Hunter may have outplayed Garza in some games but my reasoning for comparison was due to their lack of athleticism, being extremely slow and them both being defensive liabilities in terms of the NBA game.
Garza and Hunter just don’t fair well in today’s NBA game. Even with the ability to shoot the 3 ball, their games are still so limited at the next level that honestly, neither one will have success. This is not a knock on them at all. As mentioned, at some point in time, Hunter would be considered a lottery pick or even top 5-10. The pro game has just changed so much since. Hunter is not particularly young either. All this goes into consideration these days. A slow big who is turning 22 is not really desirable in my opinion.
I’m not sure Hunter can ever be Marc Gasol. Gasol won a DPOY in the NBA. Hunter will be lucky to be playable on the defensive end in the NBA, let alone be a plus defender like Gasol.
Got it. I saw the C followed by a dash and didn’t understand you were assigning a letter grade. C- Of course that makes sense. Ya know, you’d think with all my years of teaching I’d have a better understanding of letter grades! As the kids used to say, “My bad!”
This was the list of current centers I saw that didn’t seem like a massive difference from Hunter and Kofi. Some are different/better in various areas and I’m not saying they are great comps. I’m just saying there are plenty of large, lumbering, centers that aren’t all leapy/jumpy/shooting guys like Jaren Jackson or Anthony Davis.
Nurkic, Zubac, and Plumlee are interesting comps to me. The problem isn’t that teams need guys like these, the problem is that they are basically “replacement level” so the odds of teams spending draft capital or long-term contracts is low. They’re like utility infielders or middle relievers at this point - everyone needs them, you can hang around the league a while, but you’re not going to get paid and every contract will be a challenge.
This is why I think Hunter can make it in the NBA, I believe he can shoot the 3 ball as well as Kaminsky down the road. Hunter is currently 17-54 from 3 this year (31.5%).
Kaminsky’s 3 point shooting in college:
Freshman: 10-35 (28.6%)
Sophomore: 14-45 (31.1%)
Junior: 37-98 (37.8%)
Senior: 42-101 (41.6%)
Marc Gasol was one of the best defensive players in the NBA for a decade.
Also regarding the Frank Kaminsky comments - Frank was much more Mo Wagner than Hunter Dickinson. In college, they’d get him the ball on the perimeter and he’d take bigs off the dribble. Hunter has literally never done that.
A final question: We talk about Hunter/Caleb/Moussa and their draft prospects a ton. Davante Jones has another year of eligibility if he wants it. Are we positive he leaves?
Again, I was commenting on someone’s comp to him being a poor man’s Marc Gasol and that OLD Marc Gasol would be what he’d have to emulate, not PRIME Marc Gasol.
That’s one of my thoughts too. Zubac was an early 2nd round pick, he’s been in the rotation forever but usually as a guy who plays 20 minutes and takes 5-6 shots. He’s probably a little better athlete/defender than Hunter but he also doesn’t shoot any threes.
But like I said, there are a lot of guys like this (Garza, Hunter, Kofi, etc.) every year so the value is pretty low. I want to believe that if Garza can get drafted and get that first contract then Hunter could also.
If I had to rank the likelihood of returning next year right now from most likely to least…
Houstan
Dickinson
Diabate
Jones
No real logic there. I do think NIL is perfect for Hunter. He’ll be the MAN next year - POY, all conference, staring down opposing coaches, hyping up the crowd, dropping 30 on people. As opposed to playing in empty gyms in the middle of no where hoping to get called up to sit on the end of the bench for a few games.
What about the late-era old-man Cousins? He’s a big body that doesn’t move well, shoots a bit, is crafty around the hoop, still gets a few minutes. I thought about Drummond but I think he’s a better comp for Kofi based on their size and defense and lack of shooting.
As the kids used to say, “My bad!” 
