Podcast 323: Bearded Report Card
2026-02-06After the biggest trade deadline week in NBA history, at least in number of players and picks moved, Nate, Chris, and Eli hopped in the podcast booth to break it all down for Cavs fans. First up, a review of the Portland beatdown which saw our first looks at The Umlaut and Keon Ellis in wine and gold. Then, the main event: Nate and Chris went toe to toe on whether this trade was a good idea or not before Eli came in over the top to drop the flying elbow. It was one of our favorite CtB segments ever.
After we were all good and bloodied, we lightened it up by going around the association and giving grades to every team in the league on their trade deadline day performance. We covered about a million other electives too. All in all, we’d give our personal evaluation (written in comic sans) five Fred McLeods for energy, three Fratellos for cogence, and an “I agree, Go Cavs” as our dissertation defense.
As always, catch us below, download the full audio file, or listen on Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, or Spotify.
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another aspect:
most of us liked DG and hoped he would get healthy and be part of a contender. and maybe he will, but the odds are not good. now we have a much better chance, for example, maybe this year.
and it is not obvious that this move gives us a shorter window. JH only has a couple of years left, but it will be time to reconfigure and see about keeping things going. a few teams (Boston most notably) manage to be contending more years than not, with different players.
after the initial shock, I am all in.
WOW — THANKS FOR REMINDING ME JASON —- WE GOT JA PRIMARILY DUE TO HARDEN AND NOW WE HAVE HARDEN —— TALKING ABOUT IRONY “. 👍🏀💪
dang! I forgot that too.
LGOH — HAVE TO DISAGREE— KA HAS MADE MORE GOOD MOVES THAN BAD ——/ REMEMBER HE IS ALSO RESPONSIBLE FOR WADE / SAM / CPJ / NYQUIL / PROCTOR/ TYSON NOT TO MENTION OMIER / KHAYES ——- THERE IS NO GM THAT GETs EVERY TRADE/ MOVIE CORRECT——— AT LEAST HE IS WILLING/ BOLD ENOUGH TO “ STICK HIS NECK OUT “ TO “ PULL THE TRIGGER “
And admit a mistake (Hunter/Ball). Or asmit when the project just isn’t likely to succeed as drawn up (DG/Mitchell/Mobely/Allen).
He is willing to course correct, even when he set the original course.
KA: Drafted Garland, Mobley, Tyson, & Proctor. Got JA for peanuts in the Harden (Nets) deal. Swung big & hit on Mitchell. Developed Wade/Merrill/Tomlin as the Charge. Strus has been a productive FA signing. He fleeced the Kings in the Hunter deal. And I am in record as liking the Harden deal. Bryant for peanuts was a good FA move.
Not perfect. But good.
Harden a go tonight.
He will wear #1. Strus has changed his # to #2.
Definitely hoping this trade works out and the Cavs make a run in the playoffs. But if there is another flameout in the second round, Altman has to be fired, right? He put together the most expensive team in the league and then made a win now move by trading for a 36-year-old star. If this last-ditch effort to fix the roster and win a weak Eastern Conference doesn’t work, he can’t be in charge of the retooling that will be needed going forward.
meanwhile back on earth, the top of the EC is actually very strong, the trade was a no brainer that any GM would have made, and Kobe is easily one of the top GM’s in the NBA.
Harden was the best player we could realistically get.
Giannis woukd require draft calital we don’t have and/or multiple core gyys.
AD’s salary would gave required multiple guys, and picks, and he’s hurt.
I don’t LOVE Harden, Ellis, and Schröder as players. There are flaws. But I do prefer them to Garland, Hunter, and Ball. By a considerable margin.
We improved considerably, saved $100 mil in tax/salary, and jettisoned ourcthree worst rotation players by most metrics (ON/OFF, BPM, WS/48, etc.).
That is solid GM work.
B+ on the court. A+ on the financials.
By the time SGA plays again, the Pistons will have the league’s best record. 7-3 last 10.
Celtics, Knicks, & Cavs are all 8-2 in the last 10.
Toronto & Philly 6-4.
Charlotte 9-1. Into the play-in.
