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.

  • twovles31BEnglish
    1·
    16 minutes ago

    I’m hoping Josh Minott will be the next one, it’s just preseason but coach Finch has liked the work he put in this summer.

  • Historical_Bell_167BEnglish
    1·
    26 minutes ago

    I keep seeing Dejounte Murray but he was all defensive second team his second year in the league so not sure how he qualifies. Jermaine O’Neal is a good answer on here.

  • Wild_Money_99BEnglish
    1·
    41 minutes ago

    He hasn’t fully popped yet but you could almost put GG Jackson in this conversation pending on what he does the next two years. From 45 pick in the G-league to potential starter next year. So time will tell

  • SickofbaltimoreBEnglish
    1·
    44 minutes ago

    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.

  • BarberaPretty19BEnglish
    1·
    1 hour ago

    Notable “two years from being two years away” picks include Giannis Antetokounmpo, Pascal Siakam, Rudy Gobert, and Khris Middleton. They initially struggled but eventually became high-level NBA players through development.

  • snyder810BEnglish
    1·
    1 hour ago

    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.

  • Dense-Courage-7205BEnglish
    1·
    1 hour ago

    Giannis, Jimmy Butler, Dejounte Murray, and Rudy Gobert come to mind for recent players

  • 2Basketball2PooriousBEnglish
    1·
    2 hours ago

    I don’t know if they were two years away from being two years away, but Jermaine O’Neal and TMac had somewhat tough starts to their respective careers before becoming All-NBA level guys.