redslastlaugh wrote:Triple M wrote:JD might just be a 4 A player. Too good for the minors but not ready for the Show
If JD could hold up on the defensive end, I’d be a lot higher on his chances to develop into an explosive backup guard and have an NBA career somewhere. But whenever I watch him, JD just can’t contain his man or get thru a screen etc and so, hate to say it, but I think I’ve given up on him
You might be right. But to be fair, there's basically 2 different archetypes of point guards (like with anything, there may be some outliers).
But it's:
1) low usage on offense but elite defenders..guys like Jrue, Marcus Smart, Chris Paul, Pat Beverly, alvarado, D-whte, Suggs, Anthony Black, Lonzo, etc.
2) High usage on offense..and have some sort of elite offensive traits which enable them to be an offensive engine and really bring lots of value on offense when they're on the floor, which outweigh their defensive shortcomings (Pritchard, Ja, Dame, Trae, Haliburton, Brunson, Lamelo, Garland, Luka, Kyrie, Harden, Scoot, etc.
JD is the second type. He's still pretty young but I think at this point it's safe to say he'll never been an elite defender. The question is, can he at least be playable on D..and can he be good enough on offense to outweigh the defensive shortcomings?
I don't know. I'm not ready to write him off completely as an NBA player quite yet..but I do think at this point he's a long shot - at least in Boston..perhaps if he makes it, it'll be on a bad team like Utah, Washington, Brooklyn, etc. where he can get more playing time and have a bigger role.