[KingslayerParticipant]

We spend so much time debating young NBA players and how good they will become on this forum. I thought it would be cool to make a list of the top young NBA players, not just rookies or players from one draft class, but a list of the best talents merged from multiple recent draft classes. I ranked them by asking one question: "Who would I rather have?" I considered current level of production, potential, age, injury issues (*cough* Embiid), and any other factors that may affect how much these players develop. To qualify, a player must be in his first, second or third season. Just a quick FYI – I was surprised how tough it was to differentiate some of these players from a value standpoint. There’s so much room for error projecting young players. Here we go…

1. KAT – so good already, has everything you want in a franchise PF/C
2. Wiggins – great scorer/athlete. Will he toughen up to become more versatile?
3. Porzingis – doubters lit a fire in him, will help him reach his huge potential
4. Giannis – after KAT, it’s so tough to choose between Wiggy, KP and Alpha
5. Gobert – defensive impact warrants the high rank. Stifle Tower
6. Oladipo – two-way player with upside. poor fit with Skiles?
7. Embiid – your guess is as good as mine
8. Noel – Huge upside. will he ever achieve it playing next to Okafor/Embiid?
9. Okafor – limited upside in today’s NBA, but there’s a place for unique talents
10. Gordon – potential 2 way star. athletic profile/skill/work ethic – got em
11. Parker – high scoring potential, but injury set him back in development
12. Mirotic – another great scorer, plenty of time to round out the rough edges
13. S. Johnson – can you tell i really like two-way athletes? slow start
14. Winslow – playing within himself effectively. will work to become a star
15. Schroder – improving every season, will get his chance to start eventually
16. Porter – love his work ethic, length and 3 & D potential. playing fantastic
17. McCollum – is there room for much more? suprising efficiency this season
18. Smart – can shoot up this list with work on offensive skills
19. Russell – stock buoyed by Curry. opportunity offset by bad Lakers team?
20. Clarkson – already 23. like his game but is there much upside left?
21. LaVine – boom or bust – where does he land? jumps high, upside higher.
22. Turner – legitimate health questions or he would be a few spots up
23. Hezonja – difficult to rank, another boom or bust player
24. Payton – old school game that I like. must develop shooting range
25. WCS – high imact defender, has played well to start out
26. Booker – youngest player in the draft, could turn out to be really nice
27. Nurkic – will he be able to stay healthy? big potential
28. Mudiay – longgg way to go. I may be too harsh considering circumstances
29. Hood – solid player already who is showing some nice offensive skills
30. Len – health, Chandler are major hurdles
31. Capela – great start this year. great length/mobility on D
32. KCP – becoming a great on-ball defender. Curry struggled against him
33. Olynyk – high IQ player but very inconsistent
34. Payne – draft stock raised by Curry effect. can he defend?
35. MCW – disappointing lack of development after great rookie season
36. Randle – injury set him back. does game translate to the NBA very well?
37. Dieng – Let him play!
38. RHJ – Nets have a good one. He’s knocking down mid range J’s already
39. K. Anderson – only thing slower than slow-mo is his wait to get on the court
40. Powell – great athletic profile, Carlisle will bring out the best
41. Oubre – i’m a believer, but he’ll need time
42. Exum – Get well soon
43. Plumlee – close to his ceiling, but it ain’t bad
44. Jokic – hard not to like his game if you’ve seen him play
45. Warren – very unique scorer, although doesn’t have the highest of upsides
46. Harris – shooter and defensive grinder
47. Lyles – thought he was really overrated in the draft process
48. Vonleh – needs to show something this season
49. J. Anderson – there’s some upside here. good situation to develop
50. S. Adams – see Plumlee. he is valuable to OKC

There are at least 20-30 other players that warrant consideration for this list. What do y’all think? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[FrankStallone]

 Towns is the only guy you can even think about listing over Porzingis.

[FrankStallone]

 Towns is the only guy you can even think about listing over Porzingis.

