Ram Shoham
Jul 24, 2017 · 1 min read

First team All-NBA talent would indicate that he could become one of the 2–3 best guards in the league, in this or any other era. Nothing I have seen from him indicates that is the case. I watch the games too, and I see a player who just doesn’t care about defense and who often cares more about getting his than about making the right play on offense. A player who does one thing incredibly well (get to the rim and finish), one other thing well (shooting), and other than that doesn’t really bring anything to the table. He’s not a natural playmaker (like CP3 or Harden), and nothing I’ve seen from him suggests he’s the sort of guy willing to put in the work to develop that aspect of his game (like Westbrook or Curry). Personally, I’d put him behind Wall as well (depending on team context, of course, but you can more easily build around Wall). I’m not even sure he’s better than Lillard - both are sieves on defense, but Lillard’s elite skill (outside shooting) is more valuable than Kyrie’s.