Jalen Green - next elite prospect

[God Squad]

https://deanondraft.com/2021/07/19/lets-talk-about-all-of-the-little-sgs/comment-page-1/#comment-27286

Dean had some interesting points about Green. He noticed that Kuminga is listed at 6'6 but in pics looks 2 inches taller. Also noticed his teammate Nix looks the same height and is listed at 6'4.

Height Length Weight
Jalen Green 6’4.75 6’8 180
Devin Booker 6’5.75 6’8.25 206
Zach LaVine 6’5.75 6’8.25 181
Bradley Beal 6’4.75″ 6’8 202

I've said this before but Green is built like these guys not the MJs,Kobe, D.Wades of the world.

I still like Green but his upside is surely capped by being such a small guy. I think hes clearly under Mobley and neck and neck with Suggs for who should be pick 3 to 4 in the draft. Sam V just did his draft guide and had alot of questions about his defense on there as well maybe at a later time I'll copy paste some of it for discussion.

I also worry about Greens lack of passing and defense. But in terms of comps I never subscribed to the MJ, Kobe and Wade nonsense. He quite easily looks like a Beal/Lavine clone. Beals size with Lavines athletic ability.

[Shock Defeat]

https://deanondraft.com/2021/07/19/lets-talk-about-all-of-the-little-sgs/comment-page-1/#comment-27286

Dean had some interesting points about Green. He noticed that Kuminga is listed at 6'6 but in pics looks 2 inches taller. Also noticed his teammate Nix looks the same height and is listed at 6'4.

Height Length Weight
Jalen Green 6’4.75 6’8 180
Devin Booker 6’5.75 6’8.25 206
Zach LaVine 6’5.75 6’8.25 181
Bradley Beal 6’4.75″ 6’8 202

I've said this before but Green is built like these guys not the MJs,Kobe, D.Wades of the world.

I still like Green but his upside is surely capped by being such a small guy. I think hes clearly under Mobley and neck and neck with Suggs for who should be pick 3 to 4 in the draft. Sam V just did his draft guide and had alot of questions about his defense on there as well maybe at a later time I'll copy paste some of it for discussion.

I also worry about Greens lack of passing and defense. But in terms of comps I never subscribed to the MJ, Kobe and Wade nonsense. He quite easily looks like a Beal/Lavine clone. Beals size with Lavines athletic ability.

If Green is like that, then Mobley is a much more intriguing prospect. We've seen that none of those guys contribute to wins. They put up nice stats though.

[BlazersBroncos]

I also worry about Greens lack of passing and defense. But in terms of comps I never subscribed to the MJ, Kobe and Wade nonsense. He quite easily looks like a Beal/Lavine clone. Beals size with Lavines athletic ability.

I dont think any prospect really should be compared to those three. Players that great are never projected to be that good.

To me he plays like a smaller Vince Carter, albeit his frame is much smaller even taking size into account.

But his airborne adjustments are special, much more unique than anything Beal or Zach offer in that regard. The reason he gets comparisons to those 3 greats is they all sorta have that gravity defying ability to stay in the air just a touch longer than everyone else. I think VC had it as well, and Green shows that more often than any prospect I have seen in some time.

But what made MJ, Kobe and Wade great wasnt that single trait. It was one of a number of unique traits they all offered. Not sure you can compare Green to those guys just based on hangtime. But he has it.

The frame needs to improve if that hangtime is to be worth anything though. You need mass and hangtime to really use the skill in this league. Kobe did that, MJ did that, not sure if Green can. MJ always had a rocked up frame even when skinny, Kobe not so much. If Green can add weight and retain that hangtime, he can be special on offense.

[Upperclass]

Plays like Grant Hill imo

[Marcus]

Plays like Grant Hill imo

if he could add Grant's level of playmaking and defense we'd have even more of a problem on our hands.

[Big J]

The thing about Green's weaknesses is that they all can be improved on with reps and coaching. The sky is truly literally limit for this kid. I wouldn't be surprised if he was the biggest story in the league next year.

[K_chile22]

gotta say, the LaVine comps seem pretty lazy

[Big J]

gotta say, the LaVine comps seem pretty lazy

For sure, he has way more hunger than Lavine. The kid's desire to be great reminds me of Kobes.

