How exactly would they be considered empty stats when his best games have directly contributed to us winning, and his 2 worst games were the games we looked the worst? That makes no sense. It seems actually like quite the opposite. If he was doing all this, and we were 0-6, blown out each game? Sure.
Is this post sarcastic? Ayton has anchored the 9th ranked defense. He is contributing with great rim protection, help defending both on bigs and penetration, elite rebounding, and shooting over 60% FG. He is 6th on the team in FGA on the 29th ranked offense. Empty stats is having huge scoring or other stats by jacking up shots while not helping the team win - which is basically the complete opposite of what Ayton has done over these first 6 games. Suns are 2-4 and Blazers are 3-3. Of course that won't likely continue - but discounting Ayton play at this point for empty stats on a .500 team is asine. If this post is not sarcastic it has to go down as one of the worst takes on this board so far this year, so congrats - thats quite an accomplishment.
Not sure i see the "Massively Overpaid" part? I looked up PF's in the NBA and he is ranked 7th. Yes probably a bit high? Siakam signed his contract a year earlier so it's a bit lower. He's every bit as good as McDaniels and John Collins. He can guard pretty much every position on the court but I'd say more 1-4. He can shoot well though we know he can go cold just like any player. IMO you are probably right he's a bit overpaid but not "Massively". He's 29 and in his prime. In 2-3 years his contract will be very average.
You clicked into the "way too early observations" thread and thought it was a good idea to type out and then post this reply?
Thanks for putting this together. Yes its been awesome watching Ayton and Williams. We've had some decent center duos the last decade, Kanter and Nurk were beasting for a few months before Nurk snapped his leg. Plumlee and Ed Davis were very effective. But basically since Nurk had that big injury we've had below average starting centers and horrible backups often having to use a forward. This has been one of the best aspect to watch this season. I still can't believe we got Ayton for primarily Nurk - what a steal of a trade and it looks better every week.
How about we wait until 20 years from now as then we will know 100% for certainty how all of these players careers took place and what exactly all of these teams accomplished. Any observation prior to that time is an inexact estimate - if we simply wait those 20 years we will have much more certainty.
How about I look again at 60 games so i can make a sound judgement. Heck even 40 would be pretty good. Then after the season is complete I'll have a better feel for where all this stands. You do you bro. For now I'm going to sit back and watch how it all unfolds. Enjoy your day.
Blazers players have played 1,465 minutes of regular season basketball. Is it definitive for how the entire season will track? Obviously no. Could there be massive changes in performance by any and all Blazers players? Obvious yes. That said - can we still make assumptions and imprecise observations at this time? YES. That seems to be the point of this thread. I don't see anyone claiming these observations are set in stone, but they are interesting to view right now. If someone wants to only review this at 60 games I question why you would decide to go click into this thread and post such.
Okay so it seems like your problem is with a portion of my statement that said "This is classic empty stats situation". That portion of that comment was directed at Ayton because he is in fact on a team that will not win many games this year "MOST LIKELY". No it's not definitive at this point. "Way too early to tell" Part of the empty stats comment comes from the 9th ranked defense part. The Blazers have not played teams that are going to cook them like they will in the next month. His rebounding while impressive has been lifted by the large amount of missed shots. Offensive and defensive because the teams they have played shot very poorly as well. Even the Sixers. My bet is if the Blazers get better (As many of us hope they will) Ayton's numbers "will even out a bit" like I said in the original post. If the Blazers continue to struggle then Ayton will in fact continue to get big numbers. This is the very definition of "Empty Stats" Exactly how is that take "Asinine" (As you have deemed) or wrong being it's exactly what this thread is titled. A Way Too Early Observation.
I'm for moving most any player for the right return. At Jerami's age, it's unlikely he'll be part of the core by the time this team is good again so agreed it's better to cash that asset in. Also, I like the idea of clearing the books for max type Free Agents as their roster could be very enticing to join in a year or two. Ideally though, I'd rather see Grant dealt in a year or so as they are just so bad at the other forward spot. Grant gives them another legit player and the chance to compete. I see nightly drubbings as a bad team culture to bring promising talent up in. The West is fierce and deep & I'll be shocked if they even flirt with making the playoffs this season, but they aren't terrible. STOMP
I anticipate that Nurkic's rankings might drop a bit unless the Suns, somehow, start playing like a contender....and I have doubts about that roster my estimation is that Ayton's numbers, and rankings, will drop too. A 6 game sample size is ridiculously small. One great half by the team or one terrible half by an opponent can skew the stats way out of whack. Portland's good defensive numbers, and Ayton's, may very well be a schedule artifact right now. In the last 3 games, the Blazers have played the 16th, 27th, and 30th ranked teams in offense. That will help defensive rating. And yeah, with a 6 game sample size, Portland has had an impact on those bad offensive ratings
I would agree with that.....but the interesting thing is Portland is actually ahead of the Suns in the standings. Who would have thunk?
D69 and also @Natebishop3 have touched on the following. It is WAY too early, but is also just an observation of what is. Kobe............Shaedon (both at age 20. Kobe in season #3, Shaedon in season #2) 19.9 ppg.......20.5 ppg 5.3 rpg...........5.5 rpg 3.8 apg..........2.8 apg 1.4 spg...........1.0 spg .465 FG%...... .452% FG% .267 3pt%...... .378% 3pt% .839 FT%....... .862%FT% .482 eFG%..... .527%eFG% Kobe did it for a full season, but that was in his 3rd year in the league. Shae is off to a good start in his 2nd season after not playing for over a year. WAY WAY too early, but nice to see Sharpe trending in that direction.
