ROSTER TALK: Mavs favs for Vogel if no HC job exists. Kyrie handshake deal?

[DanSchwartzgan]

I am cautiously optimistic. or at least very open to the idea, that JG will take a big step forward this year. I agree we could be sleeping on him as we try to figure out the Mavs potential.

There are realities about him we choose to ignore (or maybe some don't realize them) ...
1 When drafted, he was very raw and underdeveloped. He came from Australia and his single year of college was cut short by the Covid mess.
2 The Mavs drafted him mostly on athleticism and its potential imo. We have seen that at times, and his gifts are obvious.
3 His 1st NBA year was an awful experience for a raw player -- covid year, no camp, everyone in and out of the lineup, shutdowns, practices were rare. To me it was a lost year, no more NBA-relevant for an undeveloped guy than a year in GL or still in college. 
4 If we ignore that 1st season and look at last season as if he was just then a rookie being brought along (and, for practical purposes, that's pretty much what it was), the 2022 playoffs pale in relation to the solid season he had for a "rookie." And he's still super young.

Totally agree.  This was the point I tried to make last season when comparing Green’s second season (his de facto rookie year IMHO) to Iguodala’s early years.  On a per minute basis JG-2 vs AI-Rookie shows well for Green.  They are the same age if you look at it this way and if one buys the argument you made about the value of Green’s rookie season, they are essentially the same level of experience.

JG-2 compared to AI-2 isn’t that far off except for assists.  But, it isn’t really fair given AI had 164 games under his belt as a starter at that point and Green had a total mess of a rookie year (and much less college experience).

I’m not saying Green is going to be AI.  He doesn’t have to be (yet) on this team.  But if he can be a positive on-court (which he’s be 4.0 and 3.5 his two seasons) and be similarly productive on a per-minute basis, he is something worth waiting a little longer on.