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JBSouthpaw wrote:3pt specialist.

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In a big late game comeback early in the season against the Los Angeles Clippers, the three man combo of Steph Curry, Mychal Mulder, and Damion Lee torched the Clippers. Of course, we’d rarely see that combo again, but there is a fairly substantial body of data to show that Mulder was occasionally useful when playing with Steph Curry. Mulder’s minutes in the 4th quarter of the play-in game against the Lakers were a shocking, if not totally reckless decision from Steve Kerr, but I actually thought Mulder did fine in those minutes. Earlier in the season, Mulder struggled on defense, particularly fighting over screens and getting burned for backdoor cuts. In that Lakers game, he held his own for the most part, and that’s something I wouldn’t have anticipated earlier in the season.

But Mychal Mulder isn’t in the NBA to fight over screens. He’s there to shoot the **** out of the ball and I wish he’d done a bit more of that. As we’ll see in his statistical profile, Mulder didn’t terminate as many possessions as you’d hope a three point gunner like him would, at least reactive to his positional peers. Mulder subsisted mostly on a diet of open threes, which is fine, but I’d have liked to see the Warriors make more use of his shooting abilities when he was on the court. If Mulder wasn’t out there to defend or make plays, I’d have rather seen Mulder shoot the ball a few more times if it meant taking the ball out of Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre’s hands.

Another thing I liked about Mulder was his cutting ability and I wish we’d seen more of that. Every few games or so, Mulder would find a hole in the defense and explode to the hoop for a cutting dunk. Mulder doesn’t have the wiggle or handle to create his own looks off the dribble, but he’s a sneaky athlete. You can imagine that in an ecosystem with more floor spacing, those big dunks might be a little more frequent.

[...]

Mychal Mulder was a very efficient shot maker who got assisted on all but three of his made field goals in the year. Three (3) unassisted made field goals. Think about that. I personally admire Mulder’s dedication to avoiding mid-range shots — Daryl Morey would be proud. Mulder’s shot profile is one of a player who knows his role and does not deviate from it. Remember also from Mulder’s statistical profile that he had a 100th percentile TOV%. If Mychal Mudler gets the ball, he’s going to shoot it or he’s going to pass it and it’s rare that he made dumb mistakes, save for maybe an occasional reckless three point attempt. In a tiny sample size, Mulder shot well on pull-up 3’s. I think it’s funny, and perhaps a sign of shoddy stat keeping, that none of his pull-up 3’s were assisted. But maybe that’s something he can build on to expand his offensive arsenal.

Skybox wrote:Heck, I'd let him start at SG. Anyone capable of hitting 7 or 8 threes in a game could be just the guy to open up Suggs' game. If he flames out, so be it.

Seriously, I'd give him a long look...we don't have anyone like him. It's nice to have a guy with that kind of range, even as a decoy. Think Jodie Meeks, JJ Reddick, etc...don't know how many non-shooters we can afford to carry in our backcourt...each one puts a burden on other non-shooters.

Horcy wrote:I wish this means we cut Iggy.
He's one of the worst players I've seen in a Magic uniform...and I've seen a hundred

drsd wrote:Orlando needs a SF, so it signs an undersized SG that is not a prospect at all. THis only makes sense as a practice squad signing to test the Magic's defense. I guess this is all about developing Hampton and Fultz.

Still: the kid just made 450K in coin. I am happy for him in that.


..

Warriors Analyst wrote:I'm linking to a substack piece I wrote in the offseason that has a lot of numbers on Mulder (and some other Warriors' guards).

The short of it: Mulder shoots like prime Ray Allen in games with a margin of 10 or more points and is a below-average three-point shooter in meaningful minutes. He's not terrible defensively, but ideally he'd be the smallest guy on the court alongside a jumbo wing who can handle the ball and initiate. Mulder spent enough time in the Warriors' system to become a decent off-ball guy -- better than most other team's bench shooters -- and he's shockingly explosive when he cuts into layups/dunks, but he's not going to be losing defenders around screens.

In short, he's a great guy to have on a two-way contract and take a risk on.

https://kellyroldan.substack.com/p/the-warriors-season-in-review-the-835

I'll quote some of the more relevant stuff below:

In a big late game comeback early in the season against the Los Angeles Clippers, the three man combo of Steph Curry, Mychal Mulder, and Damion Lee torched the Clippers. Of course, we’d rarely see that combo again, but there is a fairly substantial body of data to show that Mulder was occasionally useful when playing with Steph Curry. Mulder’s minutes in the 4th quarter of the play-in game against the Lakers were a shocking, if not totally reckless decision from Steve Kerr, but I actually thought Mulder did fine in those minutes. Earlier in the season, Mulder struggled on defense, particularly fighting over screens and getting burned for backdoor cuts. In that Lakers game, he held his own for the most part, and that’s something I wouldn’t have anticipated earlier in the season.

But Mychal Mulder isn’t in the NBA to fight over screens. He’s there to shoot the **** out of the ball and I wish he’d done a bit more of that. As we’ll see in his statistical profile, Mulder didn’t terminate as many possessions as you’d hope a three point gunner like him would, at least reactive to his positional peers. Mulder subsisted mostly on a diet of open threes, which is fine, but I’d have liked to see the Warriors make more use of his shooting abilities when he was on the court. If Mulder wasn’t out there to defend or make plays, I’d have rather seen Mulder shoot the ball a few more times if it meant taking the ball out of Andrew Wiggins and Kelly Oubre’s hands.

Another thing I liked about Mulder was his cutting ability and I wish we’d seen more of that. Every few games or so, Mulder would find a hole in the defense and explode to the hoop for a cutting dunk. Mulder doesn’t have the wiggle or handle to create his own looks off the dribble, but he’s a sneaky athlete. You can imagine that in an ecosystem with more floor spacing, those big dunks might be a little more frequent.

[...]

Mychal Mulder was a very efficient shot maker who got assisted on all but three of his made field goals in the year. Three (3) unassisted made field goals. Think about that. I personally admire Mulder’s dedication to avoiding mid-range shots — Daryl Morey would be proud. Mulder’s shot profile is one of a player who knows his role and does not deviate from it. Remember also from Mulder’s statistical profile that he had a 100th percentile TOV%. If Mychal Mudler gets the ball, he’s going to shoot it or he’s going to pass it and it’s rare that he made dumb mistakes, save for maybe an occasional reckless three point attempt. In a tiny sample size, Mulder shot well on pull-up 3’s. I think it’s funny, and perhaps a sign of shoddy stat keeping, that none of his pull-up 3’s were assisted. But maybe that’s something he can build on to expand his offensive arsenal.

When I wrote my piece on Mulder, I hadn't gotten hip to Cleaning the Glass' non-garbage time lineups stats and other metrics.

Here's a link to the Mulder minutes:

https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/4689/lineups?season=2020#tab-four_factors

In small sample sizes, lineups with Mulder when he shared the court with Steph Curry crushed it, but that's almost always the case for any mildly competent shooter/wing player. I'm curious to see how he does in Orlando! I could see him fitting well alongside Suggs/Wagner/Isaac combos.