'Almost there' players

[elementally morale]

This is not about championships so Barkley or Karl Malone are not good examples here. They got there as they were very very good players.

This thread is about players who for whatever reason were expected to make the next step from say better than average to All-Star level or 1-2 times All-Star to top 10 in the NBA level but never made it. (Kind of like Butch for Marcellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction.)

For you, who are or were these almost there players? Trae Young is someone I have in mind -- at least so far. Brandon Ingram. Cedric Ceballos from the past. You may argue these are bad examples but you get the idea.

Who you got?

[Im Still Ballin]

Ralph Sampson?

[SouBeachTalents]

Sheed for sure, I'd throw in Eddie Jones as well.

[rawimpact]

KAT
Ricky Davis

[elementally morale]

Sheed for sure, I'd throw in Eddie Jones as well.

Very good examples I think. Ralph Sampson is nice as well.

[elementally morale]

Jonas Valenciunas. Zach LaVine. Jermaine O'Neal. I'm not sure about Marc Gasol.

[ShawkFactory]

Came in to say KAT but he’s taken so I’ll go with. If things continue down this road (and I think they will) I’ll go with Ja.

[iamgine]

I remember Gary Harris was once a young stud and then he just got worse and worse.

[elementally morale]

Amare Stoudemire. Deron Williams. Latrell Sprewell. Blake Griffin as well.

[RRR3]

Amare Stoudemire. Deron Williams. Latrell Sprewell. Blake Griffin as well.
Both Amare and Blake have fairly good chances to make the HOF. You can argue they didn’t reach their full potential but both were considered All-NBA 1st team level players in their prime so I feel weird including them. Deron Williams also got there imo

[elementally morale]

Both Amare and Blake have fairly good chances to make the HOF. You can argue they didn’t reach their full potential but both were considered All-NBA 1st team level players in their prime so I feel weird including them. Deron Williams also got there imo

I expected all three to become a lot better for a lot longer. To me they almost got there. I can see your point though. We may be thinking different levels of greatness.

[elementally morale]

Ama're was all star multiple times and was up there among the top scorers in the league. i

True. But weren't you expecting more? More elite years for example? To me Amare was a vwry godd player who had a chance to become great among his peers. I think he remained in the very good category. I may be wrong though.

[HylianNightmare]

Myles turner

[90sgoat]

Kukoc probably.

[Reggie43]

Jalen Rose

[Norcaliblunt]

I dont know what “there” is. Sustained greatness? A peak year with stats worth noting? Team success? Just someone you thought would be better? Lol.

[Norcaliblunt]

Idk I’m going with Shaq. Almost there….. as in almost the GOAT.

[SATAN]

Isaiah Rider comes to mind

[John8204]

Allen Houston seems like the most obvious choice...amongst current players I would say Zach Lavine

[SaltyMeatballs]

Ray Allen. If you know what I'm referring to then you are a real one

[sdot_thadon]

Derrick Coleman?

[theman93]

Vince Carter

[Axe]

Maybe boozer if he stayed consistent, idk.

[Reggie43]

Roy Hibbert pushed the Big 3 era Heat to game seven in the Conference Finals averaging 22 and 10 followed by offseason workouts with Duncan you would really expect him to take the next step...


. The ascent of Roy Hibbert has continued well into the NBA offseason.

At the beginning of the 2012-13 regular season, he looked like he was playing basketball with a blindfold on, completely failing to shoot with any semblance of consistency. He improved throughout the year and eventually dominated against the Miami Heat in the postseason, showing off a consistent mid-range jumper that seemed to emerge out of nowhere.

Now Hibbert is working with Tim Duncan at the San Antonio Spurs' training facilities rather than playing alongside the "scrubs" who supposedly make up the pro-am leagues:

https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1744564-roy-hibbert-works-out-with-tim-duncan-says-pro-am-games-filled-with-scrubs

[RRR3]

Roy Hibbert pushed the Big 3 era Heat to game seven in the Conference Finals averaging 22 and 10 followed by offseason workouts with Duncan you would really expect him to take the next step...



https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1744564-roy-hibbert-works-out-with-tim-duncan-says-pro-am-games-filled-with-scrubs
He was being guarded Chris Bosh, who was far too small and weak to stop him. Hibbert was a bad scorer pretty much his entire career.

[Reggie43]

He was being guarded Chris Bosh, who was far too small and weak to stop him. Hibbert was a bad scorer pretty much his entire career.

True but he was still guarded by Bosh the following year in the playoffs and he barely scored in double figures what happened?

[90sgoat]

Hibbert just dissappearing from basketball was so weird.

[iamgine]

I seem to recall Klay could have led his own team whispers around mid 2010s.

[Round Mound]

Jeff Ruland, Ralph Sampson, Len Bias, Reggie Lewis, Derrick Coleman, Shawn Kemp, Drazen Petrovic, Larry Johnson, Vin Baker etc are some of the names i can remember.