DeAndre Jordan's potential?

DraftSpecialist · Post #1 » by **DraftSpecialist** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 7:03 am

As a starter filling in for Camby the last 3 games Jordan has averaged 12-10-4. He obviously is still raw. He bites at pump fakes, gets out of position, and backed down too easily. But those are all things that can and should improve with experience.

Judging from what we have seen so far what kind of player do you see him developing into?

Post #2 » by **thanumba2clippersfan** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 4:32 pm

I think he can become a double double type guy and a good defensive player. But obviously he has to work on his fundamentals offensively and defensively. I think that he can become a solid pro

mj_shoefanatic · Post #3 » by **mj_shoefanatic** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 7:06 pm

He needs to practice his FT shooting.

JJ LoDuca · Post #4 » by **JJ LoDuca** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 9:04 pm

I got high hopes for DJ. I think one day he can be our Dwight Howard-- not that he'll ever be as good as Dwight Howard-- just that he could be the Clipper equivalent of him. Hopefully Marcus sticks around for another year or two and helps to groom DJ, and eventually, maybe he'll grab Camby's spot as a starter.

That said, he's still really raw and needs to polish his fundamentals and develop a consistent offensive game of his own.

jgustav1 · Post #5 » by **jgustav1** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 9:31 pm

I see him as being something like a Kendrick Perkins type C. He needs a lot of work on defense right now, he gives away low post position too easily and commits too many fouls. He appears to be a good shot blocker though.

Post #6 » by **mkwest** » Sun Jan 25, 2009 10:10 pm

The guy is really raw and will need to put in a lot of work to improve his game. There really isn't too many facets of his game that he does not need to work on. Thankfully he does have players like Camby, Kaman and even Z-Bo to learn from. Camby has kind of taken him under his wing and hopefully will be able to rub off on DJ in the long run. There's not really a better mentor given DJ's physical gifts.

Personally I think he needs to work on defense, boxing out/fighting for position, timing, patience, his footwork, post moves, free-throw shooting, staying out of foul trouble, and passing (out of doubles) to name a few things.

I do love that he has the tools to be a great shot blocker. He's pretty good right now (11 in the last 3 games), but as you previously mentioned he's liable to bite at every pump fake. I also love that he knows how to slam the ball. That is something that I wish Kaman would do more (although he did seem to finish stronger more often before he went down with the injury), so it is a blessing to see that DJ is already capable.

Howard-like or even Bynum-like would be awesome, but really if he could become half the player that Camby is (that's still about 13 rebounds and 2 blocks

jk) I'd be happy.

madmaxmedia · Post #7 » by **madmaxmedia** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 8:17 pm

I think realistically, somewhere between a double-double guy and DeSagana Diop. If he can just D-up and be a paint presence for 20 minutes a night, then the Clippers will have struck gold with that draft pick.

Really, almost all his work right now should go into defense. As many have said, he needs work there but the good thing is he has the physical tools and defense is in theory teachable then if the player works hard.

SportsFan215 · Post #8 » by **SportsFan215** » Mon Jan 26, 2009 11:43 pm

He's much more athletic than Diop or Perkins. He has a ton of potential! He needs to start by shooting like 300 free throws everyday. We have to remember he is only 20! He will only get better.

corgiBear8 · Post #9 » by **corgiBear8** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 2:33 am

I think at best he'll be a role player that comes off the bench for 20-25 minutes a game with the possibility of putting up 8-10pts and 8rebs a game.

Most likely though, I think he'll average 6pts and 5rebs a game and never become a starter. His basketball IQ is just way too low for him to ever be a starter on a decent team. In my opinion, he also doesn't seem motivated to get better at anything besides dunking (and he misses way too many of those too). For him to ever be a starter, he'll need to learn to box out on both ends, improve his free throw shooting, and work on his footwork and positioning.

sipclip · Post #10 » by **sipclip** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:28 am

He'll eventually be a Tyson Chandler caliber player.

madmaxmedia · Post #11 » by **madmaxmedia** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 4:55 am

Yeah, Diop actually wasn't a great choice to compare to, I was thinking mainly stats. DJ is much quicker, that is a good asset for him in the NBA. He is not a big upper body strength guy, so will need to learn how to play good position.

He may be only 20, but he really has little in the way of fundamental basketball skills. Those are things you should have already developed if you were going to become say the next Marcus Camby or something like that. I think he can be an asset in the NBA, but more in the range of 20 minutes per game depending on how good your team is. I do like him having him on the floor, at least for the time being. I think he can be a solid NBA contributor at the center position, which is fantastic for a big man at the spot the Clippers took him.

StutterStep · Post #12 » by **StutterStep** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 3:31 pm

corgiBear8 wrote:I think at best he'll be a role player that comes off the bench for 20-25 minutes a game with the possibility of putting up 8-10pts and 8rebs a game.

Most likely though, I think he'll average 6pts and 5rebs a game and never become a starter. His basketball IQ is just way too low for him to ever be a starter on a decent team. In my opinion, he also doesn't seem motivated to get better at anything besides dunking (and he misses way too many of those too). For him to ever be a starter, he'll need to learn to box out on both ends, improve his free throw shooting, and work on his footwork and positioning.

WHATTTTTTTTTTTTTT! STOPPPPPPPPPPPPP!

seriously!

Post #13 » by **thanumba2clippersfan** » Tue Jan 27, 2009 9:08 pm

We do need to remember that he is only 20 like some of you brought up. But also, like Thornton, he hasn't been playing basketball that long. I'm sure in high school all he ever did was out jump everyone and was never really taught the fundamentals. He still has time to learn, that's why he's a project. I think the best he will be is a 10 point 10 rebound guy . But DeAndre still has lots to learn.

BMF Jet Jaguar · Post #14 » by **BMF Jet Jaguar** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 2:58 am

Texas AtM fan here-

anyone think his potential is Tyson Chandler?

ClipperDomination · Post #15 » by **ClipperDomination** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 4:13 am

BMF Jet Jaguar wrote:Texas AtM fan here-

anyone think his potential is Tyson Chandler?

I see some TC in him offensively, but definitely not defensively, yet. Once he learns to use his athleticism to the best of his abilities on the defensive end (grabbing the boards and having good positioning) then those comparisons can start coming realistic.

A star PG would do wonders for him, much like it did for Tyson.

madmaxmedia · Post #16 » by **madmaxmedia** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 5:59 pm

As far as offense goes, he is quick enough that he will get a decent number of points on putbacks and dunks alone with minutes (if stays active off the ball, and hustles for o-boards.)

What will determine his minutes however, is defense (as everyone is pointing out.) If he can become an asset on defense (and he does have the physical tools to do so), he can definitely play in this league. If he does that, I'm not too worried about the absolute PPG and RPG numbers. Even now, I think we see that he is often an asset on the floor due to his athleticism.

He would not be a bad center to be on the floor with ZBo, since ZBo is a much better offensive player and should be getting the majority of low post touches anyways.