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.
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.
Rashard Lewis comes to mind
Tmac didn’t play much until year 3