Can Toppin play the same role as a young Amare?
I Think Amare ceiling was higher than Toppin.
I think Toppin game is better developed than Amare coming into the NBA mainly cause Stat was so young.
I think Toppin is the final building piece Suns need to start a run of playoffs contention.
I think topping can bring 12 to 16 pts 6 to 10 rebs his rookie season. He can be the 4th or 5th scoring option.
I'll disagree in part as I agree with most of it. That is, Toppin already has something Amare never did: long range game.
The new adage is that you can teach shooters to defend, you can't teach defenders to shoot. (Something I've been admittedly been slow to evolve to).
Toppin can already shoot. Actually, he's really good at that. In a way he reminds of Jayson Tatum as a prospect: horrible effort as a college defender but great college offensive weapon. Tatum lucked into the perfect team for him that wouldn't put up with his lackluster effort on D that he displayed at Duke. The results have been pretty good to borderline great (This year he seems to have put it all together).
Although Toppin doesn't have near the offensive repertoire that Tatum did, I don't see them as much different. If he goes to a team that DEMANDS defensive effort, like Monty does, he'll be successful. Like Amare, Toppin comes in with raw elite athleticism. His boards and blocks are NO WHERE close to his ability. Again, very similar to Tatum. However, unlike Tatum he's leaving about 5-7 boards and one block on the court every game (No joke). Tatum is never going to dominate the boards or blocks.
Toppin can easily be a 20 and 10 guy with his natural ability if he commits to his craft. He might even be able to get close to 1.5 bpg if he works hard like Bam Adebayo or Brook Lopez did.
I could see Toppin as a pick and pop nightmare for teams to defend. He can either kill them from 3 or attack the rim. Of course, this is all contingent on having a quality G that can P&R with him.
If he has the heart of Tatum then he'll be fantastic. Or, he could have the head of Josh Jackson. That's where the gamble lies.