Could Byron Mullens Possibly Be A Future Star?

[Yuri Vaultin]

He might be the Bobcats' star, if that means anything lol

It doesn't.

Considering there are only 30 teams it means quite a lot. Can we keep this discussion about Mullens and his potential and avoid delving in to where the Bobcats are projected to finish?

I think Mullens can put up pretty good numbers considering many of the bobcats players can't shoot or score right now. Biyombo brings defense and that is about it, Kemba can't seem to buy a shot, Henderson has limited range (ie, no 3-ball to speak off) and MKG is a work in progress. Mullens will get plenty of shots, it seems his efficiency and whether he can sustain it is the question.

The one thing that no one really seems to mention is that next season he may see very little time on the floor depending on where they draft, because after Shabazz Muhammad the next 10 or so picks will all be bigs.

[jayjamesson]

Strike 1.

-Yuri

[dballislife]

wow he shot 32 threes in 4 games this preseason lol, made a lot of them though...maybe his max ceiling is a bargnani with better D

[Nuntius]

I like Mullens. He seems to know the basics of basketball and he certainly has talent. He can become a very nice player. He could be a star and a leader for the Bobcats. I believe that he is put in a good position since the expectations are not high in Charlotte and the team is very young. If MKG - Biyombo and him develop a good chemistry then they could form a formidable front court trio. There's a reason for optimism for Bobcat fans.

But will he become a star? I don't know. A lot of things have to happen for this to become true. He has to want it. He has to strive for it and improve consistently. He has to add more offensive moves in his game. He has to become dominant in the low post. He has the size to do it. But does he have the attitude to dominate down low? That's the key.

He is not a traditional Center by any means and I doubt that he'll ever become one. He will always be more of a natural PF than a Center. But by mixing post moves in his repertoire will diversify his game and boost his main area of scoring (jump shooting) as well.

[tiderulz]

pick and pop nightmare for opposing teams he can be unguardable if he wants to be

really??

ive watched some Charlotte games, while on a project in NC. He wasnt unguardable by any means.

[TwentyOne920]

He's not difficult to guard. Contest him at the arc and don't let him get into the paint and he'll be back to chucking mid range jumpers and long 2s.

[toddlincoln]

As a cats fan, I like Mullens, but I understand his shortcomings. He's basically worthless if he shoots long 2s; he's no KG. So hopefully he has a legit 3 pointer this year, because god knows if he doesn't, his point per shot average will fall off a cliff.

Right now, he's a taller version of Glen Davis. I want that to change.

[Johnlac1]

[quote="Nuntius"]I like Mullens. He seems to know the basics of basketball and he certainly has talent. He can become a very nice player. He could be a star and a leader for the Bobcats. I believe that he is put in a good position since the expectations are not high in Charlotte and the team is very young. If MKG - Biyombo and him develop a good chemistry then they could form a formidable front court trio. There's a reason for optimism for Bobcat fans.

But will he become a star? I don't know. A lot of things have to happen for this to become true. He has to want it. He has to strive for it and improve consistently. He has to add more offensive moves in his game. He has to become dominant in the low post. He has the size to do it. But does he have the attitude to dominate down low? That's the key.

He is not a traditional Center by any means and I doubt that he'll ever become one. He will always be more of a natural PF than a Center. But by mixing post moves in his repertoire will diversify his game and boost his main area of scoring (jump shooting) as well.[/quote]
What you said amigo. There are a number of similar approx. 7 footers in the league like Mullens who can shoot the 3-ball. : Love, Nowitzski, Bargnani. None of them have Mullens raw athletic ability. But all of them are considerably better right now than Mullens for a variety of reasons. The only thing Mullens can do better right now is block shots and dunk. But nobody would choose Mullens over those players at this time. All the players I've compared Mullens to can put the ball on the floor and get to the basket. They have a variety of ball fakes and shots that Mullens doesn't have although Mullens can really stroke an open shot and now seems to have added the 3-ball to his repertoire. None of the three are great defenders but Love and Nowitzki are excellent rebounders. We'll see if Mullens improves. He could overtake Bargnani.

