jake_swivel wrote:NVs creativity level isn’t anywhere close to Jokic’s. I only mention that because you and chefo were saying NV was going to be putting up comparable stat lines. And I know you didn’t mean over the course of the season, but if Vuc sniffs 5 assists a game, I’ll be shocked. Those were good, but standard post passes.
Good trade, though.
He doesn't have to be as good as the Joker. My take is if you give high-end talent enough touches in a place where they can make something happen, they will.
People don't really understand how C-heavy our O was pre-trade. Thad gets more touches per minute played than Vuc (!). He did very well with his touches. WCJ got as many touches as Vuc (!) per minute played. If you extrapolate Thad's touches to Vuc, he'll see a 10% bump in touches per minute. That's all theoretical, of course.
But I live in Orlando, and have watched a lot of games over the years. That team has been so devoid of offensive talent outside of Vuc and Fournier for so long, it's a miracle Vuc managed to drag them to the PO a couple of times. Lauri is a better scorer than anybody he's ever played with outside of Fournier. Zach is by FAR the best scorer he's ever played with in his career.
My point is, if he keeps getting 34 min / game or close to it, and his touches go north of 80 to 85-ish (which is how many touches Thad would get, if he could play 34 min), he will put up some insane stat lines. Not every game, of course, but there will be some eye-popping ones for sure.