- LeBron exits the game with 28 points, 14 rebounds, and 10 assists. Asking for a friend. Like three-pointers, mid-range jumpers are high-variance, but with a lower payoff. Simmons' jumper-less repertoire is an issue, and there seems to exist a clear disconnect between him and head coach Brett Brown, who so obviously wants his 23-year-old superstar to branch out. But he struggles to consistently provide that level of play on both ends. His 27.5 points per 75 possessions is the second-highest mark for a rookie since 1973-74 (as far back as per-possession data goes), just behind Joel Embiid in 2016-17 and just ahead of 1984-85 Michael Jordan. Bogdanovic underwent season-ending surgery to repair a right wrist injury, and without him, the Jazz are in the same predicament they found themselves in last year: absent a decided No. "I mean, you've got a 7'3" guy throwing to a 6'10" guy on a lob? Both his three-point and free-throw clips have exploded relative to his career average. He doesn't carry the largest load relative to other point guards or stars at large, but that's part of his charm. Cue the annual "Kyle Lowry is too damn high!" He is a better complement than Irving to the rest of Boston's roster, a comfier fit who has paved the way for Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Gordon Hayward to do more. Nearly a fifth of his possessions come as a pick-and-roll ball-handler, and he's scoring at an above-average clip out of that play type. So, Clint Capela was dealt, and the Rockets went all-in on micro-ball. Section. On the bright side, Turner's defensive captaincy is steadfast. - LeBron James is named Bill Russell Finals MVP for the fourth time in his career after another blockbuster performance in a closeout game. And his more evolved game has made him, by far, the most important player on the Orlando Magic. Davis has two fouls in the opening 12 minutes. He’s been on the floor for 1,778 possessions this season, per PBPStats.com, and of those possessions, he has had at least three of Denver’s four other regular starters alongside him for 1,402 of them—a rate of 78.9 percent. His defense has also been pleasantly solid, even relative to the less-squirmy assignments he pulls by seeing so much time between some combination of Josh Richardson, Ben Simmons and Matisse Thybulle. When the two vets share the floor, OKC score at a blistering rate of 120.1 points per 100 possessions (99th percentile). But he's downing those looks, many of which are wide-open, at a 33.6 percent clip, and his timing without the ball needs work. It is talked about as a matter of fact when, in reality, it has yet to begin. Nevertheless, Tucker's value isn't exclusively tied to defensive returns. Charlotte's offense opens up at all because defenses respect his pull-up jumper and the burst he shows going left. Andre Keith Langford (born September 15, 1983) is an American professional basketball player for AEK Athens of the Greek Basket League and the Basketball Champions League.Standing at 6' 4" (1.93 m), he primarily plays at the shooting guard position. Leonard is averaging a career-high 5.6 assists per 36 minutes, and the Clippers are scoring 116.8 points per 100 possessions (93rd percentile) when he plays without Paul George and Lou Williams. He is averaging 9.0 fouls drawn per 100 possessions in the … And his off-the-bounce triples, while impressive, often seem less necessary and more the result of over-dribbling. He has the handle to get around opposing bigs without an up-fake, and the in-between touch to put down looks on the move. He's gotten plenty of credit as a shooter over the course of his career, but Ingles' passing and feel for the game out of pick-and-rolls really drive his value. He's downing, The question, as ever, is whether his offensive utility can spill over to a niche role, when you were moving out of your college apartment after graduation. He's not a great point of attack to defender to begin with, but even when he was off the ball and had to help to the nail, he just looked stiff and brittle. If the passing is here to stay, he can still be helpful. The mid-range isn't dead so much as readily available only to a select few, DeRozan among them. What's clear is that he has the physical tools to dominate defensively. Danilo Gallinari is still better than people realize. In the right situation, this newfound willingness to spread the floor could make things easier for the rest of a lineup. That’s become even more true in the past month, since Houston traded for Lou Williams, the player who’s drawn the second-most 3-point shooting fouls in the NBA … The evolution of Serge Ibaka probably tracks pretty close to that of the center position, generally. The Magic won't