Until they come up with a PER/$ stat, who gives a crap about the paychecks? Top players all end up with a max contract at some point in their careers. The relative dollars just depend on when it's signed.
Right? @yuyuza1 You are smart. YOu know shooters need to keep shooting to get hot, or break out of a slump. Cant have the cake and eat it too. Seriously though, what would you prefer? He make 3.5 of 10 or 1 of 5?
One could argue that he's behind the 4 in the OP, as well as Curry, Westbrook, CP3, Harden, Hill, Kyrie, Conley (when healthy), and conceivably his own teammate. Not saying it's an argument that I'd make, but it's not completely nuts.
Just to follow up, here's the advanced stats comparison with Dame vs all 11 of the above noted PG's: Dame's BPM is the lowest of the bunch except Kyrie. So, yeah, it's definitely not out of the realm of possibility that he is not a top 10 PG in the NBA this season.
Well it depends on who you count really, for example, I think of Giannis as a pg even if he isnt listed as such (he is the primary ball handler like harden so Im going to count him) but here is ten I think could be argued are better than dame: Harden Westbrick Curry CP3 Giannis Irving Lowry Thomas Wall Walker Dame probably could be ranked anywhere in the highlighted range including the bottom
George Hill is an anomaly given the rest of his mediocre career. And his sample size this year has been minimal in comparison. Harden as a PG is still a weird concept for me. Ya he does PG stuff, but he's a SG height, and clearly still plays with a PG in Beverley. Similar to Giannis. Dame's 3pt % is the only thing holding him back. I don't consider Thomas/Kemba/Steph as being all that much better on D individually. Put rim protectors and defensive stoppers next to Dame and his defense doesn't look nearly as bad. We have direct evidence of this just two years ago when Dame was flanked by Wes/Nic/Rolo.
Both guys are playing the point guard role. Harden's not playing "with a point guard," he's playing with a smaller, defense-oriented guard who can check point guards on defense. Harden is definitely the point guard on that team right now and they cross-match defensively.
While I agree, at this point in the season he's playing like a rich mans Monte Ellis with a green light the size of texas. Dame is a max player like all the guys on the list I just dont think he's a superstar like we all hoped he would be this year. He started the year looking like the guy that was necessary to win a chip during the next few years, but that fizzled out quickly along with any hope of a playoff run.
He's still playing this year better than Dame. If it comes down to one of the two for the final all star spot in the west, Hill deserves it over Dame so far. Harden is unquestionably running the point in Houston. Just because he's taller than his backcourt-mate doesn't mean he's not the PG. Magic was no less a PG just because he played with Byron Scott. Same with Penny Hardaway and Dennis Scott. Point is, as absurd as it initially seems, and despite the justifications and speculations, it's still not an unreasonable question to ask if Dame is actually a top 10 PG this year. The numbers--and the team record--support the other guys.
Of course, the important question is is Dame the best PG FOR THE BLAZERS. And sadly, given CJ as SG, he's not. George Hill, for example, would be considerably better (at least this year), especially given his insane wingspan and ability to cover SGs. If we had someone like Klay Thompson or Tony Allen as our SG, then it'd be a different matter. (But then Isaiah Thomas might be better.)
