Tier 1 - Possible Stars Begins (goes until #3 - Paolo Banchero) Tier Explainer: definite star potential, outcomes spread between high level role player and top 30 player

transcendent athlete. should be a monster attacking the rim both in transition and in halfcourt with his elite first step and finishing capabilities. incredible 0 to 100 and 100 to 50 acceleration control. improving as a live dribble playmaker - he's basically only a reactive playmaker right now, but i expect that to change.

my worries are: shooting. he shot well in his second year and he converted a lot of his looks off the bounce, but he was inconsistent between the first half and second half of the year. not really a fan of his release, it's pretty slow and comes from way down, and i'm not sure how effectively he'll be able to get if off in the pros. also needs to improve as a c&s threat. if his shooting improves to the point of drawing closeouts, though, he'll be unstoppable. in between game. this is the key for stars. ivey can be a good player just at the 3 point line and rim, but great teams will stifle his on-ball capabilities and limit his effectiveness if he can't punish them in the midrange. specifically, a sudden pull up and floater are necessary weapons to add. he has potential to add the pull up that comes after snaking the p&r and the floater, but i worry about his stop-on-a-dime pull up that would make him a dynamic scorer. the best scorers keep the defenses guessing, but ivey is pretty transparent with what he plans to do. he's jumping with wide strides in the halfcourt when attacking every time, it really seems to limit his ability to get into different midrange moves. it's just hard to gallop and stop on a dime and shoot in rhythm. slowing himself down in the halfcourt will be key.

the tools are there for offensive superstardom. will need to become well-rounded player to achieve that, but with a little patience we could see something special. i think the biggest offensive obstacle is shooting, to be honest. of course, defense is another story. if he gets serious about that side of the ball, he does have the tools to be effective on that end but he has to be focused and clean up his technique. however, what pushes ivey over the edge for me to be #1 is the fact that he doesn't need to hit to become a very valuable and good player. the archetype of an off ball guard who can sometimes attack off the dribble as a secondary or tertiary scorer is extremely useful, especially when paired with how prolific and easily ivey gets into the paint. what makes ivey special is he has all the tools and physical abilities for a star, but his median outcome is still a very good NBA player.