There’s also Larry Hughes, whose college career predates Pelton’s database. (Possession data is hard enough to get for 2003, let alone 1997.) Hughes and Evans would have been a huge statistical match.

While Hughes has a stigma, he also was a pretty damn good player before he signed that massive deal with Cleveland. Poor shooter, but a decent (and relatively safe) passer, great rebounder, STELLAR defender. Attitude problems (and that lack of a jumper) killed him eventually.

Setting aside the stats, I actually feel like Stuckey’s the most apt recent comparison — 6’5" guard who excels getting into the lane, not so much an outside shooter, and not the greatest passer.

Unfortunately it’s been a bit of a mixed bag for Detroit and I’m not sure he’s a great long term solution for them at the point.

But a rich man’s Stuckey? I think that’s how I’m thinking of it at the moment.

Still, I question whether he’s viable at the point long term. The biggest question mark is whether he has the quickness and ballhandling to bring the ball up against quick PGs like Rondo and Paul and to guard them on the other end. Because he’s crafty more than he’s explosive, I think he could struggle against the quicker PGs. I don’t necessarily think it’s a problem if he’s a natural SG, but it could necessitate moving him or Martin down the line if he’s as talented as we think he is.

At the very least I’m looking forward to seeing how he and Martin play together. I know everyone has been wanting a pure point for Martin, but don’t overlook the benefit of having someone else on the floor that the defense keys on, particularly someone who can penetrate and dish. Martin thrives in scrappy offensive situations, and I think their games could complement each other more than one might initially think.

It’s not that I think he’s not a good player. I’m convinced he’s good. I’m even semi-convinced he’ll eventually be a star.

But of all the comparisons you listed, none of these guys would I consider a true point guard, with the possible exception of Westbrook.

What I wanted was a guy who racked up the assists every night, passing the ball like a magician and running the team like a quarterback.

What we got was a guy who might develop into a serviceable passer.

Again, I’m not saying he won’t be good. But the style of basketball we will play with him at the point is not the style of basketball I enjoy watching.

I can tell you right now, that at some point this season, SB will stuff a gag in my mouth to make me stop screaming “PASS THE BALL!!!” at the television.

The kid is 19. He has played point guard throughout his career, and I am absolutely positive that he has been tried at the shooting guard spot repeatedly. He is a big load. There are plenty of smaller, quicker guys he has had as teammates and opponents yet he continues to be played at point guard. Is he a facilitator? well, his teams won with him at the point. Is he the next John Stockton – my guess would be no. But that doesn’t mean he isn’t a point guard. Go to the medicine cabinet, grab a chill pill and wait for the Summer League, Pre-Season season to start.

As for match ups: at the workouts, apparently the match up problems were not there on his defense, the match ups were very tough for those guarding him. Who are you going to put on this guy when the Kings play other teams? Chris Paul, Monta Ellis, Steve Blake? Your SG on him then. well, ok, then who is guarding Kevin Martin? Oh, and he says he will be working out to get bigger and stronger.

Who does he comare to: Walt Frazier, perhaps? Wonderful defender, quick hands, good, not great facilitator, high scorer, somewhat a “slasher”, but very good mid-range game. Big for his position (at the time).

Allen Iverson, Dwyane Wade and Monta Ellis to the SG/PG list.

More, Evans’ shooting ability has been (rightly) criticized, but I’d say that neither Michael Jordan nor Dwyane Wade nor Tony Parker (just to name some good guys) were good shooters when they arrived in the League, but they went better year after year

But I don’t care. I want him starting and playing 30 minutes per night. Beno is untradeable, so every minute he plays is a minute we’re wasting on Evans’s development. They picked Evans so they need to give him the ball and see what happens. It can’t be worse than the 17 win disaster of last year. And if it is, we have the #4 pick to look forward to next year. Give Evans the ball from day 1.

tools like Bill Simmons and Chad Ford have jobs at ESPN, and you dont, Z, …. boggles my mind. Great post.

Evans college stats: 17.1 pts, 5.4 rbds, 3.9 assts, 3.6 TO, 2.1 stls, 45.5% FG, 27.4% 3PT

Dwayne Wade college stats (year 1): 17.8 pts, 6.6 rbds, 3.4 assts, 3.0 TO, 2.5 stls, 48.7% FG, 34.4% 3PT

Obviously, this is the dream scenario for all Kings fans. Wade certainly isn’t a classic point, but I think we could find a roster spot for him on the Kings.

As for Tyreke, two stats in particular stand out to me: first, he may not be a pure point, but 3.9 assists per game tells me that he is a willing passer. If he is able to learn how to use his size to abuse smaller defenders and his speed/agility to blow by bigger defenders, I feel he will be more than able to find his teammates for open looks. Secondly, 5.4 rebounds per game is impressive. One reason Wade is so damn effective is because he rebounds at such a high rate for a guard. Evans has shown in college that he could become the same type of player.

We’ll have a good starting shooting guard for the 25 games Kevin is out this year.

Running away now…

we just had a very good stats guy give us teh closest comparisons based on the numbers he came up with, and immediately we start second guessing him with what we want Evans to become. Dwayne Wade, Allen Iverson, Monta Ellis, Larry Huges, Rodney Stuckey.

Remember, these comparisons aren’t based on subjective judgments, like “he doesn’t look like a point guard” or “I think he’ll be a full-time shooting guard in two years.”

Funny how the nonsubjective comparison says we’ve something between a point guard and a small forward who could end of being Javaris Crittenton or Gilbert Arenas, but we think he’ll become Dwayne Wade.

One additional note is that he is only comparing them to players within six months of their age .

Fresh off exchanging their best player (Vince Carter) for Orlando’s sixth-best player (Courtney Lee), the Nets make amends with their 470 fans by grabbing quirky Louisville swingman Terrence Williams (in my opinion, the last 2009 prospect with a chance to be a top-four guy on a title team). Given that T-Will routinely walked around the Louisville campus wearing SpongeBob pants and a Barbie backpack, it’s as if they drafted a best friend for Brook Lopez. They can go to comic book conventions and dress like “Star Wars” characters together.

Why do I post this? Cuz he said this in 2006 too:

Atlanta keeps its promise and drafts Shelden Williams fifth. Another solid pick, even if his nickname is “The Landlord” (sounds like a bad WWE gimmick).

By the way, I wish the WNBA draft had promises, just so we could see a team break a promise and draft someone else, followed by the crying player awkwardly running up to the podium in high heels and screaming, “You promised! You promised me! I TRUSTED YOU!”

I think the whole “is he a PG” issue is a red herring. We aren’t going to fix every need and every problem on the team in one draft or one offseason obviously. We need talent, period.

For a team as bad as ours, you have to get talent first, then you worry about trying to fit that talent with your team. Now obviously at a certain point you do have to worry about overloading the roster and not having enough minutes to go around to allow guys to develop. However, you also can’t live in a vacuum and assume the roster is going to stay static.

That is the same reason that people were correct to advocate taking Blake Griffin before we lost the lotto, despite us already having two young bigs to develop. We are at the stage that you take the best talent on the board, and you do your best to try to get them minutes and see how things shake out.

Trade opportunities can present themselves, free agents will be signed, and lotto picks will be made. Having young talent at a position gives you more versatility to make those moves. For all we know, next year this time we will be hailing the drafting of John Wall as our new starting PG, or welcoming one of the very talented young bigs.

Once you have a good enough base of talent, it makes it infinitely easier to worry about finding the right fits. Now you have the assets that other teams will desire to help you balance the roster and find veterans when needed.