soon trot out Gordon without another setup man. "They dumped him," The Action Network's Matt Moore wrote at the time. And he trails only Joel Embiid and LaMarcus Aldridge in post-ups per game. Boston has been unable to buy time on offense when he plays without Jayson Tatum and Kemba Walker, and he's on the books for superstar money, but his shift in status post-injury isn't dire. They are the best version of themselves because he can switch from chasing wings to rumbling with bigs. Combine all that with almost unparalleled vision—he's already one of the league's seven best passers—and he has an ironclad case as one of the NBA's top-five players. Butler has further counteracted his spiraling outside clips with additional playmaking. Viewed against those concerns, Paul's situation was still overblown. He leads the Association in attempts from 29-plus feet, where he's shooting a bonkers 41.1 percent. Paul's game is made for that balancing act. More than 20 percent of his offensive possessions come as spot-ups, on which he owns an effective field-goal percentage of 58.4—a top-10 mark among everyone who has gotten off at least 200 field-goal attempts in these situations. 1 option following Kawhi Leonard's departure torpedoed Siakam's true shooting percentage, but he's still 15th in the league in points per game (23.6) and is posting a slightly-above-average three-point percentage (35.9) on 6.0 attempts. His value there is so immense that he ranks fifth in the NBA in RAPTOR wins above replacement, behind only James Harden, LeBron James, Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard, despite posting a negative offensive RAPTOR rating. And Toronto's defense ranks in the 84th percentile when he's on the floor. On the surface, Walker is not a material upgrade over Kyrie Irving for the Boston Celtics. And just last season, he posted a plus-11.4 net rating swing. He doesn't possess the same vertical and lateral athleticism as other wings, but he has solid size (6'7", 226 lbs), competes and is almost always in the right place on his rotations. The "Foul Drawing" table gives you a sense of how a player gets to and scores from the line with three stats: SFLD%, FFLD%, and AND1%.Note that who drew the foul was not recorded by the NBA until 2005, so prior to that season these stats will be blank. Offensive variety is still enough to get him by even if he doesn't shore up his defense. Last season, he appeared in just 22 games and posted his lowest, This season, he is averaging 17.6 points, 9.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and a career-high 2.6 threes in just 31.8 minutes per game. Building an entire offense around someone who plays this way is still tough. in potential assists when the season was suspended. Planning for someone who's willing to fire away just inside the timeline is a migraine-and-a-half. But injuries have given way to inconsistency, and it can be tough to watch. One of the key differences between Bledsoe and De'Aaron Fox is that the former has the luxury of playing over two-thirds of his total minutes alongside an MVP. No, he's not the most fleet of foot. He has broken regular-season defenses, not unlike Stephen Curry, only on the back of harder-to-love extremes. In professional basketball, the most commonly used statistical benchmark for comparing the overall value of players is called efficiency.It is a composite basketball statistic that is derived from basic individual statistics: points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks, turnovers and shot attempts. Porzingis as a key cog in Dallas' Luka-run offense has worked wonders. Because, obviously, scoring like hell isn't enough. Really think about it, and this is sort of absurd. The mere threat of his step-backs and parking-lot range invites defensive attention commanded by, maybe, seven other players. Letting so many threes rip is a sure-fire way to ensure he has no trouble playing power forward, and it opens up the floor for his guards. Still, the first part of the season happened. Wood, an Early Bird free agent after this year, can cover a lot of ground, but he's easily led astray off the ball, and opponents are unafraid to attack the basket when he's jumping center. Atlanta's offense is not elite with Young on the floor (54th percentile), but it's subject to a monster drop-off when he sits—an 11.8-point-per-100-possessions plunge that ranks as the third-largest in the league among every player who has cleared 500 minutes. They have few alternatives and, thus, no choice. 260th playoff game - most in NBA history. It isn't impossible to find a precedent for Pascal Siakam's career trajectory, you might just have to venture outside basketball. Anyone would be overburdened as his team's sole from-scratch scorer. 