Walt_Uoob wrote:I don't even necessarily want to trade Chandler or Knight, but was thinking about possible destinations and came up with this cluster...
Pacers in: Tyson Chandler
Pacers out: 2017 first and 2018 second
Why: They want to compete, might lose Mahinmi, Chandler fits their personnel well, and they anticipate the pick being in the 20s.
Grizzlies out: Marc Gasol
Grizzlies in: Brandon Knight, RJ Hunter, Kelly Olynyk, rights to Yabusele, the two picks from the Pacers
Why: Conley signs with the Spurs so they decide to rebuild while also doing Gasol a favor. Knowing they are not a free agent destination, they accept a package of young talent and picks rather than insisting on receiving the Nets pick.
Celtics out: Kelly Olynyk, RJ Hunter, rights to Yabusele, Nets 2017 first
Celtics in: Marc Gasol
Why: They land a star who should remain productive through the end of his deal despite being relatively old (31), while retaining most of their team and many of their assets, including Jaylen Brown and the Grizzlies' 2019 first, leaving room for another big acquisition later.
Suns in: Nets 2017 first (and salary filler? Amir Johnson?)
Suns out: Tyson Chandler and Brandon Knight
Why: Neither guy has turned out to be an ideal fit and both have potential to get disgruntled this year. We improve the position of our own pick and obtain the Nets' pick while clearing room on the roster to take a PG and a C in a draft that's said to be strong in those positions. But we're still able to roll out a bad-but-fun lineup of Bledsoe/Booker/Tucker/Rookies/Len with Ulis/Goodwin/Warren off the bench, and would likely still fill out the roster with Telly or scraps from the deal or other FAs.
A lot of tweaks could be made to make it fit the teams' needs and the CBA. Boston has tons of assets that are easily interchanged to fit what Memphis wants. Suns could add more if necessary. Boston's rights to Grizzlies' 2019 pick could be brought into play. Etc.
Thoughts?
Celtics wouldn't trade that 2017 first....not without protection at least.
It seems that OKC fans (or some of them) would prefer Chandler to Kanter for a defensive presence in the middle and feel he would be more motivated for a contender so we could trade for him, or possibly trade him to Dallas for a 2nd if we find out OKC wants to move Kanter without bringing any salary back so they could sign Horford. I wasn't a big Kanter fan, but reading this gave me second thoughts.
Enes Kanter Is an Advanced Stat Anomaly
Kanter ranks high on the leaderboards for most advanced metrics, sandwiched between the game's greats. What gives? Kanter ranks high on the leaderboards for most advanced metrics, sandwiched between the game's greats. What gives?
Analytics are not for everyone. All-encompassing, one-number metrics, in particular, are certainly not everyone's cup of tea.
Those kinds of stats only tell so much of the story, almost always lack necessary context by themselves, and are all too often used blindly in debates by the uninformed, without any serious consideration given to how they are calculated or what they actually mean.
That said, if you looked at the league leaders in the more widely accepted advanced metrics in hoops, like Player Efficiency Rating (PER) or Win Shares Per 48 Minutes (WS/48), you'd mostly see players that have prominent household names, or who are at least All-Stars. These are players who not only light up the box score but who also pass the eye test as being simply better than everyone else.
Most of them, we know by one name (or nickname): Steph, KD, LeBron, Russ, Kawhi, CP3, Brow, Beard, Blake, Boogie.
The list of players that rank in the top 10 in both PER and WS/48 is exclusive. That group includes only seven players, and they are truly the game's best: Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Chris Paul, and Enes Kanter.
Wait, what?
That's right. With a PER of 23.8 (9th) and WS/48 rate of .235 (6th), Enes Kanter joins arguably the top six MVP candidates so far this season on the top-10 list of both widely known advanced metrics. That's the same Enes Kanter that is coming off the bench and playing 20.1 minutes per game for the Oklahoma City Thunder, while contributing 11.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, and little else. Everyone else on the aforementioned list of seven is starting for his team, playing big minutes, averaging at least 18.0 points per game, and otherwise filling up the box score.
What exactly has Kanter done to gain admission into this elite club?
He did get paid like a star this past summer, receiving a four-year max contract from the Thunder, estimated to be worth approximately $70 million. The hefty price tag comes from an offer sheet that Kanter -- then a restricted free agent -- signed with the Portland Trail Blazers. The Thunder ultimately matched the deal, trying to keep stars Durant and Westbrook properly supported for what could be their final title run together. An understandable move, sure, but one that still came with criticism.
Even with the upcoming bump in the salary cap, an average annual salary of $17.5 million is a large sum to pay your backup center; especially when said center is such a known defensive liability.
Kanter's Defensive Real Plus-Minus of -1.96 ranks him 73rd out of 75 centers that have played in the NBA this season, beating out only Andrea Bargnani (-2.01) and Jahlil Okafor (-2.03). The Thunder have a stellar Defensive Rating of 97.0 this season when Kanter is off the floor, compared to a whopping 105.8 when he's on it. He allows opponents to shoot 52.5% against him at the rim on 5.1 attempts per game, which is one of the worst marks in the league.
Since both PER and WS/48 factor in defense (PER a little less so), how in the world does Kanter rank so high in both when he's essentially one of the worst defensive bigs in the Association?
The answer is that he's so ridiculously efficient on the offensive side of the ball that it barely matters.
Kanter ranks fourth in the league in field goal percentage at 56.7%, while also shooting a respectable 77.7% from the free throw line. The result is the league's eighth-ranked True Shooting Percentage (weighted two, threes, and free throws) of 61.4%. His individual Offensive Rating is bloated, coming in at 123.2 (per Basketball-Reference.com), which is the sixth-best mark in the Association.
Another factor that helps Kanter perform so well in PER, WS/48, and even Offensive Rating is the way he creates extra possessions for his team through offensive rebounding. His Offensive Rebound Percentage of 16.1 is tied with Andre Drummond for the best mark in the league. His Total Rebound Percentage of 20.8 ranks him fifth in that category, while his 25.0 Defensive Rebound Rate (18th) shows that he contributes at least something on the other side of the floor as well.
So, while Kanter is a sieve on defense, he is essentially efficient enough on offense to cancel out his deficiencies on the other end and then some (at least as far as most advanced metrics are concerned). He simply doesn't miss a lot of shots, and he tracks down rebounds so tenaciously that he produces more possessions and points for his team than he gives up on the other end.
He might be too soft on D to earn more minutes or a starting role for OKC, but his contributions as a reserve have been enough to rank him among the NBA's best and brightest in some of the most well-known advanced metrics. He certainly doesn't seem to belong, though, as he just doesn't have the same superstar pedigree as most of his neighbors on those leaderboards. In the end, he exists as a bit of a statistical anomaly and a thorn in the side of those who use analytics to make arguments.
You know, like us.
https://www.numberfire.com/nba/news/7400/enes-kanter-is-an-advanced-stat-anomaly#
