It seems like every year, teams draft or sign super young guys with obvious physical upside, only to stash them in the G-League with the idea of developing their basketball skills.
But, like, how many of these guys ever actually develop?
Are there examples of guys who were drafted young, and were nowhere near NBA-ready in year one, but thrived in an NBA or G-League development environment to reach their ceiling?
It seems like even the classic names who seemingly come out of nowhere at least start out as playable NBA players in year one.
Among current guys I’d pick Jerami Grant - Generally fine, but unspectacular at Syracuse. Was a second rounder who got to play a lot too early on the Process Sixers, and as expected was pretty bad early on. Improved pretty much every year to be an elite role player.