[Magic JordanParticipant]

 Not Myles Turner?  Because at one point you had them going down as the two greatest players ever.  That is not sarcasm either… those are your words.

 

 

[Magic JordanParticipant]

 Not Myles Turner?  Because at one point you had them going down as the two greatest players ever.  That is not sarcasm either… those are your words.

 

 

[FrankStallone]

 Turner still looks like a great prospect. Extremely rare to see a teenage rookie big man with a shooting stroke that smooth, confident, and high % right out of the gate. And he’s already a good shot blocker. He just needs to continue filling out because his footspeed is sub-par for PF.

You probably didn’t notice his sweet jump shot or shot blocking, being so busy keeping up with the "turned the corner" gang of career backups.

 

 

 

[FrankStallone]

 Turner still looks like a great prospect. Extremely rare to see a teenage rookie big man with a shooting stroke that smooth, confident, and high % right out of the gate. And he’s already a good shot blocker. He just needs to continue filling out because his footspeed is sub-par for PF.

You probably didn’t notice his sweet jump shot or shot blocking, being so busy keeping up with the "turned the corner" gang of career backups.

 

 

 

[Magic JordanParticipant]

 Huh?

[Magic JordanParticipant]

 Huh?

[FrankStallone]

 Randle and DRussell. Jim Buss said the team turned the corner, but these guys are benchers.

[FrankStallone]

 Randle and DRussell. Jim Buss said the team turned the corner, but these guys are benchers.

[circumlocution75Participant]

 he is basically unstoppable in the post on a D-League team where the Other team keys on him all game & he still scores….. Do people realize that Okafor (7.5) rebounds averages nearly the same as Porzingus (8.6) & that Okafor (1.8) blocks more shots per game than Porzingus (1.1)…… & he’s shooting 66% from the Free Throw line….. & Okafor is not getting very many calls from Refs yet… but he’s got so many moves, if he was a vet, he’d be racking up "and 1’s" at an all time rate…..

I’m not knocking Porzingus & I don’t want to jock Okafor either… But scouts loved Okafor from his junior year in H.S. up until the Draft Lottery when the talking heads on espn started nit picking his game saying "he can’t rebound, defend or shoot free throws – but he’ll score 20 ppg from day one…" 

Well they were right about the 20 ppg but they were wrong about everything else…. It’s got to be torture for him to play on the Sixers…. The crazy thing is that he’s got D-League guards that refuse to pass him the ball b/c they are too busy jacking up (& missing) 3 pointers & Okafor is Only taking about 15 shots a game when he should be taking no less than 20 shots per game….. 

 I like all the players you have listed & I realize this is just opinion but maybe we should wait a bit before ranking them….

 

[circumlocution75Participant]

 he is basically unstoppable in the post on a D-League team where the Other team keys on him all game & he still scores….. Do people realize that Okafor (7.5) rebounds averages nearly the same as Porzingus (8.6) & that Okafor (1.8) blocks more shots per game than Porzingus (1.1)…… & he’s shooting 66% from the Free Throw line….. & Okafor is not getting very many calls from Refs yet… but he’s got so many moves, if he was a vet, he’d be racking up "and 1’s" at an all time rate…..

I’m not knocking Porzingus & I don’t want to jock Okafor either… But scouts loved Okafor from his junior year in H.S. up until the Draft Lottery when the talking heads on espn started nit picking his game saying "he can’t rebound, defend or shoot free throws – but he’ll score 20 ppg from day one…" 

Well they were right about the 20 ppg but they were wrong about everything else…. It’s got to be torture for him to play on the Sixers…. The crazy thing is that he’s got D-League guards that refuse to pass him the ball b/c they are too busy jacking up (& missing) 3 pointers & Okafor is Only taking about 15 shots a game when he should be taking no less than 20 shots per game….. 

 I like all the players you have listed & I realize this is just opinion but maybe we should wait a bit before ranking them….

 

[FrankStallone]

You want Okafor to get brownie points for being highly rated as a jr in high school?

Start a thread and make a list of high school trophies.