87. Only five players match or exceed his marks for rebounding percentage, assist percentage, block percentage and steal percentage in 2019-20. His 56.2 true shooting percentage is below the league average, and he's banging in his mid-range jumpers at an unspectacular clip. ... NBA Draft Projection: First Round. This doesn't mean Mitchell is bad. Calling him erratic or unreliable still equates to misinformation. The Serbian center fills up stat sheets like few players ever have, and they're not just empty numbers. The question, as ever, is whether his offensive utility can spill over to a niche role in which he's predominantly a spot-up guy and only situationally tasked with creating off the dribble. Brogdon is finding nylon on just 31.7 percent of his catch-and-shoot triples and hitting only 28.8 percent of his wide-open long balls—the second-worst mark among 126 players who have attempted at least 100 uncontested threebies. Russell has a sub-50 effective field-goal percentage on shots off the dribble this season, but defenses aren't able to load up on him when Towns is the one setting ball screens. Bam Adebayo may embody the future of the center position more than anyone on this list. Merging the traditional with the neoteric wouldn't mean much if Valanciunas couldn't hang on defense. They have him run the occasional pick-and-roll and mix in an iso here and there, but he otherwise exists to open up the floor and alleviate the burden placed upon Donovan Mitchell. He hasn't played since Game 1 of the Finals (1:09), Goran Dragic checks in for the first time since Game 1 after tearing his plantar fascia in his left foot. Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson have all taken turns overshadowing him on offense, which is to be expected. He owns the league's fifth-highest usage rate, trailing only Trae Young, Luka Doncic, James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Few players embody the argument for advanced stats better than Marcus Smart. It would not be a stretch to say this is the best version of Westbrook ever. Per 75 possessions, he has produced 14.8 points, 12.7 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.2 steals. Beverley is a defensive workaholic, and he knows it. His 45 makes from 28 feet and out trail only Damian Lillard, Trae Young and James Harden. That may be a bit nitpicky, though, as his time in New Orleans probably taught us he's not the kind of player who can singlehandedly carry a team to above-average play. His 57.1 true shooting percentage eclipsed the league average, but not by much. He can lead a break or pick apart defenses in the half court. His footwork in the post hearkens back to the days when big men ruled the league. He doesn't. Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors. The Daily Orange is a nonprofit newsroom that receives no funding from Syracuse University. They have 40 points in the paint. NBA "And One" stats What's the most exciting play in basketball? This awfully small sample size cannot be discounted when assessing his value. He's not matchup-proof, but his rotations around the basket are on point enough that he's a net-plus back-line stopper when playing beside rangier 4s. Only seven players are averaging more downhill attacks per game, a feat made all the more impressive knowing he sees substantially fewer minutes than all of them. The Raptors defend and carry themselves like Kyle Lowry clones. This is his conservative finish. He had averages of 19.2 points, a career-high 9.5 rebounds and a career-high 2.5 threes when the season was put on hiatus, but his 54.0 true shooting percentage was over two points below the league average. Someone who checks in at 6'7" shouldn't be so apt at getting through and over bigger opponents. His season was deemed over before the NBA suspended play after undergoing surgery to address the former injury. Relentless is the word that best encapsulates Montrezl Harrell's court presence. This season, he's averaging 25.4 points and 7.4 assists per 75 possessions with a 58.3 true shooting percentage when Giannis is off the floor. That won't change unless he improves in the areas he has control over—specifically the depth of his offensive bag. Indiana still defends at an above-average level when Sabonis plays without Turner. Any villainy you detect is unintentional*. Their combined length helps to make up for the lack of size from a backcourt that includes the 6'0" Lowry and 6'1" Fred VanVleet. That fresh approach is most evident on the defensive end. Young exacerbates the defense's dilemma by actually making those shots. Cooking more initiation into his routine has given way to the long-anticipated