Tyreke Evans or Wesley Mathews?...

Chemistry is huge in basketball. Having a bunch of like-minded individuals goes a long way in either bringing your team down or building it up.

I'm sure that ya'll can attest to that as fans from the infamous "Jail Blazers" era just much as Kings fans can attest to their current mess. Someone should have told Sactown on draft night that adding a quiet Mormon kid to your roster won't fix having characters like Cousins and Evans on your squad.

I heard Barkley on TNT last night saying that Evans has been spoiled by having all of the bad characters around him, but I don't think he knows Evans' back-story. Being a big high school recruiting and NCAA fan, I remember Tyreke when he was an untouchable, can't miss prospect, but the problems even then were the people he surrounded himself with.

One of my favorite sayings about Tyreke is, "He can drive, but he can't shoot!" I don't know which one of my friends or family members said that, but it's not only true of his game but also the time that Tyreke's cousin killed a man in high school in a gang related incident, where there were many allegations about Tyreke being the shooter, but when it was all said and done, he was just an unsuspecting "driver." The whole incident reeks of promising his cousin a big future pay day to take the rap for him. Regardless of the details, that have been reported in all sorts of ways, this is a guy who showed up to a University of Memphis game on a recruiting trip with his whole "Team Tyreke" wearing Villanova gear, and a few weeks later, Villanova had more or less disowned him.

Moral of the story: Tyreke's not only a selfish player, but he's got the danger to be a lockerroom headcase. Your team seems to have amazing chemistry, and surrounding Damian Lillard with a player like Evans would not only be detrimental to him on the court, but in my opinion, he'd bring him down off the court as well.

 

Matthews without question. Evans seems like a blackhole and a bit of a cancer to me. He and Dame would not mesh well.

 

I agree with the consensus: Wes isn't necessarily a top SG in the league, but he's a good fit and a good team player. Now that we have Lillard, a ball dominant SG is not a good idea unless he's coming off the bench, and in Stotts' game plan, all our wings need to be able to hit the three.

 

This without question, you can't let go of Wes but direly need a sixth man

 

I knew I could find something to agree with you on. You are exactly right on this. I sense that the ones who would choose Evans over Wes do no have the NBA League Pass. They are still under the assumption that Tyreke plays like he did his Rookie year. I agree he would be effective off the bench, but not along side Lillard. He rarely puts any effort into D and that is half the game.

 

Matthews, and it's not even remotely close. Matthews is a winner who makes his team better. Evans is a loser who makes his team worse. Anyone who looks at the stats and thinks Evans is better needs to look at something other than scoring average. Evens is a terribly inefficient scorer and a bad defender. Matthews is a much more efficient scorer and better defender.

Career eFG%:
Tyreke Evans: .459
Wesley Matthews: .522

Career WS/48:
Tyreke Evans: .062
Wesley Matthews: .114

Every year he's been in the league, Evans offensive rating (ORtg) has been significantly lower than his defensive rating (DRtg). In other words, he gives up more points than he produces. He has a negative impact on his team's performance.

Tyreke Evans (ORtg, DRtg):
2009-10: 107, 110
2010-11: 99, 109
2011-12: 103, 111
2012-13: 106, 110
Career: 103, 110

By comparison, Wesley Matthews has a higher offensive rating than defensive rating every single year of his career. In other words, Matthews produces more points than he allows. He has a positive impact on his team's performance.

Wesley Matthews (ORtg, DRtg):
2009-10: 113, 108
2010-11: 114, 109
2011-12: 110, 108
2012-13: 112, 109
Career: 112, 108

So, over the course of their careers, Evans gives up 7 more points per 48 minutes than he produces and Matthews produces 4 more points per 48 than he gives up. That's a 11 point/48 difference in Wesley's favor.

