Next up is Jeremy Lamb, the undisputed greatest second round pick in the history of the league. He was projected to go in the middle of the first round but he slid all the way to the Grizzlies with the first pick of the second round. Let's look at what they got with that pick.
- Lamb rookie.PNG (35.76 KiB) Viewed 666 times
Ew. The closest comparable for that kind of potential is Jodie Meeks. Unathletic. Blah defensive potential. The smallest glimmer of hope of becoming an offensive plus. Meeks topped out at 13 really inefficient points a game starting all 82 games for a really bad Knicks squad. He posted a positive plus/minus once in his career, the year in which he played the second fewest minutes in a season in his career playing in garbage time for the Rockets. This was what the Grizz had to look forward to in Jeremy Lamb. . . And then TC happened. And then it happened again.
- Lamb progress.PNG (7.29 KiB) Viewed 666 times
After two TCs he projected to be a solid TWO-WAY player. He even got some rebounding potential. He just kept making progress year after year. This guys has improved by about 300 attribute points over his career. He was been a starter on multiple good teams. He was voted sixth man of the year once. Let's finish by looking at the raw numbers.
- Lamb stats.PNG (31.91 KiB) Viewed 666 times
Lamb has never ever really lived up to his scoring potential. When you look at his shooting attributes next to Joseph Kight's, you think why isn't Lamb putting up 20 a game? It could be because he has never really been more than a third option (he has maxed out at 15 shots a game). It could be because he can't jump so he practically never gets to the line (maxed out at 2.5 free throws a game). On the other had, he just posted a double digit plus/minus, he gets over 5 rebounds a game, he just had an offensive/defensive efficiency split of 117/101 (!), he scored over 18 a game one year, and he just shot 40% from 3 for the first time in his career. As far as third options go, that's not bad.
Lamb is coming up on his 30th birthday so he probably only has a few great seasons left in the tank but man, it has been a great ride. Hopefully he can top it off with a little taste of the post season glory.