[reamily]

The issue him being below 6'6 is that he has long legs to be capa le of doing big strides ala Giannis..

[K_chile22]

gotta say, the LaVine comps seem pretty lazy

For sure, he has way more hunger than Lavine. The kid's desire to be great reminds me of Kobes.

He's also already got more craft to his game than LaVine did up until recently. Way better off the bounce, his handle is probably already better. Smooth scorer. He's way more Brad Beal than LaVine, he's just got the freak athleticism to boot

[MotownMadness]

Green almost has that Iverson type of first step burst.

[Big J]

Agreed, I feel for the fanbases whose GM passes on him.

[Marcus]

gotta say, the LaVine comps seem pretty lazy

For sure, he has way more hunger than Lavine. The kid's desire to be great reminds me of Kobes.

He's also already got more craft to his game than LaVine did up until recently. Way better off the bounce, his handle is probably already better. Smooth scorer. He's way more Brad Beal than LaVine, he's just got the freak athleticism to boot

handle might be better than Zach's at the same stage but it isn't right now. It's one of the things Jalen has worked on and needs to continue working on especially in traffic. The comp really isn't bad in terms of what each bring to the table. Both old school ISO type bucket getters with great athleticism. I think Jalen's passing chops might be better and are somewhat underrated. Also like the rate at which his jumper has developed over the past few years, bodes well going forward.

[K_chile22]

For sure, he has way more hunger than Lavine. The kid's desire to be great reminds me of Kobes.

He's also already got more craft to his game than LaVine did up until recently. Way better off the bounce, his handle is probably already better. Smooth scorer. He's way more Brad Beal than LaVine, he's just got the freak athleticism to boot

handle might be better than Zach's at the same stage but it isn't right now. It's one of the things Jalen has worked on and needs to continue working on especially in traffic. The comp really isn't bad in terms of what each bring to the table. Both old school ISO type bucket getters with great athleticism. I think Jalen's passing chops might be better and are somewhat underrated. Also like the rate at which his jumper has developed over the past few years, bodes well going forward.

He's a bit loose with it but I genuinely believe his handle, functionally, is better than LaVine's. Feel it gets underrated what he does with the ball because it sometimes got away from him, but like, what you do when you don't lose the ball matters. His handle will tighten as he plays more and gets stronger. Plus, even though the g league generally has better spacing than college, the spacing on Elite sucked so the struggles in traffic were a bit exasperated


I'd also like to add that Levine is not an iso player. He was effective, but around 75th in frequency with nba.com qualifiers https://www.nba.com/stats/players/isolation/?SeasonType=Regular%20Season&sort=POSS_PCT&dir=1

He doesn't have a ton of shake going left and right. He's a straight line driver who just blows by people using his athleticism off advantages from closeouts, ball screens, cuts, etc.
Green can do all that but has that shake to really be a high volume iso guy

[Marcus]

He's also already got more craft to his game than LaVine did up until recently. Way better off the bounce, his handle is probably already better. Smooth scorer. He's way more Brad Beal than LaVine, he's just got the freak athleticism to boot

handle might be better than Zach's at the same stage but it isn't right now. It's one of the things Jalen has worked on and needs to continue working on especially in traffic. The comp really isn't bad in terms of what each bring to the table. Both old school ISO type bucket getters with great athleticism. I think Jalen's passing chops might be better and are somewhat underrated. Also like the rate at which his jumper has developed over the past few years, bodes well going forward.

He's a bit loose with it but I genuinely believe his handle, functionally, is better than LaVine's. Feel it gets underrated what he does with the ball because it sometimes got away from him, but like, what you do when you don't lose the ball matters. His handle will tighten as he plays more and gets stronger. Plus, even though the g league generally has better spacing than college, the spacing on Elite sucked so the struggles in traffic were a bit exasperated


I'd also like to add that Levine is not an iso player. He was effective, but around 75th in frequency with nba.com qualifiers https://www.nba.com/stats/players/isolation/?SeasonType=Regular%20Season&sort=POSS_PCT&dir=1

He doesn't have a ton of shake going left and right. He's a straight line driver who just blows by people using his athleticism off advantages from closeouts, ball screens, cuts, etc.
Green can do all that but has that shake to really be a high volume iso guy

for me, once Jalen slowed down a bit everything went up. Loved seeing the difference from his first game to the ones later in the season. It's one of the things that i love about him, he's light years beyond what he was when he first hit the map a few years ago in terms of being measured. He's made improvements on all facets of his game as well which is always a concern for me when seeing a kid that hyped that early.

