A native of St. Louis, Missouri, Tatum attended hometown Chaminade College Preparatory School, where he was rated a five-star recruit and regarded as one of the top players in the Class of 2016 by recruiting services. Like Durant, Tatum’s long limbs make him look taller than his listed height of 6-foot-8 (or he may have actually grown during the season), and his effortless scoring is surreal to watch. Both are excellent defenders — they can protect the rim, they can keep the NBA’s best wings at bay with their strength, and, most impressively, they can effectively switch out onto guards hunting for big men switches on pick-and-rolls. © USA TODAY Sports: Rick Scuteri | Getty Images: Focus on Sports If you pop in the tape of Archibald, he looks nothing like the Hawks' Young. And while becoming another DeRozan (a four-time All-Star) would be nice, Barrett will want to separate himself from the DeRozan comparison by addressing a fault that still holds DeRozan back from being an elite player: three-point shooting. Hear me out on this one. While Harris’ game is a little smoother, the Lakers' Kuzma projects to be an effortless scorer in a secondary role for a contender for his career. While Zion’s body better resembles the likes of Rodney Rogers or Charles Barkley, his once-in-a-generation blend of power and athleticism better resembles the likes of Shaquille O’Neal and LeBron James.
While James Harden would be a perfectly apt comparison to the Mavericks' Doncic, we’re going with Larry Legend because of their similar court vision, playing style and flare for the dramatic. Although Wall’s career is at a crossroads due to an Achilles injury, peak Wall was a bad, bad man – averaging 23.1 ppg. But for now, you’re Rudy Gay. Email. Even in his final NBA season, Crawford could sub in, put defenders in a blender with playground moves and get scores – hell, he had 51 points on 30 shots in his final NBA game! You’ll have short flashes that make you look like a superstar, and then you’ll disappear for a while. © USA TODAY Sports: Jason Getz | Focus on Sport/Getty Images In his rookie season, Rose had an incredibly impressive playoff series for the Bulls against the Celtics, and it looks like Morant might have the chance to do the same as he’s led Memphis to the eight seed out of nowhere. Partner of iOne Digital / Cassius Network. This comparison might seem like a bit of a slight toward the Grizzlies' JJJ, as he has the potential to develop into a far better player than Ibaka. This is certainly a lofty comparison for the Celtics' Tatum, but in his past 16 games, he looked every bit the part, playing great defense and averaging 29.0 ppg. To become a more complete player, Markkanen next must learn to get to the line like Gallo (6.1 free throws per game the past five seasons) as he barely attempts three free throws a game. © USA TODAY Sports: Michael Ciaglo | Steve Mitchell Though not a perfect comparison in terms of playing style — Oklahoma City's SGA is more of a scoring guard whereas young-Livingston was a better playmaker — both of these guys’ gangly frames and savvy games remind me of one another. Nothing like comparing a sweet-shooting Euro big man to another sweet-shooting Euro big man. is pretty much on par with or even better than Kidd’s third season (10.9 ppg., 9.0 apg., 4.5 rpg.). In 2019-20, Brown will earn a base salary of $6,534,829, while carrying a cap hit of $6,534,829 and a … “If Jayson Tatum is the superstar that they envisioned … we could see glory days for the Celtics again,” he explained on Sportscenter.. “But it’s very much up in the air, and I’m going to tell you, they’re going to have to pay him like it, because after this season ends, he is going to get most likely a max contract.” © USA TODAY Sports: Mark J. Rebilas | Wendell Cruz If Ayton can continue to improve his shot blocking (1.7 bpg. © USA TODAY Sports: David Richard | Steve Mitchell- Expecting the salary cap to increase that significantly in the span of a year is a pipe dream, considering the long hiatus, the expectation of empty arenas, and the losses expected from the NBA’s rift with China are bound to be massive.Say goodbye to players making $40 million per season and multi-million contracts roofing over $200 million. However, in those 75 games he has played, he’s looked extremely bouncy on offense and is quite possibly the fastest big man end-to-end in basketball. and 10.7 apg. Therefore, when making comparisons to past eras, it’s better to focus on an attribute or skill or even career arc instead of looking for a perfect copy of today’s player.With that said, here are 20 historical comparisons to players in their rookie, second or third seasons in the NBA: Zion may be a half a foot shorter than Shaq, but he is probably the closest thing we’ll ever see to Shaq…or maybe it’s the other way around? Let’s hope Bagley stays healthy so that we aren’t robbed of years of highly entertaining De’Aaron Fox-Marvin Bagley pick and rolls and fast breaks. It is 29.6 points and 9.3 assists per game – good for fourth and second, respectively, in the league. and a championship his third season), Mitchell has the body, the athleticism and a pretty good feel for the moment in just his third season, averaging 24.2 ppg., 4.2 apg., and 4.4 rpg. But Bird played before anyone understood the value of the three-point shot, so we’ll have to settle for the evolutionary Bird…and everyone should be just fine with that because Doncic is a future MVP. The three-point line wasn’t even in existence until the back end of his career. This comparison is mostly about the elite jumping ability shared by these two power forwards. And while the Hawks' Collins hasn’t dunked on a player so badly that that player shook his hand afterward, don’t sleep on Collins’ ability to do so.