Wesley Matthews - underrated? where does he rank among SGs?

[Village Idiot]

I was reading a thread on the Bulls board about how Jimmy Butler stacks up among shooting guards. Wesley Matthews was conspicuously absent from a lot of the answers. This is hardly the first time I've seen this in shooting guard rankings where he does not even register.

Wes is a guy we love but would probably rank internally as our 4th best starter.

He has some very clear strengths, some of which are probably not evident to fans of other teams (which undoubtedly is equally valid for me wondering how anyone could consider Jimmy Butler better than Matthews) : work-ethic, leadership, outside shooting, cutting ability, defense

Weaknesses: open court game, dribble penetration

So where would you rank Matthews among shooting guards and why?

[Wizenheimer]

JImmy Butler is a good player and an especially good defender. The thing is, he's made his defensive chops defending a lot of SF's

but, SG does stand for shooting guard and Butler shot 39% on FG's and 28% on three's. Matthews crushes Butler in efficiency and on just about every measurable on the offensive end. A significant gap that I don't think is offset by Butler's better defense
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as far as where Matthews ranks, it's a little hard to say. As you pointed out, much of Matthews value, especially to Portland, is connected to intangibles

scoring....Matthews ranked 10th among SG's. 3 of the players ahead of him were Goran Dragic, Kevin Martin, and Jamal Crawford. Well, Dragic is not a SG, IMO. And I sure wouldn't trade Matthews for Martin or Crawford. There are a few SG's behind Matthews that would be considered, such as Butler, Gordon Hayward, & Lance Stephenson, but I'm not sure I'd rate any as truly better then Matthews right now. Certainly, several might have higher ceilings but that's a lot of speculative value

TrueShooting%.....again, Matthews ranked 10th. But some of the players ahead of him were Dragic, Kyle Korver, Marco Bellinelli, Jodie Meeks, JJ Redick, Manu Ginobli, Trevor Ariza, & Ray Allen. That's a lot of pure shooting specialists, low-minute 6th men, and aging vets.

as long as we're talking top-10, Matthews also ranked 10th among SG's in Value Added and Estimated Wins Added.

defense....above average but not exceptional. He doesn't have the lateral quickness or length to defend PG speed. But he does have good strength. That's why he would be assigned Lebron when Portland played the Heat.

weaknesses....we know what they are and you mentioned a couple. He's also not a strong rebounder or assist man. Those weaknesses can't be overlooked

maybe you could edge Matthews into the top-10 among SG's but I know a lot of people would dispute that. The fact he ranked 10th in scoring while ranking 35th in usage rate is very impressive. A 3&D player with leadership qualities who never misses games. That goes a long way in offsetting his weaknesses.

I do believe Portland does not beat Houston in the playoffs last year without Wesley's defense on Harden

so I guess then, certainly rank him in the top-15 with a arguable case of making the top-10

[d-train]

Matthews is the ultimate complimentary player. It's not relevant to evaluate how he stacks up against players that generate offense. If you think the Blazers need better offensive opportunities, you should critique Lillard, LA, Batum, and Blake.

[oldfishermen]

I believe Wes is under-appreciated.

The only SG I would rather have for the next 4+ seasons instead of Wes is Klay Thompson.

[Brandon-Clyde]

Matthews is the ultimate complimentary player. It's not relevant to evaluate how he stacks up against players that generate offense. If you think the Blazers need better offensive opportunities, you should critique Lillard, LA, Batum, and Blake.

I'll agree with the first sentence easily though I do believe Matthews could score more if needed(we have seen big scoring games from him). Matthews just does whatever is asked of him with little to no complaints and does it in a very quiet workmanlike fashion with n real flash(which is why he tends to get overlooked)

[DeBlazerRiddem]

He has always been one of those "more valuable to us than to them" type players. In terms of just pure production he is an above average starter who then also provides key leadership and many other underrated qualities for this team. It is absolutely right that we wouldn't have beaten Houston without Matthews (although he got a lot of flak), and I remember many other games during the season where he was absolutely essential to the win, making timely plays on both ends of the court.

