NBA Execs poll on Top Young Talent to Build Around

[daeve]

https://hoopshype.com/lists/nba-exec...on-williamson/

With only four teams remaining in the playoff bubble, HoopsHype polled 15 NBA talent evaluators, including four general managers, six executives and five scouts, to learn which players under 25 they’d build around and why.

The top player to build around is not surprising, but the number of players picked over Zion Williamson is.

The talent evaluators ranked their five favorite players under 25 to build around. In our scoring system, the top player received five points, the second player received four points, etcetera. The results of the poll are listed below.

Really interesting list. Some surprises but overall about what I expected I guess.

[TBarn291]

Nice to see Mitchell getting some love.

[daeve]

Here's the list

1. Luka
2. Tatum
3. Booker
4. Ja
5. Mitchell
5. Bam
7. Zion
7. Murray
9. Simmons
9. Ingram
11. Jaylen
11. Fox
13. Towns

[Ericc5Bears]

If Zion stays healthy this list is going to look hilariously bad in 2-3 years

[jfan2024]

Solid list. Only thing I can even think to disagree on is I'd have Booker lower

[yiguiri2002]

I think it's hilarious that there are more GMs willing to build around Brown or Fox than KAT or Trae.

Also, super scary that they have that kind of short term memory.

[Abovetheclouds]

Interesting no Trae Young

[PKIPP]

Originally Posted by TBarn291

Nice to see Mitchell getting some love.

Not enough love. Should be top 3 imo.

[PKIPP]

Originally Posted by Abovetheclouds

Interesting no Trae Young

Right. Imagine choosing fox or brown over Trae.

[Spacemanspif]

Originally Posted by yiguiri2002

I think it's hilarious that there are more GMs willing to build around Brown or Fox than KAT or Trae.

Also, super scary that they have that kind of short term memory.

My first thought as well. The recency bias is quite ridiculous, it might as well have been “which young guys played best in the bubble?”

Jamal Murray right up there with Zion and Simmons. No Trae. Fun thought exercise though

[BRob1]

Originally Posted by daeve

Here's the list

1. Luka
2. Tatum
3. Booker
4. Ja
5. Mitchell
5. Bam
7. Zion
7. Murray
9. Simmons
9. Ingram
11. Jaylen
11. Fox
13. Towns

People would really rather build with bam than Ben Simmons?

[orion9578]

No Trae is ridiculous and the order beyond the top 2 is not great either.

[Pigo]

I'm pretty sure that KAT was top of this list a couple of years ago, but that probably says more about my memory than the execs'. It will likely turn out to have been from 2016.

[jcardstore]

Guess executives do value defense. I definitely would not take Brown/Fox over Trae and I’m guessing if money was on the line and it wasn’t just a list execs wouldn’t either

[ballhawkdawk]

Originally Posted by PKIPP

Right. Imagine choosing fox or brown over Trae.

While at the same time having a guy who hasn’t made the playoffs in five years in the league at number 3. If no playoffs is the strike against Trae, then why is Booker so high?

It seems like the list is more of a “who’s the hottest young player right now?” than a list of who they’d actually build around.

[LC2nine10]

Originally Posted by Ericc5Bears

If Zion stays healthy this list is going to look hilariously bad in 2-3 years

Big IF

[BBallCT]

No surprise for Trae imo. Message is that he’s a fantastic player best used to compliment one of those guys

He’s a risky pick as a franchise glue with his size and defensive status


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[PKIPP]

Originally Posted by ballhawkdawk

While at the same time having a guy who hasn’t made the playoffs in five years in the league at number 3. If no playoffs is the strike against Trae, then why is Booker so high?

It seems like the list is more of a “who’s the hottest young player right now?” than a list of who they’d actually build around.

Word. I would take the season Trae young had as a second year player over any season Devin Booker has had in his career. It's not like D Book is a natural Bruce Bowen out there defensively either..

Fwiw this would be my top 10, based on actual on court production and how they've improved year to year, and future potential. Not taking injury possibility into account for Zion.

