Question is which young player makes the biggest jump as impact player. Obvious answer might be Sharpe but he may not get the minutes right off the bat. Little showed he can contribute when healthy. For me he’s the starter at SF and I bring Hart and GP off the bench. Simons gets his shot but I’d argue he’s already proved he can be a starter how much of a jump does he make. I want it to be Sharpe but think it will take him time to contribute and won’t get a ton of minutes. My pick is Little
I picked Sharpe but I don't know if he really fits the category. He's already reported to have made huge strides since the last time he played competitive ball in high school. Is it from when we see him for the first time tomorrow to the end of next year? It's a bold prediction but I think Sharpe is going to come out in SL and kick ass. I think he'll be the SL MVP. Then I think he'll blow our coaching staff away in training camp and he'll beat out Nas and Josh for starting SF by the end of preseason. So if he comes in at near all star level and ends the season just a little better than that and at the same time Nas earns sixth man of the year, would that mean Nas made the bigger improvement because Sharpe was already so much better? I do have a wide range of expectations for Sharpe from him taking the entire season to catch up with the game mentally to the above scenario... I don't think anyone can say either of those or anything in between is unrealistic because there's just so much unknown about this guy except for his insane talent level.
Idk how Sharpe can be considered since hes a rookie, I guess anything he does is a significant jump from the nothing he did last year lolol. I'll go with Watford. He had a good rookie year but I think hes really gonna establish himself this coming season as an all around player
Its got to be Anf....You know he will be even more confident and probably much improved on the d side of the ball.
I think we’ve already seen what Ant can and will do. Little also has done the same, just need to stay healthy. Sharpe would be amazing if he make the biggest improvement, although the rotation is pretty crowded. Someone that I think will continue to surprise us is Watford. If he can improve his 3 point shot, he will be a really valuable player to have off the bench. Maybe at the end of the year we will be talking about how he should be the starter. Someone to keep an eye on is Greg Brown. I think he will improve a lot. There are a few forwards who are injury prone, so we might see Brown more than we expected to
Now we get to see Blevins leave for nothing, get signed by the Warriors and become a star player that we will have to use a bunch of money to sign.
I would actually pay good money to see that and might have to make room for a Steve Kerr statue in my house.
Nassir Little's potential trajectory is off the charts. There was a guy who was interviewed by Chad Doing who said Little could project out to be a Kawhi Leonard type talent when all is said and done. He might not be there right now, but he made great strides before that injury. It's all about health, and fingers crossed he achieves that level. To me, he's the starter at SF.
I went with Little. Really rooting for him to be healthy and and have his breakout season. Just need him to get to a top 15 small forward. While Ant can improve, I do not anticipate a lot of room for big improvement. As for Sharpe, he is a rookie. While I'd love him to be the ROY, I would much rather he learn and have little to no pressure unless he is a Doncic type talent from the get go and you can't keep him off the court.
I came to this thread to specifically stan Watford. I think he is going to thrive in his 2nd year in the Draymond Green type role.
His rookie AST% on a similar number of minutes is actually much better than Draymond's was. Of course it means nothing, because Draymond did not get the role as a facilitator until Kerr got there. I would be very surprised if he can make the jump Draymond made as a facilitator, but any kind of jump will have to come both from himself and the coaching staff allowing him to play like that. No idea if they will with Dame back and Portland back to having 2 offense facilitators on the roster.
I def do not ever see anything remotely close to that happening on any scale....ever. He's an 8 & 8 guy, at best...IMO!... I can stomach him being the "starter" only because I love Hart & Winslow on the floor together, for defense.
Let me be clear. I expect really nice things from Watford. He showed the ability to handle the ball in transition, push the pace, throw lobs, set screens, drive and score/ dish, and moves well for his size on defense. His footwork was a surprise for me. With that said, Draymond is almost generationally good at defense. Watford ain't getting there. But, I see him in that same role here. And he should be very successful in that role. Just not up to Draymond's standards.
