Top 25 Under 25: DeJuan Blair 12th

[timvp]

An ESPN insider article by David Thorpe and John Carroll lists the top 25 NBA players under the age of 25.

Here's their list:

1. Kevin Durant
2. Derrick Rose
3. Kevin Love
4. Andrew Bynum
5. Blake Griffin
6. Russell Westbrook
7. Greg Monroe
8. James Harden
9. Kyrie Irving
10. John Wall
11. Ty Lawson
12. DeJuan Blair
The 6-foot-7, 270-pound power forward fell to the 37th pick of the 2009 draft after two seasons at Pitt because he is missing anterior cruciate ligaments in both knees, and scouts did not think he had the lift to finish at the rim. In his first game with the San Antonio Spurs, he scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, proving some skeptics wrong for a night, but then continued to play well on a very good team. Blair has brute strength and a tremendous feel for the game. He runs the court, establishing early position. Blair fundamentally uses angles and positioning to lock up his opponents in the paint, often finishing in the paint over taller opponents. Tremendous pickup for the Spurs. Similar to: Charles Barkley

13. DeMarcus Cousins
14. Stephen Curry
15. Danilo Gallinari
16. Ricky Rubio
17. Brandon Jennings
18. Mike Conley Jr.
19. JaVale McGee
20. Serge Ibaka
21. Nicolas Batum
22. Thaddeus Young
23. Tyreke Evans
24. Jrue Holiday
25. Brook Lopez



Blair better than Curry, Gallinari, Rubio, Ibaka and Batum?

Discuss.

:stirpot:

[DPG21920]

This is laughably bad and I really, really hope other teams buy into this.

There isn't a single player on that list the Spurs wouldn't trade Blair for.

[Spurtacus]

Too high. Cousins, Curry, Conley, Evans, Holiday, Lopez, Ibaka are better then him, imo.

[Dex]

Apparently this writer's counting skills are on par with DeJuan's.

[timtonymanu]

Wow. That's a terrible list. I guess Blair's stat padding makes him look better on paper than he actually is.

:lol better than borderline all-stars Jennings and Gallinari.

[CGD]

Maybe if this was written going into this season, but not at this current point. Not as a starter.

Blair needs to be moved to the more suitable role of energy guy off the bench similar to Malik in his day or Brandon Bass when he was with the Mavs.

[angelbelow]

I hope Dejuan doesn't read this shit. Knowing his personality this article would go straight to his head. Lmao.. they even compared his to Barkley....

If I were ranking him I'd probably put him at 25. MAYBE over Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young. But with that said I'd still take Lopez over Blair just because of his size (but he is a terrible defender and a poor rebounder.)

[urunobili]

I'd personally take Ibaka and Batum over him. Thaddeus young and Lopez too. I like DeJuan but I wont miss him a lot if he follows a pay check TBH

[JR3]

wow... can't explain this.

[will_spurs]

The whole list is so bad it's tough to know where to start. Westbrook over Irving... Bynum over Griffin... Blair over Rubio, Batum...

I think Spurstalk is being a bit tough on Blair at the moment, but it's also clear these guys wrote an article based on hearsay and boxscores.

And Blair "similar" to Barkley... I mean, please. Unless they mean 2012 Barkley, of course.

[The Truth #6]

DUDE, no way Bynum is better than Blake Griffin!

And yeah...the writer is overestimating Blair. I think national writers give too much credit to the Spurs sometimes, like that truehoop article that praised Pop for...always playing and developing young players.

[024]

QUICK, email this list to the other gms and say that the spurs are reluctantly putting blair on the market.

[Em-City]

the charles barkley comparisons baffle me..... barkley was athletic, and could shoot. aside from a reputation as a rebounder, no part of their game is similar.

[will_spurs]

DUDE, no way Bynum is better than Blake Griffin!

Who is DUDE?

[ElNono]

Interesting also is that DeJuan was a student on David Thorpe's Pro Training Center (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Thorpe_%28basketball%29) in Florida...

