The Most Interesting Statline from Every Team
The Most Interesting Statline from Every Team
Welcome all to a non-Kyrie-focused article! Gonna go through each team's roster page and pick out the most interesting statline as we get to midseason, and give a bit of commentary. Here we go!
(Note - was writing this today while sim happened so Celtics through Hawks stat lines are through day 50)
Boston Celtics: James Harden PG 36 37.1 33.3 7.0 10.6 2.1 0.3 2.3 .486 .922 .439
At age 31, Harden is putting together career bests in ppg, FG%, 3P%, rebounds, and TOs. Yes, the Celtics have gotten unlucky with injuries (perhaps karma for their historic resignings period this past offseason), but this Harden season has been enormously important for a few reasons: first, and most obviously, Harden has kept the team afloat while Hassan rests his Achilles - but he has also preserved or even improved his trade value as his contract gets worse, he gets older, and Ja Morant gets more ready to step into the spotlight. The Celtics long-term outlook is far rosier with this version of Harden vs. with a version that starts to depreciate (top tier analysis there).
P.S. Since the doctors prognosticated a long timetable for Whiteside to return, Celtics assistant GM Waluigi Mangione (the architect behind the Mavericks / Celtics trade that brought Whiteside to Boston) hasn't been seen in the building - he was last seen disgruntedly mumbling something about the Celtics training staff and his Google search history has revealed 49 discrete instances of Amazon searches for "gun".
Miami Heat: Derrick White SG 35 22.9 8.8 3.3 2.5 0.7 1.0 1.5 .424 .855 .417
Runner up here is Grayson Allen, who has a very Gordon Hayward type look to him already (scouts say they're both gym rats who play the game the right way). But Derrick White, someone who I've been higher than consensus on, has been pretty bad this season - if his offense is never going to come around, he needs to be a big positive possession guy in order to be useful, and instead he's just meh, with good stocks, mediocre to bad TOs, and bad rebounding. At least Scoops can rest easy with 4 solid gold Bulls picks as his return for Klay.
Brooklyn Nets: Kemba Walker PG 38 39.1 23.2 4.9 11.0 2.1 0.2 2.9 .476 .866 .428
There are teams out there that could use a point guard and could do worse than Kemba on an 18m expiring (Minnesota? Portland?) - the question is whether or not Steven is going to be willing to pull the trigger on a deal where he doesn't get that much value back. The Nets were 5-9 to start the year, traded their "best" player in Anthony Davis, and have gone 13-11 since then. If Steven is expecting to get a king's ransom for Walker (or Blake for that matter), I'd expect those players to rot on his team until their contracts expire.
New York Knicks: Tie: Tyus Jones PG 37 38.9 21.6 6.1 13.2 3.1 0.1 1.9 .476 .890 .402 and Josh Okogie SG 35 35.0 19.3 6.8 1.6 2.0 1.4 1.2 .464 .878 .324
The Knicks two best players, Joel Embiid and Myles Turner, are two of the best in the league at their positions. But the heroes of this team are the unsung (read: commonly sung) backcourt players who have been responsible for transforming this team from a really good title contender to one of the best teams we've seen in SLN, full stop. Okogie doing almost 3:1 stock to TO at SG is like unheard of, and Tyus is playing the game manager role perfectly, with a full steal more than his TOs and an efficient 21.6 ppg. Usually the Okogie types are saddled with bad offense to balance them out (see: Thybulle, RoCo, etc.) - but Okogie looks to have missed the memo. Oh, and Tyus is averaging 6.1 rebounds per game at PG (despite C rebounding). Unfair!
Philadelphia 76ers: Yaroslav Korolev SF 35 33.6 18.6 5.5 4.2 1.5 0.1 1.9 .501 .837 .405
He's not dead yet! Or is he?? As the newest victim of the "inexplicably outperform ratings on the Raptors then come down to earth immediately when traded" curse, Yaro has seen his production fall precipitously through the last two TCs - but despite a drop in volume, rebounds, and stock:TO over the last 3 seasons, Yaro is putting together a nice season,, shooting it at over 50% so far. Dmo should be moving him ASAP - with little chance to make the playoffs this year and their picks back next year, I would think selling should be at the forefront of the 76ers plans as the trade deadline nears.
Washington Wizards: Anthony Edwards SG 39 29.9 11.6 4.3 4.7 1.5 0.4 2.3 .425 .713 .365
I'm high on Ant, don't get me wrong - but this rookie season has left a bit more to the imagination than one would hope. At B+ / B+ scoring ratings, 11.6 ppg while starting at SG for most of the season is underwhelming, and the efficiency isn't great either. Now, he did go like +a million or whatever in TC, so I feel good about him having 100 potential and being a future superstar. But that B+ inside that looked so nice after TC looks to be heavily jumping inflated, meaning that there's still a ways to go before Ant takes the league by storm.
Atlanta Hawks: LeBron James SF 31 35.6 26.4 9.9 9.3 1.2 0.7 3.0 .456 .814 .368
Oh, you thought I'd put KD's stat line up here because he's having arguably the best season in the history of the league? Not a bad assumption, but he put up like the same stats last year, so while it is insane, it's not quite as interesting. Instead, I think Lebron's line is fascinating. He's 36 and a recent recipient of the +20 potential boost, and maybe it's a function of playing alongside Durant, but his numbers are not quite what you'd expect out of SLN LeBron - he's only shooting 46%, his volume is down for him playing at PG, and his TOs are on the high side of where they were historically (3.1). For this year and likely next, the Hawks are surefire title contenders. But what happens when LeBron is owed $24m in his age 38 season after two more TCs?
