What if Markelle Fultz is the next D'Angelo Russell?

[screwedupmaniac]

Just hear me out...NBADraft.net lists Markelle Fultz's NBA comparisons as James Harden and D'Angelo Russell.  I scoffed this at first, but the statistical similarities are remarkably similar:

Markelle Fultz                              D'Angelo Russell
6'4", 195 lbs. 6'10" wingspan     6'5", 180 lbs. 6'9" wingspan 
PPG 23.2                                     PPG 19.3
FG% .476                                    FG% .449
3P% .413                                    3P% .411
FT% .649                                     FT% .756
RPG 5.7                                        RPG 5.7
AST 5.9                                        AST 5.0
STL 1.6                                        STL 1.6
BLK 1.2                                        BLK 0.3
TOV 3.2                                       TOV 2.9

What if Danny isn't committing because he knows Fultz's ceiling is not as high as advertised?  What if the best move is to trade the pick to someone who is high on Fultz?  I've been in the "draft Fultz" camp this whole way, but now I'm not so sure.

References:
http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/dangelo-russell-1.html
http://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/markelle-fultz-1.html
http://www.nbadraft.net/players/markelle-fultz

[Tr1boy]

- Russell also has a 6'9 ¾" wingspan
- College stats close across the board

Russell, McCollum comparisons - realistic expectations

[Ilikesports17]

I see Russel as a bit of a floor. I think Fultz is a much better athlete, he's also a better scorer everywhere but shooting 3s and doesn't have the maturity questions Russell has.

All that said, I don't love comparing him to Russel because Russel isn't a finished product. Russell is entering his 3rd season and Lakers fans see him as a building block for their team.

[Fan from VT]

Hard to tell based on that. There are a lot of tall guys with disproportionately long arms who did very well in college in the NBA. Looking at those numbers, though, I think there are fairly significant advantages in Fultz's favor, including total PPG, FG%, and, perhaps most encouragingly, blocks (blocks+steals being marker of athleticism).


I mean, I believe I wrote a while ago that I was psyched because Marcus Smart's closest combine comp was John Wall. Hasn't quite panned out.

[manl_lui]

still not that bad, good scorer but more mature, i'd take it

[Atzar]

Depends on what you think of Fultz as a prospect, I guess.

D'Angelo Russell was very highly-regarded coming out of college.  But he has also had his struggles thus far in the NBA - he's currently an inefficient volume shooter who doesn't play much defense.  So calling him a comp right now is a pretty sour take on Fultz's abilities.

But I concede that there are similarities based on their college stats and physical tools.  I do view Fultz as a better prospect than Russell was coming out, though, and I absolutely think he's a better prospect now.  The extra 4 ppg is a big difference and can't just be handwaved away as "close enough", especially since he did it with better efficiency despite having a lesser supporting cast.  And the general consensus among scouts is that Fultz's game will translate well to the NBA, where he'll have much better teammates and much more room to operate.

[max215]

I see Russel as a bit of a floor. I think Fultz is a much better athlete, he's also a better scorer everywhere but shooting 3s and doesn't have the maturity questions Russell has.

All that said, I don't love comparing him to Russel because Russel isn't a finished product. Russell is entering his 3rd season and Lakers fans see him as a building block for their team.

Russell has "struggled" and still has believers. I don't think he'll be superstar, but I still think there's a real chance he becomes very good. And I'd say he's at this point even though he's hit some major developmental snags.

[guava_wrench]

Is Fultz as limited athletically as Russell?

[max215]

Is Fultz as limited athletically as Russell?

No.

[Evantime34]

Fultz is a lot better at getting to the rim than Russell is/was. I think Russell is a better shooter.

That being said, people are too negative on Russell. His numbers stack up extremely well historically in terms of production at the age of 20.

[ETNCeltics]

A thread almost identical to this was on here like a week ago.

Fultz is a much better athlete. There's really no comparison.

Russell represents a floor for Fultz, IMO. Russell isn't as bad as many here are making him out to be. He was a 2nd year player, playing on an awful team, an awful team that was trying to lose. Few young players would thrive in the environment he was in. Same as Brandon Ingram.

It may bother some fans, but just over a week from now, Fultz will be a Celtic.

[Ilikesports17]

Fords tiers just came out.

Fultz was unanimous tier 1.

Ball was majority tier 1.

Pretty sure that places them in the top 10 prospects since 2009

The full list:

Davis, Towns, Wall, Wiggins, Parker, Embiid, Simmons, Griffin, Fultz, Ball

[celticsclay]

Fords tiers just came out.

Fultz was unanimous tier 1.

Ball was majority tier 1.

Pretty sure that places them in the top 10 prospects since 2009

The full list:

Davis, Towns, Wall, Wiggins, Parker, Embiid, Simmons, Griffin, Fultz, Ball

I thought ford got fired cause his tiers were so bad

[Ilikesports17]

Fords tiers just came out.

Fultz was unanimous tier 1.

Ball was majority tier 1.

Pretty sure that places them in the top 10 prospects since 2009

The full list:

Davis, Towns, Wall, Wiggins, Parker, Embiid, Simmons, Griffin, Fultz, Ball

I thought ford got fired cause his tiers were so bad

They aren't perfect but they are the best metric to compare prospects across drafts that I can find.

[Fan from VT]

Fords tiers just came out.

Fultz was unanimous tier 1.

Ball was majority tier 1.

Pretty sure that places them in the top 10 prospects since 2009

The full list:

Davis, Towns, Wall, Wiggins, Parker, Embiid, Simmons, Griffin, Fultz, Ball

I thought ford got fired cause his tiers were so bad

You're saying Ford's ESPN career is dead... so Tiers in Heaven?