25-under-25: Biggest disappointments

The Step Back is rolling out its 25-under-25 list over this week. Follow along with our rankings of the top 25 NBA players under the age of 25.

While many of the most promising and exciting players in the NBA are young, ensuring that the league will remain in good hands after the current generation passes out of their prime, many that were expected to be stars are not living up to the expectations placed upon them when they entered the league. Since they are all still quite young, there is still plenty of time for them to become the players they were projected to be, at this point, they remain relative disappointments.

(Dis)Honorable Mentions:

Georgios Papagiannis: It’s been a bad year for Papa John’s this year — both the pizza chain and the 2016 lottery pick, Georgios Papagiannis. The No. 13 overall pick in the 2016 draft failed to find a place in the Sacramento Kings rotation, largely due to the team’s inexplicable hoarding of big men, and played just 38 games with them, and one with Portland, in his first two seasons. In those appearances, he averaged 4 points and 3 rebounds, but after being waived by Portland this summer, he signed with Panathinaikos of the Greek League and Euroleague, ending his NBA career for the time being.

Emmanuel Mudiay: In Mudiay’s rookie season, he posted literally one of the worst offensive showings in league history, shooting just 36 percent from the field while turning the ball over three times per game. That year, he became just the 10th player in NBA history, and the first since Mark Macon in 1992, to accumulate more than (less than?) negative three Win Shares in a season. He’s been better since then, but not by much, never showing an ability to translate his athleticism into on-court success.

Marquese Chriss: Marquese Chriss is fine, I guess, but despite being the No. 8 overall pick in 2016, he has not shown many actual basketball skills apart from a bunch of length and athleticism, which I don’t think really count. It’s like he wants to be a stretch- 4, but lacks the ability to shoot, preventing him from being who he seems to think he is. He could possibly become a rim-runner and a good, multifaceted defender, but even that seems optimistic. Maybe Chriss will find a home in Houston, and become a new player, reinvigorated by Mike D’Antoni’s offense as many others have before him.

Dante Exum: I feel bad including Exum here as he’s really been more injury plagued than disappointing, but a lot of the time there’s more than a little bit of overlap in those two categories. When he’s been on the floor, though, Exum has never been much more than fine. He did look solid in the 14 games he played last season, averaging 17 points and 6 assists on 48 percent shooting per 36 minutes, but it’s too small a sample size to tell if he will be able to fulfill the promise that made him the No. 5 overall pick in 2014.

Dragan Bender: Dragan Bender is a bit of a tantalizing prospect in theory — a 7-foot-1 tall power forward who can shoot from 3 — but in practice, things have been a bit dicier. While last season, he made over 36 percent of his 3’s, he only converted 42 percent of his shots from within the arc, including just 57 percent from the restricted area which is less than ideal for someone with his size. He’s still worth investing in for a Phoenix team that’s not contending for a playoff spot imminently, but one is forced to wonder how much longer one can bet on potential without many results to show for it. Also, he’s a huge Friends fan, and as every true fan of televised comedy knows, Seinfeld is the real GOAT.