 

 

[FrankStallone]

You want Okafor to get brownie points for being highly rated as a jr in high school?

Start a thread and make a list of high school trophies.

 

 

[Magic JordanParticipant]

 I have never not seen you be a douchebag.

[Magic JordanParticipant]

 I have never not seen you be a douchebag.

[circumlocution75Participant]

 what I was trying to say was that no REAL scouts were ever down on Okafor…. Basically the in the last 6 weeks before the Draft, the talking heads on espn take the baton from the real scouts who have been evaluating these kids since junior year in High School…….. So they can get ratings I’m sure…. They pull out a few small shortcomings or weaknesses in the "Top" prospects’ games & they BLOW them completely out of proportion to make them look bad…. & pump up lower rated guys by ONLY talking about their strengths but leaving out their weaknesses….

In other words they will create story lines…. I watched Jeff Goodman do this 2 years ago when he said that GM"s were telling him that Steve Adams was going to be a star & had passed Noel as the better prospect…. no GM ever told him that…. They do it every year…. & there are many examples

My only point was that they pick & choose who & what to focus on – I was not pulling down your guy Prozingus – all I was saying is that as usual the real scouts (who are not on TV) were right again b/c they ALL said that Okafor & Townes were "By Far the cream of the 2015 Draft…" & we can already see that they were correct….

 

 

[circumlocution75Participant]

 what I was trying to say was that no REAL scouts were ever down on Okafor…. Basically the in the last 6 weeks before the Draft, the talking heads on espn take the baton from the real scouts who have been evaluating these kids since junior year in High School…….. So they can get ratings I’m sure…. They pull out a few small shortcomings or weaknesses in the "Top" prospects’ games & they BLOW them completely out of proportion to make them look bad…. & pump up lower rated guys by ONLY talking about their strengths but leaving out their weaknesses….

In other words they will create story lines…. I watched Jeff Goodman do this 2 years ago when he said that GM"s were telling him that Steve Adams was going to be a star & had passed Noel as the better prospect…. no GM ever told him that…. They do it every year…. & there are many examples

My only point was that they pick & choose who & what to focus on – I was not pulling down your guy Prozingus – all I was saying is that as usual the real scouts (who are not on TV) were right again b/c they ALL said that Okafor & Townes were "By Far the cream of the 2015 Draft…" & we can already see that they were correct….

 

 

[FrankStallone]

 That’s where you, and they were wrong. You think the people saying Towns and Okafor were head and shoulders above Porzingis actually watched him play?

It takes huge nuts not just to draft a guy like Porzingis, it takes guts/nuts just to compare a guy like that to any top US prospects. It was totally safe to say that Porzingis was a level below Okafor and Towns, because there was less to compare him to.

Okafor can put up big stats on a terrible team. That doesn’t mean a whole lot. Porzingis is already playing all defense level d, and his scoring has been subdued because he plays next to the biggest chucker this side of Kobe in Melo. Okafor couldn’t get back on d if he tried. And he moves like he’s stuck in mud, while Porzingis can guard 1-5 at an elite level.

Derrick Fisher was resistent to giving Porzingis a bunch of post up opportunities, but now that he broke out with his 29 point game, and the entire city is going to be in Derrick Fisher’s ear all game long, Porzingis is going to finally start getting some of those post touches that Okafor has been getting all year.

"Only 15 fgas a game"? Wait until Porzingis starts getting some of those shots that Melo has been hoarding all year, especially in the post where Porzingis can just turn and shoot over anybody, especially a little teletubby like Okafor.

 

 

 

[FrankStallone]

 That’s where you, and they were wrong. You think the people saying Towns and Okafor were head and shoulders above Porzingis actually watched him play?

It takes huge nuts not just to draft a guy like Porzingis, it takes guts/nuts just to compare a guy like that to any top US prospects. It was totally safe to say that Porzingis was a level below Okafor and Towns, because there was less to compare him to.