The Hunter trade looks bad in hindsight. But the biggest blow to last year’s playoff run was DG’s toe injury, which won’t land on Altman. He got a better trade return for DG, even while he remains injured, than anyone else is getting for small guards lately. And he appears to have nailed it with his limited available draft picks two years in a row: Tyson at 20 in 2024 is beginning to look like possibly one of the franchise’s best all time picks relative to draft position, and he might have found a future rotation player at number 49… Read more »
same
This is amazing work
https://bsky.app/profile/davehrus.bsky.social/post/3mebnzgykpc2e
The great legacy of Mark Price continues! Wow! I always forget that was a traded pick. From 2d round pick to All-NBA First Team (1993).
Agree with Nate–that’s amazing work.
I’d forgotten Tyrone Hill had a second stint with the Cavs in the early ’00s.
Yes it is.
I tried to do something similar analyzing the Irving trade a couple years back but threw up my hands after the magnitude & seemingly never ending tendrils and branches.
For gits & shiggles, Remaining SOS:
Detroit 9th
Boston 4th
NY 15th
Philly 20th
Toronto 16th
——–
Cavs: 28th
Out West: OKC (1st), SA (11th), Den (2nd), Hou (21st), Lakers (5th), Minny (6th), Phoenix (8th).
If we get hot here, and get relatively healthy, we can rally up the standings. The last 16 are way SOFT.
winning the last 16 would be a nice symmetry with winning the first 15 last year.
The only team we play in the last 16 who is in a PO position (top 6) is the at LA game.
We have 4 vs play in teams: Orlando and Miami x2 at home, and at GSW.
The rest are lotto.
Last 16: at Dal, Dal, at Mil, at Chi, at NO, Orl, Mia (b2b), Mia, at Utah, at LAL (b2b), at GSW, Indy, at Mem (b2b), Atl, at Atl, Wash.
Next 4: at Sac, at Den, Wash, ASB, Brk.
Then 10 in between is our toughest stretch.
HUNTER HAS HAD 2 TERRIBLE GAMES FOR THE KINGS ( SEASON LONG SHOOTING SLUMP CONTINUES) HOPE IT CONTINUES TONIGHT—— AD EVIDENTLY OUT THE REST OF THE YEAR— NO SURPRISE THERE——- NO SABONIS LAST NIGHT—- HURT ???
The Wiz can lose their pick if they win too many games.
At the bottom:
Sac: 12-41, own theirs
Indy: 13-39; Protected 1-4, 10-30; 5-9 Clips
NO: 14-40: ATLANTA OWNS IT
Brooklyn: 13-37: own theirs
Wash: 14-36; Prot 1-8; 9-30 Knicks
Jazz: 16-36: Prot 1-8: 9-30 OKC
Dal: 19-32: own theirs
Memphis: 20-30: own theirs
Milwaukee: 21-29: own theirs
Chicago: 24-28: own theirs
Portland: 24-28: Prot 1-14, 15-30 Bulls
Cha: 24-28: own theirs
LAC: 24-27: OKC OWNS IT
ATL: 26-27: SA OWNS IT
We own SA’s pick.
They are 5 games up on Phoenix in the loss columnn (and thus the play in). I keep hoping they’ll hit the skids. A lotto pick would REALLY be something.
But they are pretty healthy & playing really well and the other teams out west racking up injuries and issues (Butler & Curry in GS; Booker & Green for PHX; Luka for LAL; Gordon + Johnson + Watson in Den; SGA & Williams for OKC). Hou & Minny just sputtering.
Indybis in a weird spot, with their protections 1-5 and 10-30.
If they stay where they are, they have a roughly 50% chance of losing the pick to the Clips (48% if top 3, 52% if 4th).
But if they could finish 10th, they’d have a 10% chance at the top 4 and if that fails, a pick 10-14 guaranteed.
Butcthey really have to get hot to catch the teams with 24 wins.
NO, ATL, & LAC have no tank incentive. They don’t own their picks.
Charlotte does, but they are playiff bound, I think.
