It has not been a good year for the development of Canadian players. I pay a bit of attention to them because I think there is a chance Canada rises up to be a legit challenger to the US in FIBA play... or at least have more of a chance than anyone else on the world stage.
But...
- Anthony Bennett is having another lost season, this time with the Raptors. He can't get off the bench and when he does he doesn't do anything. He's almost certainly going to go down as the worst #1 pick in NBA history. Dude makes Michael Olowokandi looks like an all-star.
- Big men Tristan Thompson, Kelly Olynyk, and Andrew Nicholson aren't really developing into anything more than solid (but not special) NBA backups. I guess Olynyk is one of the better shooting big men in the league, but he's not turning into much more than that. Thompson is a stud rebounder, but he hasn't yet justified the massive contract he got from Cleveland. Trey Lyles is showing signs of being something worthwhile. He barely played early in the year for Utah but has been getting more run and been productive lately. If he keeps it up, he's got a shot at making the all-Rookie team.
- Guards Tyler Ennis, Cory Joseph, and Nik Stauskus are worse than the big men. They are NBA players, which makes them better than many international competitors, but none of them are even threatening to become a starter.
- As for the superstar, Andrew Wiggins still can't shoot from distance. He's an athletic freak and is getting 20 ppg in the NBA, which is pretty great, but expectations that he would become one of the 10-15 elite players in the NBA have not been met, at least not yet. It is still early, but I expected a bit more from him.
- And then there are the kids still in college. Jamaal Murray figures to be a lottery pick after this season. He may be the third best freshman in basketball this season. Kyle Wiltjer is living up to his All-American hype, though the NBA seems to think his lack of athleticism will hurt him at the next level.
Bottom line, it hasn't been a great season thus far for the development of Canada's young core of players. On the plus side, most of the team seems like it will miss the NBA playoffs or be eliminated early (other than TT) so they will have time to rest and then play together a bit ahead of the July qualifying tournament. I wonder if they will get Murray onto the team. He's young but he really has potential to be a major player for them.
-Jason "Olynyk, TT, Wiggins, and Lyles are a fine front line, but Murray needs to develop to help the backcourt and they could really use more outside shooting. That's what Stauskas is supposed to do" Evans