07-13-2023, 04:12 PM
(07-13-2023, 03:40 PM)RoyTarpleysGhost Wrote: You can say the exact same things about Josh Green. Same age coming into the league. Great athlete. Great makeup. Underwhelming performance his one year in college. Considered raw.
People are acting like since the 12th pick is a "lottery" pick, he should contribute a lot sooner than the 18th pick. I don't see much difference. I also don't have the same read that the Mavs expect him to contribute right away since they spent such a high pick on him. He was the only defensive center left on the board where the Mavs were picking. No other options if you wanted a young big man to develop.
I expect a similar developmental timeline for Lively as Josh.
I would argue that Lively was significantly better in college than Green in his last 2 months after he had gotten over his calf issues. He was arguably the most impactful defensive player in college. He was definitely a higher rated prosect projected as a lottery pick where as green was projected late first. I also think Green lost nearly a full season of development due to the covid situation. Between those two things, I think you can expect Lively to progress quicker than Green did, but you never know.