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Lillard, Lin, Johnson: Unlikely NBA players

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TwitterLegend

Sports Fanatic
Apr 17, 2015
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Was looking at Norcal guys currently in the NBA and 3 stood out as guys who I never in a million years would have pegged as NBA players when they were local high schoolers. Damian Lillard, Jeremy Lin and Tyler Johnson. Lillard has obviously separated himself as a legit Superstar in the league but looking back at all 3 of these guys in high school, they were very good local players but you are LYING if you say you saw this coming.

Leads me to my question, who's next?

Maybe a current college player from Norcal already starting to exceed expectations or a sleeper pick who's still in high school but you think might have a chance to crank it up a few notches and put themselves on the NBA radar in a few years. And don't respond with "Josh Jackson" LOL. Not a local and duh...

Side note. By my count, there are currently 9 "local" players on NBA rosters: Lillard (Blazers), Lin (Hornets), Johnson (Heat), Aaron Gordon (Magic), Matt Barnes (Grizzlies), Ryan Anderson (Pelicans), Jared Cunningham (Cavs), Drew Gooden (Wizards) & Festus Ezeli (Warriors). Chuck Hayes just got cut by the Rockets. Jabari Brown and Brandon Ashley were training camp cuts but could end up back on rosters this season.
 
And to respond to my own question (LOL)...

Current college guys that I feel qualify as "likely" NBA players: Malik Pope, Ivan Rabb, Jabari Bird, Marcus Lee and Marquese Chriss.

A couple college guys I have as sleepers are Gabe Vincent and Noah Blackwell. Both playing at the mid-major level will definitely have a chance to thrive and possibly put themselves in a position to be the next small school NBA Draft darlings...
 
It's no wonder why know one had any inclination that those guys would be pro-players!! The kids who actually can play get overlooked by the so called basketball experts. I looked at the rankings for the class of 2017, and was puzzled to find players in the top 10 who can't shoot, and are poor ball handlers, but yet we publicize them as the next great ones.

Twitter Legend, I agree with you regarding Gabe Vincent, he's a serious sleeper, but Noah Blackwell is in no way a sleeper, he's under size and he can't defend, unless you're criteria is based on a And One Mixtape.
 
I remember Isaiah Taylor at St. Mary's as soph. Kid moved to Texas, grew 5 inches & Is now a stud at Texas.
I'd also pick Marquis's Chris's. UW underachieves but Romar has developed a few NBA guys.
Ivan is also the easiest choice. Only injury prevents a 12 yr pro career
 
Good call on Isaiah Taylor.. didn't even think he was a D1 player while at St. Mary's, never would have predicted starting at a high major and having nba draft buzz since his freshman year.

Regarding Blackwell, if he doesn't defend he wont play in college, point blank period, hopefully he figures that out quickly... and 6'2 strong-bodied athletic point guards aren't "undersized" at any level...
 
He's definitely not 6'2, I stood by him after a game and at the most he's pushing 5'10, and that's why I say he's undersized.
 
Assist10 said:
He's definitely not 6'2, I stood by him after a game and at the most he's pushing 5'10, and that's why I say he's undersized.
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I have stood beside Noah and spoken with him many times and he is at least 6' but is certainly not 6'2". My son, who is 6'2", guarded him for the past 2 years and Noah was at least an inch shorter. Noah is a nice kid who is a better than average offensive player. He is not really a point guard although I think that is what LB State recruited him to be. I hope he is successful but I do agree that he needs to be better on defense.
 
If you're going to count festus as a "local" player, then josh jackson is in that same boat. festus came in 04 and never played at jesuit. did he even play at yuba while he was there? just had to point that out, but im going to agree with dhickman and say marqueese chriss. i like his size and his game, just needs to up his intensity. jordan brown has a good chance to be in that group if he stays motivated. the only thing freshman about him last year was his frame. i hope he stays local so we can continue to see how he develops.
 
I've seen everyone of these kids play and the one thing I think stands out with all of them is at some point in their HS career the light goes on and it aint that And1 crap. Recall Ryan Anderson playing against nationally ranked Mater Dei as a Jr and tearing them up. He was the best player on the floor. At that point I knew Ryan was special. Recall Lin playing at Palo Alto in the state champ game going against more highly ranked players. I was saying to myself how did Cal and Stanford let this guy slip away. Or me guarding Brent and Drew Barry back in the day year after year and each meeting they were 1-2" taller and exponentially better. You could see that it was only a matter of time. THe JKidds of the world were no brainers. Its these others that slip through.

Gabe Vincent is a great choice. Big athletic guard who has that Mitch Richmond type game. He has a great chance of playing at the next level.
I don't think anybody saw Tyler Johnson. If you said yes you are lying. One thing about him is he plays big. Super springy and athletic.
Jabari Bird could be a better pro than college player. 6"6 wings like him are pretty rare. Does a lot of things well.
Rabb is a tough call. What position is he at next level? He doesn't have the frame to play inside. What I mean is his body type doesn't look like it can handle 40 more lbs. Kid is super skilled.


