# Best 24 years old and under duos in the league?



## Jamel Irief (May 19, 2002)

Where does the Lakers rank when we try to determine who the next great duo will be?

I think Wiggins and Towns have the obvious claim for #1 right now. Towns is maybe the best under 24 player period, and Wiggins is arguably the best perimeter player. He's now also a elite scorer. 

The Lakers have four guys (Clarkson, Randle, Russel, Ingram) and I'm still not sure who the top two prospects of the four are. I'm sold on Russel being one of them, but not sure which of the of the other 3 will estabilish themselves. Nance might also eclpise one of the four. It's almost like a poor version of when the thunder had Durant, Westbrook, Green, Harden and then Ibaka snuck in. 

The Bucks can make an argument over the Lakers, with Alphabet and Parker. 

The other teams I see making a case-

Suns- Booker and Knight. Knight's as good as he'll get. Booker is the most fluid scorer I've seen enter the league in years.

Jazz- Gobert and Exum. Both guys are kind of one dimensional, but extremely good at what they excel at.

And then you have the sixers, who can't stay healthy together. Saric, Embiid, Noel, Okafor and Simmons. They can be anywhere from second to last on this list. 

Who you taking?


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## jayk009 (Aug 6, 2003)

Emanuel Mudiay + Nikola Jokic


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## Ballscientist (Nov 11, 2002)

Anthony Davis 23 yrs old, best player 
Buddy Hield 22 yrs old

The duos are much better AND will be better than Whoever Lakers have.


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## Jamel Irief (May 19, 2002)

Ballscientist said:


> Anthony Davis 23 yrs old, best player
> Buddy Hield 22 yrs old
> 
> The duos are much better AND will be better than Whoever Lakers have.


Davis is the best 24 and under player agreed, but I disagree that pairing him with anyone is automatically better. There's a reason why the Pelicans suck. I'm talking going forward, not today.


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## 29380 (Feb 23, 2009)

Probably a toss up between the Bucks' and Wolves'duos with whose 1 and 2 coming down to how you feel about Wiggins and Parker, Simmons has not played yet but him and a healthy Embiid would be up there as well imo. If you want to talk about potential I'm personally not as high as most when it comes to Booker but him and Chriss should be in the conversation next year. The Lakers are weird for me I like all of their young guys for the most part but they are all around the same level to me not sure how I would rank them.


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## Ballscientist (Nov 11, 2002)

Jamel Irief said:


> Davis is the best 24 and under player agreed, but I disagree that pairing him with anyone is automatically better.


You don't know Buddy Hield's comparison is healthy Brandon Roy?

Buddy Hield can score 50 points in a single game.

He will be better than CJ McCollum and JJ Redick.


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## Ballscientist (Nov 11, 2002)

The scary thing is that both Davis and Hield can score 50 points each in the same single game.


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## Jamel Irief (May 19, 2002)

Ballscientist said:


> You don't know Buddy Hield's comparison is healthy Brandon Roy?
> 
> Buddy Hield can score 50 points in a single game.
> 
> He will be better than CJ McCollum and JJ Redick.





Ballscientist said:


> The scary thing is that both Davis and Hield can score 50 points each in the same single game.


I know what people said. So far I haven't seen it. He hasn't shown any above average skill to me but shooting and so far he's only made multiple threes in a game twice (and shot ten times one of those games).

Ive only seen parts of two pelican games though.


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## hobojoe (Jun 20, 2003)

Have to see Simmons play to rank Philly. Embiid automatically puts them in the conversation, but I don't think any of Saric, Okafor or Noel are anything special. The answer right now is very clearly Minnesota and Milwaukee, but I think it's wide open after that and you can put the Lakers duo (Russell and whoever else you want to put there) up against any of them. 

Side note, I can't believe Brandon Knight is still only 24. Had to look it up to verify. Granted he turns 25 this week, but still. He's been around a while.


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## e-monk (Sep 10, 2010)

Randle has been the best player on the Lakers so far this year


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

Ballscientist said:


> You don't know Buddy Hield's comparison is healthy Brandon Roy?
> 
> Buddy Hield can score 50 points in a single game.
> 
> He will be better than CJ McCollum and JJ Redick.





Ballscientist said:


> The scary thing is that both Davis and Hield can score 50 points each in the same single game.


Hield is truly trash. I do not expect him to still be in the NBA after his rookie contract. He's going to have to fight his way back through the D-League.


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

As far as an under-24 prospect ranking (factoring in current ability as well as potential ceiling) for the whole league, I think I'd have the order of the top 60 something like this...