Okafor can put up big stats on a terrible team. That doesn’t mean a whole lot. Porzingis is already playing all defense level d, and his scoring has been subdued because he plays next to the biggest chucker this side of Kobe in Melo. Okafor couldn’t get back on d if he tried. And he moves like he’s stuck in mud, while Porzingis can guard 1-5 at an elite level.

Derrick Fisher was resistent to giving Porzingis a bunch of post up opportunities, but now that he broke out with his 29 point game, and the entire city is going to be in Derrick Fisher’s ear all game long, Porzingis is going to finally start getting some of those post touches that Okafor has been getting all year.

"Only 15 fgas a game"? Wait until Porzingis starts getting some of those shots that Melo has been hoarding all year, especially in the post where Porzingis can just turn and shoot over anybody, especially a little teletubby like Okafor.

 

 

 

[bumbleb33Participant]

 okafor is actually a poor rebounder and his defense is even worse

[bumbleb33Participant]

 okafor is actually a poor rebounder and his defense is even worse

[circumlocution75Participant]

 barely ahead of Okafor in that category & why does Okafor have many more blocks than Porzingus & lead the Sixers whole team in blocked shots when he plays with DPOY candidate Noel?

Noel missed their game against Chicago & Okafor had 21 points, 15 rebounds & 4 blocks…… After the game reporters asked about his rebounding & he said this "I am working hard to strengthen all the weaknesses in my game. I am 19. But as far as rebounding, coach has me boxing out so Noel can grab the boards…."

Look I’m not a Sixers fan but it makes me nuts that dummies on espn tag a minor issue w/ a young prospect & people just mindlessly repeat it w/o ever watching these guys….

 It’s funny b/c when the "Uni-brow" came in the league these same ball bags claimed that he was a defense only player & that he would never be a scorer b/c he could not shoot… & in his first year he WAS a poor shooter… But these top prospects are entering the League at 19 – they are Top prospects b/c they are mega talented & they pick up skills AFTER they enter the league by working hard with good coaching….

 

 

[circumlocution75Participant]

 barely ahead of Okafor in that category & why does Okafor have many more blocks than Porzingus & lead the Sixers whole team in blocked shots when he plays with DPOY candidate Noel?

Noel missed their game against Chicago & Okafor had 21 points, 15 rebounds & 4 blocks…… After the game reporters asked about his rebounding & he said this "I am working hard to strengthen all the weaknesses in my game. I am 19. But as far as rebounding, coach has me boxing out so Noel can grab the boards…."

Look I’m not a Sixers fan but it makes me nuts that dummies on espn tag a minor issue w/ a young prospect & people just mindlessly repeat it w/o ever watching these guys….

 It’s funny b/c when the "Uni-brow" came in the league these same ball bags claimed that he was a defense only player & that he would never be a scorer b/c he could not shoot… & in his first year he WAS a poor shooter… But these top prospects are entering the League at 19 – they are Top prospects b/c they are mega talented & they pick up skills AFTER they enter the league by working hard with good coaching….

 

 

[frogmanParticipant]

Well Porzingis plays 8 minutes less a game than Okafor and still averages more.  Per 36 mins Porzingis averages 12.2 per game whereas Okafor averages 8.1.  That’s a big difference.

[frogmanParticipant]

Well Porzingis plays 8 minutes less a game than Okafor and still averages more.  Per 36 mins Porzingis averages 12.2 per game whereas Okafor averages 8.1.  That’s a big difference.

[NBAjunkie81Participant]

 you could easily turn that around & say Porzingus doesn’t play as many minutes b/c his coach is picking & choosing match ups to keep him away from certain players or that he’s not good enough to beat out players on his own team for more minutes…..

 Porzingus averages 8.6 reb & 1.1 blocks and  Okafor averages 7.5 reb & 1.8 blocks…. No one is bashing Porzingus – the point people are making is that there are people on here just parakeeting what they read on certain sites w/o even even watching these players….

