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Will Denzel Valentine be Draymond Green Part II?

By Keith Dunlap

Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Denzel Valentine (Michigan State) walks off stage after being selected as the number fourteen overall pick to the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 23, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Denzel Valentine (Michigan State) walks off stage after being selected as the number fourteen overall pick to the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 2016 NBA Draft at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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How Denzel Valentine is similar and different to Golden State star Draymond Green.

If the Michigan State athletic department received a dollar for every time MSU fans or national pundits proclaimed over the last few months how Denzel Valentine would be a similar success story to Draymond Green, well, then the department would be rich enough to build each athletic team at the school a new stadium.

Maybe Spartan Stadium would even have a retractable roof added or something outlandish like that.

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For any occasion people doubted Valentine’s draft status before he was taken No. 14th overall by the Chicago Bulls on Thursday, MSU fans and pundits would point to Green, and how he turned himself from a marginal second-round prospect into one of the league’s most versatile and valuable players.

Time will tell if Valentine turns into Green Part II, but until the time comes for Valentine to show what he can do, here are the biggest reasons he will be like Green, and the biggest reasons why he won’t.

Why Valentine will be like Green

  1. Just like Green, he enters the NBA following a monster senior season at MSU. Both Green and Valentine were named Big 10 Player of the Year, led the Spartans to Big 10 tournament titles and had stellar all-around numbers. Valentine averaged 19.2 points, 7.8 assists, 7.5 rebounds and shot 44.3 percent from 3-point range, while Green averaged 16.2 points, 10.5 rebounds, 3.7 assists, 1.5 steals, .9 blocks and shot 44.9 percent. It never hurts to have your senior year act as a giant trampoline that vaults you into your pro career.
  2. Intelligence. It has been well-documented just how smart both players are, so much so that you would think it were Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison coming to the NBA. Both players have about as high of basketball IQ’s as can be from college players. As many said when, for the millionth time, the Valentine and Green comparison came up during the draft, they both “know how to play.”
  3. Versatility. The good thing about Valentine is that he isn’t, let’s say, Bryn Forbes, where he doesn’t specialize in one thing. If he can’t contribute by getting teammates involved, he can by shooting from the outside. If his shot isn’t falling, he can rack up 10 assists, grab a rebound or two or play some decent defense as well. Of course, it’s a waste of time talking about Green’s versatile ways, because everyone on the planet knows he can play five positions on the court.

Why Valentine won’t be like Green

  1. They are WAY different physically. At 6-foot-8, Green is now what every GM covets, a so-called perfect “small ball” player at the No. 4 position who can stretch defenses with his shot, guard athletic wing players but yet get dirty around the rim and outfight post players for rebounds. The 6-foot-5 Valentine won’t fit that bill. He will be in the backcourt and while he can contribute, there won’t be GM’s on the hunt for the next Denzel Valentine like they are the next Draymond Green.
  2. Situations with their teams are much different. Last we checked, Stephan Curry and Klay Thompson don’t play for the Bulls. It’s a perfect situation for Green to just complement those players and make any contributions he can while most defensive attention goes on Curry and Thompson. One price Valentine has to play for getting drafted in the lottery is that he will go to a much worse team and be asked to do much more beyond his comfort zone and face higher expectations.
  3. Lightning striking twice is rare. Green turning into one of the best players in his entire draft class despite being taken in the second round is an unbelievable story, mainly because it rarely happens. Valentine can be a solid pro, but making so many teams look so foolish like Green has happens once in a blue moon.
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