Charlotte Hornets: Semi Ojeleye SF 43 33.7 24.5 8.1 2.0 1.7 0.2 0.7 .531 .907 .481
Semi Ojeley's scoring ratings are B+ / B+. There are exactly two other players across SLN who have B+/B+ scoring ratings: Anthony Edwards (scoring 11.4ppg on 41.7% shooting in 30 minutes) and Josh Okogie (scoring 19.6ppg on 46% shooting). Semi Ojeleye is scoring 24.5 ppg on 53.1% / 90.7% / 48.1%!!! He did shoot just 38% from three last year, so I'd expect that to regress a bit, but he's still taking over 2 threes a game - this is the most classic Ashes diamond in the rough guy who must just have 0 jumping and 100 inside / strength / jumpshot / all the stuff that matters. Crazy how different the stat lines can look between Semi and Ant with the same ratings.
Chicago Bulls: Dillon Brooks SF 39 33.9 15.1 6.4 2.4 1.2 0.3 1.6 .477 .851 .404
Luka is good, Rose is good, those guys are boring. I think Brooks is the most interesting player on my team, because he's clearly not a stud right now, but his numbers also are good enough to not be the reason why we're performing worse than I (and some others) expected...and as a non-option, it's hard to know if he has the capacity for volume but is just unable to get shots up around high volume guys like Rose / Luka / Klay as a non-option. I've been paralyzed by what to do with Brooks for a few seasons now - cashing him in for a vet makes sense, but it doesn't seem like he has the trade value on his own to fetch an older superstar in return (was close to a deal for Otto Porter when he was on the Nuggets but couldn't get over the finish line) so I think I'm stuck hoping his B potential is for real and he has a little more juice in the tank (or that he gets some late developing SF love).
Cleveland Cavaliers: Zach LaVine SG 38 38.9 38.6 6.9 5.5 1.9 0.2 3.3 .508 .920 .517
Who else?? This is one of the biggest single season jumps in production I can remember, with Lavine going from a high volume scorer with decent efficiency (hovering around 46% most of his career) to a top 5 scorer of all time in SLN this season, averaging 37.6 ppg on 51% / 93% / 49% splits. For context, Kyrie's highest volume season was 34.5ppg, and other top scorers like LeBron and Manu only eclipsed that scoring number once in their careers (Dirk did it twice). The question, though, is what the Cavs should do in response to this - what are the pieces available to trade for to shore up the roster? It's hard to want to upgrade DLo at PG when he's making peanuts, but I'm not sure there's a road to success for this team with a PG racking up 2.7 TOs to 1.6 steals. But at the same time, it's not like there's a huge package waiting for Lavine somewhere. Listen to PodPodPod for more Cavs talk!
Detroit Pistons: Tyrese Haliburton PG 42 34.2 19.4 4.7 8.6 1.6 0.3 3.0 .468 .916 .407
Haliburton is the only part of this team that seems to be a part of the long-term future in Detroit (besides Brandon Jennings, who has purchased a $13m mansion in Bloomfield Township and set up shop). As a PG actually listed at PG (unlike some of the other PG prospects we've seen recently), I'd expect his handles to improve and those turnovers to come down naturally (or with a little push from RB), but the rest of his stats are encouraging - most of which his jumpshot, which already looks to be elite. The rebuild is on in Detroit, but RB looks to have landed his first major piece.
Indiana Pacers: Marvin Williams SF 35 33.5 24.4 6.3 2.9 0.9 0.2 0.8 .497 .779 .482
Runner up was Sabonis, who is singlehandedly giving Zion's family hope that he can one day play big minutes for a contender (Zion's just a cool 40% off on his free throw shooting). But Marvin was most interesting to me - this Pacers team has seen a ton of success and a strong point differential (+9.6) despite Marvin's volume seeming to have dissipated in the move from Utah. It's possible that he's just around more scoring (his Jazz teams tended to win with suffocating defense more so than tons of offense), but he's been the #1 option most of the season in Indiana and has even spent several sims at SG, which should theoretically increase volume - so it looks like he may finally be losing some steam after he miraculously jumped from 24.4ppg to 29.3ppg in year 11 5 seasons ago. The fact that the Pacers are winning despite Marvin's volume dropping is a testament to the team building, but with Marvin at 34 Tonger will need to figure out what the next move is to keep the team in title contention mode over the next few seasons if Marvin continues to regress.
Milwaukee Bucks: Cory Joseph PG 33 38.5 29.8 5.8 7.2 1.7 0.5 2.4 .493 .823 .433
Another team with tough injury luck this year, but Cory Joseph has come out of absolutely nowhere. His previous career high in PPG was 18.6 his rookie year for the Spurs - this year he's averaging 30.3, with significantly higher efficiency than usual. This one is interesting because it has prevented us from getting a good look at Shai at PG - and the variance on Shai's abilities at PG are probably the difference between this Bucks team elevating to true elite status. Cory Joseph is almost certainly worth a max based on his production this year and is set to hit the open market - if he doesn't opt to resign, he'll likely be one of a few highly sought after FAs this offseason.
Toronto Raptors: Denzel Valentine SG 43 29.9 19.3 5.5 4.0 1.0 0.2 2.3 .501 .842 .392
OH MY GOODNESS VALENTINE! Unfortunately after doing my homework Denzel has in fact been fully camped, but he is putting together a really nice season for a guy JWoo was able to snag on the MLE this year. In his first year since graduating from the NDL, he shot it at 51% / 92% 39% splits, and this year he's doing about the same (a bit worse from the floor and from the line) - but he's been able to provide the scoring punch necessary to keep this Raptors team in contention while Aaron Gordon recovers from his torn hamstring. It's also interesting that Jwoo basically has the evolved version of Valentine already on his roster in THJ.