[og15]

byron mullens is a great player he certainly has the skillset to be a 20ppg scorer in the league...he has post moves, when his mid range is on hes one of the best, now he has a 3 ball, hes athletic enough to run the floor and finish alleyoops easily, 80%++ free throw shooting. he just has to put it all together which i dont know if hes capable of. hes only 23 though. he was a beast last year but he hit the rookie wall pretty hard midseason.

pick and pop nightmare for opposing teams he can be unguardable if he wants to be

Does he ever use these post moves? He shot 35% from 16-23 in which 84% were assisted and he can be unguardqble, but just if he wants? Blake Griffin shot a better percentage on 16-23 foot jumpshots.

Seems like his shooting ability in an NBA game is being overatted. Jason Smith is also athletic, and though he has gator arms, he's a better shooter in games than Mullens. Jason Smith the past two seasons has shot 48% and 42% from 16-23, though of course, he creates even less than Mullens would.

I don't know, it seems like Mullens at this stage is being hyped because he's a big that can shoot and has athleti ability, but there's yet to be any on court substance from him outside of stretches that come from streakiness of shooters.

[Johnlac1]

I'm not going to disagree. Mullens was not even an average player last year although it looks now he might be approaching or exceeding average this year. Will he get there or go beyond? His career is on an upward line, but a lot of players in similar situations have stalled or regressed. I think what stops a lot players career trajectories is mental. Drugs, lack of desire, or just lack of bb smarts derails a lot of promising players. My concern with Mullens is that even though it looks like he's now putting in the effort, I question his bb IQ. I haven't seen Charlotte yet in preseason because my cable provider does not provide NBATv and LeaguePass will not broadcast preseason games. So I'm in the dark on a lot of players especially rookies. Can't wait until next week.

[slick_watts]

Considering he wasn't even league average on a lot of mid-range attempts last season, I'm finding it difficult to accept that Mullens' three point percentage during the preseason is a legitimate reflection of his shooting skill.

[StocktonShorts]

I'm apparently unfamiliar with OP's definition of "star."

[Eoghan]

All the players I've compared Mullens to can put the ball on the floor and get to the basket. They have a variety of ball fakes and shots that Mullens doesn't have although Mullens can really stroke an open shot and now seems to have added the 3-ball to his repertoire. None of the three are great defenders but Love and Nowitzki are excellent rebounders. We'll see if Mullens improves. He could overtake Bargnani.

This right here is what separates Mullens from anything resembling stardom. Just plain basketball savvy. Defenders worry about his size and shooting ability enough that he should be able to pump fake them into foul trouble and make a living at the free throw line where he shoots ~80%. He just hasn't displayed an ability to take advantage of these weapons (size, shooting) yet other than making teams pay for leaving him open.

I haven't seen Charlotte yet in preseason because my cable provider does not provide NBATv and LeaguePass will not broadcast preseason games. So I'm in the dark on a lot of players especially rookies. Can't wait until next week.

Don't feel bad, nobody has seen Mullens this preseason unless you went to the earlier games in person. He hasn't played in the 2 games with television coverage b/c he bumped knees in practice and is sitting them out as a precaution.

[Blame Rasho]

byron mullens is a great player he certainly has the skillset to be a 20ppg scorer in the league...he has post moves, when his mid range is on hes one of the best, now he has a 3 ball, hes athletic enough to run the floor and finish alleyoops easily, 80%++ free throw shooting. he just has to put it all together which i dont know if hes capable of. hes only 23 though. he was a beast last year but he hit the rookie wall pretty hard midseason.

pick and pop nightmare for opposing teams he can be unguardable if he wants to be

I really hate it when people say something like this...

You want to know how many players actually avg 20 ppg as a center last year....

1...

Dwight Howard... at that was at 20.6 ppg.

So yeah.. I would encorage people to stop and think about him being a potential 20 ppg scorer... because quite honestly no one that has said that he has 20 ppg potential has a clue of what they are talking about.

Unarguable... are you F'ing kidding me? There is no lack of stupid on the boards... He was beast last year...9 ppg on 43%... Beastly...

[Eoghan]

Well,

1. Dwight Howard can't do anything other than dunk, really, even though he's really, really good at it.
2. Mullens isn't just a center, he plays both 4 and 5 and looks like more of a natural 4.
3. I'm only posting this b/c I don't think advanced can't defend himself right now due to a GB ban but me personally I think 18 ppg is very reachable if he's at least a 2nd option on offense and can learn to get fouled often. Besides, he didn't say that Mullens is a 20 ppg scorer, he said he has the "skillset" to be one and that's a pretty big difference.