But Indy, Zubac played vs us but suddenly has an ankle injury and Carlisle isn’t gonna play him until it is 100%. They are gonna try to stay top 4 and roll the dice
They’re going to tank so hard.
WOW WINDMILL— REMEMBER THOSE TEAMS —- ALSO REMEMBER ALL TIME GREAT “ BUBBLES “ HARRIS FROM KING—- BEEN AWHILE SINCE THEY HAVE HAD REAL GOOD TEAMS
Yeah there was one year (1988) that TWO high schools from the little town of Lorain were ranked top 10 in the USA in basketball for much of the year, which just was remarkable. (Admiral King and Lorain High). I played football not basketball, and the AK football team in that same short era produced multiple NFL starters. Lot of talent then.
MAN IF YOU NEED A LAUGH IN THE MORNING—- JUST READ A DAILY KJG ARTICLE—— THEY ARE SO OUT OF TOUCH/ BS —— IT IS LAUGHABLE
new guy today who is the worst yet, yammering on about how having JH ensures that DM will not resign.
AGREED THOUGHT HEAT HAD THE “ W” ——- FTS HAD A LIST OF POTENTIAL BUYOUTS—— CHECK AND WHO WOULD YOU PURSUE
None. We are done in terms of the Cavs 15.
When Tomlin gets promoted, we’ll have a two-way spot. We’ll wait as long as we can to do it. I think he has 3 active games left. Which takes us to the ASB. Not sure on the mechanics on when a two-way becomes claimable after they hit 50 games. If immediately, we’ll do it before Wash.
I think they did it already, as soon as the trading deadline passed.
Sucked that Miami blew a 21 point halftime lead in 1 quarter. Still had a clean look to win at the end. Oh, well. The loss column:
12: OKC
13: Detroit
———
16: San Antonio
———–
18: Boston
19: NY, Denver, Houston, Lakers
————
21: Minny, CAVS, Suns
22: Philly
Today: Hou at OKC, Mavs at Spurs, Den at Chi, GSW at LAL, Philly at Suns, Cavs at Kings.
“Aquarium drunkard”. Solid work, Nate.
Check out Jason Molina and Songs: Ohia
All time great.
https://pitchfork.com/features/afterword/9087-jason-molina/
Didn’t know he died. Though I should have guessed. That sucks. He left beautiful music.
Ima get his entire works – thanks for the heads up.
Jason was a high school classmate of mine, two years behind me at Admiral King H.S. in Lorain. (One of the top ranked basketball high schools in the country during the late ‘80’s, incidentally). I didn’t know him well but some of my friends did, and one directed a recently completed film documentary about his life. It’s headed to the film festival circuit. The title is Gen X at it’s finest: “You Fuckers Figure it Out: A Jason Molina Story”
Oh hell yes. LMK if you see it anywhere.
JASON—- YEAH I KNOW HIS 5 YEARS MAKES HIM INELIGIBLE FOR A 2 WAY —— HE CAN SIGN WITH ANY TEAM IF THEY COME KNOCKING—- LNJ ( LONG TIME SUPPORTER) WOULD BE MY CHOICE TO WAIVE
I get that POV.
But with our roster already guard heavy, Mobley out, and now Wade with an ankle issue, I am not waiving a big.
Allen, Bryant, and Tomlin woukd becour only options at the 4/5 if LNJ is waived. That is too thin up front for my taste.
Celtics erased that entire deficit andxwere tired after 3. Now ahead.
Hart hurt? That’s not gonna help the Knicks.
Celtics within 6. They were 1/20 on 3s at half.
Knicks down 24.
KHAYES 39 / 5 / 9 ORMIER 29/ 14
Really hope the club doesn’t lose Killian.
I mean, who do you cut? Proctor, LNJ, or CPJ are really your only options.
Hopefully, if he gets through the immediate deadline aftermath, he stays unsigned until next year.
Maybe the relationship with KA keeps him around until next year. That 27.6% from deep probably is scare some teams off.
Yes, it’s a next year thing. Who knows what’s gonna happen in the playoffs – if it’s a disaster, be nice to have him as an option if there’s a major shakeup. His shooting has improved a lot, but obvs has to translate to the majors.
