Might make you feel better about signing Gary Payton II

I am willing to let him try. It's not like we can avoid signing good defenders because they might not be as successful as they were with other teams.
At some point, the refs will give us more respect. Plus I saw enough good D from Winslow and Hart in those few games that make me think GP2 can as well.

 

I feel fine about the signing.

 

Lillard and Brown for Durant and you can have that team today!

 

1) Gary Payton II wasn't a restricted free agent, wasn't a 2nd round pick, and wasn't coming off year two in the NBA. Therefore the Gilbert Arenas rule doesn't apply.

2) He did have early bird rights because even though GS cut him the year before, no one else signed him so it reverts to basically GS had him for two consecutive years. Therefore, early bird rights.

 

This is why they offered the Tax-MLE. If they used early bird rights it would've had to be 2 years.

 

Go take a look at his EPM rating (estimated plus minus) if you want to get happy or if you want to not believe in advanced stats. It is considered to be the best advanced stat by many and if I recall correctly by predictive power.
https://dunksandthrees.com/epm

 

TSN: What kind of advice did you give your son Gary Payton II about defense? That seems to be his calling card on the Warriors.

Payton: What happened was that being around me so much when he was young and seeing a lot of things that I was doing, he just got a knack for it. Especially when he went to Oregon State and followed behind me. I had so many records on defense [at OSU] and he came in a short period of time in two years and broke many of them.


I'm happy for that because right now I'm getting a lot of feedback from a lot of players that tell me, “Your son, I hate when he gets in the game. I hate it, I hate it, I hate it.” And I say, “Yeah, I bet you do hate it.” They’re like, “We just try to get him out of the game and get him away from things.” And that's what they did against me. They did me the same way.


TSN: What makes him so good on that end?

Payton: I think that he has a mindset. I always tell people when they ask me how to play defense, you have to have a mindset. You have to worry about just trying to stop people.

I think he's gotten really good at being patient and timing. I always tell him, give the guys about two or three times down the floor to see what they're going to do because they're going to do the same thing. And once he times that, they get relaxed. Then all of a sudden, he has the steal.

TSN: There was a viral clip of your son earlier this season. I wonder if you saw it. During a break, he knocked over a fan’s drink. He was super polite, went to the usher, asked for a new drink and got it to the fan.

Payton: Yeah, he’s like that. What makes me so proud of him and proud of my kids is that every time I go to anyone, the first thing they say is they don’t care about his basketball. They care about how polite he is and how much of a gentleman he is and how sweet he is. I’ve been getting that his whole life, and I’m proud of that.

He does that. You saw it when they were playing somewhere else, he stepped on somebody’s brand new Jordans, and he went over there and brushed them off. He’s just that type of kid.

https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nba...player-of-year-award/h9ues7oxlh0pblpzqafc5xzt

 

Justise Winslow ranks pretty favorably there as well on the defensive end. I like that site because most the names match the eye test.

 

Yeah looks like we finally have some defenders. Let’s hope it translates over to the Blazers.

Here is some info on EPM. Looks like it is primarily an adjusted +/- stat but also uses box scores and player tracking data to help it along.

“We asked Steve Ilardi, co-creator of ESPN’s Real Plus-Minus who has worked as a consultant for NBA teams including the Phoenix Suns, what he thought about the metric.

“[EPM] does a superb job of reducing the high noise level inherent in basic RAPM modeling estimates by integrating Bayesian priors derived not just from box score stats (a la BPM) but also from player tracking metrics,” said Ilardi, during his recent conversation with HoopsHype. “[EPM] has gone one step beyond the RPM estimates that Jerry Engelmann and I developed for ESPN, as we began that project without access to player tracking metrics.”

“I regard EPM as the obvious gold standard of all-in-one metrics,” added Ilardi.”

https://hoopshype.com/lists/advanced-stats-nba-real-plus-minus-rapm-win-shares-analytics/

 

hard to gauge a stat that is behind a paywall...unless you pay...which I won't

 

Top 11 (I included 11 on purpose hehe) defenders in the NBA last season according to RAPTOR

 

Two top 11 defenders in the regular rotation?

Nice!
when is the last time we had that?

 

Never?

Also, if Nas had stayed healthy and sustained his play, he wouldve ranked as a top 50ish overall defender, at least according to RAPTOR. His grade was comparable to guys like Jrue and Dort. Winslow graded favorably as well.

 

How is Nikola Jokic on this list?

 

Also, Hart is now slouch. If height is no longer as important as it used to be in this league... which it isn't, we have things on lock with the starting lineup and the bench at all guard and forward spots. The big question is can Drew Eubanks be the backup big we will need in certain situations. If the answer to that question is yes, I think this roster is going to be fighting for a 4-7 seed. If that answer is no we could be in the play ins. That isn't taking into consideration any impact from Shaedon and he could have a huge impact.

 

I would guess a scheme that uses a big body well.

 

Jokic has really improved defensively from earlier in his career.

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/nikola-jokic-bolstered-his-mvp-case-with-his-defense/

 

I'm just worried he won't play much.

 

Oh, he's gonna play. Might even start at the 3.

 

Me neither. But you can look at the current year without paying. I haven’t found a detailed description of how it works either.