The underperformers: Canadians in the NBA, 2017-18

[Hair Canada]

The last of three posts on the very good season of Canadians in the NBA. Links to the first two:

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Andrew Wiggins

Notable stats: 17.7 points, 4.4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 block in 37.5 minutes a game. Since he still plays so much, these are very close to being his per-40 numbers, which are lower in all categories than the per-40 numbers of Murray, Olynyk, and Lyles and almost equal to those of Brooks and Powell (who is, naturally, a much better rebounder). The shooting has also been quite awful: 36% from the field, 33% from 3, 64% from the line, and 50.5% true shooting (a career low).

A terrible season for Wiggins. The only silver lining is that it ended in the first playoff appearance for Minnesota since the Kevin Garnett days. Even that was not really thanks to Wiggins though, but rather to the return of Butler just before the Timberwolves lost their advantage. Beyond not shooting the ball well and taking a serious step back with his scoring, Wiggins also again failed to improve any of the other aspects of his game, save for a modest improvement in his defense, which was terrible last year and more reasonable but still far from great this year. With every passing year, it becomes clear that he’s never going to be the best player on a playoff team, but right now he hardly even seems like a worthy starter on a good playoff team.

The best thing that I can say about Wiggins at this point is that he’s very durable. In 4 seasons, he missed only one game and that’s certainly something important in this league. That, together with his physical tools, the fact that he is still fairly young, and of course a 150mil contract, will probably make sure that he gets more chances. But he is a clear disappointment on many levels, including what seems like a very lackadaisical mentality and the failure to improve his weaknesses from year to year. I’m pretty sure the Timberwolves management is quite sorry for giving him the max contract last summer. From what he’s shown so far in his career, and especially this year, he’s just not worth it. And I have to say that for me he’s also clearly no longer the best Canadian in the league, a title that might have still been his by default last year.

Season grade: C (only because the Timberwolves made it to the playoff)


Tristan Thompson

Notable stats: 5.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 0.3 steals, and 0.3 blocks (all career lows, not including his rookie season). Only 53 games for a player who used to be the league’s iron man (four successive seasons with 82 games).

TT had a really bad season as well. It’s evident by the fact that the most notable thing about this season was his off-court sexual infidelities (a low-point, which clearly does not make him a favorite among league fans). On the court, he looked like a pale shadow of the player who was one of Cleveland’s most important defensive and energy players in the Cavs championship effort and the heroic finals against Golden States the year before. Actually, the decline already started during last year’s playoffs, but this year with the injury and coming off the bench he hit a new low. I think he can still bounce back if he gets back to what he does best – defensive intensity and uncompromising effort on the boards. But this year was a wakeup call, as he clearly cannot just settle with his limited talent and physicals in a league where players with no shooting seem to quickly become extinct.

Season grade: C+


Cory Joseph

Notable stats: 8 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal per game. 35% from the 3, 42% from the field, and 50% true shooting (a career low since his rookie season).

To be honest, I’m not sure Joseph really qualifies as a true disappointment this year, certainly not as much as the others on this list. He didn’t have a really bad year serving as the surprising Pacers’ backup point guard and did more or less what he’s done in previous years, although a bit less efficiently. Still, his numbers were down a bit despite more minutes, and for me the main disappointment was that he had a real chance, for the first time in his career, to take the starting PG position on a team, but he couldn’t make it. I guess Co-Jo is just not a starting PG in this league and shouldn’t be, although there were times in previous years when I thought he has the potential to be one.

Season grade: B


Nik Stauskas

Notable stats (excluding his 6 games with the Sixers): 35 games, 14 minutes, 2 rebounds, 1 assist. He did shoot 40%+ from the 3, but that’s somewhat deceiving, because almost all of these came in garbage time minutes, against weak and apathetic defenses and with nothing on the line.

Stauskas really seems to be on his way out of the NBA. Which is too bad for such a gifted shooter, who also showed he can do other things on the court when he is in the right mindset and has confidence. The trouble is that he just never seems to be able to consistently get this confidence and show what he showed in his years at Michigan. Stauskas came off the best season of his career last year and it seemed like he might actually was in the perfect team situation – a bench role player on an up-and-coming team that built its offense on capable 3-point shooters surrounding the talent of Simmons and Embiid. But he just wasn’t able to be good enough and become one of these players. Redick, Belineli, Ilyasova, and certainly Covington are just better players. Stauskas did not get a real chance, but in all honesty, he also didn’t seem to deserve it.