Hayes has 5 years of NBA service and therefore is ineligible for 2 way deals. Roster or bust. And with Mobley out, an rister heavy on smalls, and Harden, Mitchell, Schröder, CPJ and Proctor all PG capable, I don’t see him getting a standard contract, barring injury.
This year, at least. But his size & defensive versatility make him a good PG prospect for us.
KA coached him on the French narional team.
Somewhat of a sterile podcast, this one. I think it was the lack of background clicking that made me uncomfortable.
LMFAOOOOO
Seriously?
Dude.
Sweet
🤣
Knicks also without OG.
At half:
Heat up 21 in Boston.
Knicks down 21 in Detroit.
That is a good standings night. Would bring us within 2 in the loss column & standings.
Knicks are in Boston Sunday.
👍👍👍👍👍 THINKING THE SAME JASON —— ALTHOUGH WE NEED TO WIN ALSO ———- ANY PREDICTIONS ON HARDENS STAT LINE—— I AM GOING LOW. 14/ 3
I guess it depends on if he starts right away or not.
I think he’ll be more deferntial than usual, though Schröder certainly wasn’t. And I’m also hoping there is some garbage rime at the end..Though if there is, KA may play Mitchell/Harden together some to breed some familiarity.
My guess: 17/6/7.
Though as long as we play well & get a W, I could care less.
No KAT for NY, no Duren for Detroit.
Knicks at Pistons tonight. Gonna gain on somebody. And while I dream of catching Detroit, first things first: NY & Boston..
Go Pistons.
KHAYES 19/ 3. / 4 at the half ——OMIER 13/6
Great episode! Best ever? Possibly. Well done, boys 💯
The description alone deserves an award 🎖️
Assist %, Usage %, Ast/TO, TS%, this year:
DG: 33.0%, 25.4%, 2.47, 56.7%
Spida: 28.7%, 32.4%, 1.90, 61.7%
Ball: 22.5%, 13.5%, 2.62, 43.2%
CPJ: 22.4%, 12.4%, 3.675, 53.9%
———–
Harden: 37.5%, 31.3%, 2.21, 59.8%
Schröder: 29.5%, 22.9%, 2.65, 52.7%
Now, sometimes this stat can be misleading, as guys who hold the ball & never make the pass before the pass can register high assist %s (Rondo).
Thoughts: Ball & CPJ #s are really similar (and on D, too), with CPJ ahead significantly on Ast/TO ratio (where Ball was very good but COJ is iff the charts) and TS% (CPJ is poor but Ball off the charts bad). CPJ can give us everything Ball was with better O & ball security and for cheaper.
Though the Ball minutes won’t all go to CPJ, most will go to Schröder. Who is a higher usage and higher assist rate player and better volume scorer than either Ball or CPJ. Ast/TO right at Ball’s level, which is even above DG, who is also good in terms of ball security. TS% at CPJ levels. Worse defensive metrics than CPJ. He’s never been terribly efficient, but his Dctook a nosedive this year, hopefully that perks up out of Sac.
Harden is a higher usage and higher assist rate guy than DG, but does not take as good care of the ball. At least not this year or last. He does have some 3:1 Ast/TO years in his past, mostcrecently in Philly. I am sure Embiid helped. More efficient scorer, though. Harden is a bizarre guy, statistically. Having been both a scoring 2 and a PG. He is on the short list of guys who have led the league in scoring (3x PPG, 4x PTS) and assists (2x APG, 1x Ast). Has led the league in the also rately seen… Read more »
I will say this, dreaming about playoff matchups.
We don’t really have a small/wing guy that an opposing star can “rest” on.
Say SGA. Dort takes Mitchell. Harden can walk him down and Tyson is no picnic and Mobes/JA ain’t happening. Even Merrill & Strus are a pain with their movement. Schröder attacks.
Ellis is you best bet, I guess. Or CPJ. But not sure either guy is in the top 8. And both make his life miserable with pesky D.
