sam_I_am wrote:celticfan42487 wrote:sam_I_am wrote:Luka has the same swagger as Larry Bird minus the reckless physical play that made Larry unique. I think he and Tatum are going to join Giannis and Donovan as the best of the generation (25 and under).
I was going to reply to this saying I don't think Donovan has what it takes to get there but it looks like he really did increase his efficiency this year.
That's tough to do at 6'1" so good on him.
Yeah I think the cream of the 25 and under in no particular order can be filled out by
Greak Freak
Luka
Trae Young (he's putting up 30 ppg and 10aspg guys)
drop down to the non MVP tier
Towns (best shooting big in NBA history... yet always loses. Sounds like a young Dirk)
Ben Simmons
Tatum
Donovan
Ingram
Ja Morant
Zion (don't think he jumps to the next tier like everyone says he will due to inconsistency)
Booker
Bam Bam Adebayo
Trae is a great offensive player but he is an enormous liability on defense. He also strikes me as a regular season phenom who will struggle to be as great in playoffs due to his physical limitations. Tatum, Giannis, Simmons ( who I forgot to add), and Donovan are difference makers defensively while being great on offense. Tatum is a year or two away from having the physical strength he will need to be an elite finisher at rim and an improved passer to truly belong in this group. Doncic is not necessarily a great defender but his strength and size make him a physical presence so he is no pushover like Trae. Simmons lack of shooting (and the mentality of a shooter) is only thing holding him back from being the best.
I am interested to see if Tatum puts on any muscle but I also think one thing holding him back is a goto mid range shot.
Like right now he has a lot of different types of midrange shots that he can create space for but seems to miss too many.
Watching guys like LeBron and Kawhi get to "their spot" and nail down a mid range type shot I think will be the final step for Tatum. That and a floater.
And with the way he gets them off, like I don't want to be naive and say it WILL happen, but there's a chance it may just come in time and with repetition. He's still more of an avoid contact finisher than a power through you guy and I think that mid range shot counter is the last checkmate move in his game to make it to the point "okay go too far back to stop the layup... then I'll hit this layup of a shot for me... come too close to stop the open 15 footer, boom then I'll use my evasion moves to get an open layup"
Again I never want to say someone will reach greateness because it's so rare for anyone to get there... but it does kind of feel like this is the kind of thing that could just come with gametime and repetition because he is a very good 3 point and FT shooter and the moves are there.. just needs to nail the finish.
And we'll see about Trae. 30 and 10 is 30 and 10. We haven't even seem him with real players on his team to help out and he's only 21, he's still adding tools to his bag too. His game will goto the next level when he keeps his dribble alive and just roams past the basket ala Nash and Lowry do instead of always going to the rim, that will keep the defense off balance and open up the game even more for his teammates. I think he may have the best combination of passing and vision in the game today. I think in today's NBA he'll be a transcendant offensive player and get a 25 and 15 season in the books assuming he gets players that can actually knock down open shots and actually have the defense respect and have to cover them.
I think he's special. We'll see.
