ATLTimekeeper wrote:Spates wrote:HiJiNX wrote:I actually think Aaron Gordon in Denver’s system is a really impactful player. Of course, the ways he and Barnes impact the game is much different, but I wouldn’t necessarily throw out the Gordon number either. He plugs a lot of holes as a connector who can pass, finish, rebound offensively and sometimes knock down a corner three. Perfect fit in Denver. They are noticeably worse on both ends when he’s not on the floor in my opinion.
With respect to Barnes, he has the ball much more often as a creator than Gordon does, so while Gordon is an elite connector, if he was in Barnes’ role here maybe the stats would show something different than what we are seeing. Like ATLTimekeeper said, the hope is that Scottie can produce efficient offence, which I think is more than possible once he gets comfortable leaning on his strengths and develops a decent foul line jumper.
I know there are worries about him developing a jumper, and as far as three point range goes, I agree. Generally speaking, I think being elite from deep is something some guys have and something other guys never will, but as far as a midrange jumper goes, anybody can get quite good there. There’s a long list of guys in Barnes’ size range who developed this in the league. A loooong list. Barnes will get there, which opens up everything for him.
Now, if he ever gets to 36% from deep then watch out.
I'm by no means throwing out Gordon's numbers. I think he's quite impactful as a Nugget. He operates well in the slot and when he brings the ball up you can initiate with 5-out sets.
My distinction between the two is that Gordon's efficiency and on/off metrics come from the nature of his role. It's similar to how Pascal had his most efficient season in 2019. The attention created elsewhere allows the two to feast in open space.
I presume with Barnes that his boost to team efg% is by virtue of his playmaking. Comparatively, at least some of Gordon's on/off impact is due to his personal efficiency.
Simply put, Barnes' efg% is less than team avg while Gordon's efg% is above his team's avg. They both improve their team's accuracy while on court.
The context is evident. The trio of Siakam-Fred-Barnes on the court had a significant offensive output (high ORating). That's why team eFG% is higher for each, even though individually eFG isn't that special for any of them relative to other productive offensive players. But how much can you attribute to each player v. how much is just the rest of the team stunk or the combinations they played in weren't effective?
I used Aaron Gordon, but it takes half a minute to see a bunch of guys I wouldn't be excited about with high numbers (Buddy Hield, Myles Turner, Josh Hart, Alec Burks, Ben Simmons, Josh Richardson, Jerami Grant, Monte Morris etc.). It's really a much larger list than what I gave. Like I said, it's not a bad thing, but it doesn't tell us much about the upcoming season. We know he's a talented passer, but we don't know if increasing his role will be good for the team. Pick any of those guys and think of them as a top 3 scoring option on a team.
Of all the 3-man lineups with Pascal and Fred, excluding Jakob, the unit with Barnes had the best and o-rating and efg%. And the percentage is quite low compared to lineups with similar o-ratings.This is with Barnes that cannot shoot and primarily serves off-ball when playing with them. Their 3-man efg% was significantly better than Barnes' individually. It speaks to his passing/playmaking.
As for the players you listed, several of them are highly efficient. So it follows that they boost their team's shooting percentage. A couple of them have efg% hovering around 60%. Again, Barnes has putrid efficiency and despite that, the team's shoots better.That is all I'm saying. Swap Barnes with anyone not named Poeltl and the efficiency drops. It's an interesting metric.
It may not scale with higher usage but it's a good indication that if you place Barnes in the right spots to make reads suiting his ability, you can generate good offense.
As for picking someone you listed as a top scoring option. That's not the point. I think it's just an indication of role suitability — for lack of a better term. It doesn't tell you where a player should sit in offensive hierarchy. It tells you you should watch what a player does to generate such an increase.
*INGRAM*ALLSTARSEASON* Wemby is HIM
