Spates wrote:ruckus wrote:Spates wrote:Because this sort of comparison isn't specific to players who play the same position. If you look at game data, Lowry's productivity exploded after Gay was traded to Sacramento and not after Calderon was traded to Memphis.
That's looking at it way too simplistically. Correlation doesn't equal causation.
Lowry became more productive because of the return of the Gay trade.
You could even say that when Masai read the riot act to Lowry was the real turning point in Kyle's career:
https://sports.yahoo.com/news/how-kyle-lowry-transformed-the-raptors-and-became-of-the-nba-s-top-point-guards-225543400.html
Which lends credence to the view that it's the individual holding themselves back and not any other player.
I don't follow your reasoning. I agree, the return from the trade was a boon. But it is pretty simple. Give a good PG spacing and more control over the offense and there's no surprise they improve. It's all circumstance. You can extend the same idea to Markkanen and Haliburton.
The ability to play with freedom after being on the leash for so long. That's what markkanen got. There is no way he got that good over night.