Dallas Mavericks: 568 Patrick Williams SF 38 26.3 5.8 4.3 0.7 1.1 1.2 0.7 .415 .766 .385
Actually a lot of interesting lines on the Mavs tanktacular roster, but I was most surprised to see Patrick Williams' line. Around draft time I thought Williams profiled as a homeless man's Myles Turner with his C+ / B+ scoring ratings and lack of rebounding at the PF position. Well, we're 60 days into the Patrick WIlliams at SF experiment, and the results are...different? He looks to have absolutely 0 scoring ability (averaging less than 6ppg as a starter) but is super stocky already, over a steal and a block a game at SF and only 0.7 TOs. He did get a jump shot camp this offseason, but I wonder if Hoff pivots to camping his defense to try to turn him into a Robert Covington type at SF? we shall see!
Denver Nuggets: Tie: LaMelo Ball PG 40 37.5 20.5 7.1 8.8 2.2 0.2 4.4 .435 .830 .362 and Lonzo Ball PG 40 27.4 8.1 5.1 3.7 2.0 0.7 1.4 .397 .776 .205 and LiAngelo Ball SG 40 27.3 13.1 5.7 2.4 1.5 0.1 1.5 .469 .812 .422
The Ball brothers are probably the most interesting storyline in the league this year, with Kipke paying a hefty price to unite them in Denver. So far, though, we've yet to see any real results. Lamelo looks about where we might expect him as a rookie - showing flashes of scoring brilliance, along with early TO problems (though amazing rookie steals to offset them). Shockingly, LiAngelo actually looks like the most SLN-ready player of the three, giving Kipke 16 efficient points per 36 with neutral stock:TO and solid boards. Lonzo, on the other hand, looks like trash - trash that gets steals, but trash nonetheless. I'd guess we'll have to wait until Lavar gets fired to see the results of the BBB stip - until then, their production will always be of interest.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Langston Galloway PG 37 38.2 23.8 5.9 7.4 2.3 0.2 1.6 .453 .886 .457
With Harden leaving in FA, Pankin had to scramble for a point guard, and found Galloway, who game-managed the Knicks to homecourt advantage the last several seasons. Galloway is thriving in Minnesota, with a big bump in volume and rebounding and some smaller bumps in steals and FT%/3P%. The Galloway find, though, has prolonged the Timberwolves' stay in the middle ground, where they'll be stuck until they either cash in some pieces for more talent so they can stop playing Justin Jackson and Khris Middleton a combined 54 minutes per game or sell off Giannis and KAT. Now that the Bullets made their move for AD, it may be tough to get appropriate value for Giannis, but I wonder if Galloway's competency gave Pankin just enough confidence to decide not to entertain ideas that involved shipping our either of their two franchise bigs.
San Antonio Spurs: Darius Garland SG 39 28.8 11.0 2.7 5.4 1.4 0.1 1.5 .442 .902 .362
Garland, along with the Spurs picks, was the centerpiece of the trade that brought Jaylen Brown to Seattle - and early returns are promising. He's not all the way there just yet, but he seems to be mostly passable at everything at the combo spot, with poor rebounding and an exceptional jump shot, but he's still in just his second year, so lots of room to grow. Garland's line was very much the winner by default, as the rest of the guys on this team are just good enough to keep the Spurs from fully tanking but not good enough for buyers to pay up to trade for them. Unfortunately, Garland won't be the beneficiary of PG TCs, which he may need, but we've seen SGs have big TCs too, so the hope is that he just has some serious potential in the tank.
Utah Jazz: Greg Oden C 39 37.6 25.9 16.5 1.9 1.2 3.8 2.5 .455 .754 .000
If Kevin Durant didn't exist, I think you could make the argument Oden has been the best player in the league this season. He's on pace to set the single season rebounding record (at this pace he's be pretty close to breaking the SLOR record, which was built over 100+ seasons in a ratings inflation-full league). This defense has been one of the best in the league every year that Oden has been the anchor, and this year Oden is putting together a net-positive offensive season to go along with his superb defensive season, putting up 26ppg on 45.5% shooting. I was one of (I think) several who thought the Oden deal would be problematic towards the end of it when it was inked, and instead he's been worth every penny.
Memphis Grizzlies: Kris Dunn PG 36 36.9 19.1 5.6 10.1 2.4 0.1 3.7 .454 .816 .412
Kris Dunn was one of the most decorated NDL players of recent memory, but the production hasn't quite transferred over to SLN just yet. He's locked up on a sub-max deal, but in his first full season as the starter in Memphis he looks to have a pretty serious case of the butterfingers. Meanwhile, Mike Conley is waiting in the wings waiting to give his usual 19 efficient points per game if he could just get some run. With the Grizz holding all of their own picks, they could go in a number of directions - they're potentially a trade destination for Galloway or Kemba), or, if they wanted to move the other direction, Kristaps would probably be the most sought after player on the market if he were put on the block.
Golden State Warriors Jayson Tatum SF 28 31.5 17.9 6.1 2.5 1.5 0.5 2.2 .434 .859 .376
Don't block me Clint! A ton to love on this roster - Mo Bamba is awesome, Jabari's having a great season, Oladipo is on an awesome contract and looks to be better than ever - but the most interesting stat line on this roster is unequivocally Tatum, who is closing in on the first every true SLN first overall pick bust. In the last year of his rookie deal, Paul George (who Joe would have you believe was a bust) scored 23.3 ppg on even 2.6 steals and 2.6 TOs, along with a 47% / 91% / 44% slash line and 6.5 boards. Tatum's numbers are just bad. Is there a world where he goes +3 next TC and gets back on track? Of course, but as much as we like to talk about the late-developing SFs, I don't think that usually happens for guys taken at the top of the draft with a ton of pedigree - we usually see signs from those guys early on in their career. To be fair, we're seeing signs - just not positive ones.
