Wait, what about those guys that aren't All-Stars?
You might be wondering, what's stopping these guys from being the next non-All-Star A inside scoring guys? Well, in short, they're nothing like them. One of those guys is DeMarcus Cousins. Boogie is a unique combination of foul trouble that keeps him off the court and lack of athleticism. He's not strong or quick. All of the All-Stars are either quick or strong or both. The other guys is Tyreke Evans. Tyreke is super athletic, however he has been asked to largely be a facilitator for much of his career and has developed gradually. He also plays the same position and in the same conference as Chris Paul and Deron Williams. I think he'll be an All-Star in the end.
1. Phil Hogg
Phil Hogg is seven feet tall, is already one of the strongest players in the league, and has A potential. There have only been two players in the history of the league to have that combination of height, strength, and inside scoring: Shaquille O'Neal and Tim Duncan. Now, while you guys pick your jaws off the floor, there is one huge difference between those two guys and Phil, they could jump. They were also great rebounders and Hogg probably won't ever be great on the boards but we're talking about offense here. Phil Hogg projects to be like an early 30's Duncan without a jump shot when he was considerably less apt at jumping. At that point in his career, about 40% of Duncan's shots were jump shots but he was still making 60% or more of his inside field goals. In summary, Phil Hogg could be dominate in the post in his prime but will probably never achieve stardom because of his inability to jump and his lack of a jump shot.
2. Buddy Pedraza
With 73 inside scoring ability and 90 strength, Buddy may be a rookie of the year candidate. However, Buddy has the same ailment as Hogg, he can't jump. Buddy doesn't have the height of Hogg, so his comparables are different. The three comparables in Buddy's height range are still impressive, Al Jefferson, Tom Gugliotta, and Glenn Robinson. However, Buddy is quicker than Jefferson or Gugs but he isn't the all-around scoring mastermind that Glenn was. I say the best comparable is actually a prime Gugs without the 3 point shot, handles, rebounding, or perimeter defense. Still, Gugs was averaging between 20 and 24 points a game while shooting 3's sparingly and making 60%+ of his inside shots. Similar to Hogg, Pedraza will never be an all-around great but he could be a force to be reckoned with in the post, and much sooner than Hogg.
3. James Peacock
James is a different animal than Buddy or Phil. He doesn't have their elite strength but he has the potential to be a decent jumper. Peacock's closest comparable is an early 30's C-Webb. Yet again, Peacock doesn't have the complete package, in this case rebounding, blocking, or jump shot. But C-Webb was scoring about 20 a game at that point of his career and making between 57 and 62% of his inside shots and about 40% of his shots were jump shots. Different comparables, same conclusion, Peacock could be a great contributor but probably never a great player
So are these guys going to be All-Stars?
The answer is probably no. First of all, this entire article could be made obsolete by training camp tonight. Second, the defensive/rebounding limitations of these players may limit their playing time, even in their primes. So why should we care about these guys? These guys show that we have begun a new era in the league where we are seeing new combinations of skill and athleticism never seen before in the league.
