nate33 wrote:payitforward wrote:Kanyewest wrote:I would still probably take Washington's KCP over Morris only because he would still be a 4th (probably 3rd because someone was out missing) and Delon Wright and Jordan Goodwin could hold down the fort. KCP after all was still a 39 3P% shooter last season and I would figure he would take some of those 3s instead of Kuzma. Maybe that is the benefit of 20/20 hindsight on how Jordan Goodwin worked out..
This is kind of strange. I mean except for the ignorant part from tleikheen at the top of this post.
First off, Monte Morris was better as a Wizard than KCP was as a Wizard. Far better.
& actually, nate,
he was also better as a Wizard this year than KCP was as a Denver Nugget.
Certainly his numbers were -- & it's a number (3pt %) being quoted in support of KCP after all.
KCP did that
one thing well this year: he shot the 3 phenomenally well. But, overall, he didn't shoot or score a lot. He posted @14 points per 40 minutes -- by a fair amount the lowest of his career since his rookie year.
Morris scored more points than KCP, shot the 2 better than KCP, shot FTs better too. He also shot the 3 well -- though not as well as KCP of course.
But, KCP also didn't do anything else particularly well:
Morris got more rebounds than KCP.
Morris handed out way way more assists than KCP.
& Morris turned the ball over less than KCP as well.
Morris also committed fewer fouls than KCP as well.
OTOH, KCP did get more steals. & in general is likely a better defender.
Overall, however, & especially because he's both younger and cheaper, Monte Morris is a better player than KCP.
IOW, the trade was terrific -- or would have been had Will Barton not collapsed.
KCP does a lot of things that don't show up in the box score. First of all, he is a much better defender than Morris. Not only is he better defensively at his position, he is a versatile defender who can switch 1 through 3 with no trouble. Secondly, KCP shoots the 3 with a quicker release and higher volume, which makes a big difference with spacing.
Both guys are role players who operate at a low usage rate for their position but with high efficiency. When choosing between two similar role players, take the guy who is taller and longer. KCP has proven to be a guy who can stay on the floor deep in the playoffs because he is not a liability at either end of the floor. That's a fairly rare quality.
I don't disagree with any of this either, any more than I disagree w/ what dcstanley wrote.
My sole motivation was to point out how very much better Monte Morris is than typically he's given credit for.
That's no surprise; if anything it's typical -- Monte was I think the #51 pick in the draft. Not a whole lot of guys taken down there turn out well, tho there are always exceptions. Often those exceptions get underrated significantly despite the work they do. Monte is a case of that kind.
When he put up numbers in Denver, you heard that it was b/c of Jokic; he wasn't given true credit. Then he came here & put up pretty much exactly the same outstanding numbers -- w/ no Jokic.
Give the kid credit. He's good.
As to the comparison with KCP, you are certainly right, nate! I shouldn't have written that it was "likely" KCP was the better defender -- he is without question a better defender. Give him credit.
But let's give Morris credit as well for what he does. Thus, when you write that KCP "shoots the 3 with... higher volume, which makes a big difference with spacing," that's simply not true -- at least not last year.
Or, better, it's only trivially true. KCP took 1 more 3-pt. attempt than Morris every 80 minutes on the floor this year. Not a big difference.
Still, I'm not attempting to deny KCP his props. I'm just trying to make sure Monte gets his as well! Nobody thinks KCP is some kind of great player; nor would I claim that for Monte Morris either. But, if we fail to mention such things as his extraordinary high assist to turnover ratio, his far higher career T% (i.e. than KCP), we wind up drawing the wrong conclusion.
After all, even epm has Monte Morris in the top 30% of NBA players (
yeah... !).