VERY GOOD POINTS CAVS FAN—- TOTALLY AGREE—- I POSTED SOMETHING SIMILAR—- THE LEAGUE IS EVOLVING ( THE DUBS / BLAZERS SMALL BALL IS HISTORY—— KOBY JUMPED ON THE WAGON TOO LATE —- IS WHEN LEAGUE WAS EVOLVING AWAY FROM SMALL BALL——- TRIED TO MAKE IT WORK—- BUT REALIZED IT WASNT HAPPENING AND HENCE THE VALUE OF A DG / YOUNG HAS PLUMMETED
Ball up top. 30 games left and we should be favored in all but…6? You’d hope Harden at absolute minimum, stabilizes a volatile offense, takes the load off DM and we beat the teams we should beat.
Garland’s game is beautiful, he discovered something amazing in the clutch last year, and LA should benefit from it for the duration of his contract.
Agree with the market for Young making this a deal worth jumping on. And Harden’s best use case on defense is against Boston, probably the toughest matchup for our dogshit perimeter defense.
I’m ready to believe.
I may have a different perspective on the trade. It shouldn’t be comparing Garland & Harden. (NOTE: I am not a Harden fan!) The league is changing, we’ve asked/discussed about the fit of Garland & Mitchell. The playoffs have shown (with OKC & Pacers) that undersized offensive only guards aren’t “it” anymore. Teams are seeking longer more athletic players. I’m speculating that when the Hawks traded Trae Young for really nothing that probably sounded an alarm in the FO causing the evaluation of trying to be patient with a Garland & Mitchell backcourt. They now have a view of Trae Young by the… Read more »
Excellent point.
And again, the answer is obvious, we did. The Grizz could not even find a taker for Morant, though there are other issues there.
To hammer home the DG/Hunter/Ball stuff, their rank on the Cavs this year amongst our top 11 in minutes played: Spida, Mobes, Tyson, Hunter, JA, Wade, CPJ, DG, Ball, Sam, Tomlin.
WS: DG & Hunter: Tied 9th, Ball 11th
Off WS: DG T8th (Tomlin), Hunter 10th, Ball 11th
Def WS: Ball/Hunter T6th (Wade), DG T10 (Merrill)
WS/48: DG 9th, Hunter 10th, Ball 11th
BPM: Ball 9th, DG 10th, Hunter 11th
Off BPM: DG T5th (Allen), Hunter 10th, Ball 11th
Def BPM: Ball 2nd, Hunter 10th, DG 11th
VORP: Ball 9th, DG 10th, Hunter 11th
On Court: Ball 9th, Hunter 10th, DG 11th
Off court: Ball 9th, Garland 10th, Hunter 11th
ON/OFF Diff: Ball 9th, Garland 10th, Hunter 11th
TruSht%: DG 6th, Hunter 8th, Ball 11th
It is just brutal. Whatever the causes: malaise, injury, slump, it is hard to argue those 3 were not our worst performing guys this season. Tomlin, CPJ (and Bryant) were all doing amd making $7 mil combined vs $75 mil.
And I think the FO (and the players) has serious doubts about it turning around this year.
When you think you are a contender and then realize you are not, it kinda takes the starch out of you.
And I think some of the cause of the Cavs’ malaise lies in that direction.
The hope being the deals not only upgrade the roster, but give the guys here a jolt and a belief that the ship isn’t sinking and they have a real shot at this.
Early returns are good. Let’s see if the bump is temporary or permanent. Biggest test pre-ASB is at Denver.
I enjoyed your feedback and engagement, Jason.
Thanks, Nate.
I get where you are coming from on this. Losing a favorite is hard enough. Replacing him with Bill Laimbeer or Danny Ainge is even harder.
As for the finish, I think we get over 50 wins, minimum. With 55 not impossible.
30 games left at 31-21. 50 is 19-11. We’ll do better than that if we avoid any more big injuries (knock on wood). The schedule at the end (last 16) is REALLY soft.
55 would be 24-6. 8-2 every 10. Three times in a row. That is my target/goal. 55-27.
I think we’ll come up a bit short of that. 54-28 or 53-29.
