mdenny wrote:Those who hyper-focus on efficiency place ZERO value on ball-handling ability. That's why they celebrate players who can't dribble.
There is a natural negative correlation between ball-handling and efficiency. The players who can't dribble tend to have high efficiency because they aren't trusted to create or drive or take a set defender one on one (which is a low efficiency play by nature).
The problem with this perspective is that SOMEONE actually needs to create and/or dribble the ball. It's essentially impossible to play an offense wherein relatively low efficiency plays do not happen. And teams need players who are serviceable on those plays. You can't just eliminate those plays from an offense.
And EVERY playoffs in recent memory this dynamic becomes evident. When the man defense intensifies pn EVERY possession....the players with no handle become liabilities. And suddenly we see 2nd string/3rd string guards with handles playing a much larger role than they did during regular season.
I'd guess the increased presence of this viewpoint amongst fans is a phenomena of fantasy leagues but I've never been a fantasy league guy. My guess is that play-making and creation is generally under-valued in fantasy leagues compared to catch-and-shoot/finishing player roles.
I don't see how it can be fantasy, since that would only be the case if lots of people punted points and assists and prioritized low turnovers (which means not trying to cram in extra games with your weakest roster spots) and very few people do, and also lots of people play in points leagues where efficiency is far less important/irrelevant and RJ Barrett's current ranking this season goes from 130th all the way to the top 40.
I think it's just that the best teams have superstars and sometimes 2-3 great offensive players, and once you have that, you want to surround them with 3+D guys. And you do want to eliminate as many low efficiency plays as possible, by getting transition shots and free throws and open 3s and attempts at the rim. There's a reason guy like Demar and Brandon Ingram who RJ is probably in the same vein as, have had the careers they've had. If your goal is to win 45 games, then they're very valuable. If you're trying to win a title, that type of guy probably has to be a 6th man, or you need the perfect team around him and a couple of the best players in the league who aren't ball dominant and can hit 3s and play defence (OG, Mikal Bridges, Brook Lopez, Derrick White these types). And since they make lots of money, as they're qualified to be #2 or #3 options on a playoff team, they can't really be 6th man types. That's already a problem with RJ. If he had Deni Avdija or Herb Jones' contract, we'd be in excellent shape going forward with him as our 6th man.
To me, what we see in the playoffs is a lot of small PGs and slow centers being played off the floor, but we rarely see low efficiency wings suddenly become more valuable. The guys who become liabilities are guys who can't defend and guys who can't hit 3s at a good volume/efficiency when open. RJ's shot is meh and his defence is probably even worse.
He's young enough to improve, and it's too early to say how our pieces will fit together and of course what player we get in this strong upcoming draft, but the likeliest outcome with RJ is probably that Masai trades him to some team with a GM who needs to make the playoffs to save his job, for picks and financial flexibility or a bench.
Look at Rudy Gay. Similar player to RJ, right? Colangelo trades for him to save his job, Masai comes in and moves him for Vasquez (which eventually becomes Norm Powell and OG Anunoby (that was a miracle, won't happen again) and Patterson and the team improved with a passer and stretch 4 instead of a high usage wing who creates too many midrange shots and not enough good shots.
Of course, RJ could improve defensively or from 3, or we don't get a quality wing in the draft and draft a center or a PG, and RJ has a big role here as we try to solidify into a solid 45 win team ourselves and hope we can make a deal from there that doesn't include RJ (say Quickley and multiple 1st for an elite guard or Poeltl + Quickley or whoever our 2025 pick is for a star center).
If anyone offers us genuine positive value for RJ, like expirings (or bad money next year) and a genuine first rounder or good young player, I think Masai would trade him. No idea if Chicago or the Clippers or Heat are willing to do that, and if so if that would be this year, the next or even the year after.
But there's just a reason no contender is dying to get Brandon Ingram right now when he's available for cheap. A player like that just hasn't started on a championship team that didn't have Steph Curry, Klay and Draymond on it in a long time (and those guys seem to be a unique case with the splash brothers shooting and Draymond's defence and playmaking, since both Harrison Barnes and Wiggins started on title teams with them, and RJ isn't dissimilar from either guy even if Wiggins' athleticism meant his defence and rebounding could suddenly become superb for one playoff run where he was fantastic).
Maybe Scottie Barnes can be our Draymond, but we obviously don't have a Steph and even with multiple good shooters around now (Quickley, Dick, maybe Walter, maybe Agbaji), there's probably not enough 3pt volume shooting and defence (Klay was a good defender, hard to see Grady getting there, maybe Walter or Agbaji) around Scottie to make a guy like Barrett work as a starter.
RJ gets to the line and he's passing more this year, but other than that his offensive numbers are really ugly apart from his play with us last year. If he can be that guy/Olympics RJ then he'll do well enough here, but you're still ultimately looking to move that sort of player if you're going for a title.
