The Kevin Durant To Washington Thread (Part 1)

[Dat2U]

but right now, Westbrook is BY FAR the better player. No knock against Wall but Westbrook is arguably one of the 3 best at this position (behind Paul & Curry)

I got to disagree with you. This is a team sport. You are viewing this through the eyes of individual talent. As a PG, and I emphasize the word PG, Wall is better. If it was a game of one on one. Westbrook would probably crush Wall. For those of you who think Westbrook is a better PG, probably also think that Iverson is one of the best PG's ever. AI may be one of the greatest players, but I don't count him as one of the best PG's.

The funny thing is, putting Durant aside, if Westbrook was traded for Wall, I think Westbrook would be a better player for our team in the current setup than Wall. Since we need someone who is more ball dominate and Wall would be better for OKC since he can play a true PG role.

I think the logic that determines the only way to be a true PG is to be a passive tablesetter is flawed. There's more than one way to skin a cat. Westbrook keeps defenses on their heels with his aggressiveness. He relentlessly attacks, attacks & then attacks some more. I so wish Wall had some that in him. The only reason we bash Westbrook is because he's playing with an all-time great so when Westbrook gets in his mode, Durant can some times take a back seat.

[lastemp3ror]

I think the logic that determines the only way to be a true PG is to be a passive tablesetter is flawed. There's more than one way to skin a cat. Westbrook keeps defenses on their heels with his aggressiveness. He relentlessly attacks, attacks & then attacks some more. I so wish Wall had some that in him. The only reason we bash Westbrook is because he's playing with an all-time great so when Westbrook gets in his mode, Durant can some times take a back seat.

Maybe you misunderstood me. I don't think you have to be passive to be a great PG. However I also don't think the PG should be ball dominate. Look, I am not saying Wall is perfect or near that. I also wish that when we need points at crunch time, Wall can just get to the basket and/or foul line.

[TGW]

Hey, depends on what type of point guard you rather have on your team. A John Wall TEAM FIRST type of point guard or an Westbrook ME FIRST..

TEAM FIRST OR ME FIRST.........

THANK YOU! I'LL TAKE JOHN WAAALLLLLL!!!!

That's such a simplistic way of comparing the two.

I guess by those standards, Jose Calderon is better than Westbrook too.

Would the amount of rings be a good indicator? If so, how many ball dominate PG's have won a championship?

Off the top of my head, I can think of Zeke and Magic (yes Magic was a distributor but he was still ball dominant). Iverson was ball dominant too. But that's beside the point...if we're talking about the better basketball player between Wall and Westbrook, Westbrook is definitely better. Now if you want to talk about the point guard who would be a better fit next to Durant, then MAYBE that's debatable. From what we've seen from Wall, he has absolutely no problem defering to another teammate.

[Dat2U]

Aren't most PGs ball dominant unless your playing with an elite wing like MJ, Kobe or LeBron?

[lastemp3ror]

Aren't most PGs ball dominant unless your playing with an elite wing like MJ, Kobe or LeBron?

You make a good point. I probably shouldn't have used the term "ball dominate". Since the point guard does usually have the ball in his hands more than anyone else. I think what I should have said was a PG who distributes the ball well Which is the main responsibility of a PG.

[Nivek]

I guess I'm not really sure what's meant by "ball distributing" PG. I ran Wall through my doppelganger machine, which looks for players back to the 1977-78 season who are most similar to him. He seems to fall into a player type that generates a good number of assists, but also shoots a lot. His similars include Kemba Walker, a young Tony Parker (age 22), Steve Francis, Baron Davis, Kenny Anderson, Stephon Marbury and a 26-year old Isiah Thomas.

Only Kemba Walker from the 10 "most similar" had more pace-adjusted true shooting attempts than Wall did last season.

Westbrook is assuredly a gunner. He shoots a lot, but still generates a decent number of assists. He's fairly unique in his overall game. The most similar season to his 2013-14 campaign was...himself, in 2012-13. Next after that was Manu Ginobili in 07-08. His comps are a mix of PGs and SGs, and (just outside the 10 most similar) SFs. Carmelo Anthony, Paul Pierce and Kobe show up -- presumably because of the shooting.

Westbrook showed up as one of Wall's similars in previous seasons, but not as compared to Wall's 2013-14. They would seem to be going in different directions for how they're going to play. Westbrook's overall production has been better than Wall's, but Wall certainly has the ability to match (or surpass) what Westbrook does.

