People seem to forget just how good Blake was in his rookie season, 22-12 with at least one amazing, highlight play each game and turned a perennial laughingstock of a franchise into a must-see team.
Here is a list of all rookies who have had a PER of at least 20. Interesting that Ayton is currently on the list, but Doncic is not. I know PER is a flawed stat, but just used it as an indicator for a player's total contribution to his team:
https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/psl_finder.cgi?request=1&match=single&type=totals&per_minute_base=36&per_poss_base=100&season_start=1&season_end=1&lg_id=NBA&age_min=0&age_max=99&is_playoffs=N&height_min=0&height_max=99&birth_country_is=Y&as_comp=gt&as_val=0&pos_is_g=Y&pos_is_gf=Y&pos_is_f=Y&pos_is_fg=Y&pos_is_fc=Y&pos_is_c=Y&pos_is_cf=Y&qual=pts_per_g_req&c1stat=per&c1comp=gt&c1val=20&order_by=ws
The top of the all-time threes list is now as it should be, since Curry passed the careers of like six guys in the past 5 minutes.
1. Ray Allen 2973
2. Reggie Miller 2560
3. Stephen Curry 2285
Games played: Ray 1300, Reggie 1389, Steph 656.
1. Ray Allen 2973
2. Reggie Miller 2560
3. Stephen Curry 2285
Games played: Ray 1300, Reggie 1389, Steph 656.
And while he has two rings to show for it, Curry might have already passed Miller by now were it not for the presence of Durant on his team. The Warriors are the NBA death star right now. As such, their collection of all stars obscures how remarkable and unique Curry is as an offensive player.
Yeah, the Sixers were clearly a better team with Simmons on the bench, which is why he only played 43 minutes, including the entire second half.
23/15/10 on 10-13 shooting.
They seem to forget that Durant was terrible his rookie year too. Averaged 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.0 steals, 0.9 blocks in 34.6 minutes per game on .430/.288/.873 shooting. He took a huge leap his 2nd year.
I also wonder how Doncic would fit with De'Aaron Fox and if it would be any better than DSJ. I don't think it's a lock that Doncic ends up better than Bagley or Ayton. A lot of it depends on how the latter 2 develop defensively and how their 3 point shots come along. I haven't seen much of Bagley but I really like what I've seen out of Ayton. He's a much better passer than I thought he'd be and he's a really good FT shooter. He has an outside chance at doing the Kevin McHale this year (60% FG, 80% FT).
Of course I've seem a bit of Doncic too and I like him even more. He's also younger than Ayton and only 16 days older than Bagley.
And then loses to the T-Wolves 110-106 despite putting up 30 points and 14 boards. If the Pelicans continue to play .500 ball would anyone be surprised if we start hearing noises out of the Davis' camp?
We complain about the Celtics on the road, but New Orleans is Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Can’t Play Away From Home: 15-6 in New Orleans, 5-17 away from the Big Easy.
And KAT with a Wilt-esque 27 points, 27(!) boards (including 9(!) offensive), 4 blocks. You know Danny is working on a way to grab him in a few years if Davis doesn’t pan out.
Fox is such a fun player to watch. He gets the ball with 3 seconds left on the shot clock outside the three point arc, slices through two defenders and takes it to the hoop for a nifty lay-in to beat the buzzer. Ensuing Hornets possession, he picks up Kemba just across half court, swipes the ball cleanly and takes it back another way for another bucket to pull the Kings to within 1.
It’s miserable rooting against him and this Kings team this year for the pick - they’re too good and too fun.
It’s miserable rooting against him and this Kings team this year for the pick - they’re too good and too fun.
Blake scores 44 on 13/21 shooting in his return to LA and Detroit beats the Clippers. There was a really good article published this week by Kevin Arnovitz on ESPN.com about how Blake has handled the trade to Detroit, and what he's done as a player. He's having a great season so far, 25-8-5 on 48 percent shooting. He's not as athletic as he used to be, but he's improved greatly as a playmaker and as a shooter (36 percent from 3 on 6 attempts per game) which has probably helped him stay healthy; but he can still bulldoze smaller defenders (he killed Gallinari and Harris today when they tried to guard him). Too bad SVG took Stanley Johnson, Henry Ellenson and Luke Kennard as his first-round picks and saddled Detroit with just an awful collection of guards and wings, so it looks like Detroit is doomed regardless.
Even if just one of those picks were Mitchell, LeVert, or Booker that team would look so different.
It's official: torn achilles for Northeastern's finest José Juan Barea. Ugh. Given his age (35 in June) and physical limitations, you have to think there's a real chance that's the end of his NBA career. Total bummer for a seemingly cool guy who's one of the all-time NBA scrappy overachievers. Has there ever been a player who did more with less size and athleticism?