[jjktkk]

And to think ESPN wants you to pay for this great analysis. :rolleyes Thanks for posting Tim.

[Spurs Brazil]

I'd trade Blair for any of those guys behind him

[angelbelow]

DUDE, no way Bynum is better than Blake Griffin!

And yeah...the writer is overestimating Blair. I think national writers give too much credit to the Spurs sometimes, like that truehoop article that praised Pop for...always playing and developing young players.

Well.. depends on who you ask. I would rather have Bynum than Griffin. I like his size, strength and athleticism. Griffin is more of a ticket seller and I'm not sure his play style translates to a championship level big player. I guess only time will tell.

With Blair, I definitely agree that Spurtalk has overreacted to how bad he is. Sometimes I wonder if they even watch the game from an unbiased POV or if they're just waiting for him to fuck up and call him out on it. The truth is that Blair has been bad and and regressed since the first 5 games but he's not completely useless either. He still does nice things on the court, they're just covered up by his inconsistencies. He kind of reminds me of Bonner, if Bonner isn't hitting open 3s, hes pretty much useless. IF Blair isn't playing hard and smart hes useless too. Its like all or nothing with those 2. Which is why both are appropriately 4th or 5th type big men who should be used situationally.

[jjktkk]

Interesting also is that DeJuan was a student on David Thorpe's Pro Training Center (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Thorpe_%28basketball%29) in Florida...

Is David Thorpe a restaurant owner?

[jjktkk]

Well.. depends on who you ask. I would rather have Bynum than Griffin. I like his size, strength and athleticism. Griffin is more of a ticket seller and I'm not sure his play style translates to a championship level big player. I guess only time will tell.

With Blair, I definitely agree that Spurtalk has overreacted to how bad he is. Sometimes I wonder if they even watch the game from an unbiased POV or if they're just waiting for him to fuck up and call him out on it. The truth is that Blair has been bad and and regressed since the first 5 games but he's not completely useless either. He still does nice things on the court, they're just covered up by his inconsistencies. He kind of reminds me of Bonner, if Bonner isn't hitting open 3s, hes pretty much useless. IF Blair isn't playing hard and smart hes useless too. Its like all or nothing with those 2. Which is why both are appropriately 4th or 5th type big men who should be used situationally.

Great point. I know I'm guilty of this at times.

[Anonymous Cowherd]

Brook Lopez 25th... wow.

[SpurNation]

Tremendous pickup for the Spurs. Similar to: Charles Barkley
Well there you have it. Blair is just misunderstood and misused by the Spurs.

[angelbelow]

Great point. I know I'm guilty of this at times.

We all are :toast

[ElNono]

Is David Thorpe a restaurant owner?

dunno

EDIT: Oh wait, was this a "fat" joke?

[SpurNation]

With Blair, I definitely agree that Spurtalk has overreacted to how bad he is. Sometimes I wonder if they even watch the game from an unbiased POV or if they're just waiting for him to fuck up and call him out on it. The truth is that Blair has been bad and and regressed since the first 5 games but he's not completely useless either. He still does nice things on the court, they're just covered up by his inconsistencies. He kind of reminds me of Bonner, if Bonner isn't hitting open 3s, hes pretty much useless. IF Blair isn't playing hard and smart hes useless too. Its like all or nothing with those 2. Which is why both are appropriately 4th or 5th type big men who should be used situationally.

Good call. I would also add that Blair without Duncan is useless as well. Haven't seen enough of a Splitter/Blair tandem to make a judgement. But we all know what a Blair/Bonner tandem produces.

[chazley]

Interesting also is that DeJuan was a student on David Thorpe's Pro Training Center (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Thorpe_%28basketball%29) in Florida...

Ding Ding Ding

Also, LOL that Brook Lopez 25th. Dude averaged 20 PPG last season. Can count on one finger how many legit centers in the entire league did that last year.

