ESPN: Ranking NBA's best 25 under 25

[TD 21]

No Spurs made aggregate list between Marks, Pelton, Schmitz, but Marks had Murray at 24 and Pelton had Johnson at 25.

NBA's best 25 under 25 - Ranking young stars by future potential (espn.com) (https://www.espn.com/nba/insider/story/_/id/31198084/nba-best-25-25-ranking-young-stars-future-potential)

[horseshue]

Even Lonzo fucking Ball is there, and higher than any spur. :lol

[Ignazzz]

LaMelo top 3
Golden Boy of ESPN.

[exstatic]

Even Lonzo fucking Ball is there, and higher than any spur. :lol

Shows it’s a popularity contest. He’s been traded by his drafting team, and is on the block again.

Who else would you have them rank? Devin is a rookie, and Lonnie and Luka don’t belong. Derrick is 26.

[cd98]

Shows it’s a popularity contest. He’s been traded by his drafting team, and is on the block again.

Who else would you have them rank? Devin is a rookie, and Lonnie and Luka don’t belong. Derrick is 26.

What about Johnson?

[Prime BEEF]

The list is not too bad imo. Mikal Bridges is way to high though. I’d remove him from the list and slide Murray into the list somewhere in the 20s

[DMC]

No Spur on the list in aggregate but people here think Pop is the catalyst to a ring.

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

Johnson needs to expand his game. He's been exposed a bit since teams have figured out how to defend him.

[Ignazzz]

The list is not too bad imo. Mikal Bridges is way to high though. I’d remove him from the list and slide Murray into the list somewhere in the 20s

https://twitter.com/denverstiffs/status/1379476136061730818?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5 Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1379476136061730818%7Ctwgr% 5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fe-nba.pl%2Findex.php%3Fapp%3Dcoremodule%3Dsystemcont roller%3Dembedurl%3Dhttps%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fde nverstiffs%2Fstatus%2F1379476136061730818%3Fs%3D19

[Ignazzz]

list is funny
look at PO performance and potential in high ranked series

LaMelo??? joke Lonzo too Alen? Edwards???

Simmons & Jamal & Tatum & Doncic on top

[KobesAchilles]

The list is not too bad imo. Mikal Bridges is way to high though. I’d remove him from the list and slide Murray into the list somewhere in the 20s
He’s who I want to offer the max to when his contract comes up

[TD 21]

He’s who I want to offer the max to when his contract comes up

Why? Only an absurd (to give you an idea of that, word is he might command 4/$80M on an extension) offer would get them to even consider not matching and as good as he is, Vassell has the makings of becoming the next him and the last thing this team needs is more significant money tied up in role players.

[MoSpur02]

Johnson needs to expand his game. He's been exposed a bit since teams have figured out how to defend him.

Good take. He looks limited right now. He’s young and has time to add stuff to his game. It’s up to him though.

[exstatic]

Johnson needs to expand his game. He's been exposed a bit since teams have figured out how to defend him.

He’s just crossed the 60 games played threshold, and had a summer league and training camp almost two years ago. This is essentially his rookie wall.

[KobesAchilles]

Why? Only an absurd (to give you an idea of that, word is he might command 4/$80M on an extension) offer would get them to even consider not matching and as good as he is, Vassell has the makings of becoming the next him and the last thing this team needs is more significant money tied up in role players.
He’s bigger than Vassell and has improved every single year. Dude has added to his game, still young where he fits with the youth. He gives us a legit SF who has size, shoots the 3 at an amazing clip, and has potential growth to expand his game as well. Even if he only gives us 15 a game, he provides defense and spaces the floor and will be on a reasonable contract of like 25 million a year

[timvp]

Eh, I don't have an issue with that list. DJ and KJ might have an argument but it's splitting hairs outside of the top 15 or so. The difference between 18 and 30 is so small it's not even worth arguing over.

It is interesting, however, how few certified franchise players under age 25 there are that you can confidently say are franchise players on a championship team. That list would be, what, I guess Doncic, Zion, Tatum and maybe Mitchell? If anything, that's probably being too generous. I've been LaMelo's number one fan but even I can't put him in that category yet. Fox is an obvious no for that category and he's #6 on this list. Zion is damn talented but nothing he does has translated to wins yet. Mitchell is a really good player but he's more like a really good player on a really good team that is unlikely to get over the hump. I guess Doncic and Tatum are probably the top dogs in that category ... but it's not like the Mavs and the Celtics are looking like world beaters . . .