Don't feel bad if you missed some of these kids. Look at Curry. Who saw that one?
 
Was iffy on including Festus but he was here for a while and played for Norcal Pharaohs (2 summers?) so I decided to include him. To be honest, never thought he'd turn out as good as he has but it's far less surprising with a big guy.
 
I'll add Dakari Allen as a sleeper. I've always loved his defensive abilities and all around game. If he can develop a consistent Jumper , he can do what Justin Holiday does...imo

Let me be the 1st to add Khari Walker to the potential who's next list. 6'4 8th grader. Haven't seen him enough to check his motor yet but has some J.Kidd to his game
 
Streak Reported Darin Johnson transferred to Cal State Northridge. I was never that impressed with his effort on the court. He seemed to play on pure god given talent. Don't think it worked well in Wash.
DJ Wilson is still at Michigan. He redshirted last year after spraining his knee. That is not a bad call at all. Very skilled at that size and can play several positions. He's listed at 6"10 now and I wouldn't be surprised if you see him as the 6th man this year. Good call.
 
Walker is nowhere close to Jason Kidd as a player. Start with the fact he's at least wo years older than 8th graders he is playing. He's a good physical talent but has nothing close to the feel of the game that Kidd had or the ability to make players around him better.
 
Back in the day it was embarrasing to play below your grade level, so if someone is two years older than they should be dominating true 8th graders. So to make Jason Kidd comparisons is a stretch.....
 
The question was who do you think is next. We can comeback to this in 5 years and see. Im not sure how old the kid is but very talented with size and skill. I see a very bright future. Wasn't JKidd also a holdback? and Josh Jackson?
 
I won't put Walker in the Jason Kidd category, but I've heard from multiple area coaches that he is very good.

Great discussion everyone.

I will jump on the Chriss bandwagon. I think he is part of the rebirth of Washington being a top program in the Pac-12.
 
I would say same about Ryan Anderson. Great ha player but if u would have told me this guy was going to have a long nba career back then I would have called u crazy. Kudos to him.
 
Assist10 said:
Back in the day it was embarrasing to play below your grade level, so if someone is two years older than they should be dominating true 8th graders. So to make Jason Kidd comparisons is a stretch.....
Click to expand...

I don't know this kid, but I do know that Jason Kidd was quite a bit older than the kids in his grade in high school. It was for that reason that I had reservations about his continuing to dominate at the college level and then after he did that at the pro level. But he sure proved he was not just older than everyone else but far better than them as well.
 
The Kidd issue was a mute point because it was known that he played with NBA guys in the summer when he was a sophomore in HS and more than held his own. In fact Gary Payton and Brian Shaw said he was good enough then to play in the NBA at this time. I grew up in this era and it wasn't far fetched. I keep hearing about the next KIDD but haven't seen him. Quite frankly not even close.

I tell who has some game.. Michael Bryson from UCSB. Score 23 against CAL last night and when you are talking about CAL this year you are going against a few guys who are going to play in the NBA. Maybe more like a handful. (wallace, Rabb, Brown, Bird, etc). He's a 6"5 guard who can shoot it. Wouldn't surprise me. Has had a very nice career.
 
larry legend33 said:
The Kidd issue was a mute point because it was known that he played with NBA guys in the summer when he was a sophomore in HS and more than held his own. In fact Gary Payton and Brian Shaw said he was good enough then to play in the NBA at this time. I grew up in this era and it wasn't far fetched. I keep hearing about the next KIDD but haven't seen him. Quite frankly not even close.

I tell who has some game.. Michael Bryson from UCSB. Score 23 against CAL last night and when you are talking about CAL this year you are going against a few guys who are going to play in the NBA. Maybe more like a handful. (wallace, Rabb, Brown, Bird, etc). He's a 6"5 guard who can shoot it. Wouldn't surprise me. Has had a very nice career.
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What about Ben Kone? I think he plays right away at Oregon State because of his defense and rebounding. He still is growing and could be a bruiser type of NBA forward. If he polishes up his offense he has a even better chance.
 
larry legend33 said:
I've seen everyone of these kids play and the one thing I think stands out with all of them is at some point in their HS career the light goes on and it aint that And1 crap. Recall Ryan Anderson playing against nationally ranked Mater Dei as a Jr and tearing them up. He was the best player on the floor. At that point I knew Ryan was special. Recall Lin playing at Palo Alto in the state champ game going against more highly ranked players. I was saying to myself how did Cal and Stanford let this guy slip away. Or me guarding Brent and Drew Barry back in the day year after year and each meeting they were 1-2" taller and exponentially better. You could see that it was only a matter of time. THe JKidds of the world were no brainers. Its these others that slip through.
Click to expand...

Lin did not slip away, he practically broke into the Cal and Stanford.....UCLA basketball offices to get attention for a scholarship, none was offered.....because of his genes.....6-3 chinese guys just are not supposed to be in NBA summer leagues.
 
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