Not saying Zach lives only off ISO as there aren't a ton of players in the league that do. What was intended with that statement was that both players have the ability to consistently create comfortable looks regardless of who's in front of them. It's not a question of shake so much as it's a question of can you create the necessary space to get to your spot for your look. Doesn't always have to be an East/West handle thing if my North jab Southeast or Southwest stepback and lift gets me my look. Additional shake is nice and all but an effective efficient handle is more useful at this level. All that is neither here nor there in the context of whether Jalen is capable. Jalen needs to be tighter in terms of efficiency and recognizing the space in which he can use the East/West which he got much much better about as the year went on. I expect that to continue along with his jumper. Jalen adding more functional strength will be the game changer though. Once that comes the numbers start to pop.

[GSWFan1994]

Does he have other 6000 word thesis for this draft?

edit: other seems to be locked behind Patreon

Kuminga: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Go9202poDhBLdvUVZenG2fVXJjA3ZVj8TridlYHT-8E/edit
Suggs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1a0zFnrlE0BMXIiLey4LbfT9XndKXY1HYQWMMvfON5sU/edit
Roko Prkacin: https://docs.google.com/document/d/16hQHooGgljj3RoqLoVaNdVh2XefGCSuuyFDX5982lis/edit
Daishen Nix: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k_xcGYd4ZxbYdq9EkIrVB75E3WezngIXqyk8qktBjFQ/edit

Jesus that dude's writing is infuriating.

The writer is extremely pretentious in style, not in a good technical way.

This guy thinks he's Quentin Tarantino or something... not gonna work.

I read 2 paragraphs and was cursing all around the house.

[DroseReturnChi]

gotta say, the LaVine comps seem pretty lazy

For sure, he has way more hunger than Lavine. The kid's desire to be great reminds me of Kobes.

way more hunger? lavine's one of the most hard working guy he was pretty much trash all potential like green prospect wise.
that being said, he is pretty stupid to be like steph when he should play like westbrook.

Green needs to live at the free throw line and add playmaking to even become better than Lavine. I dont see him focusing defense like 99% of the scoring guards out there when they all model Beal. Also dont see him ever beating Lavine in terms of scoring, efficiency when Lavine had a steph like season.

Even if Green becomes better less dumb version of Lavine, thats not a great outcome considering its a top pick who should be perennial all stars. Modern NBA prefers mobile bigs like Cade, Mobley Green is at a significant disadvantage he needs to work several times harder.

[DroseReturnChi]

I also worry about Greens lack of passing and defense. But in terms of comps I never subscribed to the MJ, Kobe and Wade nonsense. He quite easily looks like a Beal/Lavine clone. Beals size with Lavines athletic ability.

I dont think any prospect really should be compared to those three. Players that great are never projected to be that good.

To me he plays like a smaller Vince Carter, albeit his frame is much smaller even taking size into account.

But his airborne adjustments are special, much more unique than anything Beal or Zach offer in that regard. The reason he gets comparisons to those 3 greats is they all sorta have that gravity defying ability to stay in the air just a touch longer than everyone else. I think VC had it as well, and Green shows that more often than any prospect I have seen in some time.

But what made MJ, Kobe and Wade great wasnt that single trait. It was one of a number of unique traits they all offered. Not sure you can compare Green to those guys just based on hangtime. But he has it.

The frame needs to improve if that hangtime is to be worth anything though. You need mass and hangtime to really use the skill in this league. Kobe did that, MJ did that, not sure if Green can. MJ always had a rocked up frame even when skinny, Kobe not so much. If Green can add weight and retain that hangtime, he can be special on offense.

vince carter comp is just not viable neither is wade. theres a ton of athletic freaks for 20 yrs and none of them became even close to one. they are just one of a kind whereas everyone can imitate steph. Green needs to forget his athleticism and play like Beal for longevity sakes. Trying to imitate wade will only end your career 5 yrs earlier.

the league is way more injury prone all the mvps will be skill based/not athleticism based.

[Marcus]

Watch on YouTube

[SNPA]

Watch on YouTube

It’s not crazy to take him first.