[Pentagruel]

Brook Lopez 25th... wow.

Seriously... Brook is a beast on the offensive side of the ball and an ok rebounder.

As for Blair, I agree the rating is a bit high but people on this board are to critical of him. He is certainly inconsistent as another poster pointed out but I feel that part of that has to do with lack of playing time game in game out. A player like Jennings might seem like a better player than Blair but he also gets a lot more opportunities to show that (to varying degrees of success). Some of the rookies on that list also can't accurately be judged after such a short period of time.

All in all it's a pretty dodgy list, but it's not totally ludicrous and I am not so critical of Blair as many others here seem to be.

[jesterbobman]

Terrible, terrible list. Normally I agree with the majority of Thorpe's evaluations, and I wonder how involved in the process he was(Was it a partnership, or was John Carroll the primary writer? Some of Carroll's articles were atrocious homerism(See the Pierce trade column he wrote.))

Even then, they seem to be ignoring the Stat projections they state, Blair is 3rd to last, Last and then second to last in the WARP stats. Partly due to lower minutes, but having him 12th in rankings when he's 24th(of that list) in the Stat you're using seems quite bad.

In other Stats, Blair also does poorly, second to last in WP48 of that group this year. link (http://www.thenbageek.com/players/compare?utf8=%E2%9C%93&player_ids[]=138&player_ids[]=128&player_ids[]=175&player_ids[]=70&player_ids[]=300&player_ids[]=289&player_ids[]=40&player_ids[]=82&player_ids[]=229&player_ids[]=343&player_ids[]=348&player_ids[]=252&player_ids[]=228&player_ids[]=185&player_ids[]=470&player_ids[]=148&player_ids[]=276&player_ids[]=488&player_ids[]=238&player_ids[]=230&player_ids[]=92&player_ids[]=259&player_ids[]=74&player_ids[]=290) (excluding Lopex this season, who hasn't played). He's ranked highly in the past, so it all depends on whether his rebounding ability has nosedived or is just going through a bad run. Seems like we're getting more evidence that it's a drop in production.

It seems he's getting a bump due to the "Team Success" component. Essentially, it seems he's getting a bump from playing for a team that's won a lot of games. Also probably got a bump for College play. Neither of these are really that relevant in evaluating players, It's saying that Blair is better because he's a Spur and he plays with Duncan, Ginobili etc rather than being a member of the Bobcats.

That aside, it's TREMENDOUS if this indicates his trade value in any way. If we could get Ibaka or a top 10 pick for Blair, I'd do cartwheels.

[Sense]

:lol Blair has no place in that list.

[Obstructed_View]

There are at least five guys on that list below Blair that are clearly better than he is.

[slick'81]

if only lol

[Em-City]

There are at least five guys on that list below Blair that are clearly better than he is.

Every single guy on that list is clearly better than Blair

[ffadicted]

13. DeMarcus Cousins (LOOOL)
14. Stephen Curry (LOOOOOOOOOOOL)
15. Danilo Gallinari (LOOOOOOOOL)
16. Ricky Rubio (LOOOOOOOOOOOOL)
17. Brandon Jennings (LOOOOOOOOOOL)
18. Mike Conley Jr. (LOOOOOL)
19. JaVale McGee (LOOOOL)
20. Serge Ibaka (LOOOOOL)
21. Nicolas Batum (LOOOOOOL)
22. Thaddeus Young (LOOL)
23. Tyreke Evans (LOOOOOOL)
24. Jrue Holiday (LOOOL)
25. Brook Lopez (LOOOOOOOOOOOL)

What a fucking joke

[DesignatedT]

Good. Maybe someone will see this and want to trade for him

[roycrikside]

An ESPN insider article by David Thorpe and John Carroll lists the top 25 NBA players under the age of 25.