1. Luka
2. Mitchell
3. Zion
4. Tatum
5. KAT
6. Trae
7. Simmons
8. Booker
9. Bam
10. Ingram

-I don't think anyone can justify taking Ja Morant over anyone listed. Maybe the bottom two, but I really think JJJ is the better player with more potential on that team. Guess it's just my personal preference, but feels like the Rookie hype is strong here.

-No disrespect to Murray or Denver fans but yeah.. A stretch of 14 games isn't gonna make me take him over anybody I listed. He's been spectacular, and the second best guy on a conference finals team. But for the first 4 seasons of his career he's not been anywhere near any of these guys. I'd like to see this continue into next season before i start thinking of him in the same light. If I was asked before the playoffs I'd have taken Shai Gilgeous-Alexander over him. I think most would have also.

-5-7 were the toughest for me to rank. Trae all offense, KAT great scoring and shooting big man, or Simmons great all around game. Personal preference and if someone has them ranked in any combination I wouldn't disagree really.

-2-4 can be switched around I guess but I personally don't see taking Tatum over Zion or Mitchell, and Zion would've been a shoe in at 2 if he played say 35-40 games at the same level of the 19 he played in as a rookie.

[KhalDrogo]

Luka
Tatum
Bam
Simmons
Booker
Mitchell
Zion
Towns
Murray
Trae

[hauntedcomputer]

Depends on whether the mandate is to sell tickets or to win games (yeah the good GMs do both but some teams clearly aren't interested in winning).

[jcardstore]

Luka
Tatum
Simmons
Ja
Booker
Mitchell
Murray
Bam
JJJ
Trae

Outside of Luka I think the rest of the list is pretty subjective. For me, I think Tatum is a clear #2 just because of his build and skill set. I'd much rather have a 2-way forward who can shoot the lights out and handle the ball than nearly any of the other guys on the list.

I think some people overrate Simmons and not being willing to shoot is a major issue but still I'll take a 6'10 PG who's an elite defender and elite passer.

Maybe I'm overrating Ja slightly but I think this kid is the real deal. I see future MVP potential. He's a killer and it's something that a lot of NBA players don't have. That mixed with his athleticism and skills and he's something special.

Booker/Mitchell/Murray are all basically the same player to me. Electric volume scorers who are going to have plenty of highlights but I don't see any of those guys making their team a title contender as the lead guy. I think they're all complimentary pieces who need to be paired with an elite defensive wing type.

Watching Miami this playoffs has opened my eyes to how good Bam really is. They give him the ball at the elbow and run the offense around him, letting him make decisions and it has worked. You can build around a guy like him because he can be a defensive anchor and makes good decisions with the ball in his hands. Imagine pairing him with Booker/Mitchell/Murray.

I've said it a million times already but I just don't think Zion as your franchise piece makes you a title contender. He's going to have a billion highlights because of his once in a generation athleticism but that's not going to last forever.

Trae is amazing offensively. Great scorer and passer but his defense is so incredibly bad it's hard to hide. For as great as he is offensively he's barely a net positive on the court.

[Schmoove]

Originally Posted by BRob1

People would really rather build with bam than Ben Simmons?

Most GM's will always take the big over a wing player if the talent level is close.

[mbuch21]

Originally Posted by Schmoove

Most GM's will always take the big over a wing player if the talent level is close.

Agree.
Therefore:

1. Luka
2. Tatum
3. KAT
4. Bam
Everyone else in no particular order, except Booker, Brown and Murray who don’t belong on this list because you can’t “build around” them. I’d sooner add Trae because he can pass.
I’d also add Ayton, who is literally in the first inning of his development.

[sethc1020]

Luka
Mitchell
Taytum
Booker
Trae
Zion
Murray
JA
Ingram
Bam

Simmons to me has always been overrated, he is a triple double machine but not a leader of a team and can't shoot.

[GeechQuest]

1. Luka
2. Tatum
3. Simmons
4. Booker
5. Ingram
6. BAM

Crazy to think BAM is the second oldest of these guys.