Knicks · Porzingis vs Bynum's development (page 1)

Kobe Bryant had to break in an extremely young rookie in 2005-2006 - Andrew Bynum. Bynum was drafted at 17 and turned 18 just before the season began. Kobe spent a few seasons in obscurity before making the conference finals in 2008, then finally winning another title in 2009. Will Melo need to wait as long for his big to be ready - and will we need reinforcements?

Bynum's rookie year was basically a wash - playing 7.3mpg over 46 contests, averaging 1.7ppg. In his 19 year old season, he played in all 82 games and started 53. For the season, ahe veraged 21.9mpg, 7.8ppg, 5.9rpg. It was the only time in his career he ever played a full season.

In 2007-2008, he started off the season well, but ended up dislocating his kneecap - starting a string of nagging leg injuries. The Lakers traded for Pau Gasol and went on a 22-5 run to finish the regular season, eventually losing in the finals against the Celtics.

In 2008-2009, at age 21, he won his first championship ring with Kobe. That year he averaged 28.9mpg, 14.3ppg, 8.0rpg. This was his 4th season.

So the question is... when will KP be ready to be a big contributor? Expectations have been set by Rambis that he's the Frankenstein love-child of Gasol/Nowitzki: Park Nowitsol.

So with all of this in mind, are we going to have 4 years for KP to be ready... or might he follow more of a Tim Duncan arc and win one in year 2?

Now a few differences between KP/Bynum:
KP is two years than Bynum was then.
KP has played professionally for some time against adult competition. Bynum is one of the last players straight from high school.
KP is NOT from NJ. He's a world traveler.

Mindset:
KP has shown an outgoing personality from the get-go, cerebral beyond his years - making it easy to predict that he'll make an easier adjustment to the NBA. His career is being tightly managed by his brother, a former pro. Even up until last season, Bynum has been plagued with the immaturity label. The Lakers hired Kareem to mentor him - he's still a little bit of a nut.

Health:
KP gets tweaked and dinged, but seemingly bounces back from injuries in days. Maybe it's just the coaching staff being cautious. Bynum had red flags dating back to pre-draft, followed by a whole host of knee injuries over the years.

Body type:
In terms of build, KP is an ectomorph (aka born to be skinny), Bynum is an endomorph (aka he's destined to be a thick, heavy guy). Not sure how this plays out, but Bynum had Phil Jackson's proverbial big butt to play in the post. KP is more mobile around the perimeter and will need to use that as an advantage

Completely different players and personalities.
Pau is much better comparison.
In any case it will take time.
I think 5 years min.
He may contribute some earlier if stay relatively healthy but will not be a diff maker for more that 5-10 wins.
Not bad and might get us to playoffs in year 2 or 3 in best case.
We will need to build up team outside of him to help Melo in 2016/17/ season...
Or trade Melo for younger star to get better timing with this year draftees.

The question cannot be answered until the question can be fulfilled.

Nalod wrote:The question cannot be answered until the question can be fulfilled.

well played Big Chief Semi-Circle

arkrud wrote:Completely different players and personalities.
Pau is much better comparison.
In any case it will take time.
I think 5 years min.
He may contribute some earlier if stay relatively healthy but will not be a diff maker for more that 5-10 wins.
Not bad and might get us to playoffs in year 2 or 3 in best case.
We will need to build up team outside of him to help Melo in 2016/17/ season...
Or trade Melo for younger star to get better timing with this year draftees.

Where is this 5 years stuff coming from? What NBA player who was really good or great was not great by 25? Bynum if he didnt have knee problems was going to be a top 5 player in this league. Bynum who was the SAME age as Porzinigis is now when he got hurt with the Lakers. He just started to dominate NBA games--double doubles with multiple blocks. We only saw what a secondary hurt Bynum was. My take is Porzingis will be pretty good right away and by year 3 will be at peak. You need to be really good by 23--I think its possible.

Also let me add to that. Porzinigis who if he is smart and plays opportunistically--kind of falling through the cracks and finds easy baskets--will really help the KNicks right away. If he is sitting 30 feet from the basket--no where near as much.

BRIGGS wrote:

arkrud wrote:Completely different players and personalities.
Pau is much better comparison.
In any case it will take time.
I think 5 years min.
He may contribute some earlier if stay relatively healthy but will not be a diff maker for more that 5-10 wins.
Not bad and might get us to playoffs in year 2 or 3 in best case.
We will need to build up team outside of him to help Melo in 2016/17/ season...
Or trade Melo for younger star to get better timing with this year draftees.

