I've just had some thoughts about James Young and I'm still 50/50 on him ever making the rotation. On offense I can't tell if he is skilled or not, because he's clearly been given the task of
"Stand in the corner. If you're open, like I mean WIDE open, shoot. If not, pass the ball to the nearest available player."
Often times we're playing 4v5 on offense when he's on the court just because he's been assigned to chill in the corner.
He's still only 20 and won't be 21 until August. He's about a year and a half younger than Smart and doesn't play with half the intensity that Smart does. Smart plays like a mad man flying after rebounds in close games. Young has a much different game and he doesn't bring that hustle impact that Smart does (thats not a knock against Young, very few players in this league hustle like Smart) that's why Smart is on the court and Young isn't.
I'm hoping to see radical improvement between now and the start of next season for Young. It'll be his third year and we are in need to depth at the 2-3 where we may lose Turner to a team who may overpay.
We could draft a wing high, or we could find one via free agency, but I really think we could have something in Young.
Just consider his age and the fact that he doesn't bring those hustle intangibles that Smart brings. TBH outside of hustling Smart's game is pretty ugly. His shooting is streaky and he's not terribly crafty or athletic attacking the rim. Some of his entry passes are downright awful. He's building those skills on the court before our eyes but Young needs to carve out a role for himself behind the scenes before he sees minutes.
tl;dr Young still isn't 21 years old and probably has a lot of work to do before we see him contribute, but I still think he's a good piece.
Submitted February 28, 2016 at 12:36PM by Warlandoboom