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Baseline81 wrote:

Colbinii wrote:I don't think anyone imagined he would be this good.

I may be in the minority then.

What were others thinking he'd become? Do you not envision a the first overall pick becoming a star?

Not every 1st round pick is created equal.

https://nbadraftroom.com/p/anthony-edwards/

Dominique Wilkins, Victor Oladipo, Jaylen Brown

These are the types of players who were thrown around for his realistic, higher-end outcome. Basically a solid #2 option on a true title contender, a #1 on a middling team.

Edwards never showed this vision or passing as a prospect. He never showed this defensive intensity or skill either. Remember his rookie season and even in 2022 he looked "lost" defensively. That's completely gone now.

Baseline81 wrote:

Colbinii wrote:I don't think anyone imagined he would be this good.

I may be in the minority.

What were others thinking he'd become? When you think No. 1 overall pick should you not be envisioning a star?

I agree, definitely a star. However, superstar??? Not coming out of Georgia at the time. I would have been happy with a star. With Ant, I'm ecstatic and looking forward to the next 20 years ( ok, 15) and watching what he becomes. Will my grandchildren talk about Ant the way I talk about MJ??

Baseline81 wrote:

Colbinii wrote:I don't think anyone imagined he would be this good.

I may be in the minority.

Do you not envision a the first overall pick becoming a star?

What were others thinking he'd become?

The 2020 draft wasn’t supposed to have gaga top picks, and there was great debate whether Edwards, Wiseman, or LaMelo Ball would be the right pick. Personally, I was worried about Ball because of his father (turned out to not be an issue), and worried about Ant because he was so raw and the pre-draft stuff about his lack of desire (turned out completely the opposite!). I was in favor of trading down to #2 to GSW (who seemed to favor Wiseman), and if they took him, even trade down again to #3 for more assets, since I didn’t have a clear favorite between Ant and Ball.

I was totally wrong. I was hoping Ant (or Ball) might become a borderline All Star in five years or so, once the older talent left and created some openings. And that was just a hope. Today’s “Face of the League” forecasts and straight-faced comparisons to Michael freakin Jordan was never what I envisioned!

I feel so lucky Rosas picked him, and I to get to watch him play for my favorite team, and dream about what he can become.

Baseline81 wrote:

Colbinii wrote:I don't think anyone imagined he would be this good.

I may be in the minority.

Do you not envision a the first overall pick becoming a star?

What were others thinking he'd become?

I thought his upside was Jason Richardson. Stronger and faster than most guys he'd be up against, but not a superstar.

And Richardson was really good. At his best he was 23/6/4 with 2 stocks. And a career 37% 3PT shooter.

But he's blown past him and dunked on his head.

Colbinii wrote:Not every 1st round pick is created equal.

https://nbadraftroom.com/p/anthony-edwards/

Dominique Wilkins, Victor Oladipo, Jaylen Brown

These are the types of players who were thrown around for his realistic, higher-end outcome. Basically a solid #2 option on a true title contender, a #1 on a middling team.

Edwards never showed this vision or passing as a prospect. He never showed this defensive intensity or skill either. Remember his rookie season and even in 2022 he looked "lost" defensively. That's completely gone now.

Regarding the first underline, you can never take comps seriously. NBADraft.net compared DeShawn Stevenson to Michael Jordan. Do I have to say more?

Wilkins wasn't a 3-point shooter. In college, Edwards averaged 7.7 3PA per game. Oladipo was known more for his defense than offense (average 13.6 PPG his junior season). Brown's the best of the ones listed simply because he struggled his lone season at Cal, much like Ant at Georgia.

The second underline is not true. His college coach, Tom Crean, stated Edwards had every tool you could want. The issue, of course, was consistency. Go back and watch his college games. He exploded for 37 points against No. 3 Michigan State at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. He led his team in steals (12 games) and blocks (9 games). While you're at it, numerous YouTube draft channels discussed how he didn't bring it repeatedly, but the skills were always there. When you combine that with his athleticism, body and later start playing basketball, it seemed obvious at the time. As a prospect, he was the perfect clay to be molded.

And let's be honest, there are still a few stragglers who believe Ryan Saunders is a good coach, but he was not what Edwards needed to start his professional career. Under Finch...

BlacJacMac wrote:

Baseline81 wrote:

Colbinii wrote:I don't think anyone imagined he would be this good.

I may be in the minority.

Do you not envision a the first overall pick becoming a star?

What were others thinking he'd become?

