Is Kristaps Porzingis the 6th best player under 25?

ESPN came out with their list of the 50 best players under 25 and to my surprise they ranked KP at 6 despite a terrible Jan and his foul troubles which have kept him off the floor and from contributing. I love the kid and obviously he's the best young player right now to build the team around but has he really performed well enough yet to call him better than Wiggins, Turner, Jokic, Adams, Kanter or even Beal.

He does remind me of Anthony Davis when he came into the league, skinny kid that needed to develop upper and lower body strength which is what the Brow did in off-season strength training and it's paid off because he is ESPN's top player under 25. Hubie Brown also said during the Spurs game that KP should work on his upper and lower body strength and post game this summer and I hope the Knicks coaches do their job and coach him instead of letting him fine tune his dribbling like he did this past summer. KP should talk to the Brow about what he did in his off-season training program during All-Star weekend, he might pick up a few things from AD.

ESPN hasn't published the top 5 players yet but here is a glimpse of the 5 guys under 25 above KP. I did mention in a post that I thought the Greek Freak had the potential to be the best player in the game and his rank at number 2 confirms my opinion about him. Joel Embiid I also posted about being the best big man for ROY this year but to rank the guy at 5 with his injury problems in a body of work of 1/2 season playing limited minutes is a stretch for me. I love his game like KP but he's had trouble staying on the floor.

1. Anthony Davis
2. Giannis Antetokounmpo
3. Kyrie Irving
4. KAT
5. Joel Embiid

I thought Melo would replace Love at the ASG but I see he's going to take the time off instead. The Knicks need to be repped by somebody and why not by KP6, that would an awesome experience for the young man to be in the Rising Stars game and the ASG.

KP played through some injuries and is floundering in a dysfunctional environment, wedged between 2 high volume
Shooters pursuing their own self-interest. Rose wants another contract and Melo trying to show up PHIL and all the doubters....

KP has a new coach and new teammates. And, yeah, he is a work in progress.

I think he's in the top 10 for sure.... right now that is.... I think his work ethic and will to be great will help.... but he has to put in the work and continually improve.... and he needs to stay healthy.

LIke you said, the Process is a special talent, but if he can't stay on the floor.... he's not that great.

As for the Greek freak... let's see what he does now that Parker is out until 2018-2019 season.

Hard to fathom that Irving is still under 25! And, man, I wish we had KAT.

Wait, is Melo not taking Love's offered All-Star spot an actual thing? I know he said that he would rather KP get it, but now that he was offered it, I thought he was just going to take it.

htr10 said:

Wait, is Melo not taking Love's offered All-Star spot an actual thing? I know he said that he would rather KP get it, but now that he was offered it, I thought he was just going to take it.

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htr10 Silver selected him after I wrote this. He initially wanted to take the time off but when Silver selected him he changed his mind.

Beal .. Whiteside .. Morris has been playing off the chart since last season and shouldve been Love replacement in the ALL-Star game .....

KP is having another mid-season crisis of consistent poor performance .. KP has made no improvement, while several 2016-17 rookies performance has by passed KP low IQ performance

Kiyaman said:

Beal .. Whiteside .. Morris has been playing off the chart since last season and shouldve been Love replacement in the ALL-Star game .....

KP is having another mid-season crisis of consistent poor performance .. KP has made no improvement, while several 2016-17 rookies performance has by passed KP low IQ performance

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Sad but true the kid looked lost in the okc game. I read he wasn't feeling well vomiting during the day, hes got to play better after the ASG if the Knicks are going to turn this around. Might even be worth not tanking if KP can snap out of this slump and prove hes what ESPN says he is.

Wiggins 2 40 pt games in 24 hrs. 15 consecutive 20 pt. games and Porzingis is better than him????

tiger0330 said:

Wiggins 2 40 pt games in 24 hrs. 15 consecutive 20 pt. games and Porzingis is better than him????

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Towns, Wiggins, and Porzingis are all in the same boat, putting up stats on bad losing teams. Never sure how excited to get about guys when their success doesn't translate to wins.

htr10 said:

Towns, Wiggins, and Porzingis are all in the same boat, putting up stats on bad losing teams. Never sure how excited to get about guys when their success doesn't translate to wins.

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Towns & Wiggins has a high IQ plus their athletic talent surpass KP by a mile, the two Wolves players are great the first 3 quarters of the game, what the young Wolves team are lacking are the veteran leadership to close-out games in the 4th quarter.
If Towns/Wiggins/and Lavine had veterans Jennings/Quinn/and Noah in their 4th quarter rotation they would be above .500 team.

KP biggest problem happen to be ISO-Melo control over the team offense/defense and tempo of the game.
Plus PG-Derrick Rose handing-out only 5 assist per game in 33 minute of playing-time has not improve KP out-look on the offensive-end as a scorer.
Coach Jeff Horn has prove to be in the same coaching class as coach Derrick Fisher when it comes to putting players on the same-page to have a solid lineup on the court playing team-ball. The Knicks are still one of the worst defensive teams in the league.

#kporzee Represented

Winning Round!!!

Broadway said:

#kporzee Represented

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Not a bad game in the Rising Stars, scoring 24 pts, not as dominant as I would have liked l thought others were better.

