Jalen Johnson may be better than De'Andre Hunter and Cam Reddish

[NBASupes]

On 3/10/2023 at 8:01 AM, JayBirdHawk said:

both POWER FORWARDS for the next 10 years? Or did you mean to say PF and C?

Both PFs long term. 

[BangHolman]

Can we start Jalen over Collins for the rest of the season? 

[Final_quest]

I remember years of reading people celebrate a good game, or even good half, by a second round pick or undrafted free agent in summer league.  Still find it odd that people were so dismissive of Jalen being one of the top players during his summer league. 

[hawkman]

1 minute ago, Final_quest said:

I remember years of reading people celebrate a good game, or even good half, by a second round pick or undrafted free agent in summer league.  Still find it odd that people were so dismissive of Jalen being one of the top players during his summer league. 

I was very excited with his play during Summer League. He backed that up with a good stint in the G League as well. He has a very unique skillset for a PF and I'm not surprised at what he's doing right now. I'm glad Quinn is encouraging him to push the ball on the break and make decisions.

[AtLaS]

JJ has always been underrated since he left Duke early, there was just no video proof of him before this season.  In his only action anywhere he has played he has dominated.  He had a 25+ PER at Duke in only 13 games, dominated the summer league, dominated the G-league.  He's a legit 6-9, a freak athlete with good ballhandling and passing skills.  Those players always translate, there's almost no chance he won't be a legitimate NBA starter, and potential to be an all-star.  

If he doesn't leave Duke early he probably goes top 5. 

[AHF]

59 minutes ago, Final_quest said:

I remember years of reading people celebrate a good game, or even good half, by a second round pick or undrafted free agent in summer league.  Still find it odd that people were so dismissive of Jalen being one of the top players during his summer league. 

I was very excited about JJ but I didn’t and still don’t give a **** about summer league for anything other than entertainment value during the dry summer months.  Looking good is nice but useless players frequently look nice in summer league.  Looking bad is more troubling than looking good is encouraging but even then you are taking about like an hour or so of play against largely disorganized low talent competition so getting a meaningful read is tough.  

[benhillboy]

15 hours ago, NBASupes said:

Both PFs long term. 

Ayo @NBASupes why you can’t receive messages?

[NBASupes]

6 hours ago, benhillboy said:

Ayo @NBASupes why you can’t receive messages?

My mailbox is probably full. Only AHF seems to be able to send me messages. Let me clean out my mailbox 

[NBASupes]

@benhillboy try it now

[AtLaS]

17 hours ago, AHF said:

I was very excited about JJ but I didn’t and still don’t give a **** about summer league for anything other than entertainment value during the dry summer months.  Looking good is nice but useless players frequently look nice in summer league.  Looking bad is more troubling than looking good is encouraging but even then you are taking about like an hour or so of play against largely disorganized low talent competition so getting a meaningful read is tough.  

While I agree that summer league doesn't matter in terms of translation to the NBA, as you pointed out there are numerous examples of players who were terrible in SL and great in the NBA and vice versa.  But, JJ's talent was undeniable, it wasn't like he just got hot from three for 4 games.  His talent was clearly superior with size, speed, athleticism, ballhandling, etc.  It's just hard for me to think that wouldn't translate unless he just had zero work ethic or something, which is always a possibility.  

[benhillboy]

2 hours ago, NBASupes said:

@benhillboy try it now

Bet, I did.  Not sure if it went through but I didn’t receive an error message this time so I guess it did.

[Final_quest]

20 hours ago, AHF said:

I was very excited about JJ but I didn’t and still don’t give a **** about summer league for anything other than entertainment value during the dry summer months.  Looking good is nice but useless players frequently look nice in summer league.  Looking bad is more troubling than looking good is encouraging but even then you are taking about like an hour or so of play against largely disorganized low talent competition so getting a meaningful read is tough.  

People reacted to "could be better than Cam or Hunter" more than "Jalen looks awesome."  Being introduced as a threat to "established future stars" was triggering.  Seems like it still triggers...

[AHF]

5 hours ago, AtLaS said:

While I agree that summer league doesn't matter in terms of translation to the NBA, as you pointed out there are numerous examples of players who were terrible in SL and great in the NBA and vice versa.  But, JJ's talent was undeniable, it wasn't like he just got hot from three for 4 games.  His talent was clearly superior with size, speed, athleticism, ballhandling, etc.  It's just hard for me to think that wouldn't translate unless he just had zero work ethic or something, which is always a possibility.  

Who didn't already know he was a multi-skilled, elite physical talent from his high school days and time at Duke?  That is why I don't care.  He was an elite recruit when he went to Duke and showed clearly superior abilities and qualities there. He did the same in summer league.  Who does that surprise?  4 summer league exhibition games just don't change anything with that for me whether they are games in which he struggles or looks great.  That is why I just don't care about summer league.  It is fun to see him looking dominant but I don't see much that is actionable there that couldn't have already been gleaned from prior play.

I was thrilled when we drafted him and am thrilled to see him looking better and better over time this year.

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

 

[NBASupes]

13 hours ago, JayBirdHawk said:

 

 

 

He's much better defending 3s than 4s and he looks lost all of the time as a 4 on D. Honestly, him and Bey basically flip flop where he's better defending 4s on the regular.

[JayBirdHawk]

On 8/14/2021 at 8:18 PM, TheNorthCydeRises said:

This is a controversial and bold statement.  But it may be the truth!

Yo @TheNorthCydeRises....maybe not as controversial or bold 20 months later.

[Gray Mule]

Jalen Johnson, letting his light shine!

[givemesome1ce1]

Could a Trae-Murray-Jalen-Collins-Okongwu lineup be a beast in the NBA? I think so. 
 

also I can’t believe people were talking about Jalen being better than Hunter two years ago…that’s nuts

Edited April 7, 2023 by givemesome1ce1

[dalamchops]

you really need bogi or aj or both in there to make jalen work, the spacing would be terrible without either, unless JJ becomes a really good shooter himself

[REHawksFan]

7 hours ago, givemesome1ce1 said:

Could a Trae-Murray-Jalen-Collins-Okongwu lineup be a beast in the NBA? I think so. 
 

also I can’t believe people were talking about Jalen being better than Hunter two years ago…that’s nuts

That's the lineup I'd like to see.  Jalen is a move diverse threat offensively than Hunter and he seems to hold his own defensively as well.  We don't really have anyone to take JC minutes right now, but I think next year it could be OO IF we can find a stretch 5 to replace CC.  OO needs to be starting now over CC, imo.