Anaheim Clippers: Markelle Fultz PG 42 39.2 29.2 6.6 8.9 2.0 0.4 2.1 .465 .788 .379
Tatum's draft classmate, on the other hand, looks primo in the last year of his rookie deal, scoring with volume and efficiency and winning possessions on the glass and on defense. Bobby will add another lottery pick to Fultz this offseason, but he'll need more than that to get into contention - as valuable as he is, I can't help but wonder if the right move for the Clippers is to reset and use Fultz to accumulate as many assets as possible. I'd bet a pretty nice package could be put together from the Bullets to help them win more games while Ant and Maxey develop, and to give them some flexibility in case one of the three plays better as a combo 1/2.
Los Angeles Lakers: Nikola Vucevic C 40 32.8 18.6 10.6 2.2 0.7 0.9 1.5 .477 .688 .429
GX traded for Vucevic in an effort to replace some of the scoring he lost when Kyrie went on his walkabout - and Vooch looks like a bargain bin Sabonis (again, worse FT shooting) so far this season, so mission accomplished. The issue, though, is that I'm not sure this team, while a fun story, has true championship equity without Kyrie in uniform. And when Kyrie comes back, I can't think of a worse fit than a guy like Vooch who will just take shots away from Kyrie while adding little on defense. The contract is light in terms of annual salary, but with the Lakers set to owe 51m next season, with new contracts due for Hayward and Bam, I have a feeling GX may be a bit unhappy having to maneuver around Vooch's contract this offseason.
Also fuck vooch.
Phoenix Suns: Isaac Bonga SF 41 36.7 14.8 6.7 8.3 2.3 1.6 2.6 .450 .853 .304
Also Jokic, who is having the most prolific scoring season we've seen from a big. But Bonga is and will always be fascinating to me. His volume is up this year and he's already taken more threes than he did all of last season, and shooting them at a better (albeit bad) clip. He's fully camped now, but he's a perfect example of a guy at SF who may take a bit longer to develop across the board - and he's already a crazy player getting 4 stocks a game at PG. He's an absolute possession monster already, and his offense is passable right now - but he's likely a big reason the Suns are 2nd on oPPG. Give me more Bonga!
PS Blake Griffin is a Sun now?!?
Portland Trailblazers: Greg Monroe C 42 33.1 9.4 11.9 2.2 1.5 1.2 1.7 .399 .661 .000
I'll be honest, I wrote off Salmon Roe a long time ago, but since being traded to the Blazers (and not before that) he has been one of the best stealing bigs in the league. He turns it over too much and shoots a bit too much, but he's at the very least a positive player now and at the most one of the more interestingly shaped guys in the league. Between Monroe and Montrezlzlzlz, the Blazers have interesting pieces in the front court, but I'm not sure what the sum of the parts will be or what the logical next move is for the Blazers. Monta will help them win a few more games, but this team won't scare anyone in the playoffs without a bit more talent on the roster, or without Lauri Markkanen taking a big step forward.
Sacramento Kings: Justise Winslow PF 38 26.4 11.8 6.9 0.9 1.0 1.8 0.5 .436 .735 .320
You can tell which guys Jesse likes by how little he talks about them, and that's the case with WInslow. Winslow has been playing a mix of the backup 3/4 and starting at the 4, and has been a possession monster, with an almost 6:1 stock to TO ratio. He isn't without flaws though - he's never been an efficient shooter (and he shoots a decently) and he's a good rebounder for the 3, but not great at the 4. Basically, despite him winning the deal in spades and winning a championship because of it, Jesse regretted moving on from RoCo and decided to home-grow his own RoCo. I don't think anyone else is getting their hands on that fella anytime soon.
Seattle Supersonics: Jared Sullinger C 43 34.0 9.4 11.9 2.7 1.0 1.6 1.7 .454 .726 .231
Sullinger is a true testament to the power of the +20 potential. He was completely unmitigated ass for his first 5 or so years in the league, and now he's starting for a team that's leading the Pacific. He's still super flawed, with a lot of TOs for his usage rate, but he's a good rebounder, has high steals, is efficient on offense now by some miracle, and he even has flat A defense for you sickos who care about that for bigs. All in all, I give Nick a B- for signing Sullinger.
Houston Rockets: Dejounte Murray SG 36 35.2 20.3 6.1 3.8 1.8 0.2 2.2 .490 .830 .438
Oops! Bonus one! Nolan was right though, it was hard to pick something meaningful from this roster that is finally tanking for themselves. With Russ in attank commander point guard, Dejounte has been relegated to SG, where he's putting up admirable numbers for his contract. The D potential is a lil sus but the fact that Nolan can't play Murray at the 1 is actually a huge positive in my opinion - it looks like Murray's TOs would be a problem (they're already kind of a problem at the 2) but there's no way for us to ever find out just how bad they'll be. Runner up to Murray is Bol Bol, who was a tantalizing prospect a couple years back and is being redshirted this year. He's gone net flat in TCs since he came into the league, which isn't what anyone would have hoped for, but he still has one of the widest ranges of out comes in the league.