Had a near perfect run against Hayward, nailing his 3 on the 1st try which he didn't do against Cuz but Cuz couldn't make his 3. lol about Reggie, this is the best thing that's happened to the Knicks.

Good weekend KP.... now let's hope for a great week (trade deadline 2-23)....

Winners interview, I hope this doesn't go to his head and he emphasizes his big man skills in his game rather than thinking he can be a 7ft PG.

KP plays how he plays. He's never going to turn into a physical big man who camps out under the hoop. That's why it makes so much sense for him to be paired with guys who are going to do that and not a guy who plays Iso 18 feet from the hoop

htr10 said:

KP plays how he plays. He's never going to turn into a physical big man who camps out under the hoop. That's why it makes so much sense for him to be paired with guys who are going to do that and not a guy who plays Iso 18 feet from the hoop

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So true .. during KP rookie season i were hoping we would use the season to gell a energy 2nd unit frontcourt lineup of D.Will/KP/Quinn to be keepers for this season.

It was hard to believe Jokic were a replacement for Embiid .. The lineup of KP & Jokic were dynamic

tiger0330 said:

Winners interview, I hope this doesn't go to his head and he emphasizes his big man skills in his game rather than thinking he can be a 7ft PG.

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It's good he won, but I won't take it further than him having the spirit to go out there and win(get it done) while creating some positive vibes, which this organization has very little of this yr. At the same time, I mean we have seen David Lee and Tim Hardaway shine over this weekend and it amounted to absolutely nothing.

Broadway said:

It's good he won, but I won't take it further than him having the spirit to go out there and win(get it done) while creating some positive vibes, which this organization has very little of this yr. At the same time, I mean we have seen David Lee and Tim Hardaway shine over this weekend and it amounted to absolutely nothing.

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I agree winning this event is largely hype like winning the slam dunk contest.

Only event I think is relevant is the 3 pt shooting contest, if Porzingis won that I wouldn't mind him shooting 30 ft 3s with time left on the clock.
He's a decent 3 pt shooter but not good enough to be launching those heat checks.

If he's looking to become a once in a generation player like he said when he was drafted he's got to use his best physical attribute, his height and wingspan in the post. I don't see why he can't be effective in the post when Jokic who can't jump and is shorter has become effective down there.

Right now you got a 7 ft wing that can't take smaller quicker guys off the dribble because at 7'3" he has a high dribble that gets stripped easily. Those skills he showed in the skills challenge is nice marketing but aren't going to make him a dominant player. Either he becomes a high volume 40% 3pt shooter or he becomes a multi skilled post and perimeter player are the two ways he plays his way into the HOF and becomes a Knicks legend. BTW, he's 16th in DRPM among 95 PFs so he's a solid defensive anchor despite his recent foul woes.

https://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/sort/DRPM/position/6

tiger0330 said:

I agree winning this event is largely hype like winning the slam dunk contest.

Only event I think is relevant is the 3 pt shooting contest, if Porzingis won that I wouldn't mind him shooting 30 ft 3s with time left on the clock.
He's a decent 3 pt shooter but not good enough to be launching those heat checks.

If he's looking to become a once in a generation player like he said when he was drafted he's got to use his best physical attribute, his height and wingspan in the post. I don't see why he can't be effective in the post when Jokic who can't jump and is shorter has become effective down there.

Right now you got a 7 ft wing that can't take smaller quicker guys off the dribble because at 7'3" he has a high dribble that gets stripped easily. Those skills he showed in the skills challenge is nice marketing but aren't going to make him a dominant player. Either he becomes a high volume 40% 3pt shooter or he becomes a multi skilled post and perimeter player are the two ways he plays his way into the HOF and becomes a Knicks legend. BTW, he's 16th in DRPM among 95 PFs so he's a solid defensive anchor despite his recent foul woes.

https://www.espn.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/sort/DRPM/position/6

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So far he's been nothing more than a solid pick that's provided some keepsake highlights every 15-20gms or so. This yr he's been below average but my main gripe with him currently is his "beta mentality" when it comes to this Melo situation. Look, experienced veterans can make this game better for young players such as himself but he shouldn't be constantly caping for Melo in the media. Even if he's asked about it over and over. He needs to have full confidence in himself and understand this league is a business with players who can come and go. At the very least he needs to be as good as Melo(as a talent) and I don't see this yet.

If by slim chance Melo is traded he needs to embrace this transition looking at it from the vantage point of him taking over this franchise and reaching/surpasses this potential so many feel he has. Him constantly referring to Melo's continued standing as a Knick is an eye opener. This wreaks of beta beta beta beta instead of alpha alpha alpha alpha. Not good IMO no matter the sentimental place fans allow for this.

Even if he had the Reggie Jackson I'm the man persona. His game isn't there yet for him to be called a franchise player. He's made nominal improvement this year but he needs to make a leap ahead next year. He wants to train with Dirk but I don't see him making that leap by just doing that. Hit the gym like the Brow did before his 3rd season, develop that lower body strength to be able to hold your ground in the post and back guys down and develop a post game. The Knicks are not only awful on the court but are they an organization that can develop young players, I think the jury is still out on that one with KP being the model.