 

 

 

 

[NBAjunkie81Participant]

 you could easily turn that around & say Porzingus doesn’t play as many minutes b/c his coach is picking & choosing match ups to keep him away from certain players or that he’s not good enough to beat out players on his own team for more minutes…..

 Porzingus averages 8.6 reb & 1.1 blocks and  Okafor averages 7.5 reb & 1.8 blocks…. No one is bashing Porzingus – the point people are making is that there are people on here just parakeeting what they read on certain sites w/o even even watching these players….

 

 

 

 

[WinterSoldierParticipant]

 Okafor is playing better defense than most are giving him credit for but his advanced stats DBPM, OBPM, BPM, VORP and PER(Plus every other advanced stat other than TS% and BLK% which are both barely higher) are all worse than Porzingis. Okafor is good with a lot of potential but he isn’t on the same level as Porzingis, He also doesn’t have the upside of Porzingis. 

[WinterSoldierParticipant]

 Okafor is playing better defense than most are giving him credit for but his advanced stats DBPM, OBPM, BPM, VORP and PER(Plus every other advanced stat other than TS% and BLK% which are both barely higher) are all worse than Porzingis. Okafor is good with a lot of potential but he isn’t on the same level as Porzingis, He also doesn’t have the upside of Porzingis. 

[circumlocution75Participant]

I was just using him as an example to make my Okafor point – but are you serious??? Have you actually watched Both these players play games???

B/c I have watched Knicks games & I have watched a few Sixers games (not the whole game they are just too bad, but large parts)….

 The Sixers might be the worst team ever assembled & All 5 opposing players are keying on Okafor & he is still unguardable in the post…. & he is a great passeer out of the double team – Phila just does not have Anyone who can hit an Open shot….

Porzingus is a nice defensive rebounder & I like his scrappiness getting put back buckets…. but he has Zero inside game. He is easily pushed off the block so he can’t post anyone up… He can’t pass, he doesn’t really block shots, he’s more or less a defensive rebounder & at the offensive end he is a 7’2” perimeter player but he shoots a ridiculous 40% FG% & he shoots 26% from 3pt range….. & that’s with NO ONE from the other team keying on him b/c Melo is pouring in 28 a night…..

I was praying the Knicks would get Okafor in the Lottery…. On the Knicks, w/ Melo – Okafor would score 25 to 30 points every night – right now as a rookie….N.Y. would have Two players who Command a double team on Every possession – so there would be shooters taking open shots Constantly…. & they would be a Really tough out in the playoffs b/c the playoffs turn into a half court grind….

I never said Okafor was a great rebounder or shot blocker… All I said was when I watched him play he is Much better than the Ucktards on espn made him out to be in those areas…..

I was not criticizing Porzingus or any of the Posters on this site…. My only point was saying "Okafor would have a tough time fitting in the NBA" was a Crazy statement to make in the original post…. I like Zingy, he’s a good prospect – but he’ll Never be the #1 or #2 option on a team & that’s OK…. We all knew about him at least a year ago & he’s good…

 T-Rex is making it sound like he is the next Hakeem the Dream & he personally found him one day while walking thru the woods in Transylvania, brought him to the Draft & everyone was doubting him….. 

 

 

 

[circumlocution75Participant]

I was just using him as an example to make my Okafor point – but are you serious??? Have you actually watched Both these players play games???

B/c I have watched Knicks games & I have watched a few Sixers games (not the whole game they are just too bad, but large parts)….

 The Sixers might be the worst team ever assembled & All 5 opposing players are keying on Okafor & he is still unguardable in the post…. & he is a great passeer out of the double team – Phila just does not have Anyone who can hit an Open shot….

Porzingus is a nice defensive rebounder & I like his scrappiness getting put back buckets…. but he has Zero inside game. He is easily pushed off the block so he can’t post anyone up… He can’t pass, he doesn’t really block shots, he’s more or less a defensive rebounder & at the offensive end he is a 7’2” perimeter player but he shoots a ridiculous 40% FG% & he shoots 26% from 3pt range….. & that’s with NO ONE from the other team keying on him b/c Melo is pouring in 28 a night…..