In this superteam era, it's odd how you can have a legit franchise player but that not even be close to being a legit championship contender.

[timvp]

Also, big-picture-wise, the Spurs current state shouldn't be surprising. No top 25 young players, no top 25 old players ... and they were six games over .500 a couple weeks ago. That math almost doesn't make sense, tbh. Even .500 looks impressive looking at things through that lens :lol

[paperboy77]

LaMelo top 3
Golden Boy of ESPN.

Dude can ball tho.

[justinandimcool]

It’s a good list. LaMelo Ball and Williamson could conceivably be the number one guy on a championship team, though I wouldn’t say it’s likely. But when talking about ceiling they’re definitely top 5. Doncic is the only one who could do it right now. Tatum and Mitchell are significantly a couple of tier behind him along with Booker.

The rest of the list has the talent to be a significant #2 on a title team, with the exception of Sabonis, Sexton, Ayton, and Allen. Murray and Johnson are nowhere even close to that conversation with their current shooting ability so I agree with their placement.

[TD 21]

He’s bigger than Vassell and has improved every single year. Dude has added to his game, still young where he fits with the youth. He gives us a legit SF who has size, shoots the 3 at an amazing clip, and has potential growth to expand his game as well. Even if he only gives us 15 a game, he provides defense and spaces the floor and will be on a reasonable contract of like 25 million a year

Mostly longer, but he too lacks the strength to defend prominent big wings all the same.

[KobesAchilles]

Mostly longer, but he too lacks the strength to defend prominent big wings all the same.
I mean he can always get stronger. That’s not an issue for me. It takes time to get that grown man strength. He’s 6 ft 7, moves really well without the ball in his hands, has a quick release and a high arching accurate shot. He can put the ball on the deck a little bit and his short game has improved a bunch. He’s not going to create for others, that’s not his game at all. But I like the way the guy plays, high energy, smart player, doesn’t make too many dumb mistakes and can get you points on great shooting percentage. The dude is 53% from the floor and 43 from 3.

I just think he would fit in great here. He’s not a superstar and I’m not saying he will become one, but I rather pay him 27 million a year than LMA or DDR. The length alone between him, Murray, and Vassell would be a lot of fun to watch

[Ed Helicopter Jones]

He’s just crossed the 60 games played threshold, and had a summer league and training camp almost two years ago. This is essentially his rookie wall.

And Covid didn't help him either.

I agree that he looks gassed, his lift is all but gone right now. His lack of consistency with his three ball, and his lacking mid-range game is hurting him, though, also. I think his ceiling is super high and I'm excited to see where he goes from here.

[TD 21]

I mean he can always get stronger. That’s not an issue for me. It takes time to get that grown man strength. He’s 6 ft 7, moves really well without the ball in his hands, has a quick release and a high arching accurate shot. He can put the ball on the deck a little bit and his short game has improved a bunch. He’s not going to create for others, that’s not his game at all. But I like the way the guy plays, high energy, smart player, doesn’t make too many dumb mistakes and can get you points on great shooting percentage. The dude is 53% from the floor and 43 from 3.

I just think he would fit in great here. He’s not a superstar and I’m not saying he will become one, but I rather pay him 27 million a year than LMA or DDR. The length alone between him, Murray, and Vassell would be a lot of fun to watch

I'm not debating the merits of him in general, I'm just saying he's not functionally different than Vassell, it'd take an absurd offer to attempt to pry him loose and he's not really what this team needs (a starting trio of those three is the makings for the worst offense in the league).

[KobesAchilles]

I'm not debating the merits of him in general, I'm just saying he's not functionally different than Vassell, it'd take an absurd offer to attempt to pry him loose and he's not really what this team needs (a starting trio of those three is the makings for the worst offense in the league).
Ideally Lonnie starts for spacing. I just meant for stretches with those 3.
I don’t see how adding a guy who can actually shoot makes the offense worse

[TD 21]

Ideally Lonnie starts for spacing. I just meant for stretches with those 3.
I don’t see how adding a guy who can actually shoot makes the offense worse

Because the money it would require to theoretically not get them to match would lock in another non creator on a team that has precisely zero players to build an offense around going forward to begin with.