[amcoolio]

byron mullens is a great player he certainly has the skillset to be a 20ppg scorer in the league...he has post moves, when his mid range is on hes one of the best, now he has a 3 ball, hes athletic enough to run the floor and finish alleyoops easily, 80%++ free throw shooting. he just has to put it all together which i dont know if hes capable of. hes only 23 though. he was a beast last year but he hit the rookie wall pretty hard midseason.

pick and pop nightmare for opposing teams he can be unguardable if he wants to be

I really hate it when people say something like this...

You want to know how many players actually avg 20 ppg as a center last year....

1...

Dwight Howard... at that was at 20.6 ppg.

So yeah.. I would encorage people to stop and think about him being a potential 20 ppg scorer... because quite honestly no one that has said that he has 20 ppg potential has a clue of what they are talking about.

Unarguable... are you F'ing kidding me? There is no lack of stupid on the boards... He was beast last year...9 ppg on 43%... Beastly...

Mullens can absolutely average 20ppg if he keeps hitting the 3 at 43%...but more importantly he needs the other people on his team to have some semblance of offense or otherwise defenses will just key in on him.

He averaged 16 ppg this preseason playing erratic minutes.

[Blame Rasho]

Hey everyone... Mullins will soon be a max player with his 20 ppg potential to accent his 8/9/10 rpg potential.... He has the potential to be the next Dirk with his 3 point shooting ability and be unguardable because of what we have seen this preseason... You better lock him up with a long term extension.

[HornetJail]

Hey everyone... Mullins will soon be a max player with his 20 ppg potential to accent his 8/9/10 rpg potential.... He has the potential to be the next Dirk with his 3 point shooting ability and be unguardable because of what we have seen this preseason... You better lock him up with a long term extension.

I'm very high on Mullens, but I'm definitely not going that far. I really think he can be a 16/7 guy as early as this season though. I'm not going to overreact and call him Dirk Nowitzki (I do that as a joke, but that's beside the point) as I've said many times before it is the preseason. He'll only put up those numbers on a team like the Cats, Magic, or other terrible teams, but I'm sincerely worried teams will offer him large contracts because he is a 7 footer who can score. This market goes INSANE for 7 footers and I really do want him extended.

[OneWhoKnocks]

After two years of uneventful garbage minutes in OKC, Byron Mullens had somewhat of a breakout season in Charlotte. He was one of our few bright spots last year: an athletic, fairly strong 7-footer with an excellent touch from mid-range and a threat to go off for 20 or more on any given night, even putting up 31 points and 14 rebounds against Milwaukee last season. He's still fairly raw on defense, on the boards, and down low, but he's added a very good three-point shot to his game that was almost non-existent last year (hit 22% from deep last year). He's shot a TON of threes this preseason and made 44% of them. Given the fact that he appears to be a fairly quick learner, I believe he could bring his defense, rebounding, and post game to a high level and think that he might be a future 20/8 guy as a stretch 4. The long athletic 7-footer appears to have a bright future IMO. What do you guys think?

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[daschysta]

byron mullens is a great player he certainly has the skillset to be a 20ppg scorer in the league...he has post moves, when his mid range is on hes one of the best, now he has a 3 ball, hes athletic enough to run the floor and finish alleyoops easily, 80%++ free throw shooting. he just has to put it all together which i dont know if hes capable of. hes only 23 though. he was a beast last year but he hit the rookie wall pretty hard midseason.

pick and pop nightmare for opposing teams he can be unguardable if he wants to be

A 20 ppg scorer? At Center?

BJ has some skill, he always has, the motor, desire and motivation have been questions, as well as a lack of certain fundamentals, but jeez man. It's very, very hard to score 20 ppg as a Center, especially in today's NBA, it's very difficult to even feed the Center enough good shots in scoring position to get 20 unless they are having a good night, and there are many Centers more skilled and talented than BJ Mullens who don't touch 20 ppg. What do you mean "unguardable"? If he wants it to be? You mean the rare night where he actually hits a good percentage of the shots he takes from midrange? He was below average from that range last season, and that's when compared to other centers even. '

He can be a decent player, but he certainly won't be a 20 ppg C, and he won't be a star in all likelyhood, unless you are employing a very strange definition indeed.

On a lesser team maybe he gets you 16 ppg. 8 rebounds? Wouldn't be terrible, but any ideations of 20 points are delusional.