I was praying the Knicks would get Okafor in the Lottery…. On the Knicks, w/ Melo – Okafor would score 25 to 30 points every night – right now as a rookie….N.Y. would have Two players who Command a double team on Every possession – so there would be shooters taking open shots Constantly…. & they would be a Really tough out in the playoffs b/c the playoffs turn into a half court grind….

I never said Okafor was a great rebounder or shot blocker… All I said was when I watched him play he is Much better than the Ucktards on espn made him out to be in those areas…..

I was not criticizing Porzingus or any of the Posters on this site…. My only point was saying "Okafor would have a tough time fitting in the NBA" was a Crazy statement to make in the original post…. I like Zingy, he’s a good prospect – but he’ll Never be the #1 or #2 option on a team & that’s OK…. We all knew about him at least a year ago & he’s good…

 T-Rex is making it sound like he is the next Hakeem the Dream & he personally found him one day while walking thru the woods in Transylvania, brought him to the Draft & everyone was doubting him….. 

 

 

 

[WinterSoldierParticipant]

 I think you are seriously underrating Porzingis. He is not just getting defensive rebounds he is actually a good offensive rebounder. KP is shooting awful but he still has really good advanced stats. As far as other teams not guarding him that couldn’t be further from the truth every game I’ve watched teams swarm him. His shot looks good and he has shot it well some games if his shot becomes consistant he’ll be just about unguardable. He isn’t Hakeem and never will be but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a really good player. He already is a #2 player on a team that looks like it might make the playoffs in the east. 

Okafor does have a great inside game but not much else. Also for only scoring inside and shooting almost no outside shots he has a surprisingly low FG%. I’m going to give you link so you can look over their stats and then decide who you think is having a better year.

 

 

 

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/o/okafoja01.html

[WinterSoldierParticipant]

 I think you are seriously underrating Porzingis. He is not just getting defensive rebounds he is actually a good offensive rebounder. KP is shooting awful but he still has really good advanced stats. As far as other teams not guarding him that couldn’t be further from the truth every game I’ve watched teams swarm him. His shot looks good and he has shot it well some games if his shot becomes consistant he’ll be just about unguardable. He isn’t Hakeem and never will be but that doesn’t mean he can’t be a really good player. He already is a #2 player on a team that looks like it might make the playoffs in the east. 

Okafor does have a great inside game but not much else. Also for only scoring inside and shooting almost no outside shots he has a surprisingly low FG%. I’m going to give you link so you can look over their stats and then decide who you think is having a better year.

 

 

 

http://www.basketball-reference.com/players/o/okafoja01.html

[FrankStallone]

 These guys just look up fantasy points and then boldly state how "good" or "bad" a player is. 

Porzingis is already All Defense level, if not DPOY level, but these guys just look at his blocks stats and declare he’s merely a good defensive rebounder, lol.

Most of these guys think Al Jefferson is better than Rudy Gobert because fantasy basketball probably sez so.

They love good-stats-on-bad-teams guys, and wouldn’t know Hakeem level defense if it zinged them in the face.

 

 

 

 

 

[FrankStallone]

 These guys just look up fantasy points and then boldly state how "good" or "bad" a player is. 

Porzingis is already All Defense level, if not DPOY level, but these guys just look at his blocks stats and declare he’s merely a good defensive rebounder, lol.

Most of these guys think Al Jefferson is better than Rudy Gobert because fantasy basketball probably sez so.

They love good-stats-on-bad-teams guys, and wouldn’t know Hakeem level defense if it zinged them in the face.

 

 

 

 

 

[zcnumerounoParticipant]

 I guess I’ve been inactive from this site for longer than I thought (probably like 3 days)… Did T-Rex’s other accounts all get banned or what? Kid works fast I guess… Lol

[zcnumerounoParticipant]

 I guess I’ve been inactive from this site for longer than I thought (probably like 3 days)… Did T-Rex’s other accounts all get banned or what? Kid works fast I guess… Lol

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