I thought his upside was Jason Richardson. Stronger and faster than most guys he'd be up against, but not a superstar.

And Richardson was really good. At his best he was 23/6/4 with 2 stocks. And a career 37% 3PT shooter.

But he's blown past him and dunked on his head.

I always thought Vince was a pretty realistic comp for him.

Pretty detailed segment on Ant's growth this year

They talked about this, and it's wild that he might end up fringe FIRST TEAM all-NBA!

Ant is becoming the superstar we expect him to be. The next step will be to improve ball handling and also to manage his energy during a game. You can’t be 100% all the time but you have to stand up at crutch. Sometimes Ant is just too generous ànd run out of gas. But that’s a really small issue to manage specially at 22.

FrenchMinnyFan wrote:Ant is becoming the superstar we expect him to be. The next step will be to improve ball handling and also to manage his energy during a game. You can’t be 100% all the time but you have to stand up at crutch. Sometimes Ant is just too generous ànd run out of gas. But that’s a really small issue to manage specially at 22.

I would like to see him better at involving his teammates and less spectacular moves. The block and the dunk were great but also dangerous.

This was a great monologue

I don't know many of you are old enough to remember Isaiah Rider, but he had the same combo of size + skill + freakish athleticism when he came into the league. But he had nothing between the ears and loved weed more than basketball and other than winning a dunk contest he was never more than a mediocre shooting guard.

All credit to Ant for the mountains of hard work, positive attitude, and receptiveness to coaching.
That and the seemingly bottomless fountain of energy and next-play attitude have made him what he is.

The scary thing is that he still has so much room for improvement.
His craftiness with his dribble and around the basket, with the hesitation moves, have been a revelation this year.
Nobody in the game is doing stuff like that at his level right now.

Before the draft, I was not a fan of the way he played in college with so much hero ball.
That and the awful nationally televised workout he had where he looked out of shape and shot poorly also gave me doubts.

younggunsmn wrote:I don't know many of you are old enough to remember Isaiah Rider, but he had the same combo of size + skill + freakish athleticism when he came into the league. But he had nothing between the ears and loved weed more than basketball and other than winning a dunk contest he was never more than a mediocre shooting guard.

All credit to Ant for the mountains of hard work, positive attitude, and receptiveness to coaching.
That and the seemingly bottomless fountain of energy and next-play attitude have made him what he is.

The scary thing is that he still has so much room for improvement.
His craftiness with his dribble and around the basket, with the hesitation moves have been a revelation this year.
Nobody in the game is doing stuff like that at this level right now.

Before the draft, I was not a fan of the way he played in college with so much hero ball.
That and the awful nationally televised workout he had where he looked out of shape and shot poorly also gave me doubts.

It was watching Rider in the dunk contest that made me a Wolves fan so you leave my man alone... ha ha jokes brother

Agree with your post. Ant is on another level.

After the rookie season I knew he is going for the GOAT spot. I have an ongoing bet made then, that he will win 3 chips (not necessarily playing for us). And my prediction was based on his personality, drive and toughness, cause pure talent (a la Vince) is not nearly enough.

Rosas knew

A lot of us knew. It didn’t take much to realize from his tapes that he was something extraordinary special athletically on the court. Some reports (I assume were coming from Charlotte and Golden state people) made me question his drive as a basketball player and lack of love for the sport and his personality a little bit but ultimately I knew Ant was THE top pick and I also wanted Maxey at 16:/

Neeva wrote:A lot of us knew. It didn’t take much to realize from his tapes that he was something extraordinary special athletically on the court. Some reports (I assume were coming from Charlotte and Golden state people) made me question his drive as a basketball player and lack of love for the sport and his personality a little bit but ultimately I knew Ant was THE top pick and I also wanted Maxey at 16:/

Well said. Maxey was one who I was okay with trading down for, but either way, it’s all good…

Neeva wrote:A lot of us knew. It didn’t take much to realize from his tapes that he was something extraordinary special athletically on the court. Some reports (I assume were coming from Charlotte and Golden state people) made me question his drive as a basketball player and lack of love for the sport and his personality a little bit but ultimately I knew Ant was THE top pick and I also wanted Maxey at 16:/

Going back through the first Ant thread....Neeva was one of the first to be truly excited about the pick and his upside. minimus not far behind on the hype train.

I was cautiously optimistic.

Klomp wrote:While we may not get a James or Duncan type player from this draft, I don't think he'll be a Bennett or Bargnani either.....I think he could easily settle in as a Simmons, Griffin type. Might take a few years, but he can get there.