Here's their list:

1. Kevin Durant
2. Derrick Rose
3. Kevin Love
4. Andrew Bynum
5. Blake Griffin
6. Russell Westbrook
7. Greg Monroe
8. James Harden
9. Kyrie Irving
10. John Wall
11. Ty Lawson
12. DeJuan Blair
The 6-foot-7, 270-pound power forward fell to the 37th pick of the 2009 draft after two seasons at Pitt because he is missing anterior cruciate ligaments in both knees, and scouts did not think he had the lift to finish at the rim. In his first game with the San Antonio Spurs, he scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, proving some skeptics wrong for a night, but then continued to play well on a very good team. Blair has brute strength and a tremendous feel for the game. He runs the court, establishing early position. Blair fundamentally uses angles and positioning to lock up his opponents in the paint, often finishing in the paint over taller opponents. Tremendous pickup for the Spurs. Similar to: Charles Barkley

13. DeMarcus Cousins
14. Stephen Curry
15. Danilo Gallinari
16. Ricky Rubio
17. Brandon Jennings
18. Mike Conley Jr.
19. JaVale McGee
20. Serge Ibaka
21. Nicolas Batum
22. Thaddeus Young
23. Tyreke Evans
24. Jrue Holiday
25. Brook Lopez



Blair better than Curry, Gallinari, Rubio, Ibaka and Batum?

Discuss.

:stirpot:

This is stupid. The biggest Spurs homer in the world wouldn't think this was accurate. I would take literally every guy on that list over Blair, even the knuckleheads and black holes. Ridiculous.

[Bill_Brasky]

Damn, that's a stretch......to put it lightly. I really, REALLY hope Blair finds his game when Manu comes back.

Oh, and for as putrid as he's been on the offensive end, he's done a good enough job of not getting in the way and playing solid D so that he's not a complete liability out there. He's only getting ~16 mins per night IIRC.

[MI21]

http://images2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110726175222/callofduty/images/archive/5/55/20120119161717!Lolface.png

[ezau]

:lol:lol

[RuffnReadyOzStyle]

This is laughably bad and I really, really hope other teams buy into this.

There isn't a single player on that list the Spurs wouldn't trade Blair for.

/thread

[acoelho1]

Blair definitely should be top 5 on this list :). Any GM want to Trade for him??

[jag]

I'm trying to figure out how they decided Blair needed to make this list. Then I'd like to know what kind of criteria they used to place him at #12.

[Proxy]

13. DeMarcus Cousins (LOOOL)
14. Stephen Curry (LOOOOOOOOOOOL)
15. Danilo Gallinari (LOOOOOOOOL)
16. Ricky Rubio (LOOOOOOOOOOOOL)
17. Brandon Jennings (LOOOOOOOOOOL)
18. Mike Conley Jr. (LOOOOOL)
19. JaVale McGee (LOOOOL)
20. Serge Ibaka (LOOOOOL)
21. Nicolas Batum (LOOOOOOL)
22. Thaddeus Young (LOOL)
23. Tyreke Evans (LOOOOOOL)
24. Jrue Holiday (LOOOL)
25. Brook Lopez (LOOOOOOOOOOOL)

What a fucking joke

:lmaoHOLY SHIT... wow. Fuck.... trade Mr Whataburger ASAP:lmao

[baseline bum]

In addition to those 24, I would without a second thought take these players under 25 ahead of Blair:

- Eric Gordon
- DeAndre Jordan
- Darren Collison
- Derrick Williams
- Brandon Knight
- Derrick Favors (ok, potential here; he's still only 20)

[Em-City]

some context... but still a dispicable list



Not only is the league stocked with amazingly gifted and unique talents, but so many of them are guys who just love to play basketball and are great at connecting with their fans via social media. They are the poster children for a new age in basketball. Though Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were the NBA's saviors in 1979, in terms of young talent, the NBA has never been richer, and its young stars never more humble or approachable.

