TGW wrote:TheBlackCzar wrote:Dat2U wrote:
I did not like the trade. I would not have traded Deni for 2 1sts but I think posts like this assume the book is written on Deni when it's still in development.
I haven't found a single advanced statistical measurement that has Deni in the top 50 of NBA players right now.
That doesn't mean he can't or won't get there but it's not guarantee and keep in mind he's doing this for a team with no playoff aspirations and no one better to give the ball too.
Can you build around Deni as your 2nd or 3rd option in a winning situation or this a case where a guy is simply taking advantage of an opportunity that he wouldnt have gotten in a better situation?
Ya'll making this too complicated.... After you watch Deni, if you think there aren't at least 50 guys better you are not watching enough other guys play basketball, because nothing about his game says he's going to be one of the best players in the NBA.... You can talk him up, post his good games and it still won't reflect him being remotely in the stratosphere you're trying to place this guy in.....
Deni is 59th in VORP, 65th in Win Shares and in PER, and 58th in BPM. He is very close to top 50 according to several metrics.
I know this hurts your soul because you've been hating all season, but Deni has proven his haters wrong this year. He's been for all intensive purposes a fantastic player this year.
I don't hate Deni..... Keeping Deni and doing a half way rebuild would've been so Wizards/ Les Boulez type of team building.... In a vacuum I realize Deni had potential and was better than a lot of our other picks before and after him, but he wasn't a Luka or even a Jaylen Williams and definitely not a Jaylen Brown..... He can be a good player and not one of the top 50 all at the same time.....
We had to trade him as he was our most valuable asset..... Did we get enough, I don't know and honestly its a sailed ship which is why I'm like damn why are we still talking about this ONE former player..... How ya'll are expressing yourselves is how I felt when we traded Webber, Rasheed and Big Ben, and if that's your connection to Deni, then maybe I can relate directly to your feelings as that's how I felt when we traded all of the above...... When we drafted Deni I really wanted him to be good and it took 4 years to finally put it together but I never thought a team would trade 4 picks and a quality albeit injured vet for him...... That was surprising, so I know you like to use analytics as if basketball is a science experiment, but to me basketball is art.... It's not simply quantified in numbers, because context and situation definitely are important variables to factor in.... You can look at a player stats and that won't necessarily tell you if that player has an unguardable first step..... You can data mine and I can just see it, but also what else is happening while you're solely focused on numbers....
Example... Kobe shot poorly in the 3 finals without Shaq for the most part, but because of the gravity he pulled with 2 and 3 defenders on him throughout each series, that allowed Bynum, Pau and Metta to eat off the boards... That won't be reflected positively in the stat line but it will certainly affect the outcome of games..... I view basketball differently because I used to play ball all over this city and outside as well and I see the personality that is reflected in dudes games.....
Stats don't tell the entire picture of how a guy plays..... You could have a bunch of efficient players, who don't have great handles, have limited shot charts, and aren't very agile, and most times they'd lose to a less efficient, athletic team of shot creators..... Analytics is just a tool, not the entire package....
Which way do you want it? 
