These are the players who have assisted Lamb the most after 18 games:
Hawes 15
Lin 12
Kaminsky 5
Williams 4
Batum 4
Walker 3
http://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/plus/event_finder.cgi?request=1&player_id=lambje01&event_code=fg&year_id=2016&is_playoffs=N&team_id=&opp_id=&quarter=&time_remain_quarter=&margin=&score=The fact that Hawes has assisted Lamb the most does not mean he's the best playmaker, hehe. Instead, that number reflects how Lamb's excellent shooting ability is maximized with the 2nd unit. This fits what we casually see in games. Specifically, Lamb is maximized when he plays with Lin as the only key playmaker in the unit. (Hawes has so many assists because the 2nd unit moves the ball much better than the 1st unit. But the key playmakers are Lin, Kemba, and Batum.)
What the numbers also show is that when Lamb plays with Batum or Kemba, or with both of them, he becomes nearly invisible. Considering that Kemba handles the ball the most on the team and has played significant minutes with Lamb, it is bad, even embarrassing, that he's only assisted Lamb 3 times so far.
Lamb is a deadly catch and shoot weapon, so if a key playmaker does not regularly try to bend the defense to create shot opportunities for Lamb, or is not looking for him on offense, then he's failed as a playmaker on this team.
More generally, this team has to figure out how utilize the third offensive wing next to Kemba and Batum. Whether it's Lamb or Lin (Cliff these two as interchangeable in closing lineups), those three wings have to figure out how to play better with each other instead of just taking turns being the man. Whoever has the best shot should be taking it; and they should all be working together to find the best shot available. Just chucking it up early in the clock before most of the teammates have even touched the ball or tried to work for something better is simply a copout. So far the team's inefficiency in maximizing the ability of its three offensive wings has been hidden by Kemba's and Batum's good shooting percentages thus far. But when I look at how the offense is run, the decisions being made (instead of kneejerking over whether shots go in or miss), I don't see an efficient offense, or good team play.
