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.

[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.

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 . 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 in Florida...

[jjktkk]

And to think ESPN wants you to pay for this great analysis. 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 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 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 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

[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 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.