Meanwhile, CJ is in the 69th percentile in PnR-ball-handler possessions; 46th percentile in handoff; and 44th percentile in isolation. In other words CJ is nearly elite when teammates create shooting opportunities for him, and worse than average when he dribbles into his shot. His assisted FG rate should be in the 65-75% range but it's only 36%. He's in the wrong role in the offense and his dribbling should be 20% of what it currently is. Some of this is on CJ, but much of it is on the coaches who don't structure the offense to take advantage of CJ's strengths while allowing CJ to emphasize his weaknesses. And it's on the GM who stubbornly refuses to add another facilitator or two who could get CJ those off-ball motion scoring chances
Spot on. If we adjusted CJ's role to fit his strengths, it would make this team much more dangerous. Its like having Peyton Manning play in a option offense. Its just a total, telegraphed waste of talent.
But, we are so far removed from changing his role. If we wanted him to play to this strength, we wouldn't have him the 2nd primary ballhandler, and we wouldn't have another non-playmaking guard (Simons) as the 3rd. The two biggest hopes for this team to really take the next step is internal development from the kids, and a revamp of CJ's role in this offense to get him open shots. To do that we need to upgrade our SF position more than anything. Unfortunately, there really isn't a guy that fits (SF who can attack the basket, pass well, etc) on the market. The next best thing would be a true backup PG, but we know that is blasphemy.