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.
Lou Williams is a big answer to this. Took 4 years before he ever started a game and was definitely not ready the first couple seasons. He was a 2nd round draft pick out of highschool the final year NBA teams could draft highschool players.
Became a perennial 6MOY winner.