In Nate’s defense, there was a period last season where Darius Garland was leading the league (or very nearly) in clutch scoring & efficiency. Not Mitchell. Not Mobley. Not Ty Jerome. Garland.
We were rolling as a team. Spida was anazing. Ty was going berserk seemingly evey night. JA was playing at an all-star level on both ends. Mobley was blossoming offensively. And DG was Mr. Clutch. Heck, Hunter looked fantastic early on.
I think we all thought the Death Star was fully operational, and it looked that was the case after Miami.
Not only that, the team, aesthetically and individually, was really likeable. And it looked like a 4-5 year run was about to ensue. Heck, OKORO was pushing 40% on triples at one point.
But DG hurt his toe. Spida got worn down. Mobley hurt. Jerome went WAY cold. Still almost got them to G6.
DG never regained form/got healthy. Hunter regressed badly. Shooting, D, attitude. As did the team. Ball defended well but could not create or shoot much. We were net negative with DG & Hunter on the court. Spidaman leaving became a real fear.
Tyson’s emergence made Hunter expendable. Netting Schröder & Ellis for him, to fill the Ball/Okoro roles (backup PG & perimeter defender) was a coup. That & dumping Ball saved us over $100 million in cap/tax $$$.
Schröder can generate much lore offense & penetrate better than Ball. And Ellis is a more disruptive defender than Okoro (or even Ball), if not quite as sturdy, who is a 40% career 3PT shooter. He is TJ McConnell level pesky.
So I get why Nate was buyoed by the deal. I was, too. I was expectinh everyone to be more excited about it, frankly.
But it propelling us to the Finals? Perhaps if NY did not exist. And the Finals with DG shut down? That looked to me like excess wear on Spida and him breaking down again to me.
Anyway, the Hunter/Ball moves were corrective, an admission of mistakes. So was the DG deal. But the Hunter/DG deals were on the periphery, and invilolved short timers.
The DG deal deal involved a core guy. A guy we drafted & developed and had seen develop into an all-star and top 3 clutch guy as recently as last year.
And it involved not only losing the player, but also the end of the Core 4 Era of Good Feelings that happened last year. Jerome a part of that as well. ICE too.
And replacing that with HARDEN. Mercenary. Force his way out of towner. Flopper. Partier. Over dribbler. Buffet lover.
Which is my long way of saying that I totally get Nate’s extreme negative reaction to the deal.
And the recognition that it is more than just the loss of the player, but kinda a loss of an era. The post LeBron rebuild that started with that player. And all the good vibes that came from it.
But we were never gonna go the distance with DG/Mitchell backcourt. And DGs injury/play was endangering our easiest path to the Finals AND Mitchell wanting to sign an extension.
Harden is a MUCH more durable, proven player. Even in the POs, Harden’s worst is double DGs career average (by WS/48).
And it isn’t just that metric. Box Plus Minus & ON/OFF tell the same story.
DG (and Jerome) got abused in the POs last year, and would have again defensively.
Replacing DG/Hunter/Jerome/IceBall with Harden/Tyson/Schröder/Ellis is gonna be a big upgrade. Not to mention CPJ, Tomlin, & Bryant.
Ya know ,this is the same front office that was using terms like ethical basketball, and creating a different kind of team mindset.How quickly that goes away when they see hopes fading.haha!! I haven’t listened to the pod yet ,but I will. I get the trade from a business perspective and I thought DG needed to go two yrs ago.It wasn’t gonna work with the two small guards.What strikes me is that at least publicly, they wouldn’t admit that the core 4 might not work or that altering it in any way might be of benefit til now,,,,and then they… Read more »
Knicks are playing well, but I see us getting to at least 3rd, probably 2nd. 1st is not out of the question.
Pistons lost to the Wiz, at home. SGA is out for a bit. If we can close to within 3-4 games of Detroit going into that finishing stretch.
Lob City was CP3 (Griffin, Jordan). Point taken on Harden, but that was Point God.
And if CP3 does not get hurt, Harden probably does make a finals.
Nate, Harden is not a cancer. Most of his former teammates like him: KD, Westbrook, Maxey, and everyone on the Clips.
There are valid concerns, but it has never worked with DG either. Why would you think it would?
