Fans just can't be rational about Tyler.
Let's look at the last 30 games:
Tyler's shooting numbers are down, but that's just a slump, players go through these and even in a slump, his TS% is decent.
He's been doing a lot of playmaking in these 30 games, clearly adjusting to having the ball in his hands so much and being defended like a #1 option with all the blitzes and top defenders on him. Opposing teams are mainly trying to stop him with no real other main shot creator on the team.
6.4 assists on 2.8 TOs are good numbers for a PG (e.g., Luka for his career has been around 8.2 assists on 4 TOs). The increased volume and ratio is a very good sign. This is nothing like what he's been his whole career, this is impressive stuff. Nobody would have expected him to be capable of this level of playmaking.
The 4.8 FT attempts are also a good sign, he is drawing more fouls than ever and this has to keep improving.
What’s really the problem right now is his decision-making in the clutch, and that’s been truly awful and costing them games.
His assist ratio drops to ~14%, and his TS% goes down to ~40%, while his usage stays high around 30%. This tells me he’s trying to do too much and be the literal hero when he should be looking to make plays like he does earlier in games.
Yesterday’s game was a perfect example, he cooked the Knicks in the first half with how they were defending him, getting whatever he wanted in the paint. But the Knicks adjusted in the second half, and OG really gave him more trouble. He tried to score on the entire defense at times, taking difficult floaters/mid-range shots, and also some desperate ones in transition when nobody was even able to get the rebound.
He should’ve tried to exploit the fact that OG was on him and looked to get the ball to Bam more. KAT and Brunson were absolutely atrocious defensively and were getting exploited the whole game, but they went away from it late. Obviously, Ware was missing, but you have to find better ways than what Tyler did and generally does in the clutch.
There are only very few true #1 guys, even Brunson isn't really a #1 guy you build a championship team around, doubtful that Tyler will ever be one. He's still improving so all of that are good signs, just more important what the FO will do at this point, because I would not max him, this is when all his value will be gone. On his current contract he has good trade value, but on a max he won't.