(Note - was writing this today while sim happened so Celtics through Hawks stat lines are through day 50)
Boston Celtics: James Harden PG 36 37.1 33.3 7.0 10.6 2.1 0.3 2.3 .486 .922 .439
At age 31, Harden is putting together career bests in ppg, FG%, 3P%, rebounds, and TOs. Yes, the Celtics have gotten unlucky with injuries (perhaps karma for their historic resignings period this past offseason), but this Harden season has been enormously important for a few reasons: first, and most obviously, Harden has kept the team afloat while Hassan rests his Achilles - but he has also preserved or even improved his trade value as his contract gets worse, he gets older, and Ja Morant gets more ready to step into the spotlight. The Celtics long-term outlook is far rosier with this version of Harden vs. with a version that starts to depreciate (top tier analysis there).
P.S. Since the doctors prognosticated a long timetable for Whiteside to return, Celtics assistant GM Waluigi Mangione (the architect behind the Mavericks / Celtics trade that brought Whiteside to Boston) hasn't been seen in the building - he was last seen disgruntedly mumbling something about the Celtics training staff and his Google search history has revealed 49 discrete instances of Amazon searches for "gun".
Miami Heat: Derrick White SG 35 22.9 8.8 3.3 2.5 0.7 1.0 1.5 .424 .855 .417
Runner up here is Grayson Allen, who has a very Gordon Hayward type look to him already (scouts say they're both gym rats who play the game the right way). But Derrick White, someone who I've been higher than consensus on, has been pretty bad this season - if his offense is never going to come around, he needs to be a big positive possession guy in order to be useful, and instead he's just meh, with good stocks, mediocre to bad TOs, and bad rebounding. At least Scoops can rest easy with 4 solid gold Bulls picks as his return for Klay.
Brooklyn Nets: Kemba Walker PG 38 39.1 23.2 4.9 11.0 2.1 0.2 2.9 .476 .866 .428
There are teams out there that could use a point guard and could do worse than Kemba on an 18m expiring (Minnesota? Portland?) - the question is whether or not Steven is going to be willing to pull the trigger on a deal where he doesn't get that much value back. The Nets were 5-9 to start the year, traded their "best" player in Anthony Davis, and have gone 13-11 since then. If Steven is expecting to get a king's ransom for Walker (or Blake for that matter), I'd expect those players to rot on his team until their contracts expire.
New York Knicks: Tie: Tyus Jones PG 37 38.9 21.6 6.1 13.2 3.1 0.1 1.9 .476 .890 .402 and Josh Okogie SG 35 35.0 19.3 6.8 1.6 2.0 1.4 1.2 .464 .878 .324
The Knicks two best players, Joel Embiid and Myles Turner, are two of the best in the league at their positions. But the heroes of this team are the unsung (read: commonly sung) backcourt players who have been responsible for transforming this team from a really good title contender to one of the best teams we've seen in SLN, full stop. Okogie doing almost 3:1 stock to TO at SG is like unheard of, and Tyus is playing the game manager role perfectly, with a full steal more than his TOs and an efficient 21.6 ppg. Usually the Okogie types are saddled with bad offense to balance them out (see: Thybulle, RoCo, etc.) - but Okogie looks to have missed the memo. Oh, and Tyus is averaging 6.1 rebounds per game at PG (despite C rebounding). Unfair!
Philadelphia 76ers: Yaroslav Korolev SF 35 33.6 18.6 5.5 4.2 1.5 0.1 1.9 .501 .837 .405
He's not dead yet! Or is he?? As the newest victim of the "inexplicably outperform ratings on the Raptors then come down to earth immediately when traded" curse, Yaro has seen his production fall precipitously through the last two TCs - but despite a drop in volume, rebounds, and stock:TO over the last 3 seasons, Yaro is putting together a nice season,, shooting it at over 50% so far. Dmo should be moving him ASAP - with little chance to make the playoffs this year and their picks back next year, I would think selling should be at the forefront of the 76ers plans as the trade deadline nears.
Washington Wizards: Anthony Edwards SG 39 29.9 11.6 4.3 4.7 1.5 0.4 2.3 .425 .713 .365
I'm high on Ant, don't get me wrong - but this rookie season has left a bit more to the imagination than one would hope. At B+ / B+ scoring ratings, 11.6 ppg while starting at SG for most of the season is underwhelming, and the efficiency isn't great either. Now, he did go like +a million or whatever in TC, so I feel good about him having 100 potential and being a future superstar. But that B+ inside that looked so nice after TC looks to be heavily jumping inflated, meaning that there's still a ways to go before Ant takes the league by storm.
Atlanta Hawks: LeBron James SF 31 35.6 26.4 9.9 9.3 1.2 0.7 3.0 .456 .814 .368
Oh, you thought I'd put KD's stat line up here because he's having arguably the best season in the history of the league? Not a bad assumption, but he put up like the same stats last year, so while it is insane, it's not quite as interesting. Instead, I think Lebron's line is fascinating. He's 36 and a recent recipient of the +20 potential boost, and maybe it's a function of playing alongside Durant, but his numbers are not quite what you'd expect out of SLN LeBron - he's only shooting 46%, his volume is down for him playing at PG, and his TOs are on the high side of where they were historically (3.1). For this year and likely next, the Hawks are surefire title contenders. But what happens when LeBron is owed $24m in his age 38 season after two more TCs?
Charlotte Hornets: Semi Ojeleye SF 43 33.7 24.5 8.1 2.0 1.7 0.2 0.7 .531 .907 .481
Semi Ojeley's scoring ratings are B+ / B+. There are exactly two other players across SLN who have B+/B+ scoring ratings: Anthony Edwards (scoring 11.4ppg on 41.7% shooting in 30 minutes) and Josh Okogie (scoring 19.6ppg on 46% shooting). Semi Ojeleye is scoring 24.5 ppg on 53.1% / 90.7% / 48.1%!!! He did shoot just 38% from three last year, so I'd expect that to regress a bit, but he's still taking over 2 threes a game - this is the most classic Ashes diamond in the rough guy who must just have 0 jumping and 100 inside / strength / jumpshot / all the stuff that matters. Crazy how different the stat lines can look between Semi and Ant with the same ratings.
