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Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 7:31 am
by Buzzard
The choices are from the ten players who made the 2019 All Rookie Team. Pick three.
Great rookie seasons do not always translate to great careers and sometimes weak rookie players end up being some of the best. Lets try and keep the bickering and name calling to a minimum

I do ask that you give a brief explanation and if you want to rank them 1 - 3 in your explanation that is good info also.
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 7:35 am
by Buzzard
I will start it off. I went with Bagley, Doncic, and Young. It is a tough call but I think Doncic and Young are the real deals; and if Bagley can stay healthy, the Bosh comparisons are going to pan out starting this year.
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 7:45 am
by mpoo_sin
Doncic is primed for an incredible 2nd season with a much better cast around him that should lead to an uptick in ast and better efficiency.
I also expect JJJ to have a very strong season. He ll geht all the minutes he can handle in Memphis and was incredible during the time he actually played last season before "a bruise" forced him to sit out a good chunk of it.(tanktrain - choochoo)
Lastly i think SGA could have a nice season but he ll not get enough minutes as long as Paul and Schröder are still on the team.
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 7:53 am
by Buzzard
mpoo_sin wrote:Doncic is primed for an incredible 2nd season with a much better cast around him that should lead to an uptick in ast and better efficiency.
I also expect JJJ to have a very strong season. He ll geht all the minutes he can handle in Memphis and was incredible during the time he actually played last season before "a bruise" forced him to sit out a good chunk of it.(tanktrain - choochoo)
Lastly i think SGA could have a nice season but he ll not get enough minutes as long as Paul and Schröder are still on the team.
I think Doncic is a no brainer, efficiency being his biggest need for improvement; which is very normal for all rookies, especially primary ball handlers. I like Trae also, and with Westbrook giving up the rock in Houston for large parts of the game, I think he has a real chance to lead the league in assist. The choice between Ayton, Bagley, and JJJ were really tough; but I've liked Bagley since day one of the draft so I went with him.
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 8:00 am
by Repeat 3-peat
No Wendell Carter Jr mentioned?
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 8:04 am
by Buzzard
GhostOfChicago wrote:No Wendell Carter Jr mentioned?
He did not make the all rookie team and there were ten players on it. I could only make the poll using ten options. I could not add anyone else and leaving off someone from the all rookie team seemed like the wrong thing to do.
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 8:07 am
by Repeat 3-peat
Doncic is going to be special Imo, and if KP can stay healthy he could fill up the box scores.
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 12:11 pm
by koningcosmo
1 doncic, 2 trae. 3 JJJ
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 12:40 pm
by SlowPaced
Barring injury, Doncic clearly has the edge.
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 12:47 pm
by 3toheadmelo
I got Ayton. People are sleeping on him. Rubio is gonna help him ALOT.
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 12:56 pm
by gh123
mpoo_sin wrote:Doncic is primed for an incredible 2nd season with a much better cast around him that should lead to an uptick in ast and better efficiency.
I also expect JJJ to have a very strong season. He ll geht all the minutes he can handle in Memphis and was incredible during the time he actually played last season before "a bruise" forced him to sit out a good chunk of it.(tanktrain - choochoo)
Lastly i think SGA could have a nice season but he ll not get enough minutes as long as Paul and Schröder are still on the team.
Really don't see how the cast is much better, it's the same scrubs + latvian Bargnani.
I went with Bagley, Young, Luka, I think those will be by far the most popular answers.
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 3:07 pm
by mpoo_sin
gh123 wrote:mpoo_sin wrote:Doncic is primed for an incredible 2nd season with a much better cast around him that should lead to an uptick in ast and better efficiency.
I also expect JJJ to have a very strong season. He ll geht all the minutes he can handle in Memphis and was incredible during the time he actually played last season before "a bruise" forced him to sit out a good chunk of it.(tanktrain - choochoo)
Lastly i think SGA could have a nice season but he ll not get enough minutes as long as Paul and Schröder are still on the team.
Really don't see how the cast is much better, it's the same scrubs + latvian Bargnani.
I went with Bagley, Young, Luka, I think those will be by far the most popular answers.
Well: wright, Curry, porzingis instead of Harris, mejri and fked-up-ankle-dirk is an upgrade of the supporting cast to my understanding.
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 3:25 pm
by benhillboy
Shamet’s roster is set up for him to ball the f out. I expect considerable poor stretches for all the other guys who project to be high usage because sophomores. Mitchell and Tatum really hit that wall hard. Huerter desperately needs to get his FT attempts up but I suspect Jabari Parker will take some food off his table. I’m totally ignorant on those Bigs, I couldn’t tell JJJ and Bagley apart. If the Kings don’t have more national games than they did last season that’s an issue.
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 4:01 pm
by Chris76
Besides the obvious ones, Landry Shamet should get a great opportunity to shine with Kawhi and PG.
Shamet looks like a perfect combo guard for today's NBA. I liked his confidence. Some more strength and experience, he should be able to fill a role all teams could use.
Zhaire Smith could get an opportunity with the Sixers. He was injured last year, but has shown some improvement in his game.
With Simmons at PG, he could be a defensive specialist to defend quick guards.
He has played mainly as a forward in college, but has the quickness and strength to be a combo guard. He has incredible jumping abilities.
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 4:50 pm
by PlayerUp
Buzzard wrote:GhostOfChicago wrote:No Wendell Carter Jr mentioned?
He did not make the all rookie team and there were ten players on it. I could only make the poll using ten options. I could not add anyone else and leaving off someone from the all rookie team seemed like the wrong thing to do.
He was injured.
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 4:56 pm
by clyde21
JJJ
he has a PG now to hit him in his spots, should be even better defensively, and sounds like he's going to be handling the ball more.
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 5:27 pm
by Woody Allen
Doncic
JJJ
Bagley
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 10:05 pm
by Buzzard
benhillboy wrote:Shamet’s roster is set up for him to ball the f out. I expect considerable poor stretches for all the other guys who project to be high usage because sophomores. Mitchell and Tatum really hit that wall hard. Huerter desperately needs to get his FT attempts up but I suspect Jabari Parker will take some food off his table. I’m totally ignorant on those Bigs, I couldn’t tell JJJ and Bagley apart. If the Kings don’t have more national games than they did last season that’s an issue.
I think Shamet and Huerter are both setup to succeed. The load management for George and Leonard should work in Shamet's favor. I don't see Parker hurting Huerter's touches. With the losses of Prince, Bazemore, and Dedmon there is plenty of shots to go around.
Scoring wise I think they both improve this season. Huerter may get a chance to play a little more BU PG which could boost his assist numbers.
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 10:10 pm
by SK21209
Doncic - no explanation needed
Bagley - Fox really established himself in year 2 and I think Bagley does the same this year
Shamet - I think Landy's game will show the most growth in terms of incorporating different skills.
I love Shai and think he'll be awesome but I'm not sure how much he'll get to showcase next to CP3
Re: Who has the best sophomore season?
Posted: Thu Oct 3, 2019 10:12 pm
by OkcSinceSGA
Shamet is going to be the only rookie playing with a couple superstars who will have the defensive attention all game long. He's going to get the Klay Thompson perk of being wide open constantly in a juggernaut offense. He's also probably the only guy here with a title shot this year. So it depends on what "best" means here. He could easily have the best season here in terms of scoring leap and winning a title as a huge piece in that, but individually he won't be equal to Doncic, Trae, JJJ most likely.
Doncic is going to take the smallest season over season leap probably because of how damn good he was ALREADY last year. So he will end up being the best all around guy probably, while taking the smallest leap if that makes sense.