Can Kendall Marshall become a top PG in NBA?

[Ayt]

Who are the top 20 defensive PGs in order according to Synergy? I honestly don't know, so that would help to decide how valid their system really is.

[moss_is_1]

The top 2 were Rubio and then Lowry, IIRC.

[Dr Positivity]

I like him, but I'm becoming more and more convinced that this Scott Machado thing is going to blow up in the faces of GMs and he'll end up the rich man's Marshall, not the other way round. It really seems to me like Machado is more athletic, has a jumpshot and a step up in flair of his passes. Machado is getting considered a player who's physically/skill wise not NBA caliber and just killed a bad conference, but I actually think he's a step up from Marshall in those categories - as is the case a lot, the red flags like senior in a bad conference are thrown without judging on a case by case basis. It's exactly what happened to Paul Millsap. Honestly I keep watching Machado clips and I'm becoming convinced this guy has all-star talent. I think he has the chance to pass the ball like Rondo, while scoring about the same but in a different way (less at the rim, more jumpshots)

[King d]

The simple question is: Was Rubio worth a top 5 selection, just based on what we have seen (even if it was only 41 games)?

If the answer is Yes, then Marshall should be up there. Rubio got most of the same strengths and also many of the same negatives this guy got. Marshall got killed like Rubio did with the same stuff like he can't shoot, he can't defend, his passing is overrated, blah blah blah. With all that said, Rubio made the wolves offense way more potent and even the wolves defense was much better with rubio on the floor.

Yes there are some difference between the two such as rubio being a little more explosive and Marshall is more fundamentally sound. With that said If Rubio can have a great impact on a lottery team to the point where they were serious contenders to make a playoff spot earlier in the year, then so can Marshall.

Rubio was considered a GREAT defender in europe, so the only ones saying he was an average defender were mostly americans who didn't even watch more than youtube highlights. I still remember arguing with some "realgms" from here, who used to bash Rubio saying that he was going to be an horrible defender and all that stuff... pretty funny

Marshall is a liability on defense, so he has to be VERY good at passing and running the team and even scoring a little bit if he wants to become just a starter some day.

He is not going to have an Andre Miller type of career by the way, basically because Andre has always been a scoring pg with good passing and court vision. Marshall is nowhere the kind of scorer Miller is, and just being good at running a team but average at best at everything else doesn't get you a career like Miller's one

[ManualRam]

The top 2 were Rubio and then Lowry, IIRC.

rubio's pretty below average overall according to synergy. lowry's pretty tough 1 on 1 but doesnt get out to shooters well, which is understandable if you watch him play. he's a bulldog on the ball but is a gambler off of it.

just from a quick scan, the best overall defenders at the pg position according to synergy are: jrue holiday, rondo, george hill, cp3, dragic and chalmers.

[bwgood77]

Defense for pgs is pretty overrated. No opposing pgs stop Westbrook, Rondo, Rose, Nash, Parker, Lawson, Paul, Williams.

90% of what you need to look at for pgs is how well they run/lead their teams or score. Typically, if a pg gets slowed down, a premier wing defender is put on them (Bron on Rose, Sefolosha on Parker, etc).

[RoyalWun]

Teams don't care for floor generals anymore. All they want is guys who can put up 20-30 ppg.

[bwgood77]

I was just told that Chad Ford has Kendall Marshall falling all the way to the Mavs at 17, can someone confirm that for me (I'm not an insider on ESPN). No way he falls that far, that would probably change the Mavs Deron Williams plans.

He scored 8 ppg and .......having potentially 3 top 10 guys to pass to,pads the assists. Didn't look like a Jason Kidd or Rubio to me, more like a Mike Conley. He can become a starter,i suppose but no top 10 PG. It ain't 1963 when you might have a "playmaker" G who's only job was dribble and pass. Now, you need SOME scoring and decent D.

Wouldn't him having all those offensive options to pass to, coupled with his court vision, passing and playmaking ability also contribute to his not averaging many ppg?

And IDK if you watched much UNC this season, or even last towards the end, but he definitely looks the part of a Kidd or Rubio relative to the college level.

I'm not saying that will translate directly, but he made an enormous amount of "Holy **** did you see that?!" level thread the needle passes and when he wasn't, and instead was making more basic passes, he seemed to ALWAYS know EXACTLY where to put the ball in order for his teammates to succeed and score efficiently.

Just a surgeon running an offense.

Great post, I'm not sure many people here watched much of his college game.

[dtown8]

their are 30 teams in the NBA and now a days, every team has a good young starting PG. i think Kendall can be in the upper half of best PGs in the NBA, so i think he is a lock at becoming at top 15 Point Guard in the NBA.

he is not a #1 or #2 for a team like Chris Paul or Tony Parker, but maybe a #4 or #3 for a team, like Marc Jackson, post Cavs Andre Miller, GSW Baron Davis, or ATL Mike Bibby in terms of impact.