Then he was traded to the Nets and again was not able to show that he’s good enough to be a consistent bench player in one of the worst teams in the league. By the end of the season, he was out of the rotation (if it’s any consolation, so was Jahlil Okafor, arguably a much greater promise than Stauskas). Judging by the former Canadians who went through a similar process with at the “Canadian-career-enders” Nets (Bennett and Nicholson), this might mean the last station of his NBA career. Stauskas might still find a team that will be willing to gamble on him next year, but perhaps he’s just not an NBA player. No great disaster. I think he can have a very nice European career if he’d be willing to try.

Season grade: C-


Tyler Ennis

Notable stats: 4 points, 2 assists and 2 rebounds in 54 games (13 minutes a game). 25% from 3, 42% from the field, and 47% true shooting (bottom 10 in the league for players with more than 40 games). He did have 11 points, 4.5 assists, and 4 rebounds in his last 6 games, but that’s reminiscent of what he had at the end of last year with the Lakers.

Like Stauskas, Ennis might just not be good enough for this league. He just can’t shoot it well enough and is not a good enough playmaker to make up for it, like his teammate Lonzo Ball. That’s not really a knock on either Stauskas of Ennis by the way. It’s a very tough league and many players, including many first-round selections, fail to survive in it for many years. Physically, he really struggles to get good shots and create. With all the injuries in the Lakers this year, he did get his chances but was not able to take them. Like Stauskas, he might still find a team that will give him another chance with a minimum contract, but I think there’s also a good chance that this won’t happen.

Season grade: C+ (mainly because I expected less from him than from Stauskas)

[Scott Hall]

Depressing

[I_Like_Dirt]

Cojo doesn't deserve to be here. Not as good as Murray and Olynyk this season, but still good.

And frankly, Wiggins wasn't the star people keep expecting him to be, but if those expectations weren't there he'd be looked upon quite a bit more positively. He still has a ways to go, but his season wasn't awful, just not amazing, either.

[Hair Canada]

I kind of agree about Cojo and pretty much said it in the post. Perhaps it's about my own expectations. Although, as I remark, he's really been shooting it quite poorly this year, worse than in previous years.

As for Wiggins, I disagree. I don't think it's just the initial expectations anymore. Look again at the numbers. They are bad pretty much across the board. The shooting has been really horrible. 2 assists for a guard that plays almost 40 minutes is very low. Rebounding as well for his size, athleticism and time on the court. And it's not like he's making up for it on defense. The expectations were that he'd be at least an all-star. So clearly that's quite far off, but at this point, he's just not even a very good NBA player. I actually read some year summaries where he was picked as the most disappointing player of the year (in the league!). Not sure he's quite there, but he is in contention. As a Canadian basketball fan, I do hope Wiggins can bounce back and certainly wish him no ill. Just have to call it as I see it.

[mojo13]

A few comments:
Wiggins I think actually improved substantially on defense and didn’t get the credit he deserves there. Otherwise I pretty much agree with everything else you wrote about him.

Stauskas and Ennis both get F letter grades from me. Both have proven by now they don’t belong in the league. Stauskas is a mental midget and Ennis has not outside shot and is too unathletic. There are not too many worse players than either, but they are still young enough that they may find another minimum deal. Both would advance their game and usefulness to the national team tremendously by heading overseas for a few year. A confident Stauskas could be a great weapon in FIBA competition.

I can’t stand Thompson as a person and that colors my view but I don’t want him anywhere near the SMNT. He was launching mid range bricks left and right in the 2016 Manila Qualfier thinking he was an all star. He was clearly outplayed by Melvin Ejim and Khem Birch yet the coaching staff kept throwing minutes at Thompson because he was our “star” NBA player. He is waaaaay down my list of Canadian big men.

