Just what we need, another guy that can create is own shot, it not shy about it, but can’t defend a lick.

First of all, “can’t defend a lick” isn’t a fair criticism of Morant. He’s probably not a plus defender but he has upped his steal rate quite a bit this year, and has averaged 2 steals per 40. Steals are a pretty decent predictor of future defensive success for guards. He’s young and skinny but he has long arms and he competes hard so I’m not writing him off as “can’t defend a lick.”

Also, point of attack defenders at the PG position in the NBA are really rare. You can make the “can’t defend a lick” argument to most of the top PGs in the league today. Defense today is all about switchable wings and rim protecting bigs. It’s not super crucial to have a PG who is a great defender.

Second, he doesn’t just “create his own shot,” he creates shots for others because he is an incredibly prolific passer even on his podunk Murray State team. He shoots a lot, which he should on that team, but he also dishes out 10+ assists per game to his pedestrian teammates. He has a 55.5 AST%. He has been turning it over too much, but that 55.5 AST% is pretty sparkling. He’s not at all like Trier, Knox, THJ and the other jabronis on this team who never pass the freaking ball.

The part that makes me throw my shoe at the screen is just how not-basketball he plays. I was watching, what was it, the Portland game maybe, and he kept missing the fact that Kornet was rolling unimpeded to the basket (I know, it’s Kornet, but still), or missing wide open guys in the corner(I know, it’s the Knicks, but still), and just putting his head down and flailing his way toward the basket.

I really don’t know why, but I’d rather watch Frank see the open guy, be unable to pull the trigger, and resignedly pass the ball to his right. It’s probably just the more relatable human tragedy angle – a young wisp of a man, self-aware but trapped by his own twisted demons, compared to the utterly un-self-aware young brute who actually thinks he’s doing the right thing when he’s not.

I’d still start him over frank today

Morant is like the anti-Ntilikina. Great handle, looks to beat everybody off the dribble, will tenaciously fight for rebounds, plays with supreme confidence.

you’re really gonna walk into the world’s fair of commercial tank installations and claim plumbing bigotry

Me-first players. Flawed players. Talented and dedicated to their specialty: posting numbers. Not very smart.

IMO, most advanced stats metrics fail to understand that “value” is not some fixed number that translates equally from team to team or lineup to lineup. It’s a team sport. The idea is to maximize defense, shooting, inside and outside scoring, play making, rebounding etc.. from 5 players in a balanced way.

If you have too much of any one skill at the expense of others, you start running into diminishing returns in the areas of excess and exploitable weaknesses in other areas.

This reality does not scream at you in some studies because organizations and coaches are aware of this and are always trying to build teams and lineups that maximize the balance and output within the players available. They aren’t running tests cases to prove the point.

A player’s on/off and value to each TEAM can vary dramatically depending his own skill set, who he’s playing with, and what that team needs.

I believe that what we need to do is look at the players’s skill set in a kind of checkbox, look at boxscore stats, look at the team and teammates, and try to decipher how good that player really is. A lot of it IS in the boxscore (excluding defense), but you have to at least try to take it to the next level.