Where is this 5 years stuff coming from? What NBA player who was really good or great was not great by 25? Bynum if he didnt have knee problems was going to be a top 5 player in this league. Bynum who was the SAME age as Porzinigis is now when he got hurt with the Lakers. He just started to dominate NBA games--double doubles with multiple blocks. We only saw what a secondary hurt Bynum was. My take is Porzingis will be pretty good right away and by year 3 will be at peak. You need to be really good by 23--I think its possible.

Also let me add to that. Porzinigis who if he is smart and plays opportunistically--kind of falling through the cracks and finds easy baskets--will really help the KNicks right away. If he is sitting 30 feet from the basket--no where near as much.

I agree. I think KP is too smart. Coming from a Euro approach to teaching the game he's not like any of the US players who aren't thinking the game. That is just what they do with their bigs in Europe. They learn the game from more than just a simplistic point of view. I suspect that KP who watches video of KG and Anthony Davis realizes that he can't just float on the perimeter to be like his favorite NBA players.

Every year around the draft, evaluators try say this prospect compares to X player in the league currently. Is there anybody in the league you compare to?

KP: I really like Anthony Davis and how he played this season. I’d love to be as good as he is someday, but I have a lot of work to do. Like him, but with a 3-pointer (laughing).

http://uproxx.com/dimemag/2015/06/krista...

“I watched a lot of KG’s videos growing up with Janis (brother). We watched how KG made his moves in the post and a lot of his dunks. KG’s a Beast” Kristaps said. “We also watched a lot of Anthony Davis and Dirk Nowitzki. Anthony is a freak athlete, and I just love watching him dunking the ball and running the floor. I love how he attacks and does his moves.” Porzingis went on about his most common comparison, “And Dirk, it’s just how he gets that little space and gets his shot off with his one-legged fade away. Its unguardable, and it’s something I want to learn”.

http://nysportsbiz.com/2015/07/21/krista...

Nalod wrote:The question cannot be answered until the body in question can be fulfilled.

Head and talent are there...have to see how his body fills out...and I agree that the Pau comparison is probably the better one.

BRIGGS wrote:

arkrud wrote:Completely different players and personalities.
Pau is much better comparison.
In any case it will take time.
I think 5 years min.
He may contribute some earlier if stay relatively healthy but will not be a diff maker for more that 5-10 wins.
Not bad and might get us to playoffs in year 2 or 3 in best case.
We will need to build up team outside of him to help Melo in 2016/17/ season...
Or trade Melo for younger star to get better timing with this year draftees.

Where is this 5 years stuff coming from? What NBA player who was really good or great was not great by 25? Bynum if he didnt have knee problems was going to be a top 5 player in this league. Bynum who was the SAME age as Porzinigis is now when he got hurt with the Lakers. He just started to dominate NBA games--double doubles with multiple blocks. We only saw what a secondary hurt Bynum was. My take is Porzingis will be pretty good right away and by year 3 will be at peak. You need to be really good by 23--I think its possible.

Also let me add to that. Porzinigis who if he is smart and plays opportunistically--kind of falling through the cracks and finds easy baskets--will really help the KNicks right away. If he is sitting 30 feet from the basket--no where near as much.

I think its stupid for any player to hang out 30 feet from the basket, not just KP.

23 feet? much better.

I think we'll feel more confident on KP's NBA readiness after he gets in a few preseason games.

Basically he needs to be able to create separation on offense and position himself adequately on defense when he's on the floor. Statistically, if he can average 8-10ppg/3-5rpg/1-2apg/1-2bpg/45% fg in 20-25mpg in the preseason, he's probably ready contribute (and be a starter) in the regular season... and will be a budding superstar.

If he fails, we still keep hope alive, pointing to Dirk's struggles in his rookie season and how well he turned out regardless. :)
(another reference point - Marc Gasol, as a 24 year old rookie, put up 11.9ppg/7.4rpg in a little over 30mpg. Yet right now he's arguably the best center in the NBA - 17.4ppg/7.8rpg last year - amazing considering the decade+ of Ewing's 20/10's and he was only the 3rd or 4th best center of his time)