playmaking surge. All this time later, Lillard remains the NBA's closest approximation to the best version of Stephen Curry. When all three are on the floor, the Raptors outscore opponents by 8.8 points per 100 possessions and post a defensive rating that ranks in the 92nd percentile. Go to Survivor Picks » - LA has four players already in double figures led by 15 points apiece from Davis and KCP, while LeBron has 11 points, nine rebounds, and six assists, and 13 points off the bench from Rondo. You're in no way alone if Jaren Jackson Jr.'s sophomore effort hasn't blown you away. Arvydas Sabonis (who was 31 during his rookie season) and David Robinson (24) wind up the top three. NBA Bleacher Report's Top 100 Player Rankings from the 2019-20 NBA Season Andy Bailey and Dan Favale Featured Columnist I July 11, 2020 Comments The Celtics can't expect him to carry entire lineups, but they can count on his two-man game with Daniel Theis, tidy drop-offs to shooters and wicked-fast post entry passes. Keeping his three-point clip above 36 percent is a win, but only a minor one. (Of note: Danilo Gallinari, his teammate, is first.). The 2019–20 NBA season was the 74th season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). On the season, the Suns are plus-0.7 points per 100 possessions with Ayton on the floor and minus-2.9 with him off. He's averaging 29.6 points and 9.3 assists with a 59.5 true shooting percentage as the all-everything of an offense light on polished talent. Maybe the influx of superteams and superstar free-agency pairings over the past decade has restricted the criteria for sidekicks on championship contenders. 2020 NBA free agency and trades: Latest buzz, news and reports. All year, when Luka has kicked it out or around the perimeter, Hardaway has been keyed in and ready to cast off. His basketball IQ on offense suggests he should be able to pick up the concepts necessary to be a plus on both sides of the ball. That he's come so far despite his team working against him in so many ways is a testament to his value. But when you're as good at that one thing (which happens to be the most important skill in basketball) as Bertans is, you don't need to do much more. Friends argue sometimes. Patrick Beverley continues to be the gold standard for superstar cohorts. He has commanded plenty of defensive attention as the No. DeRozan is getting to the rim more often and ranks inside the 99th percentile of shooting foul percentage, but he's still a blemish on his team's spacing. Star scorers deserve certain liberties. His most recent performance is proof he still has the impact of a top-25 player, but his top-15 case is no longer airtight. But these looks come neither in volume nor haste. Let's take a look at a pace- and playing time-adjusted comparison to 2013-14 Kevin Love, who finished second in the league in box plus/minus: The key differences, of course, were Love's scoring and the fact that he was hitting threes, but the statistical similarities are unavoidable. Treating Ja Morant as a top-10 point guard and top-30ish player overall is not a rush to coronation. He's shown an ability to step out and hit threes or dominate a post-up like Towns. To wit: Antetokounmpo and Jokic are the only other players averaging more than 18 points while shooting better than 59 percent on twos. The. College teams "gelling" is a real concept with such high year-to-year turnover. He has a top-10, this season and leads all Mavs with at least 500 minutes in, "To even think that I'm in the conversation, I have an opportunity to be [in the NBA], that's crazy to me," Siakam told Bleacher Report's, As for defense, there aren't many question marks there. Tremendous downhill touch only complicates the pickle in which Morant puts defenses. Unleashed after three seasons in a much smaller role with the San Antonio Spurs, Bertans is averaging 15.4 points and 3.7 threes this season while shooting 42.4 percent from deep. He has normalized, even numbed us to, what isn't. He was hitting threes, unloading a spruced-up off-the-dribble two and dropping dimes to teammates against defenses he himself scrambled. , wherein he threw his arms up at Sexton during a possession, demanded the ball, then two-hand chucked it Cedi Osman before stomping toward halfcourt. Now still isn't the time to relitigate Irving's cornerstone value. White has, however, shown the set touch necessary to warrant minutes beside Murray on an alternative, DeRozan-less version of the Spurs. But the defense has, statistically, suffered more when he's off the court. Before the hiatus, Rudy Gobert led the NBA in ESPN's defensive real plus-minus for the fourth consecutive season. He's a good roller in half-court sets, with a