Boarder Patrol wrote:
Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't this list supposed to be a combination of how they played this year and how they can be reasonably expected to play this coming season? That's why Harden and Curry are as high as they are, they had great years, but not #6/#7 in the league best.
Thats correct. and still stands that he isnt a top 25 player. He is a really average offensive player. even with improvement he isnt really a big offensive asset to a team. outside of solid 3 point shooting he really doesnt add a ton on that end. super ineffecienct scoring and sloppy ball handling.
George was forced into being the #1 option on a team with no other perimeter threat and one other offensive player in West. Efficiency declines with an increased role. If he were the rightful #2 option which you'd expect had Granger been healthy, it's reasonable to assume his shooting numbers would be around 45% like his other years.
Even in his prior 2 seasons he wasnt efficient offensively. he was still in the 54% range TS% and had a 16 PER. he was never better then ordinary offensively. Also, everyone who will make this top 25 list IS a primary option OR would/have handled being the primary option much better. Again, its no knock on george, just because you arent a top 25-30 player doesnt mean you suck.
And this all not even mentioning that he has some of the league's best defense and averages 17-8-4. If this list is including both this last year and how some players are expected to decline/improve, then you include George. His scoring, rebounding and assist numbers should all go up as they have every year. (His PER was actually seventeen by the way, it's one point but it matters, and he shot 42%)
17 PER is still pretty average, so that doenst matter much. 17-4 dont really mean much either since:
1) his 17 points came on horrible efficency
2) his 4 assists came along with 3 turnovers
his defense is excellent, but his offense is just plain average, and projects to be not much better then average. and while thats still really good overall, it simply isnt top 25. he shouldnt be in the conversation.