Is Zach Lavine the most overrated young player in the NBA?

AssistRubio · Post #1 » by **AssistRubio** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 6:19 am

Someone fill me in because I don't see it. Athletically he is amazing, other than that nothing he does stands out. His defense is horrendous, his decision making is horrendous and his shot doesn't compare to guys like Klay, CJ McCollum and Beal.

So what exactly is his upside again? All I see is JR Smith 2.0.

Mich3006 · Post #2 » by **Mich3006** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 6:25 am

Won't say he's overrated but he still has a lot of work to do (like the whole young Wolves squad). Give him at least one more year. But he needs to step up defensively, he has all the tools for being at least solid on that end.

Regarding your comparison I'm not very high on McCollum though.

ckman · Post #3 » by **ckman** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 6:42 am

Does he even highly rated? You hardly heard about him and there's a thread not so long ago questioning whether is he the problem for the Wolves

Mich3006 · Post #4 » by **Mich3006** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 6:44 am

ckman wrote:Does he even highly rated? You hardly heard about him and there's a thread not so long ago questioning whether is he the problem for the Wolves

Wasn't LaVine the reason for Minnesota to decline the Butler/Dunn trade?!

So at least Thibs is high on him.

Mr Puddles · Post #5 » by **Mr Puddles** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 6:46 am

I would almost start arguing the opposite actually - he's starting to fall in the category 'mentioned so much as overrated that he starts to become underrated'.

Lavine has his flaws, but at age 21 he is already a deadly shooter and an athletic freak. He has plenty of time to develop and mature in other aspects of the game.

Post #6 » by **KF10** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 6:48 am

I always come out impressed whenever I watch Lavine play tbh. The only thing I can think of that is a negative right now is his defense. It's pretty poor.

dorkestra · Post #7 » by **dorkestra** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 6:55 am

I'm not sure what the stats say, but when I watch him, I feel like he's a bit of a chucker. In most situations that's okay, given his skills, but when you have Towns and Wiggins, maybe a bit more selflessness wouldn't hurt him. Probably still scarred from his treatment at UCLA.

Post #8 » by **bwgood77** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 7:00 am

Mr Puddles wrote:I would almost start arguing the opposite actually - he's starting to fall in the category 'mentioned so much as overrated that he starts to become underrated'.

Lavine has his flaws, but at age 21 he is already a deadly shooter and an athletic freak. He has plenty of time to develop and mature in other aspects of the game.

I agree...for a volume 3 pt shooter, he is not just athletic and all about that, he is a great shooter. He is one of the best young players in the league.

Post #9 » by **Prez** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 7:08 am

Pretty much my only concern about him is defense, and even then I see him as one of those guys who gets it as his career goes on. He's not an idiot, he's a high level competitor, and he has no physical limitations at all. I just can't see him being this awful on D forever.

Offensively I'm pretty positive he's gonna be amazing. Insane athlete, outstanding shooter, good ball handler. Get him on a well coached team and he's a legit championship caliber 2nd option in a few years. Possibly even 1st.

DarkAzcura · Post #10 » by **DarkAzcura** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 7:12 am

I don't get to watch the Wolves as much as I'd like to or anything, but he's 21 putting up 18/3/3 on 39% 3PT shooting with good handles and athletic ability. Seems he has a lot of work to do with his BBIQ, but you can't really ask for much more from a 21 year old on a developing team..

wablty · Post #11 » by **wablty** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 7:45 am

If LaVine played defense, he'd already be one of the better 2's in the league. No, he is not overrated unless you're putting him in the very top echelon of young players. He can stroke it, he's great in transition and he can get his shot off almost at will. That's a fairly rare combination.

marcush · Post #12 » by **marcush** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 7:55 am

J.R Smith with his head screwed on right is a pretty damn good player. And like JR, I would think that his shot is on the level of a CJ or Beal.

He obviously has no clue defensively though so you gotta pair him with some other good perimeter defenders. There's probably a bit of upside left in his passing game.

andyhop · Post #13 » by **andyhop** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 7:55 am

dorkestra wrote:I'm not sure what the stats say, but when I watch him, I feel like he's a bit of a chucker. In most situations that's okay, given his skills, but when you have Towns and Wiggins, maybe a bit more selflessness wouldn't hurt him. Probably still scarred from his treatment at UCLA.

He is much more efficient than Wiggins , so being more selflessness wouldn't be a good thing.

dorkestra · Post #14 » by **dorkestra** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 7:56 am

andyhop wrote:
dorkestra wrote:I'm not sure what the stats say, but when I watch him, I feel like he's a bit of a chucker. In most situations that's okay, given his skills, but when you have Towns and Wiggins, maybe a bit more selflessness wouldn't hurt him. Probably still scarred from his treatment at UCLA.

He is much more efficient than Wiggins , so being more selflessness wouldn't be a good thing.

What about Towns?

Post #15 » by **bondom34** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 7:58 am

TBH I think this fits Wiggins more. I'd rather have Lavine.

andyhop · Post #16 » by **andyhop** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 7:59 am

dorkestra wrote:
andyhop wrote:
dorkestra wrote:I'm not sure what the stats say, but when I watch him, I feel like he's a bit of a chucker. In most situations that's okay, given his skills, but when you have Towns and Wiggins, maybe a bit more selflessness wouldn't hurt him. Probably still scarred from his treatment at UCLA.

He is much more efficient than Wiggins , so being more selflessness wouldn't be a good thing.

What about Towns?

If you want to get him more shots you stop isoing Wiggins so much

dorkestra · Post #17 » by **dorkestra** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 8:00 am

andyhop wrote:
dorkestra wrote:
andyhop wrote:
He is much more efficient than Wiggins , so being more selflessness wouldn't be a good thing.

What about Towns?

If you want to get him more shots you stop isoing Wiggins so much

interesting - seems like wolves fans are quite divided on this issue, based on discussions I've ad on this board

FinnTheHuman · Post #18 » by **FinnTheHuman** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 8:15 am

dorkestra wrote:
andyhop wrote:
dorkestra wrote:
What about Towns?

If you want to get him more shots you stop isoing Wiggins so much

interesting - seems like wolves fans are quite divided on this issue, based on discussions I've ad on this board

Towns has a TS% of .582 and is 1st on the team in that category, Lavine is .574 and 2nd, and until his recent post-injury slump, Lavine was even ahead of Towns in TS%.

Wiggins has the same TS% as Ricky Rubio, .532, so yeah, when it comes to offensive efficiency, it would seem Lavine is not the issue.

The_Hater · Post #19 » by **The_Hater** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 8:22 am

AssistRubio wrote:Someone fill me in because I don't see it. Athletically he is amazing, other than that nothing he does stands out. His defense is horrendous, his decision making is horrendous and his shot doesn't compare to guys like Klay, CJ McCollum and Beal.

So what exactly is his upside again? All I see is JR Smith 2.0.

It might actually be his running mate Andrew Wiggins. Wiggins is less effcient, more selfish and far worse in the advanced stats on both sides of the ball.

Zeitgeister · Post #20 » by **Zeitgeister** » Sat Feb 4, 2017 8:25 am

There's a more overrated player on his own team, Andrew Wiggins. It's hilarious going to the TImberwolves board on this site though where a lot of people are seemingly convinced that putting Wiggins at SG instead of SF is going to solve all of his problems. LaVine has flat out, out performed Wiggins this season even though he's hit a rut since January when he had the hip injury. I'm not sure how much the hip injury is to blame or if he was trying to fit in with how the offensive dynamic has changed on the team or what but he had a good game tonight.