Trade & Free Agency 2026/2027

[Dundalis]

I agree with this, but to be even more clear, I think he's already shown enough for me to believe he's going to be a great scorer. He won't play exactly like Dirk, obviously, but I think he will grow into being a very high level scorer like Dirk, only in his own way, and will very likely end up being one of the better "closers" of his era (which hasn't even started yet, really). 

What I'm talking about is the PG thing...or point forward, whatever. I'm still way not a believer in that approach, so far. For me, it's not even a matter of whether he can do it, it's more about whether that's the thing they should want him to do. I think he'll be a better, more impactful player if they put a more prominent ball-handling scorer with him for so many reasons. 

But, either way. I think he's 2-3 years away from being in any type of "face of a contending team" conversation, regardless of role. That's not a criticism, either - it's just how this stuff works, in my NBA following experience.

I actually kind of expect him to be somewhere approximating 6th year Kawhi or 4th year Tatum, with worse 3pt shooting but more ball handling and playmaking duties. The separator for me that gives me confidence of a big jump is the IQ. I think many elite level prospects have really great bball IQ, but the ones who's bball IQ is also generational tend to not take as much developmental time to hit their prime years.

Superstars like SGA, Giannis, Tatum, Ant man etc, I think all have great bball IQ. I feel like Luka and also Coop's fit on a level above that. Jokic is also on that level bball IQ wise, but I think his starting point was a lot lower than Luka and Coops were when he entered the league (obviously given where he was drafted), explaining why he took longer.

It's about how fast a player will take information given and then just immediately assimilate it in the shortest time frame. It was something that was mentioned numerous times by people who worked with Coop prior to entering the NBA, exactly as it was with Luka, and why both were considered absolute basketball prodigies even as young as their earlier teen years, despite neither necessarily being athletic freaks.

Rookie Luka actually had an advantage over Coop development wise coming into the league, one he was a year older than Coop was, and two he'd been playing pro ball against men for numerous years already. Yet I kind of have a feeling he's gonna make a Luka like jump in his second year (he will basically be the same age Luka was his rookie year which is crazy), assuming he doesn't run into injury issues, and it's primarily the bball IQ he has that gives me that confidence.

How the jump translates to offensive vs defensive impact Im not sure, but I think overall impact the jump will be similar.