Lockdown504090 wrote:im not saying theyre like above mediocre, but, i think we've overcorrected from box score watching to not valuing these guys. A guy like moses moody only looks good when the star is off the floor if a guy like thomas is taking pressure off him from having to do anything with the ball or make tricky decisions. like for example, everyone ragging on kuminga for good reason, but when jimmy not aggressive and steph was out, his league average scoring looks way better. when you are looking at the "Volume eaters" you have to look at them in only a couple ways. 1. can they get to PLAYOFF league average, which is lower than regular season if its two good defenses. 2. can they do this against a playoff defense which means less spacing because guys are nervous,theres more help, and guys know your moves/plays better. 3. how damaging are the other parts of their game. 4. are they the most attactive person to run plays on in the playoffs? these high volume creators often look better on a playoff run. A lot of these guys have things about their games that are very difficult to contain, its the either tough shot making, getting to the foul like, or forcing teams to decide whether to contain their drive, or contest the 3 ball offf the bounce.
Yeah, having any kind of scoring is good. The point I was making is that Thomas has only a brief partial season of looking like "not crap" as a scorer, and he isn't a good defender. So if he reverts to his average level, then no, he isn't a valuable player to any meaningful degree. If he's scoring as he did in the quarter season he played this year, it's a little different... but he's definitely not a guy you want to play for 30+ mpg, and certainly not as a starter.
Meantime, speaking to the points:
1) Yes, but almost everyone scores at worse efficiency in the playoffs, so someone like Cam Thomas will certainly do the same.
2) Yep, but this is basically the same thing as 1, because we're evaluating efficacy against what tend to be better defenses, with scouting improving game to game
3) Yep, 100%
4) Less important, I'd say, depending on roster particulars. In the playoffs, stars play higher MPG, so there's less time spent with no higher-order creators on the floor
Someone like Cam Thomas is pretty low-value, always has been. There's been times when teams have inappropriately prioritized them more because they didn't have as advanced an understanding of the game, sure, but that's not where we're at.
In the broader sense, having someone who isn't a hyper-elite efficiency guy who can initiate an offensive possession remains valuable. That's why someone like Brandon Ingram (when healthy), even over the past few seasons, is an attractive player. He's a league-average efficiency guy in most seasons, but he can pass and he can run PnR and he can isolate, is a threat at range for spacing, etc. Obviously he's a much higher tier of player than someone like Thomas, but he's a good, exaggerated example of the concept.
A decade ago, Jamal Crawford was another one, although he also highlighted limitations. He wasn't a particularly smart player, and he fell apart in the playoffs a lot, which limited his value. Kind of like Lou Williams. Both were earlier examples of what happens when you shoot too much from 3 and don't have a hot inside game. And even in the RS, Crawford was quite inconsistent.
Generally, you're willing to tolerate somewhat lower efficiency out of your supporting cast if they aren't just spot-up or lob-threat types of players, for sure. But only so far. There is a point where you're just shooting yourself in the foot with crappy possessions, and so you need to find that trade-off. Is there defensive value, is their playmaking, etc.