As bad as the Kings have been during Evans' four years in the league, they are actually worse with him on the court than off the court. Here's his Net On Court/Off Court stats from 82games.com:

Tyreke Evans (Net On Court/Off Court):
2009-10: -5.3
2010-11: +1.7
2011-12: -2.6
2012-13: -2.5

Wesley Matthews (Net On Court/Off Court):
2009-10: -0.9
2010-11: +3.9
2011-12: +6.7
2012-13: +8.0

Other than a slightly negative Net On Court/Off Court his rookie season, Wesley Matthews has had a significant positive net impact on his team's performance. And While Evans continues to wallow in negative territory, Matthews has significantly improved his Net On Court/Off Court contributions every year he's been in the league.

Looking at the advanced stats, it's very clear Matthews has a MUCH more positive impact on his team's performance than Evans.

And, that's just on court impact. Given Evans' selfish, immature attitude and potential off court problems, I don't want him anywhere near this team, not even as a 6th man backing up Matthews.

Plus, Evans has missed a significant number of games in 2 of his 4 seasons due to injuries. Do we really want another injury prone player on our roster? By comparison, Wesley Matthews is an iron man who plays through injuries and recently had his consecutive games played streak end at 250 (second highest in the league at that point). Wes shows up to play, plays hard every night and plays through pain.

Wesley Mattews is a mature, hard working player who continues to work on improving his game every off season. He's a good shooter and works hard on defense. He's a good example, a good leader, with a positive attitude that has a positive impact on his teammates both on and off the court. He's exactly the kind of player I want on my team and in my locker room. I'd rather Tyreke Evans infect someone else's locker room with his negativity, selfishness and sense of entitlement. I'm not sure where I want him to end up next, Minnesota, or the Lakers...

BNM

 

You never liked the Matthews signing.

 

The question was Evans or Matthews.

Derp.

 

This season:

FG%
WM: .434
TE: .455

PER
WM: 15.2
TE 17.8

TRB%
WM: 7.9
TE: 15.3

AST%
WM: 12.0
TE: 17.8

BLK%
WM: 0.7
TE: 1.8

% of shots assisted
WM: 62%
TE: 39%

DrawFoul%
WM: 9.6
TE: 11.9

Passing Rating
WM: 2.9
TE: 5.2

Net 48-Minute Production (factors in opponent's PER)
WM: -2.5
TE: +3.4


And how exactly do you know he'd bring negativity, selfishness and sense of entitlement? Do you know him? Do you know the inner workings of the Kings locker room? That team has been a mess and Evans has never come across as a bad guy. Is there a reason you went on a tirade against him?

 

Evans is playing below his potential/ceiling while Matthews is at his. 3 years from now, with new coaches on a new team for Evans, it won't be close.

 

You seem to use the phrase 'derp' a lot. Is that your new go to?

 

Coaches may change and offense strategies may change, but I wonder how much a player's attitude changes. Some guys just play hard 95% of the time. Others........closer to 50%.

Wes is a leader. Tyreke does not appear to have any such skills. But I could be wrong.

 

A player's attitude can change drastically, just look at Batum.

 

evans sucks

 

I bet if you put Evens on a good team he would show new light much like JJ did.

 

Thanks for posting these additional stats. Although I'm sure it wasn't your intention, the majority of the stats you posed illustrate EXACTLY why I prefer Wesley Matthews over Tyreke Evans. In a nutshell, Matthews is a team player at both ends of the court. Evans is an inefficient scorer who hurts his team at both ends of the court. A lot of there differences can be attributed to the roles they play, and their individual skill sets. I'll address a few of those below...

Based on the other advanced stats you posted, I'm sure you know that there is more to shooting the basketball than simple FG%. Why didn't you also include 3FG%, FT%, TS% and eFG%? Because those percentages favor Matthews and perfectly illustrate why he's a better shooter and a better fit on this team. Since you are cherry picking the 21 games Evans has played this season, over his lower career averages, I'll include both this season and career averages (in parentheses).

3FG%:
Wesley Matthews: .407 (.395)
Tyreke Evans: .290 (.258)

FT%:
Wesley Matthews: .760 (.833)
Tyreke Evans: .783 (.764)

TS%:
Wesley Matthews: .566 (.570)
Tyreke Evans: .532 (.511)

eFG%:
Wesley Matthews: .530 (.522)
Tyreke Evans: .474 (.459)

Matthews wins by a landslide in eFG% due to his much higher 3FG% - and that's EXACTLY what this team needs from him. Because Wes is a very good 3-point shooter, he spreads the defense and creates open lanes for his teammates to drive.