Chicago Bulls: Dillon Brooks SF 39 33.9 15.1 6.4 2.4 1.2 0.3 1.6 .477 .851 .404
Luka is good, Rose is good, those guys are boring. I think Brooks is the most interesting player on my team, because he's clearly not a stud right now, but his numbers also are good enough to not be the reason why we're performing worse than I (and some others) expected...and as a non-option, it's hard to know if he has the capacity for volume but is just unable to get shots up around high volume guys like Rose / Luka / Klay as a non-option. I've been paralyzed by what to do with Brooks for a few seasons now - cashing him in for a vet makes sense, but it doesn't seem like he has the trade value on his own to fetch an older superstar in return (was close to a deal for Otto Porter when he was on the Nuggets but couldn't get over the finish line) so I think I'm stuck hoping his B potential is for real and he has a little more juice in the tank (or that he gets some late developing SF love).
Cleveland Cavaliers: Zach LaVine SG 38 38.9 38.6 6.9 5.5 1.9 0.2 3.3 .508 .920 .517
Who else?? This is one of the biggest single season jumps in production I can remember, with Lavine going from a high volume scorer with decent efficiency (hovering around 46% most of his career) to a top 5 scorer of all time in SLN this season, averaging 37.6 ppg on 51% / 93% / 49% splits. For context, Kyrie's highest volume season was 34.5ppg, and other top scorers like LeBron and Manu only eclipsed that scoring number once in their careers (Dirk did it twice). The question, though, is what the Cavs should do in response to this - what are the pieces available to trade for to shore up the roster? It's hard to want to upgrade DLo at PG when he's making peanuts, but I'm not sure there's a road to success for this team with a PG racking up 2.7 TOs to 1.6 steals. But at the same time, it's not like there's a huge package waiting for Lavine somewhere. Listen to PodPodPod for more Cavs talk!
Detroit Pistons: Tyrese Haliburton PG 42 34.2 19.4 4.7 8.6 1.6 0.3 3.0 .468 .916 .407
Haliburton is the only part of this team that seems to be a part of the long-term future in Detroit (besides Brandon Jennings, who has purchased a $13m mansion in Bloomfield Township and set up shop). As a PG actually listed at PG (unlike some of the other PG prospects we've seen recently), I'd expect his handles to improve and those turnovers to come down naturally (or with a little push from RB), but the rest of his stats are encouraging - most of which his jumpshot, which already looks to be elite. The rebuild is on in Detroit, but RB looks to have landed his first major piece.
Indiana Pacers: Marvin Williams SF 35 33.5 24.4 6.3 2.9 0.9 0.2 0.8 .497 .779 .482
Runner up was Sabonis, who is singlehandedly giving Zion's family hope that he can one day play big minutes for a contender (Zion's just a cool 40% off on his free throw shooting). But Marvin was most interesting to me - this Pacers team has seen a ton of success and a strong point differential (+9.6) despite Marvin's volume seeming to have dissipated in the move from Utah. It's possible that he's just around more scoring (his Jazz teams tended to win with suffocating defense more so than tons of offense), but he's been the #1 option most of the season in Indiana and has even spent several sims at SG, which should theoretically increase volume - so it looks like he may finally be losing some steam after he miraculously jumped from 24.4ppg to 29.3ppg in year 11 5 seasons ago. The fact that the Pacers are winning despite Marvin's volume dropping is a testament to the team building, but with Marvin at 34 Tonger will need to figure out what the next move is to keep the team in title contention mode over the next few seasons if Marvin continues to regress.
Milwaukee Bucks: Cory Joseph PG 33 38.5 29.8 5.8 7.2 1.7 0.5 2.4 .493 .823 .433
Another team with tough injury luck this year, but Cory Joseph has come out of absolutely nowhere. His previous career high in PPG was 18.6 his rookie year for the Spurs - this year he's averaging 30.3, with significantly higher efficiency than usual. This one is interesting because it has prevented us from getting a good look at Shai at PG - and the variance on Shai's abilities at PG are probably the difference between this Bucks team elevating to true elite status. Cory Joseph is almost certainly worth a max based on his production this year and is set to hit the open market - if he doesn't opt to resign, he'll likely be one of a few highly sought after FAs this offseason.
Toronto Raptors: Denzel Valentine SG 43 29.9 19.3 5.5 4.0 1.0 0.2 2.3 .501 .842 .392
OH MY GOODNESS VALENTINE! Unfortunately after doing my homework Denzel has in fact been fully camped, but he is putting together a really nice season for a guy JWoo was able to snag on the MLE this year. In his first year since graduating from the NDL, he shot it at 51% / 92% 39% splits, and this year he's doing about the same (a bit worse from the floor and from the line) - but he's been able to provide the scoring punch necessary to keep this Raptors team in contention while Aaron Gordon recovers from his torn hamstring. It's also interesting that Jwoo basically has the evolved version of Valentine already on his roster in THJ.
Dallas Mavericks: 568 Patrick Williams SF 38 26.3 5.8 4.3 0.7 1.1 1.2 0.7 .415 .766 .385
Actually a lot of interesting lines on the Mavs tanktacular roster, but I was most surprised to see Patrick Williams' line. Around draft time I thought Williams profiled as a homeless man's Myles Turner with his C+ / B+ scoring ratings and lack of rebounding at the PF position. Well, we're 60 days into the Patrick WIlliams at SF experiment, and the results are...different? He looks to have absolutely 0 scoring ability (averaging less than 6ppg as a starter) but is super stocky already, over a steal and a block a game at SF and only 0.7 TOs. He did get a jump shot camp this offseason, but I wonder if Hoff pivots to camping his defense to try to turn him into a Robert Covington type at SF? we shall see!
