How would we develop this guy ? I mean one coiuld argue we havnt done an amazing amount in trying to develop Boogie our own stud big man.
Clifford Ray actually seemed to do a very nice job after arriving. But I actually think Cousins and JT themselves could be a major factor. Working against those guys every day.
Exactly what development are we talking about anyway? Developing as a superstar? I have limited confidence in us. But hell, that is far more than we need. Developing as a 6'11" physical specimen capable of facing up, creatring horrible mismatch problems and protecting the rim while Cousins draws attention tearing up the other side? If the size and talent are there there is no reason that can't happen.
Let's look at a simple stat scenario:
6'11" Cousins 22pts 12reb
6'11" Drummond 12pt 8reb 2blk
6'11" Thompson 8pts 7reb
That doesn't even require stretching. We're not even talking primes here. We're talking next couple of seasons. That's all it would take to have a claim as the best frickin' frontcourt in the NBA.
Here, let me get ambitious. Not horribly ambitious. Let me just assume guys are in their prime 5 years from now (mind you 5 years form now Cousis is 26 and Drummond is 23!):
6'11" Cousins 24pts 13reb
6'11" Drummond 15pt 10reb 2blk
6'11" Thompson 8pts 6reb
again, this is not calling for a superstar. This is not calling for a miraculous development. But its also the stats of very likely the best frontcourt in the entire league. A dominant pound you all night trio that only needs one or two good guards to be a contending crew. In fact the biggest problem might just be being able to pay for all three guys and still being able to pay for a couple of guards.
And so when we talk about developing Drummond what are we talking about? Developing him into a 20-10 guy? Be amazing if we had two of them to be sure. But we don't need anything like that to have gotten an amazing future out of a pick like this. Maybe he bombs. but he doesn't have to wildly succeed to make us one of the best teams in the league up front. We've already got a budding superstar up there. We just need Robin.