GoBlue72391 wrote:The majority of this board seemed to share the strange belief that Lonzo is a complete, all-around PG and floor general despite the stats, analytics, and film making it clear that he is not that player at all. He is good at what he does, but the fact is he doesn't do a whole lot, and we should have known and expected that when we signed him.
Pros:
- Fantastic transition playmaker with impeccable vision and instincts
- Very versatile and disruptive defender that can switch and guard multiple positions
- Good 3-point shooter on spot-up/catch-and-shoot opportunities
- Good rebounder for a PG
- Reasonably athletic
Cons:
- Scoring is mostly limited to spot-up threes and transition baskets
- Very poor finisher and because of that is not a consistent threat to drive, cut, or get to the FT line
- His halfcourt playmaking, especially in the P&R, is limited due to his inability to be a consistent scoring threat
- Due to his lack of scoring ability and limited halfcourt playmaking, his teammates receive more attention from opposing defenses
- Doesn't seem to be consistently capable of making use of his significant size advantage against most opposing PGs
With the exception of his defense, which has been better than I expected, Lonzo is exactly the player I thought he was. Ricky Rubio is closer to this board's vision of who they thought/hoped Lonzo is. I think the disconnect between what Lonzo is and what many thought/hoped he was is mostly due to our complete lack of good PG play over the last several years combined with the amount of hype Lonzo and his family have received since before he even entered the league, most of it undeserved.
He has a grand total of 6 FT attempts this season (0.6 per game) and is shooting under 50% on lay-ups (7 of 15). He can't consistently penetrate and break down the defense which significantly limits his halfcourt playmaking ability and he's not a threat as a scorer in the P&R, so defenders will typically ignore him and focus on the roll man, which limits makes things harder on his teammates.
At the time, I believed we overpaid for him and I still believe that. Not significantly, and I doubt his contract will have any negative effects on us now or in the future, but to me he seems like more of a $15-18M player rather than a $20M+ player. Unless significant changes to his game are made, he's never going to be a consistent halfcourt playmaker, finisher, or scoring threat, so we shouldn't expect that of him.
He is what he is, which is a good role player with significant limitations. He's basically a 3&D PG, and that's not a bad thing.
I like your post, it raises some good questions.
His low assist number is of concern to me too. That said, I see a few of items that are impacting it. First, Vuc's terrible shooting % has to be impact assist numbers, as he is probably our most assisted player. I think losing Pat, who would also be a guy who is heavily assisted on his shots, hurts too, as Green gets most of his shots off of RB's and TO's. Also, DD's dribble-heavy scoring game, takes away assists.
I am also surprised by Ball's amazingly bad inside-the-arc shooting. Adding to that, he seems unable to easily dunk. Not being able to score in the paint makes him less effective as a playmaker in the half court because teams don't need to rotate to stop his penetration, which may the main headwind to his half-court playmaking.