[d-train]

Matthews is the ultimate complimentary player. It's not relevant to evaluate how he stacks up against players that generate offense. If you think the Blazers need better offensive opportunities, you should critique Lillard, LA, Batum, and Blake.

I'll agree with the first sentence easily though I do believe Matthews could score more if needed(we have seen big scoring games from him). Matthews just does whatever is asked of him with little to no complaints and does it in a very quiet workmanlike fashion with n real flash(which is why he tends to get overlooked)

Yes, Matthews can score. His ability to put the ball in the basket is very good. And, he has improved his scoring skills every season. But, he is a catch-and-shoot scorer. He isn’t good at creating off the dribble for himself or others. You can’t ask Matthews to break down the defense with the ball and expect success. CJ is better than Matthews is off the dribble. Blake is better than Matthews is off the dribble and Blake is adept at running an offense as well. But, there is only 1 ball so players with Matthews’s skillset are valuable. A great team needs players that can score and space the floor.

A great team also needs players that are a threat with the ball. This is the skill the Blazers most need to improve in order to reach the next level as a team. Either Lillard, LA, and Batum need to get better or we need to add a better player to the mix that breaks down defenses with the ball. Maybe CJ is that player, but I doubt it. I don’t see LA or Batum getting any better. Maybe Lillard can get better.

[BlazersRizing]

the Bulls fans overrate all their players. it is what it is

[JasonStern]

it's crazy to think that the Jazz let Matthews, Millsap (all-star), and Jefferson (all NBA third team) leave without getting anything in return. and no surprise, they're pegged to be a lower tier team in the west this season.

[James72]

it's crazy to think that the Jazz let Matthews, Millsap (all-star), and Jefferson (all NBA third team) leave without getting anything in return. and no surprise, they're pegged to be a lower tier team in the west this season.

I can understand letting Mathews walk, it was a back loaded, pricey contract, while having AK47, DWIll & Boozer.

The Milsap and Jefferson blows my mind also. They were coming off a playoff season, so maybe they thought they were one piece away? It set there team back a couple years...to say the least.

[Wizenheimer]

it's crazy to think that the Jazz let Matthews, Millsap (all-star), and Jefferson (all NBA third team) leave without getting anything in return. and no surprise, they're pegged to be a lower tier team in the west this season.

I can understand letting Mathews walk, it was a back loaded, pricey contract, while having AK47, DWIll & Boozer.

The Milsap and Jefferson blows my mind also. They were coming off a playoff season, so maybe they thought they were one piece away? It set there team back a couple years...to say the least.

they went the tanking route

theoretically, they have collected a nice group of young players Favors, Kanter, and Gobert as bigs...Hayward, Trey Burke, Alec Burks, Date Exum as wings and PG's. Problem is that if all those young players pan out, the Jazz won't be able to afford giving them all extensions over a 3 year period

[JasonStern]

they went the tanking route

theoretically, they have collected a nice group of young players Favors, Kanter, and Gobert as bigs...Hayward, Trey Burke, Alec Burks, Date Exum as wings and PG's. Problem is that if all those young players pan out, the Jazz won't be able to afford giving them all extensions over a 3 year period

still, there's going the tanking route and trading away serviceable players to contending teams for picks and expirings versus a tanking route where you just let talent walk away for nothing.

while Olshey likely wouldn't have done it, and Utah was probably still hoping they would make a playoff push, imagine how great trading Hickson's expiring plus all of those 2nd rounders and Greek Euros we gave Houston in the Robinson trade for Millsap would have been for both teams long-term. instead, Mo Williams ended up being Portland's semi-annual snag a player from Utah's roster move.

[GreenRiddler]

Well Wes listed off all the SGs who are "better" than him, and to my enjoyment didn't hold back on Klay "the 2 way player" Thompson.

That snowballed into a back-and-forth during which Matthews insisted he was among the league's best shooting guards.

"Who is better?'' he asked, stopping his task of autographing basketballs for the team. "James Harden? I think we saw how that worked out last year.''

I suggested Golden State's Klay Thompson.

"Pfft. He won't even guard me when we play,'' Matthews said.

Toronto's DeMar DeRozan?

"I could score 22 a game if I was asked to,'' Matthews said. "But I'm not asked to on this team.''

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