Denver Nuggets: Tie: LaMelo Ball PG 40 37.5 20.5 7.1 8.8 2.2 0.2 4.4 .435 .830 .362 and Lonzo Ball PG 40 27.4 8.1 5.1 3.7 2.0 0.7 1.4 .397 .776 .205 and LiAngelo Ball SG 40 27.3 13.1 5.7 2.4 1.5 0.1 1.5 .469 .812 .422
The Ball brothers are probably the most interesting storyline in the league this year, with Kipke paying a hefty price to unite them in Denver. So far, though, we've yet to see any real results. Lamelo looks about where we might expect him as a rookie - showing flashes of scoring brilliance, along with early TO problems (though amazing rookie steals to offset them). Shockingly, LiAngelo actually looks like the most SLN-ready player of the three, giving Kipke 16 efficient points per 36 with neutral stock:TO and solid boards. Lonzo, on the other hand, looks like trash - trash that gets steals, but trash nonetheless. I'd guess we'll have to wait until Lavar gets fired to see the results of the BBB stip - until then, their production will always be of interest.
Minnesota Timberwolves: Langston Galloway PG 37 38.2 23.8 5.9 7.4 2.3 0.2 1.6 .453 .886 .457
With Harden leaving in FA, Pankin had to scramble for a point guard, and found Galloway, who game-managed the Knicks to homecourt advantage the last several seasons. Galloway is thriving in Minnesota, with a big bump in volume and rebounding and some smaller bumps in steals and FT%/3P%. The Galloway find, though, has prolonged the Timberwolves' stay in the middle ground, where they'll be stuck until they either cash in some pieces for more talent so they can stop playing Justin Jackson and Khris Middleton a combined 54 minutes per game or sell off Giannis and KAT. Now that the Bullets made their move for AD, it may be tough to get appropriate value for Giannis, but I wonder if Galloway's competency gave Pankin just enough confidence to decide not to entertain ideas that involved shipping our either of their two franchise bigs.
San Antonio Spurs: Darius Garland SG 39 28.8 11.0 2.7 5.4 1.4 0.1 1.5 .442 .902 .362
Garland, along with the Spurs picks, was the centerpiece of the trade that brought Jaylen Brown to Seattle - and early returns are promising. He's not all the way there just yet, but he seems to be mostly passable at everything at the combo spot, with poor rebounding and an exceptional jump shot, but he's still in just his second year, so lots of room to grow. Garland's line was very much the winner by default, as the rest of the guys on this team are just good enough to keep the Spurs from fully tanking but not good enough for buyers to pay up to trade for them. Unfortunately, Garland won't be the beneficiary of PG TCs, which he may need, but we've seen SGs have big TCs too, so the hope is that he just has some serious potential in the tank.
Utah Jazz: Greg Oden C 39 37.6 25.9 16.5 1.9 1.2 3.8 2.5 .455 .754 .000
If Kevin Durant didn't exist, I think you could make the argument Oden has been the best player in the league this season. He's on pace to set the single season rebounding record (at this pace he's be pretty close to breaking the SLOR record, which was built over 100+ seasons in a ratings inflation-full league). This defense has been one of the best in the league every year that Oden has been the anchor, and this year Oden is putting together a net-positive offensive season to go along with his superb defensive season, putting up 26ppg on 45.5% shooting. I was one of (I think) several who thought the Oden deal would be problematic towards the end of it when it was inked, and instead he's been worth every penny.
Memphis Grizzlies: Kris Dunn PG 36 36.9 19.1 5.6 10.1 2.4 0.1 3.7 .454 .816 .412
Kris Dunn was one of the most decorated NDL players of recent memory, but the production hasn't quite transferred over to SLN just yet. He's locked up on a sub-max deal, but in his first full season as the starter in Memphis he looks to have a pretty serious case of the butterfingers. Meanwhile, Mike Conley is waiting in the wings waiting to give his usual 19 efficient points per game if he could just get some run. With the Grizz holding all of their own picks, they could go in a number of directions - they're potentially a trade destination for Galloway or Kemba), or, if they wanted to move the other direction, Kristaps would probably be the most sought after player on the market if he were put on the block.
Golden State Warriors Jayson Tatum SF 28 31.5 17.9 6.1 2.5 1.5 0.5 2.2 .434 .859 .376
Don't block me Clint! A ton to love on this roster - Mo Bamba is awesome, Jabari's having a great season, Oladipo is on an awesome contract and looks to be better than ever - but the most interesting stat line on this roster is unequivocally Tatum, who is closing in on the first every true SLN first overall pick bust. In the last year of his rookie deal, Paul George (who Joe would have you believe was a bust) scored 23.3 ppg on even 2.6 steals and 2.6 TOs, along with a 47% / 91% / 44% slash line and 6.5 boards. Tatum's numbers are just bad. Is there a world where he goes +3 next TC and gets back on track? Of course, but as much as we like to talk about the late-developing SFs, I don't think that usually happens for guys taken at the top of the draft with a ton of pedigree - we usually see signs from those guys early on in their career. To be fair, we're seeing signs - just not positive ones.