[Zonkerbl]

Intuitively, it's a player where, when the ball ends up in his ends, the ball is more likely to leave his hands as an assist than it is as a shot.

Like Magic Johnson.

Someone whose assist attempts are higher than their shot attempts.

[Nivek]

Intuitively, it's a player where, when the ball ends up in his ends, the ball is more likely to leave his hands as an assist than it is as a shot.

Like Magic Johnson.

Someone whose assist attempts are higher than their shot attempts.

If that's the definition, then Wall may not qualify as a "distributor" despite his high assist numbers. Last season, his true shooting attempts were a little more than double his assist numbers. Probably not worth the work to nail it down much further. Wall handles the ball a TON. He passes a lot, and has high assist numbers. He also shoots a lot. He's definitely more of a distributor than Westbrook, though not as much a distributor as Chris Paul.

[Zonkerbl]

Intuitively, it's a player where, when the ball ends up in his ends, the ball is more likely to leave his hands as an assist than it is as a shot.

Like Magic Johnson.

Someone whose assist attempts are higher than their shot attempts.

If that's the definition, then Wall may not qualify as a "distributor" despite his high assist numbers. Last season, his true shooting attempts were a little more than double his assist numbers. Probably not worth the work to nail it down much further. Wall handles the ball a TON. He passes a lot, and has high assist numbers. He also shoots a lot. He's definitely more of a distributor than Westbrook, though not as much a distributor as Chris Paul.

I'm thinking shot attempts vs. assist opportunities (not assists).

http://stats.nba.com/playerTrackingPass ... PerPage=25

[Zonkerbl]

Wall averaged 17.2 assist opportunities per game last season and 16.3 shot attempts per game, for example.

[Zonkerbl]

Rajon Rondo had 20 assist opportunities per game and 11.7 shot attempts per game.

Chris Paul had 19.8 assist opportunities per game and 14 fg attempts per game.

Ty Lawson - 18.2 assist opportunities, 13 fg attempts.

Ricky Rubio - 17.2 assist opportunities, 8.2 shot attempts per game. Now there's a pass-first point guard.

[Nivek]

Wall averaged 17.2 assist opportunities per game last season and 16.3 shot attempts per game, for example.

Good stuff there.

Man, I'd love to dig into that tracking data repository. Gotta be some interesting stuff in there.

[Zonkerbl]

Here's a good one:
Stephen Curry - 15.4 assist opportunities per game, 17.7 fga per game.

Oh and here's Westbrook: 12.7 assist opps per game, 17.2 fga / game.

[Zonkerbl]

Steve Blake: 14.4 assist opps per game, 4.3 fgas/game. Phew! Only 27 games.

Jrue Holiday: 14.4 assist opps per game, 13.4 fgas/game.

[lastemp3ror]

Nike is releasing a PG County version of KD's new shoes:

http://www.bulletsforever.com/2014/10/2 ... comehomekd

[theboomking]

Can any of the more cap savvy members comment as to how the new TV deal will affect out salary cap situation when Durant is a FA? Without running any numbers, it looks like we might be able to sign Durant, retain some of our own talent, and maybe even reach out to other FA.

[Rafael122]

Can any of the more cap savvy members comment as to how the new TV deal will affect out salary cap situation when Durant is a FA? Without running any numbers, it looks like we might be able to sign Durant, retain some of our own talent, and maybe even reach out to other FA.

As of a couple of pages ago, if the cap were set at $80 million there's a chance we have the necessary cap room to get him. But Webster is probably going to have to be released using the stretch provision or traded.

[keynote]

Here's a good one:
Stephen Curry - 15.4 assist opportunities per game, 17.7 fga per game.

Oh and here's Westbrook: 12.7 assist opps per game, 17.2 fga / game.

Great stat. Here's another interesting one:
Kyrie Irving: 11.8 assist opps per game vs. 17.4 fga/game. So much for blaming his relatively low assist #s on his teammates' inability to finish.

[Wizardspride]

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10 ... =2&theater




Kevin Durant Talks With Rachel Nichols

Kevin Durant talks with Rachel Nichols about LeBron James going back to Cleveland and the possibility of KD playing for the Washington Wizards.

[thricethefun]

What do you guys think the backup plan should be if we don't get kd? I say we go after Blake Griffin in 2017.