Comparing the Timberwolves to Each Eighth-Seed

James Harden vs. Zach Lavine vs. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope

There’s really not a contest here. James Harden is the best shooting guard in the league and is probably the sole reason the Rockets made it to the playoffs last season. He’s a complete superstar, although he doesn’t really play defense.

Shockingly enough, Zach LaVine is the same, albeit to a lesser degree. LaVine is a potent scorer. Although he only averages 14 points per game which is the least out of all three, LaVine is the second-best shooting guard out of the three as of today.

At only 21 years old, LaVine has already been the dunk champion twice, plus won the MVP in the the Rising Stars rookie vs. sophomore game. He has so much potential and talking right now in the present, he’s a couple steps ahead of Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

"He still settles for semi-contested jumpers off the dribble a bit too much, and probably doesn’t drive to the rim enough. But he’s an above-average perimeter shooter, a freak athlete, and a great free throw shooter. Playing off the ball is the best thing for LaVine, and as bad as he was running the point, the season-plus at the ‘one’ no doubt helped him improve his court vision and understanding of how an NBA offense should run."

Caldwell-Pope is no slouch himself. At 23 years old, he averages 14.5 points per game. During the playoff series against the Cavaliers, Pope led the team in scoring multiple times and played a big role in making the games somewhat close.

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