That absolutely sucks - I was watching during the injury and he knew something serious was wrong as he went to the locker-rooom. That said, as scrappy as Barea is, he was having a relatively poor season offensively (he hoists about as many 3PA as Marcus Smart and is hitting at 29.7%!).
As a side note, the good news for C's fans is that this potentially creates another landing spot for Rozier though his fit next to Doncic is even more questionable than DSJ.
In the post, Embiid throws up a rip through shot, but doesn’t finish the play because he started looking at the ref and whining before releasing the ball. He then loafs on D barking about the no-call and tomahawks his man (someone named Luke Kornet) on the other end after allowing him to blow by like he wasn’t there. He’s fragile.
20/22/9 in his second straight 10-13 shooting night.
That’s 43/32/24 on 20-26 in his last two games.
I guess the Orlando Magic didn't read the "scheduled loss" memo.
Celtic/Rocket scalps on back to back nights
Celtic/Rocket scalps on back to back nights
Bradley Beal gets a 40 point triple double in the loss to Toronto. Took 2 overtimes, but 43/10/15 is a pretty good day. Toronto ended up winning 140-138.
I didn't see the game, so I can't speak to the officiating, but when I see these numbers in the box score, it makes me wonder if both sides were playing under the same rules:
Wizards committed 28 fouls.
Raptors committed 27 fouls.
Wizards had 18 free throw attempts (11/18)
Raptors had 36 free throw attempts (29/36)
That's your ballgame right there. The Wizards took a bit more 3's (44-36), but they also had a ton more assists (36-24) and they had 18 offensive boards to 17 for Toronto. The only stat that's really off are the free throw numbers.
I didn't see the game, so I can't speak to the officiating, but when I see these numbers in the box score, it makes me wonder if both sides were playing under the same rules:
Wizards committed 28 fouls.
Raptors committed 27 fouls.
Wizards had 18 free throw attempts (11/18)
Raptors had 36 free throw attempts (29/36)
That's your ballgame right there. The Wizards took a bit more 3's (44-36), but they also had a ton more assists (36-24) and they had 18 offensive boards to 17 for Toronto. The only stat that's really off are the free throw numbers.
Yeah, but he ended up with 38 points (15/16 from the charity stripe), 12 assists and 9 rebounds, so he'll probably pick up a couple MVP votes anyway.
Curry had 48 points and was 11-19 from deep. Doncic had 26 points on 8-18 shooting including 5-10 from deep. There is no question that Curry had a brilliant game in a contest that went down to the wire.
IMHO, its not fair to compare the two as Curry is a top five player in the NBA, a 30 year old, a 10 year veteran, the greatest shooter the game has ever seen and is around his peak years. Doncic is a 19 year old rookie who leads his team in PPG and assists and yet is his team's go-to scorer in crunch time. He will likely be a top five player in the NBA in the coming years but he isnt there yet. The fact that we are even having this conversation - which is entirely fair - is testament to how special Doncic is.
The bigger question for me about Doncic isn't where he rates versus the best now - its what his ceiling will be. The lazy comparison is peak Dirk but given some similar qualities, Harden is it for me. Regardless, Doncic is currently a special player and if he follows this trajectory, he will be amongst the best in fairly short order.
IMHO, its not fair to compare the two as Curry is a top five player in the NBA, a 30 year old, a 10 year veteran, the greatest shooter the game has ever seen and is around his peak years. Doncic is a 19 year old rookie who leads his team in PPG and assists and yet is his team's go-to scorer in crunch time. He will likely be a top five player in the NBA in the coming years but he isnt there yet. The fact that we are even having this conversation - which is entirely fair - is testament to how special Doncic is.
The bigger question for me about Doncic isn't where he rates versus the best now - its what his ceiling will be. The lazy comparison is peak Dirk but given some similar qualities, Harden is it for me. Regardless, Doncic is currently a special player and if he follows this trajectory, he will be amongst the best in fairly short order.
Oh, totally. I thought the "breaking news" part made it clear that that was playful trashtalk. Luka's incredible — possibly the most impressive 19 year old I've ever seen, more so than LeBron or Durant at the same age — but he's got a ways to go before he's at Steph's level. I mean Steph himself wasn't "Steph level" till like age 25. If Luka takes care of his body and continues to hone his craft, I could see definitely him reaching that level (not as a shooter, but the 6'-8" frame could make up a lot of that difference).
One very Steph-like quality he has right now is how his home crowd (and home announcers) shriek and squeal and gasp and hold their breaths every time he has the ball in his hands in a big moment. He missed a couple of big daggers late tonight to spare the Warriors, but it's shocking how easily he creates space for them. That quality of "why can't he just do this every time down the floor?" is also very Steph-like.
