Griffin that high

[Big Shot]

Sorry, the last sentence has basically taken all the credibility out of the post.

Forget the stigma and check the stats - 0.78 bpg and 0.71 bpg. We certainly expected more from Ed than 77th in the league in shotblocking, but it just ain't happening.

Ed still blocked more shots than Bargs even though he played much less minutes per game.....23.4 vs 32.7 mpg. That is about 72% of the playing time Bargs was getting. If you don't take those things into consideration, they are at the similar level. But it's not a good way to make an assessment.

However, I do agree that ED can do better than being the 76th in the shot blocking ranking.

[Al_Oliver]

Yeah, Derozan definitely has one of the worst contracts in the league.

Also, nice to see Ed getting the recognition he deserves. The thing is, almost every team has a player very good under 25 because either the NBA team has been bad for some time and got at least one good prospect out of it (Cavs with Irving), or the team has been solid or good because of that prospect (Pacers with George). If Ed can continue to develop that jumpshot and FT shot of his, he can become a very skilled starting PF.

STAT has the worst contract by far!

[JN]

Ed Davis is seriously overrated on this list.

He is a talented player but lets get real - he is not better than:
Eric Bledsoe
John Wall
Eric Gordon
Andre Drummond
Michael Kidd Gilchrist
Jonas Valanciunas
Kawhi Leonard
Ricky Rubio
etc...

The list is missing tons of marquee players under 25

Anyways, the real reason Ed Davis is not that good is his lack of 1 on 1 defense (he is a decent help defender). He's a terrible post defender. Ironically, this is the only type of D Andrea Bargnani is good at. It's pretty hilarious that him and Andrea Bargnani are exactly opposite in so many ways (rebounding, shooting, athleticism, defense) they seem like polar opposites.

Bargnani is not good at post defence. He is good at it when he tries, but half the time he is too lazy to do it effectively. You can't only measure a player when he works hard.