points-per-possession average that ranks in the 79th percentile on those plays, even without the top-of-the-backboard athleticism of players like Jarrett Allen or a prime DeAndre Jordan. But his numbers leap off the screen about as explosively as the player himself leaves the hardwood. That speaks to everything else he does, particularly on defense. Andrew Bogut - 65 4. Click here. To what end Murray's limited offensive growth falls on him is debatable. Murky availability has been a career-long problem, and it is fair to wonder how much worse off his teams actually are without him. Detroit will need to worry about its defense if he's the man in the middle, though. The Houston Rockets don't even go through the trouble of sending that many ball screens his way anymore. He is their offensive intercessor, the playmaker most adept at negotiating everyone's fit next to one another. The Suns are finding out firsthand. Ben Simmons' finite offensive range is problematic in that nearly 90 percent of his attempts come inside eight feet. As the Houston Rockets have shown, there are ways to game-plan around his dominance. The Raptors have surrendered 6.8 fewer points per 100 possessions when he was on the floor. The Sixers knew who he was when they maxed him out and surrounded him with too little shooting and neither enough ball-handling nor spacing to explore what he can do away from the action. They've more than doubled his pick-and-roll volume accordingly. And while his 34.4 three-point percentage could use some work, his 57.0 true shooting percentage was above average thanks to his ability to finish inside. ", Still, Drummond is one of the greatest rebounders in NBA. Getting swept by the New Orleans Pelicans in the first round of the 2018 playoffs motivated him to improve his decision-making versus double-teams. He doesn't. He's even upped his accuracy from downtown, to 35.5 percent, while curbing his volume. As the talent around him has increased, his scoring output per 36 minutes and crunch-time usage have fallen from last year's watermarks. He's among the players who make you believe the clutch gene exists, even when his shots aren't falling. He has made threes at a higher rate in the past and takes enough of them that defenses are drawn outside the paint. This is not the might-be All-NBA candidate the Boston Celtics signed in 2017. He's comfortable passing with either hand. That's not telltale of anything groundbreaking. The Boston Celtics don't yet know if they can win a title with Brown as their third-best player, and he'll always pale in comparison to most of his would-be peers on the offensive end. The numbers support as much. 2 option. Opponents are shooting 51.4 percent against him at the rim, a top-11 mark among 67 players challenging at least four point-blank looks per games. The only thing left is three-point range. They sent him to the Cleveland Cavaliers for John Henson and Brandon Knight (neither of whom were staples of Cleveland's rotation), as well as a second-round pick. Beyond the career-high 17.6 points he'saveraging, he shot 38.8 percent from three on 7.0 attempts per game. Of course, Antetokounmpo blows away the thresholds set by Vucevic, but the production is plenty impressive nonetheless. NBA referee stats include; games officiated, total experience, winning percentage, total points scored. And Tucker, for the record, is not some panacea in the middle. To get that level of scoring prowess out of a 5 is likely unimaginable for other organizations. Can he shoot? He swishes pull-up mid-rangers on autopilot, and his bullish drives to the basket render defenders who aren't built like houses mostly helpless. He is a back-line quarterback, and what he lacks in the fast-twitch department, he makes up for with court awareness. But there is serious value in someone who has lasted at a ball-dominating position by doing just the opposite. The chances that Deandre Ayton ever tops the hype surrounding either, especially Doncic, are slim. His offensive rating swing is a near-neutral, fewer points per 100 possessions when he is on the floor. The Lakers put on a defensive performance for the ages as they led wire-to-wire to seal Game 6, 106-93. And even since then, the Spurs have been 3.7 points per 100 possessions better with him off the floor. Struggling through consecutive postseasons did little to slow Donovan Mitchell's hype train. He has the mobile handle to attack from face-up sets and is crafty enough in the post but is instead consigned to role-player duty. His numbers say even more: 24.3 points and 4.3 assists per game with a true shooting percentage of 59.0—benchmarks that, prior to this year, have only ever been hit by one player in his age-22-or-younger season.