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.
Just from the Spurs POV, if you include stash in Europe, then guys like Manu, Scola, and Splitter fit the bill.
If you mean guys who needed time in the G League specifically, then guys like Danny Green, Dejounte Murray and even Derrick White (was a matured aged draftee, but had come from a veeeery long way back through his college journey, and then still needed basically a full year in Austin to become an NBA level role player.
Looking elsewhere, I would point to Jermaine O’Neal as the most obvious example. This was pre G-league, and was drafted as a high schooler, but basically spent 4 years in Portland doing absolutely nothing. Before very quickly becoming an All-NBA and perennial All Star in Indy.
Right. High schoolers are a good shout.
Amir Johnson is another one. He basically redshirted for two years in Detroit, and only became a solid starter after year five in Toronto.
Tmac didn’t play much until year 3