[Laurier]

I remember people here were fapping on Wiggins' mixtapes saying he's the next LeBron. lmao

[MavCarter]

I remember people here were fapping on Wiggins' mixtapes saying he's the next LeBron. lmao

Cant really blame people. The media and scouts were talking about him like he was the next big superstar

[SharoneWright]

I remember people here were fapping on Wiggins' mixtapes saying he's the next LeBron. lmao

Basketball people across North America, not just on this Raptors fan board.

[Hair Canada]

A few comments:
Wiggins I think actually improved substantially on defense and didn’t get the credit he deserves there. Otherwise I pretty much agree with everything else you wrote about him.

Stauskas and Ennis both get F letter grades from me. Both have proven by now they don’t belong in the league. Stauskas is a mental midget and Ennis has not outside shot and is too unathletic. There are not too many worse players than either, but they are still young enough that they may find another minimum deal. Both would advance their game and usefulness to the national team tremendously by heading overseas for a few year. A confident Stauskas could be a great weapon in FIBA competition.

I can’t stand Thompson as a person and that colors my view but I don’t want him anywhere near the SMNT. He was launching mid range bricks left and right in the 2016 Manila Qualfier thinking he was an all star. He was clearly outplayed by Melvin Ejim and Khem Birch yet the coaching staff kept throwing minutes at Thompson because he was our “star” NBA player. He is waaaaay down my list of Canadian big men.

Fair enough about Wiggins' defense. I watched a relatively small number of the Timberwolves games this season and wasn't impressed, but it's certainly possible that he's been significantly better. A bad defender is one label that is quite hard to shake, so need to be careful not to just assume.

As for Thompson, I see what you are saying, but it's worth noting that he's been one of the more committed guys to team Canada throughout the years. In the Manila tournament, for example, he came after a very deep Cavs run (and a championship) in the playoffs, where he had a central role and played many minutes. He still came, unlike Wiggins for example, who cited "getting ready for a championship run in 2017" as his reason (yes, quite ironic) or Stauskas, who I don't even know why he didn't show up. So I give him credit for that, and the same goes for Cojo. For me, if they want to be on the team, they deserve to get a place in the roster because of their past loyalty to the team and experience, which should be rewarded even if they are not at the height of their game. I also think that if Thompson is surounded by better scorers like Murray, Wiggins, Brooks, Lyles, and Olynyk, he will not need to show much on offense and can focus on what he does best, like he did with the Cavs over the last few years. If he's back to his old self, an energy player and good defender like him could still be an asset in certain situations, as long as he sticks to his role.

[macNcheese3]

I'm sorry to say but TT is a goof. Nothing to do with his personal life, guy is just a goof. He was once a promising double double machine. He needs a change of scenery. Seems like hes just checked himself out after getting a nice extension. Still cheering for the rest of the guys though. CJ is a solid player and he fits well in Indy.

[TooBad]

Wiggins D
Thompson D- (getting benched in the playoffs)
Joseph B (weak stats but he's a system guy who does his job)
Ennis C
Stauskas C-

[Patman]

I'm sorry to say but TT is a goof. Nothing to do with his personal life, guy is just a goof. He was once a promising double double machine. He needs a change of scenery. Seems like hes just checked himself out after getting a nice extension. Still cheering for the rest of the guys though. CJ is a solid player and he fits well in Indy.

Sharing the same agent as LeBron has gotten to his head. In reality, he was just a pawn in a nut-flexing contest between LeBron and Dan Gilbert, in which LeBron won. I mean, good for TT for getting mad paid, but if he thinks LeBron actually CARES about him... LOL.

[macNcheese3]

I'm sorry to say but TT is a goof. Nothing to do with his personal life, guy is just a goof. He was once a promising double double machine. He needs a change of scenery. Seems like hes just checked himself out after getting a nice extension. Still cheering for the rest of the guys though. CJ is a solid player and he fits well in Indy.

Sharing the same agent as LeBron has gotten to his head. In reality, he was just a pawn in a nut-flexing contest between LeBron and Dan Gilbert, in which LeBron won. I mean, good for TT for getting mad paid, but if he thinks LeBron actually CARES about him... LOL.

Absolutely. If I can recall correctly - LeBron insisted on the Cavs bringing back TT at any given cost saying that he was someone they absolutely needed (his toughness, knack for the glass, and defense).