Cotton's got the athleticism. That isn't his problem -- he needs less athleticism and more mental understanding. Would you call Steve Nash, athletic? Not so much, but he knew where and how to pass, and at the right time. This is what Cotton needs to learn. He's still young. He should go overseas and learn how to be a distibuting pg who plays Muggsy Bogues-like defense. Then, I guarantee, at 25, we'll see if you're right. But at this juncture, he's not even close to Burke, or Neto, who I think is really better than Burke, and will be recognized as such by the end of the season.
To give you an even better comparison about the mental approach -- look at Ingles, the guy has an unbelievable basketball IQ. Did you that fastbreak against OKC, when he kind of just loped along and confused the defender who expected him to go full speed and let up, and then at the split second Joe just went in for an unmolested layup? I don't know if you can teach players that. It's an instinct that Joe has and players like Bird or Hornacek had. I would say Stockton had it too, but he was a lot more athletic than those three.
