Can MarJon Beauchamp be the Milwaukee Bucks’ Version of Herb Jones?

Differences between Milwaukee Bucks’ MarJon Beauchamp and Herb Jones

Although prospect comparisons can be useful to contextualize players for folks who are not too familiar with them, it also misses the nuances in their respective games and can flatten out and misrepresent their abilities. This is true for Jones and Beauchamp, for although they did have similar prospect profiles, they also had significant differences.

For starters, Jones was bigger than Beauchamp coming out of college. He was an inch or two taller, and about 10-15 pounds heavier than Beauchamp. Although these may look like small gaps, they can make a world of difference in a league like the NBA.

Additionally, Jones was simply a better defender than Beauchamp was prior to the NBA. Jones legitimately looked like a generational defensive prospect while at Alabama, and while Beauchamp had a good season on that end, he did not do what Jones did on that end of the floor.

Again, this is why player comparisons can be so unfair, because although Beauchamp was not as good as Jones on that end, that does not mean he was bad or average. Beauchamp was a good defender with excellent physical attributes and a terrific motor who should be able to use those skills to his and the Bucks’ advantage.

On the other end of the floor, other than being bad shooters, Beauchamp and Jones have relatively dissimilar games. Not like Giannis and Isaiah Thomas dissimilar, but different enough that it is worthy of visiting.

In college, Jones operated more as a point-forward his senior year, helping to organize the offense and pick out passes to initiate actions. In contrast, Beauchamp operated more as a secondary creator, using his supreme cutting prowess and instincts to get open looks for himself. Additionally, Beauchamp shot an absolutely astonishing 68% from 2 last season, demonstrating his ability score inside the arc. This was partly due to his off-ball awareness and physical gifts allowing him to find easy baskets. In contrast, Jones only shot 47% from 2 his senior season. While that was likely due to his on-ball responsibilities and role within the team, it is still demonstrative a major difference between him and Beauchamp.