Cavs snap a 12 game losing streak beating the Lakers. Lakers are 3-7 without LeBron, including home losses to the Knicks and Cavs.
Lakers are tied with the Jazz for the 8 seed. A loss away from dropping to 10th. If the Lakers are in the lottery and get a Top 2 pick, we won't need to post about the Celtics trading for Davis anymore.
Lakers are tied with the Jazz for the 8 seed. A loss away from dropping to 10th. If the Lakers are in the lottery and get a Top 2 pick, we won't need to post about the Celtics trading for Davis anymore.
FWIW, Doncic is 10 months older than LeBron was in their respective 'age 19' seasons, so the more fair comparison would be LBJ's second season when he was already closing in on first-team All-NBA. Don't get me wrong, that it's even a discussion is deeply impressive, but just saying.
Did anyone note the similarities? Celtics had a 10 pt. halftime lead that was cut by 5 after the third quarter. The Rockets had a 7 pt. halftime lead that was cut by 5 after the third quarter. Then the Magic outscored the Celtics in the last frame by 7 and the Rockets by nine. Can't get overconfident with these Magic, it looks like.
Harden's on a historic run...
Tim MacMahon ESPN Staff Writer
James Harden has his 17th consecutive 30-point game before halftime. It's the longest run of 30-point performances since Wilt Chamberlain in 1964.
Tim MacMahon ESPN Staff Writer
James Harden has his 17th consecutive 30-point game before halftime. It's the longest run of 30-point performances since Wilt Chamberlain in 1964.
46 points on 14-28 shooting through three. They are beating the Grizzlies by 14 so he may be done cooking for the evening. You can say what you want about his style of play but he is the most dominant offensive player in the game right now. Period.
Tweet from @KellyScaletta (from bballwriters.com):
Harden is averaging 41.2 points on 63.3% TS with 9.4 assists and 7.3 boards per game over the last 17 games.
MVP much?
Per Woj, the Mavs are shopping Dennis Smith Jr., with Orlando and Phoenix in the mix:
Could also have ripple effects for Rozier, both in his trade market now and his free agency this summer.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/25763735/mavericks-ramp-efforts-deal-pg-dennis-smith-jr-sources-say
Could also have ripple effects for Rozier, both in his trade market now and his free agency this summer.
Yup. If either Orlando or Phoenix trade for Smith, there goes a potential landing spot for Rozier. Too bad we can’t trade Rozier + FOR Smith as a pure value play.
If Rozier drives people here crazy, they won't like DSJ any more. He is talented but like Rozier, his instincts and decision making are questionable at best.
Unless you’re an elite PG that’s almost always going to be the case with young 1’s who don’t peak until their late 20’s
This is really insane. Jordan averaged 38 a game one season and didn't do this, neither did Kobe, LeBron, Rick Barry, West, Kareem, Pete Maravich, Iverson, Gervin, or anyone else. Just insane consistency.
You are right about young 1's but Rozier is going to be 25 in 2 months. He's not really a young 1. There are plenty of decent PGs in the NBA around that age that aren't elite and won't drive you crazy.
2 months ago, DSJ turned 21. He is a young 1. He's arguably already just as good as Rozier and has considerable potential to get better. He's also not a very good fit on the team but he's under control for 2 more seasons and would be a nice piece to add in an AD deal. I think he's a better fit than Rozier basketball wise if he'd buy into a bench role but I don't think he would. He's taller and a better playmaker but his 3 point shot isn't nearly as proven as Rozier's. I would much rather be frustrated by him than Terry.
With that said, there is nothing we could realistically add to Rozier to get Dennis Smith. I doubt Dallas wants Yabu and the board would revolt if the Celtics added Time Lord. I'd call them up and offer Rozier and the Clippers pick so they could hang up on me. Rozier is gone after this season. At best, the Clippers pick is a mid first and has a very good chance of being a 2nd rounder. It'd be like giving away nothing. I'd offer Rozier and the Celtics 1st round pick this year too, which would probably has more value atm. It's at least guaranteed. I don't see why Dallas would unless they like Rozier and want to resign him.
The Celtics could offer Rozier + Clippers pick + Celtics pick and they'd probably come out ahead on the value game. At least if you assume DSJ is worth more than the 15th and 23rd pick... and that's best case scenario. It sounds like way too much but it's essentially the Clippers and Celtics pick since Rozier is leaving for nothing.
Not advocating it, just thinking out loud. I don't really want DSJ but I'd take him over Rozier all day and I'd offer some extra value for that right... just not a lot. We'd probably use one of those picks to replace Rozier and in any trade, DSJ has more value than the picks. It also takes away the risk of the Clippers pick not conveying.
Flame away. It really does sound like way too much value but when you think it through, it kinda makes sense.