Look, we all see what we see, and to be honest, I've been doing this for a long time, and how I look at players now, is entirely different than how I looked at them 1o or 15 years ago. The obvious one's leap out at you if your paying attention and don't get bogged down with one particular trait. Having said that, shooting is a big deal for me, unless I'm overwhelmed by the rest of a players game, and in Dunn's case, I'am. Lets not forget that Dunn is also a great athlete.
Here's the difference that I see between Jackson and Dunn. I like Jackson, but see him as a great off the bench PG. I see Dunn as one of the top starting PG's in the league five years from now. Dunn has that "It"factor. He rises to the occasion when he's needed. But that's just my opinion. I think he's little further along than Wall was coming into the league, but then he should be with more years of college experience. I also like Jamal Murray of Kentucky and his running mate, Isaiah Briscoe. Murray is playing out of position but you can still see the PG talent he has.
Getting away from the PG's, a player that I've only seen play twice and can't wait to see again is Jaylen Brown of Cal. My goodness what a spectacular player he is. He's sort of like Andrew Wiggins with attitude. No doubt the makes a lot of mistakes, but boy, is he loaded with talent. Fun player to watch. If I had carte blanche to pick one player that I thought would make the biggest difference for the Kings, it would be Ben Simmons. Of course we have no chance of getting him barring a miracle, but it's fun to dream.
I think I'm just a little biased because I do love watching a lot of ND basketball. I think the thing with Jackson that I like is that he has the explosiveness and elusiveness factor in him that we've only seen from the elites.
For scouting PGs, I've really started putting an emphasis on scoring, specifically outside shooting.
There's a new trend in the NBA with going towards combo guards and I think we're going to start seeing less of the Rondos, and more of the Lillards. 5 years ago, Rondo was the best PG in the NBA. If you took that same Rondo from 5 years ago, and put him in this era, he's not even a top 5 PG. Maybe just outside of the top 10.
I think that's just an example of how scoring has become such a prominent thing for PGs.
With Dunn, I'd just like to see more outside shooting from him. He definitely has the better potential. Last year, he shot the 3 at a decent rate, but it's regressed this year. He still displays the ability to hit perimeter Js/long 2s, but I'd like to see him try to stretch it out to the 3pt line. If we could just ignore shooting, he's an amazing prospect. He has a super quick 1st step and his size lets him go against smaller PGs inside the paint. He does a great job attacking the rim. His agility really allows him to exploit the defense. This is why he's such a tremendous passer. If the defense collapses in on him, he quickly passes it out to the open man.
However, he's not a good off-ball player. He needs the ball in his hands to have an impact in the game.
When I see Jackson, I think the only real thing stopping him from becoming the next big thing is his height.. If he's a solid 6'0 or 5'11 3/4 without shoes, I think it would be great.
I really do like Murray. It sucks that Kentucky has Ulis and Briscoe. It forces Murray off the ball. There's a lot to like about him. I do wonder about his athleticism a bit. I don't think he'll ever be more than an average defender in the NBA, unlike Dunn. He reminds me a tiny bit of D'angelo Russell, but probably not the prospect he was.
Skal Labisssiere is a player I want to stay far far far away from.... I saw the huge upside in Porizingis..but I don't see one in Labissiere. He is RAW. I don't think he's 225. He looks a little smaller. If he had an extended range, I'd feel much more comfortable with him. He needs to put on a lot more weight.