Connecting with them is easy, deciding who among them is elite proved far more difficult. To do so, we examined every player in the NBA age 24 and younger. Any player who was under 25 when the 2011-12 season started was eligible. However, any player who has played in less than half of his team's games within the past year did not qualify (Eric Gordon (http://espn.go.com/nba/player/_/id/3431/eric-gordon) is one case).

We then used three factors to gauge each player's overall game: how they played in past seasons, including college in some cases, how they are playing today and how they might play in the future. The player's team success also factors in, and consideration was given to players surrounded with poor talent, poor coaching or poor management. The data offered an amazing selection of legendary college superstars, multiple NCAA champions, an MVP winner, a two-time scoring champ, numerous Rookies of the Year, Olympic gold medal champions, an NBA world champion and a plethora of international stars. And with the help of Basketball Prospectus' Kevin Pelton and his SCHOENE projection system (http://www.basketballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=1206), we can see how these players might do in the next three years using WARP (wins above replacement player) (http://www.basketballprospectus.com/glossary.php?search=WARP) measurement.

[Mel_13]

Just need one GM to buy this list and give a late first rounder for Blair this summer.

[TJastal]

Too high. Cousins, Curry, Conley, Evans, Holiday, Lopez, Ibaka are better then him, imo.

Really?

[Ocotillo]

Isn't Leonard under 25.........

[senorglory]

Who is Greg Monroe?

[jiggy_55]

Lol what a joke.

[Sean Cagney]

Bynum over Griffin? HAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHA I saw that there and stopped reading nearly right away.

[therealtruth]

I think hes looking at age, upside, production and experiance combined. I think 12 is a bit high but not much. He needs to get shots and keep working on D. If he develops a post move and he has show one a few times, and learns to use his body, He has a load of upside.

As a second teamer he could destroy other teams second unit bigs. Gonna be hard for him to break out now that Splitter is balling.

My advice to Blair, get down to 260, develop a 12 foot jumper and he can be a face up 4 who can put it on the ground a la Larry Johnson.

Larry Johnson, Anthony Mason, Malik Rose all are similar builds to Blair but much more skilled.

[Darkwaters]

So......Brooke Lopez + Ricky Rubio for Dejuan Blair?

Do it RC! :hungry:

[BillMc]

If Leonard isn't already better than Blair, he soon will be....

[BillMc]

So......Brooke Lopez + Ricky Rubio for Dejuan Blair?

Do it RC! :hungry:

:rollin:rollin

[BillMc]

the charles barkley comparisons baffle me..... barkley was athletic, and could shoot. aside from a reputation as a rebounder, no part of their game is similar.

Yeah, me too. I guess they see wide, short "Big Man" who can rebound and that's all they need. Barkley was a terror on offense, Blair not so much. On defense, Chuck wasn't nearly as dominant, but when motivated he's still better than Blair.

A better comparison, in my opinion, is Blair is a poor man's Wes Unseld (you know, minus the defense).

That said, Blair may improve. It's not really fair to compare regular players to HoF'ers all the time.

[The Truth #6]

Who is DUDE?

The "royal" dude.

[The Truth #6]

I think the writer is fascinated by Blair's potential that he's occasionally shown the first two seasons. But those insane 20/20 type games are few and far between and Blair has problems trying to be consistent on a nightly basis. He played with a passion the first season in trying to "prove people wrong" to some degree, but after he's proven people wrong it seems like he's lost his motivation...and discovered Whataburger. This year he's got his weight back down but isn't sure how to get his spark back. Maybe his body is slowly wearing down. Hard to say. He started the season very well with some better offensive moves but his rebounding has been MIA. I don't think people hate him (that would be Bonner for the most part) but when he and Bonner both compete with Splitter for minutes, people are preferring Splitter and as a result wanting less of Blair.

[mountainballer]

aside the ridiculous Blair ranking, this really bad bad work. (jesus, people pay for this. at least hoopsworld and bleatcherreport is free and couldn't do worse)
did they really leave Eric Gordon from that list? yes, they did. oh well...