All thing Hayward (Dirk said it so let it be done)

[fishonjazz]

You just have to look at what those players are doing already and what's reasonable to expect them to get better at. All Burks really would have to do to be brushing star power is a reliable step back or pullup J. All Hayward needs is consistency, the big guys just need to keep working on their feet and learning how to avoid turnovers. All of this is reasonable and will happen if they work at it.

I don't really buy the 3 year story as a rule of thumb although it sounds good. Lots and lots of guys get better around the league after 3 years, particularly the elite players. In Utah Millsap is a very good example of somebody who seems to get a new wrinkle to his game every year.

Good post.... lebron is an example of a player getting better after the 3rd year, and i think it probably happens quite often.

 

[MoTappin]

Good post.... lebron is an example of a player getting better after the 3rd year, and i think it probably happens quite often.

Like a couple of guys named Stockton & Malone. Hey, they even have statues out in front of the ESA if you wanna go take some pictures.

 

[Stifle Tower]

Burks said that he has a higher ceiling Hayward.

Didn't Karl Malone have very high ceilings? That was one of the things that made his house hard to sell.

 

[Stifle Tower]

Locke is always saying that players are pretty much who they are after 3 years, but with Hayward I wonder if he's different. He seems to approach the game from so many different angles that maybe he's still figuring things out a bit. There are some guys that continued to improve well after their first 3 years, Steve Nash is one of them.

Disagree, especially when it comes to bigs. The old rule of thumb is that it takes bigs 3-5 years to develop...and that was the adage back in the days when everyone stayed in school. With Hayward, yes, you can see after 3 years the type of player he is. But that doesn't mean he's not going to refine his skills: be more controlled woth his dribbling, more consistent off of curls, maybe even learn to finish dunks. We kind of know the type of player Burks is becoming. But like Hayward, he can continue to improve his ball-handling and shooting every season. Who knows, the Jazz may even turn him into a serviceable PG?

And I think we have the sanme situation with Favors and Kanter. Both were extremely raw coming into the NBA. Three years won't completely define their offensive games. Players can improve every season. Just look at Karl Malone. He had no outside game unitl well into his career. Yes, basic personality traits are set. Passive players aren't suddenly going to become team leaders. Guys that can't jump aren't going to turn into Dr. J's. But players can continue to significantly improve, especially if they were raw or underutilized when they came into the league.