Anaheim Clippers: Markelle Fultz PG 42 39.2 29.2 6.6 8.9 2.0 0.4 2.1 .465 .788 .379
Tatum's draft classmate, on the other hand, looks primo in the last year of his rookie deal, scoring with volume and efficiency and winning possessions on the glass and on defense. Bobby will add another lottery pick to Fultz this offseason, but he'll need more than that to get into contention - as valuable as he is, I can't help but wonder if the right move for the Clippers is to reset and use Fultz to accumulate as many assets as possible. I'd bet a pretty nice package could be put together from the Bullets to help them win more games while Ant and Maxey develop, and to give them some flexibility in case one of the three plays better as a combo 1/2.
Los Angeles Lakers: Nikola Vucevic C 40 32.8 18.6 10.6 2.2 0.7 0.9 1.5 .477 .688 .429
GX traded for Vucevic in an effort to replace some of the scoring he lost when Kyrie went on his walkabout - and Vooch looks like a bargain bin Sabonis (again, worse FT shooting) so far this season, so mission accomplished. The issue, though, is that I'm not sure this team, while a fun story, has true championship equity without Kyrie in uniform. And when Kyrie comes back, I can't think of a worse fit than a guy like Vooch who will just take shots away from Kyrie while adding little on defense. The contract is light in terms of annual salary, but with the Lakers set to owe 51m next season, with new contracts due for Hayward and Bam, I have a feeling GX may be a bit unhappy having to maneuver around Vooch's contract this offseason.
Also fuck vooch.
Phoenix Suns: Isaac Bonga SF 41 36.7 14.8 6.7 8.3 2.3 1.6 2.6 .450 .853 .304
Also Jokic, who is having the most prolific scoring season we've seen from a big. But Bonga is and will always be fascinating to me. His volume is up this year and he's already taken more threes than he did all of last season, and shooting them at a better (albeit bad) clip. He's fully camped now, but he's a perfect example of a guy at SF who may take a bit longer to develop across the board - and he's already a crazy player getting 4 stocks a game at PG. He's an absolute possession monster already, and his offense is passable right now - but he's likely a big reason the Suns are 2nd on oPPG. Give me more Bonga!
PS Blake Griffin is a Sun now?!?
Portland Trailblazers: Greg Monroe C 42 33.1 9.4 11.9 2.2 1.5 1.2 1.7 .399 .661 .000
I'll be honest, I wrote off Salmon Roe a long time ago, but since being traded to the Blazers (and not before that) he has been one of the best stealing bigs in the league. He turns it over too much and shoots a bit too much, but he's at the very least a positive player now and at the most one of the more interestingly shaped guys in the league. Between Monroe and Montrezlzlzlz, the Blazers have interesting pieces in the front court, but I'm not sure what the sum of the parts will be or what the logical next move is for the Blazers. Monta will help them win a few more games, but this team won't scare anyone in the playoffs without a bit more talent on the roster, or without Lauri Markkanen taking a big step forward.
Sacramento Kings: Justise Winslow PF 38 26.4 11.8 6.9 0.9 1.0 1.8 0.5 .436 .735 .320
You can tell which guys Jesse likes by how little he talks about them, and that's the case with WInslow. Winslow has been playing a mix of the backup 3/4 and starting at the 4, and has been a possession monster, with an almost 6:1 stock to TO ratio. He isn't without flaws though - he's never been an efficient shooter (and he shoots a decently) and he's a good rebounder for the 3, but not great at the 4. Basically, despite him winning the deal in spades and winning a championship because of it, Jesse regretted moving on from RoCo and decided to home-grow his own RoCo. I don't think anyone else is getting their hands on that fella anytime soon.
Seattle Supersonics: Jared Sullinger C 43 34.0 9.4 11.9 2.7 1.0 1.6 1.7 .454 .726 .231
Sullinger is a true testament to the power of the +20 potential. He was completely unmitigated ass for his first 5 or so years in the league, and now he's starting for a team that's leading the Pacific. He's still super flawed, with a lot of TOs for his usage rate, but he's a good rebounder, has high steals, is efficient on offense now by some miracle, and he even has flat A defense for you sickos who care about that for bigs. All in all, I give Nick a B- for signing Sullinger.
Houston Rockets: Dejounte Murray SG 36 35.2 20.3 6.1 3.8 1.8 0.2 2.2 .490 .830 .438
Oops! Bonus one! Nolan was right though, it was hard to pick something meaningful from this roster that is finally tanking for themselves. With Russ in attank commander point guard, Dejounte has been relegated to SG, where he's putting up admirable numbers for his contract. The D potential is a lil sus but the fact that Nolan can't play Murray at the 1 is actually a huge positive in my opinion - it looks like Murray's TOs would be a problem (they're already kind of a problem at the 2) but there's no way for us to ever find out just how bad they'll be. Runner up to Murray is Bol Bol, who was a tantalizing prospect a couple years back and is being redshirted this year. He's gone net flat in TCs since he came into the league, which isn't what anyone would have hoped for, but he still has one of the widest ranges of out comes in the league.
I traded 3 firsts for Jared sullinger actually.
Still a B- though
Still a B- though
Patty Williams getting respect! Must have 0 inside lol
Fun stuff Matt! This is a great day 60 article idea. Small enough sample to get some wonky lines, but large enough for it to be intriguing
when LeBron is 38 we are FFFHAWKED
Go Hawks !!
Go Hawks !!
Welcome to Atlanta where the playas play
And we ride on dem thangs like ev-ery day
Big beats, hit streets, see gangstahs roamin'
And parties don't stop 'til eight in the Monin
And we ride on dem thangs like ev-ery day
Big beats, hit streets, see gangstahs roamin'
And parties don't stop 'til eight in the Monin
Whoa this is the first time I looked at Haliburton, unreal for a rookie
Fauci is a nerd
Only Lavar can save Tatum now
Santa Cruz Warriors NDL Champs: 2008, 2012, 2014
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