Evans is the exact opposite. When he's in the game, the opposing defense can pack the paint. Not only is Evans a poor 3-point shooter, he's also a player who needs to dominate the ball to be his most effective. Unfortunately, when he dominates the ball, he hurts his team (as illustrated in my previous post).

You have to ask yourself, who would you rather have playing with Damian Lillard, a complimentary player who is an excellent 3-point shooter and doesn't need to dominate the ball to be effective, or a poor 3-point shooter who needs the ball in his hands to contribute? I'd much rather put the ball in Lillard's hands and use Matthews superior 3-point shooting to spread the floor.

Evans is a 1-on-1 player who needs to dominate the ball to be effective. Of course he's going to have better individual stats than a complimentary role player like Matthews. Evans may have better individual stats, but he gets those stats to the detriment of his team. Matthews is the superior team player, on both offense and defense. Evans was at his best his rookie year, when he played on a truly horrible team and put up big numbers by totally dominating the ball. Put him on a team with better and better teammates and he becomes less and less effective.

Again, an individual stat. Go back and look at my first post and compare how Evans' and Matthews' TEAMS do when they are on the court. Here's a brief recap:

Tyreke Evans (Net On Court/Off Court):
2009-10: -5.3
2010-11: +1.7
2011-12: -2.6
2012-13: -2.5

Wesley Matthews (Net On Court/Off Court):
2009-10: -0.9
2010-11: +3.9
2011-12: +6.7
2012-13: +8.0

Evans, due to his inefficient scoring (low eFG%) and ball dominance hurts his team. Matthews, due to his much higher eFG%, ability to spread the floor and better individual and team defense, helps his team. Basketball is still a team sport. In a game of 1-on-1, I'd take Evans in a heartbeat. In a game of 5-on-5, I'd take Matthews every time, without hesitation.

And, just one final parting shot to show how Evans HURTS his team's performance:

Evans has played in 21 games this season. In those 21 games, the Kings are 5-16 (.238). In the games he hasn't played, the Kings are 8-8 (.500). So, without Evans, the Kings are a .500 team and in the hunt for the 8th seed. Add Evans and they are the worst team in the Western Conference (.238, NOH is currently in last place at .312). This, is why I don't want any part of Tyreke Evans, he makes his team worse, substantially worse.

How do I know? The constant stream of articles about how Evans is unhappy and/or disgruntled with his role. I'll leave the googling for you, but there has been a constant stream of trade rumors swirling around Evans because he's unhappy that he no longer gets to totally dominate the ball like he did his rookie year. He had numerous complaints about Paul Westphal and Evans and his agent have been whining about his role under Keith Smart for the past year. Again Evans is all about his own numbers, not about his team's success. He'd rather put up big numbers on a crap team than sacrifice his own stats for the benefit of the team - the EXACT opposite of Wesley Mattews. I've never been a fan of selfish players, and Evans is exactly that kind of player. I don't want him anywhere near my team. He would be a HORRIBLE match (piss poor 3-point shooting, ball dominating) with Lillard and his ego is too big for him to ever peacefully accept a role as a bench player.

BNM

 

Not seeing the comparison between Batum and Evans at all. Batum always tried on defense. He may have been frustrated by the way they used him on offense, but he still went out and played hard.

 

Agreed, Batum was previously UNDERUTILIZED to the detriment of his team. Evans was previously OVERUTILIZED (well, other than his rookie year when the rest of his team basically sucked) to the detriment of his team. Batum needed to be more assertive, Evans needs to be less assertive.

Evans reminds me of Stephon Marbury - a guy who put up great individual stats, yet every time he was traded, his new team got worse and his old team got better. Coincidence? I think not!

BNM

 

I was just posting the stats that Evans is better at because you only posted the ones that Matthews has the edge in.

 

Evans would be a dream 6th man imo, and with the proper environment he's much more likely to grow.