Anthony Davis
Karl-Anthony Towns
Kristaps Porzingis
Joel Embiid
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Kyrie Irving
Andre Drummond
Devin Booker
Andrew Wiggins
D'Angelo Russell
Ben Simmons (just can't see him any higher than this before playing his 1st game)
Rudy Gobert
Steven Adams
Brandon Ingram
Jordan Clarkson
Harrison Barnes
Jabari Parker
Aaron Gordon
Nikola Jokic
Julius Randle
Zach LaVine
Bradley Beal
Justice Winslow
Marcus Smart
Myles Turner
Victor Oladipo
Tobias Harris
Kris Dunn
Dennis Schroder
Jahlil Okafor
Jusuf Nurkic
Jamal Murray
Enes Kanter
Rodney Hood
Otto Porter
Dante Exum
Dragan Bender
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope
Brandon Knight
Larry Nance Jr.
Clint Capela
Trey Lyles
Dario Saric
Emmanuel Mudiay
Jaylen Brown 
Stanley Johnson
Domantas Sabonis
Marquese Chriss
Nerlens Noel
Willie Cauley-Stein
Thon Maker
Willy Hernangomez
Mario Hezonja
Josh Richardson
Tyler Ennis
Tyus Jones
Buddy Hield
Glenn Robinson III
Skal Labissiere
Kelly Oubre Jr.

As far as duos go, I think it has to be Towns/Wiggins and then a big asterisk next to Embiid/Simmons for the number two slot potentially edging out Parker/Greek Freak. Then, I think you don't want to sleep on Drummond/Tobias/KCP as a solid trio up there with the Lakers, Suns, Jazz, and Nuggets young pups.


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## Jamel Irief (May 19, 2002)

e-monk said:


> Randle has been the best player on the Lakers so far this year


Again, I'm taking about long term potential. He's killing it this year. Very few big men have the combination of strength, quickness, leaping ability, energy and ball handling he does. He's hard to guard in the Lakers free wheeling offense. But for me to say he'll be better than D-Lo he needs to develop a deadly jumper or some go-to post moves or become a elite defender.


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## Ballscientist (Nov 11, 2002)

RollWithEm said:


> Hield is truly trash. I do not expect him to still be in the NBA after his rookie contract. He's going to have to fight his way back through the D-League.


This is so laughable that I usually don't rebut it.

Link: Hield is a core guy, next Steph Curry. Experts often compare him to superstars or all-stars. He was projected as top 3 pick in June.



> Buddy Hield most reminds me of a 20-year-old Ray Allen. He is a little smaller and a little longer, but Allen's shooting career masked what was an outstanding athlete as a younger player. In the more open NBA game, Hield will have lots of room to show athleticism -- and his shooting talent is at the elite level.
> 
> No, his stroke is not as pretty as Allen's was, but the results are equally beautiful and deadly. Can he be a team's top scorer? Probably. And Curry's impact on the league could mean Hield will get ample opportunity to be just that, a guy with permission to take a lot of tough shots.
> 
> ...


http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/page/Coach16243775/how-high-buddy-hield-nba-ceiling


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## RollWithEm (Jul 16, 2002)

Ballscientist said:


> This is so laughable that I usually don't rebut it.
> 
> Link: Hield is a core guy, next Steph Curry. Experts often compare him to superstars or all-stars. He was projected as top 3 pick in June.


Those experts said those things before actually seeing him play in the NBA. None of those guys are speaking out on his behalf anymore.


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## Ballscientist (Nov 11, 2002)

Hield plays 17 games average 18 minutes per game in the nba. He has gotten better each and every day. Too early to call him a bust.

Should I start a thread like this?

Best 28 years old and under Big-4 in the history?


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## Jamel Irief (May 19, 2002)

Ballscientist said:


> This is so laughable that I usually don't rebut it.
> 
> Link: Hield is a core guy, next Steph Curry. Experts often compare him to superstars or all-stars. He was projected as top 3 pick in June.
> 
> ...


What did the experts say about Adam Morrison before he was drafted?


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## e-monk (Sep 10, 2010)

"Ammo is going to be the next Chris Mullin but with 129% more porn stache" - Rick Bucher


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## Jamel Irief (May 19, 2002)

Nice. What did the experts say about Thomas Robinson? Is he under 24 still?


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## jayk009 (Aug 6, 2003)

I agree that Buddy Hield so far has been absolute trash. Reminds me of a poor man's bad Nick Young. (Not this year's good Nick Young). 

However, I think it is a bit too early. I think he has a chance to get used to the speed of the NBA and have time to adjust his timing and stuff as he's not the most athletic or fastest athlete. If he keeps his confidence up and learns how to play slow and effective ala a Paul Pierce kind of pace he could still have a good career.


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## Jamel Irief (May 19, 2002)

jayk009 said:


> I agree that Buddy Hield so far has been absolute trash. Reminds me of a poor man's bad Nick Young. (Not this year's good Nick Young).
> 
> However, I think it is a bit too early. I think he has a chance to get used to the speed of the NBA and have time to adjust his timing and stuff as he's not the most athletic or fastest athlete. If he keeps his confidence up and learns how to play slow and effective ala a Paul Pierce kind of pace he could still have a good career.


Trust me, I had the same opinion of Hield before he was drafted. I'm not calling him trash like Rollwithem, I just don't believe he'll be a starter in this league. I think his upside is Jodie Meeks at his best. 

I don't see the Pierce comparison at all. Pierce isn't that quick, but he's got a big upper body and is a master of getting defenders out of position with fakes and his shoulders. For a 6'4" shooter to thrive in this league you have to be either a stellar athlete or a very crafty ball handler. He's not really either.


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## King Sancho Fantastic (Jul 19, 2005)

Hield's game reminds me of OJ Mayo.


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