BrettC03 wrote:Bensational wrote:just having a quick squiz through league leaders in PPS (points per shot), and some of the surprise names who might find themselves in the mix for trade talks:
#4 - Carl Landry
#18 - Jared Dudley
#18 - Kenneth Faried
#22 - Darren Collison
#24 - Gordon Hayward
#24 - JJ Hickson
#26 - Marshon Brooks
#30 - OJ Mayo
#35 - JJ Redick (highest placed Orlando Magic player)
#41 - Steve Novak
#60 - Greg Monroe
#68 - Aaron Afflalo (2nd for Magic)
#68 - Chandler Parsons
#71 - DMC
#71 - Damian Lillard
#105 - Alexey Shved
#105 - Brandon Jennings
#105 - Jameer Nelson
#117 - Brad Beal
#120 - Rudy Gay
#125 - Dion Waiters
(Just as a reference for those, top 3 are Tyson Chandler, Dwight, Durant, Harden #5, LBJ #8)
the only guy that really ticks all the boxes there is Monroe. the others don't score enough to demonstrate they can be a central piece in an offense.
Of those listed, I think the only possible 'stars' would be Monroe, Cousins, and Lillard. Possibly Beal or Waiters. And Gay could be considered at that level now.
i guess my point for listing some of those guys was to give a reference to how inefficient they rank in overall terms, particularly when looking for a future star. (mostly that's guys like Jennings and Gay - although I'm still convinced Gay's got more potential than he's showing).
IMO, when looking for a potential star, you want someone who can already score at a reasonable clip (over 15ppg, closer to 20ppg), but who's PPS is still elite.
last season, Harden ranked #2 with an efficiency of 1.66. this year he's down to 1.48, but he's putting up nearly 10ppg more. his efficiency dipped slightly, but his performance is still elite. this is the kind of guy you want to target.
Afflalo ranked #10 (1.35). the season before he was #14 (1.38). you can see why Hennigan targeted him now. unfortunately he's dropped considerably, down to 1.20pps, which has shown he can't handle a featured role. he's an elite role player/3rd option, but he's not likely to step up as a #1 option. same with guys like Hayward, Dudley, Novak, Hickson, etc. still, this is the kind of player i think the Magic will continue to target.
last season, Monroe and DMC were eerily similar in performances and rank. they're still young, and at least they are consistent. they also benefit from being big men and having higher % FGAs. they could definitely be a top 2 piece in a team, but i'm not convinced they could be a #1 on the level of LeBron or Durant.
Gay ranked 73 last season with 1.15. much higher than his performance has shown this year, but still less than Afflalo's down season this year.
Mayo ranked 85th last season with 1.13pps, this season he's 30 with 1.30. that's an example of someone stepping up to fill the role of a star player.