The Dream Shake Awards: Most Promising Future

Would be Hasheem, but he’s still a work in progress.

T-Will is ready to play, he just needs minutes to prove himself.

He better get the green light next year.

With his athletic ability, hustle and attitude its gotta be 2p. He showed flashes of brilliance in his rookie campaign and given his work ethic and having chuck around to learn from.
I look for substantial growth going forward. Turnd out he was an absolute steal at 14 and should continue to prove that our talent evaluation as a club has gotta be 2nd or 3rd best in the league.

Why? Because of the simply gigantic gap between what he is, and what he might be. Patrick Patterson is already a good basketball player – he might make the leap to great.

Williams played 60 games, I think his perceived improvement might be huge, but mostly in his case it’ll be decision making and a reliable 3pt shot. (And apparently the Rockets can teach that, look at Lowry.)

Jordan Hill has 0 votes as of this comment lol! I swear this is wishy washyness at its best and with proof. He was 1st last season and last this season. I voted for Williams of course but I still believe in Hill actually.

But it’s going to be tough because he’s already proven he’s a player. Here’s my train of thought. By the end of next season, he will be the starting PF.. Assuming Scola gets dealt. But anyways, Hill, Thabeet, and T-Will have the most to prove. Their shape, attitude, and play in training camp and preseason will determine if they embraced the opportunity of a new coach and possible playing time.

has shown flashes (at least in NJ) of star-quality play, so he gets my vote. Sure, Hill and Thabeet haven’t gotten the same opportunities, but Williams has that mix of defensive tenacity, athleticism and court vision that are the usual foundation of any star player. His development is really going to come down to the kind of coach we hire, and I hope to goodness it’s someone who can develop a troubled player into a star (as opposed to someone who is solely a defensive guru).

Not a ‘who will be MIP by the end of next season’ many of you have already said that patterson, in his rookie yr, has alrdy shown he is a legit player and somehow that counted against him in this vote.
Will paterson be the most shocking should he turn around next yr and play incredibly well? No. I agree that thabeet holds that distinction. He and williams both have nowheree to go but up and therefore have the most room for improvement, hill as well.
But I think its clear that patterson, barring injury, has the most potential to turn into an all-star one day. Him or lee.
While lowry did turn into a beast, I think its safe to say he’s hit his cieling (which is not bad, I hope to god he maintains this lvl of play)
As for who gets traded first, scola or martin, I think age and positional depth should make it clear that out of the two scola is the more expendable.
Not saying other people were generaly wrong about what they said just contextualy incorrect as it seemed that the true nature of the question put forth got lost in the shuffle.
Once again, its ‘brightest future’ (pat, lee, or evem bud still) not ‘most room for improvement’ (thatbeet, williams, hill)

I really think that Jordan Hill will continue to slowly improve, but we should temper our expectations due to the fact the kid does not have the same amount of B-ball experience that the standard AAU babies have. Give the dude some time. I don’t care if it takes 1 year or 3 years for him to be an all-star, as long as he does will please me. That is the definition of a project. Patience.

However, T-Will is a different story to me. Hill seems determined and has his shit together mentally for all intensive purposes, and this seems not to be the case with T-Will. Talent will only take you so far without the desire to get better. People are acting like it is a foregone conclusion that he will develop a jumper because Lowry did, but this is not a guarantee. Dude needs to get his shit straight in the offseason and approach the game with a matching level of determination to go along with his natural talent. There are no free passes when it comes to commitment. The team is more important than the player. If you can’t contribute to the team and do not show the mental capacity to do such, than get the hell on. My hope is that things come together for him this next season.

I hope all of our players improve. Hating on different players we have without hoping positive progression is counterproductive. I may not like a player, but the individual is irrelevant in the face of the franchise. I want them all to develop into all-stars. This is not saying we should blindly let a player who is unwilling get a pass, but we should be patient and hopeful.