While the difference in shotblocking/steals is significant, Aldridge has been a significantly better man defender which has a lot of value. Opp Per: Aldridge PF: 15.6 Thomas PF: 18.0 On Court per 100 possessions: Aldridge Off: 117.1 Def: 108.7 Thomas Off: 105.4 Def: 109.7 With how close they are defensively, the big advantage Aldridge has offensively, and the lessening gap in rebounding (LMA RB%: 12.5, Thomas RB%: 13.5) it's not much of a debate as to whom the better/more valuable player is.
Whoa there.... Just because Aldridge is clearly the better player doesn't mean Tyrus Thomas is a bust, or that he sucks, or he's a garbage time player. The last half of this season has been a breakout season of sorts, and I suspect it'll continue into next season. The man has a bright future- maybe not superstar bright, but I could definitely see him being a 19 and 8 player in a few years. He's also had some tremondous blocking games this year- 7 if i recall correctly. Not a lot of players have the ability to ever do that once! But yes, Aldridge is much better. But no, Thomas is not horrible.
He also set the Bulls record for most games with a block in a row. It's going to end up being the biggest block streak in the NBA this year.
Aldridge has already panned out. While Thomas may yet develop into an above average NBA starter in his 4th, 5th or 6th season, Aldridge was one at the beginning of his 2nd season and is playing at a near all-star level in his 3rd - and still getting better. There isn't a coach or GM in the league that would take Thomas over Aldridge today. Go ahead and defend him all you want, it doesn't change the fact that the Bulls blew that trade. BNM
As a rookie, Aldridge put up 9.0/5.0.1.2 in 22 MPG with a PER of 17.1. If you normalize both players production to 36 MPG, that comes to: Aldridge (rookie season) per 36 minutes: 14.6/8.1/1.9 with a PER of 17.1 Thomas (3rd season) per 36 minutes: 14.0/8.5/2.5 with a PER of 15.7 So, Thomas as a 3rd year player has finally managed to be about as productive as Aldridge was as a rookie. In terms of overall production, Aldridge started higher than Thomas and has improved at a faster rate. Thomas: 1st Season, PER = 14.8 2nd Season, PER = 14.6 3rd Season, PER = 15.7 Aldridge: 1st Season, PER = 17.1 2nd Season, PER = 18.5 3rd Season, PER = 19.5 In terms of PER, Thomas is currently a slightly above Average NBA Player (15.0) and Aldridge is currently slightly below Borderline All-Star (20.0). As a second year player, Aldridge was already slight better than a Solid 2nd Option (18.0). BNM
I think you are misinterpreting the context he is using "Garbage Man" in.. he isnt saying he is a garbage player, or a garbage time player.. more of a "lunch pale, do the dirty work type player" and teams need those, hell he would be a perfect backup (aside from the IQ of a fence post) to Aldridge here. Teams need do the dirty work players, Joel is one of those for us here in Portland.
When I hear "garbage man" I think of Cedric Ceballos - a player who could score 20 PPG without having a single play run for him. He got almost all his points off offensive rebounds, broken plays, steals, fast breaks, etc. Since Thomas is a high energy player without great half-court low post skills, he could develop into a similar type of "garbage man" on offense. Of course, defensively they are very different players. BNM
That's silly. If we do that, then we could easily say that LaMarcus Aldridge right now isn't as good as Thomas as a rookie.
He's not a garbage man though. Joakim Noah is a garbage man, but Thomas is not. Thomas scores a lot of his points on jumpshots and quite a bit off the dribble.
You can parse 'garbage man' however you like, but the fact remains that Thomas still has a pretty raw offensive game and no back to the basket game and generates a lot of his offense on plays that are not out of a set. You initially took the term to mean something derogatory when it wasn't intended that way.
You could make an argument that Thomas had a better rookie season Per 40 minutes at 15.5/11 whereas LMA went for 16/9 per 40 ... pretty damn close to a tossup if you ask me
How so????? That data shows that Aldridge, as a rookie (PER = 17.1), was more productive than Thomas in his 3rd season (PER = 15.7). How can you possibly interpret that data to show that the rookie Thomas, (PER = 14.8), is better than Aldridge now (PER = 19.5)? Please explain. I'm baffled by your statement. BNM
If you do per 36, Thomas averages 13.9 PPG 10.0 RPG 2.8 BPG 1.7 SPG. That player is better than 17.9 PPG 7.2 RPG 0.9 BPG 0.9 SPG I'm not saying that Thomas as a rookie was better than Aldridge now, but that it was stupid to say Aldridge as a rookie was better than Thomas using per 36 minute stats, which are very misleading with rookies.
