I believe Batum has a greater potential to be an all-star than does Rudy. You cite his PPG as a harbinger but then seem to forget that he did this as a 19-year-old. For those of us who watched Batum each and every night, it seems like a plausible future outcome that Batum develops into an all-star level player. Roy, Oden, and Aldridge WILL all play in the all-star game together at some point. You can take that to the bank barring injuries.
The problem with a guy like Bayless, while he looked like an allstar talent coming out of college, players who play that poorly in their first season, rarely become allstars. As for Batum, he seems like he could become a Kirk Hinrich caliber role player. But he will never make an allstar team, at least with the Blazers, because Roy, Aldridge, and Oden will be making the team before him, and it isn't likely for a team to have 3, let alone 4 allstars at the same time.
Of course, it's not a good sign when a player doesn't have a good rookie season, but Bayless' season was rather non-indicative, as he rarely got consistent minutes. When he got some consistent minutes during Blake's missed time to injury, he played noticeably better. If Bayless had played significant minutes and had a poor season, that would be a bad sign for his ultimate upside, but this was close to a lost season as an understudy.
This is actually a very interesting question to me, regarding Bayless and Batum. Both of them from the stats alone, one would think have no chance of every becoming All Star material. But, when you look at how they play, it makes you think. Batum is already a very good defender, perhaps the best on our team for positions 1-4. That alone is pretty damn impressive. He has a good outside shot and loves to throw down. The big problem right now for him is his ball handling ability and driving ability. These are often big problems for young players. He is so damn long it is quite amazing, and yet very fast with great lateral movement. He has all the tools to develop into an all star caliber player, but my guess is that he will end up more like Stacy Augman, who in his prime was a darn nice player to have on your team. Bayless I think has even less of a chance than Batum of making the AS games, but he is quick as hell, strong as the devil, and meaner than the Devil too. The one biggest thing he has going for him over many other players is that he just won't fucking quit. A gym rat to the nth degree, and never happy unless he has played a great game. I think he will become a good NBA player, but I just don't see AS in his future. But if anyone can will it to happen, it's Bayless.
Just because I said they have all-star potential, doesn't mean I think they'll necessarily make it on this Blazer team. Bayless definitely has all-star potential. You see it in his track record and work ethic. He's used to dominating people. Those things doesn't make it a for-sure thing, but we've seen games where he was able to dominate the NBA as well, when given the playing time and confidence from the coach. Potential Batum probably falls under the "excellent role player" that I mentioned when I said "potential all-stars/excellent role players". Without Tayshaun Prince, the Pistons don't win that championship. We've seen Batum do many of the same things as Prince. Shoot the 3, defend well, chase down layups/blocks, and throw down dunks. Potential. Rudy owns one of the best rookie seasons for an international player. Int' guys usually blow up in their 2nd and 3rd seasons. And he's done it as mostly a spot-up shooter. Judging from his play in the Olympics, he's definitely more versatile and could be a lot more useful on a different team. Therefore, another all-star potential.
