Player A vs. Player B: An Agenda Exercise
Will the numbers I highlight tell a full story? No. Will they fit my agendas? Yes.
The NBA regular season is hard to keep up with. There are lot of games, lots of injuries, and worst of all…it’s during football season. Like hello? Just start on Christmas. What are we doing Adam?
Anywhooo.
You may THINK you really know what’s going on. But do you really know what’s going on?
Let’s test that theory. I’m going to give you two players. Player A, and Player B. I’m even so nice that I’m going to tell you who Player A is every single time.
Now the real question: can you guess Player B?
Shooters Gonna Shoot:
Player A (Steph Curry): 49.5% from the field, 42.7% from 3, 92.2% from the line, 29.4 ppg
Player B: 51.8% from the field, 42.2% from 3, 87.4% from the line, 24.8 ppg
To be abundantly clear, my point is NOT that Player B is as good a shooter as Steph Curry. Nobody is, obviously. More so, I wanted to highlight just how good this player has been from start to finish this season. He’s a former high draft pick that most people, including the team that drafted him, had given up on. He’s already on his third team, but has flourished after being traded this past offseason. He’s also only 25 years old! He’s scoring almost six points per game more than his previous career best season, shooting better than he ever has, and has mostly flown under the radar as arguably a top 25 player this season. And while the top 25 is a tough list to crack, he definitely deserves the shout. Did you get it right?
The Answer: Lauri Markkanen
Point Gods
Player A (Tyrese Haliburton): 20 ppg, 48/39/87, 10.3 apg, 57% efg
Player B: 21 ppg, 45/39/86, 10.9 apg, 55% efg
Tyrese Haliburton is one of the hottest young names in the NBA. He’s analytics Twitter’s darling, and has completely transformed the Pacers franchise following the Sabonis trade. He’s notorious for his efficiency, never taking a bad shot, and elite play making. But this other guy? Player B? He’s honestly been even better this year. He does have an elite teammate, which helps a lot (obviously), but that doesn’t change the fact that he’s completely reinvented how he plays basketball. He’s always been an elite passer, but has also relied on his scoring ability more in the past. Now, his shot selection has dramatically improved, and he’s creating fantastic opportunities for teammates when he has the ball in his hands. He’s one of, if not THE most efficient point guards in the NBA today. It’s time he got his flowers.
The Answer: James Harden
Solid Role Players
Player A (Kyle Anderson): 370 total points, 211 total rebounds, 180 total assists
Player B: 275 total points, 254 total rebounds, 243 total assists
Kyle Anderson was a solid offseason addition for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He costs them about $9M this year, and he offers valuable minutes both as a starter and reserve. He’s a do-it-all kind of guy, evident by how he fills up the stat sheets night in and night out. He’s a great 6th or 7th best player to have on your team. And then there’s Player B. He costs slightly more ($35M) and was once thought to be a foundational piece of a franchise’s future. He’s now on his second team, and struggling to find the footing that once made him one of the more exciting young players in the entire league. Something has to change, though. He’s unquestionably regressed, and looks like a shell of his former self. Hopefully this is obvious at this point, but I really just wanted to show how average he’s truly been.
The Answer: Ben Simmons
Year Two Blues
Player A (Terry Rozier): 41.7% from the field, 33.3% from 3, 83.3% from FT, 21.7 ppg
Player B: 41.6% from the field, 34.0% from 3, 78.0% from FT, 22.0 ppg
As evident by the name of this category, this is a guy in his second year. And if you follow the NBA closely, hopefully it isn’t too hard to figure out. He hasn’t had an awful year, but when you compare expectations (both based off of where he was drafted, and flashes from his rookie year) it has felt pretty underwhelming. He’s had fantastic moments, but he hasn’t been able to put the pieces together and take the leap most people were hoping for. He’s on an abysmal team that seemingly has no direction, or interest in playing NBA basektball. With the team heading towards another high lottery pick, too, that only complicates his role further as that will add another piece to work into the developmental mix. He’s definitely not a bust, yet, but he should be better than a Rozier equivalent.
The Answer: Jalen Green
Beast on the Boards
Player A (Anthony Davis): 3.3 orb, 12.0 trb, 33.5 mpg
Player B: 3.4 orb, 8.7 trb, 24.9 mpg
A couple quick things to clarify, just in case it was unclear. That first number is offensive rebounds per game, the second is total rebounds. So, the takeaway here is that player B dominates on the offensive glass, very similar to Davis who’s one of the best in the league, despite playing almost a full ten minutes less on average. This guy has flown under the radar all year, mostly because his team is awful and no one watches them. He falls into a similar problem as Jalen Green, meaning that his team is a mess and it’s very hard to develop when everyone else you’re playing with is meant to be developing alongside you. That said, he’s absolutely flashed his potential this year in the short playing time he’s been given. He was a high draft pick recently, and I believe he’s shown enough this year to warrant why.
The Answer: Jalen Duren