You guys have it wrong on the contract, there is almost assuredly a wink-wink deal for at least one more year with Harden (if not two).
The last 16 games of our schedule are EASY: at Dal, Dal, at Mil, at Chi, at NO, Orl, Mia, Mia, at Utah, at LAL, at GSW, Ind, at Memphis, Atl, at Atl, Wash.
Appreciate your thorough analysis, Jason. And I was definitely emotional. On another note. Wins Shares is kind a very problematic metric.
Well, I mean, like I said in the other thread, #1 is Jordan, #2 is Mikan, #3 is LeBron, #4 is Jokic.
That looks about right. ANY metric has its quirks. Guys that play longer will obviously have there scores drop a bit (Kareem, Duncan, Shaq, etc).
Guys who played on more balanced teams take a bit of a hit.
I get being emotional on Harden, & I share a lot of it. And I get liking DG the dude.
Yeah. The problem with wins shares is its great for stars. Its not great for role players
Especially role players who may not put up great counting stats, especially who may be low usage guys.
It is a counting stat. So, yeah, the guys with more PT are gonna dominate. More minutes.
But I think you are cherry picking a bit there. First off, the issue is bigger than win shares, as BPM, ON/OFF, and VORP all tell the same story. And WS/48 fixes the minutes thing and DG is still 9th. Ahead of Hunter & Ball, but behind Bryant. Ball was even behind LNJ & Proctor in WS/48, despite the good D. The O is THAT bad. Just like DGs D.
Further, Hunter is 4th in minutes and tied for 9th (with DG) in WS. DG is behind guys who have played LESS minutes than he has (Merrill & Tomlin). I just flat out don’t buy your take on WS. JA & Mobes don’t put up huge counting stats, they are 2nd & 3rd. CPJ & Wade are 5th & 6th, they put up no kind of counting stays. Come on, Nate. WS isn’t PER, Nate. And WS/48 fixes it. No minutes bias in BPM or ON/OFF. Ball, DG, & Hunter are the worst there, BY FAR. And DG/Hunter worse than… Read more »
Dropped this in the Clips thread, but in terms of Win Shares per 48 minutes, in the POs last year: JA led the league, Mobley was 2nd, and Mitchell 4th. (Giannis 3rd, SGA 5th).
IDK if the Clips are in a good spot, long term. Aspiration could go poorly for them, and Kawhi may be out after next year, or before if they go full rebuild.
I don’t think benching DG boosts hus value. The problem is that DG looked like crap all the time.
And I will just say, compleining about the return for DG is NUTS. The Hawks got McCollum & Krispert for Young. Memphis could not get anything for Morant.
Harden is, by FAR, the better player right now.
Harden is 46th, all time, in playoff WS/48, five spots below Larry Bird.
Year by year WS/48 PO: 0.186, 0.193, 0.184, 0.100, 0.111, 0.202, 0.106, 0.157, 0.163, 0.195, 0.253, 0.263, 0.112, 0.111, 0.173, 0.122. Career: 0.170.
DG: 0.056, 0.037, 0.088. Career: 0.052.
That isn’t all great, but there a couple of REALLY good years there. But it is orders of magnitude better than DG.
We don’t need Harden to be MVP level, just good.
Thinking the Cavs would have made the Finals shutting DG down is just absurd. Nate is just way too emotional.
I will add, Jerome was pretty good in the POs vs Miami (shat bed vs Indy, though). Hunter wasn’t as bad as we think (0.127 isn’t HORRID).
I would not read too much into the Clips game, they clearly were deflated.
We DID look really good, though.
IDK if I can listen to the whole thing, but I am gonna agree with Chris on Harden.
I was stunned you guys were so ‘meh’ on the Hunter trade. Ellis IS elite in terms of steals (and a career 40% 3PT shooter).
Schröder’s 6 dimes was the best part of his game. He can greate O where Ball, though solid on D, cannot.
JA 40/17/5 + 4 blocks, 2 steals, no TOs, no fouls vs Portland.
I don’t know if we were “meh.” I think we were all just exhausted. Long day.