All great points, lovegtm; but as I said, I wasn't implying that DLo's value was anywhere near the level of Kawhi or LeBron (who, holy heck, is lapping the field in advanced stats at age 35). Or even Kemba. I was "just noting the increasingly clear uptick in his scoring efficiency, which is exactly what you want to see in an improving 23 year old all-star."
I don't take too much from his adjusted plus-minus numbers at this point since (a) those take longer to normalize; and (b) he has been thrown into a laughably bad situation this season, jumping onto a new team devastated by injuries and full of babies and G-leaguers, yo-yoing in and out of the lineup with two separate hand injuries and then — right when the team had started to win some games and in the middle of an epic game in which he was totally balling out against Doncic — wrenching his neck/shoulder out and missing another six games.
Given all that, all I really want to see in his development to this point is (a) better defensive effort and use of his size (6'-10" wingspan) on that end; and (b) an improvement in his shooting and a more Harden-esque shot selection — i.e. fewer mid-rangers and tough floaters, more 3fg, decisive drives, and fta. I think the D is still mostly a trainwreck, but that's been a team-wide thing; and again, it's hard to judge too harshly given the inconsistency, youth, and quality of his floormates. But he has pretty clearly checked the box on the scoring efficiency, even with the caveats about overall offensive impact that you note.
As far as that list of other things that make for good offense: I think DLo's more of mixed bag than you imply. His penchant for P&R and dribble-dribble-dribble is obviously an awkward fit in an idealized Kerr motion offense. Stuff like screening, cutting, running off multiple screens, etc. is all pretty new to him. On the "quality of assisted shots" test, though, I think he passes with flying colors. He's a really spectacular passer — far more creative and advanced than Kemba at comparable age (if partly cos those 4-5 inches of height give him much better court vision). He averaged 8.3 assists per 36 last season (only player other than the Big O to average 25 pts/ 8 ast per 36 before age 23, to use a SRN stat); and while that has dropped to 6.8 this year with his crud floormates, he's till good for a couple of beautiful, highlight reel passes a game. Cross-court, push-ahead, home-run, pocket-pass, alley-oop, lefty, righty — he's got the full arsenal. And: his turnover rate is not bad for his high level of usage (3.4 tov per 36 on 32.4 USG).
Beyond the on-court stuff, despite all the losing, his overall demeanor (body language on court, support for his teammates on the bench, attitude in interviews) has been consistently positive — much more Kemba-like than Kyrie-like.
A-/B+ at the half-way point, imho.