I never understood why so many, the media wankers especially, fixated on the first year salary in deeming his contract 'huge.' Taken on average over the years, it's a fair contract.
Good for Wesley. He clearly deserves it. We've gone from an All-Star SG to a rookie/soph game SG due to injury, but I don't think anybody expected Matthews to completely replace Roy once Roy went down. He's been a nice surprise, and if he can go back to the role that was expected of him when he was signed, the team will be better off for it. The bad part for Wesley is that he makes way more money than the other guys in the game, so I'm sure he'll be buying dinner!
This is awesome. Wesley plays like he has been around for a long time. I will also admit I didn't even think of him playing in the rookie/Sophomore game.
Everyone is overjoyed at how well he's doing, beyond their expectations, except me. I thought he was worth the money when we got him, but now I think we overpaid.
MLE for a 15 PER player is about right, I guess. For a starting SG, he's average in production, and average in terms of contract. How that changes over the duration of the contract, nobody knows. I'm more concerned with the future of PG than Wesley Matthews, although if Matthews is expected to be anything more than a role player, this team won't win a title, IMO.
He's 15th in PER out of the starting SGs in the NBA, and he is the second leading scorer on a 25-21 team. A 15 PER is is typically considered an "average" player as well. 15th in PER with a PER of 15, and on a MLE contract. Perhaps his nickname could be "Mr. Average"? He's doing awesome for a 2nd-year undrafted player, though. He's just not as good as many here seem to think, at least compared to what the Blazers used to have at starting PG.
15 is not an average player. It is an average minute of NBA played and roughly equivalent to an average starter in the league. FWIW - a "replacement level player" in the SG position is defined at 10.5 PER http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&page=PERDiem-090325
According to Hollinger's reference guide, a 15 PER means pretty good player, which I would agree Matthews is.
Fair enough. I posted similar to the "average" thing in terms of starting, though I said "player" afterward. He's basically an average starter at SG. What's wrong with that? Of the bench, he was actually worse, so starting (or getting a higher usage rate?) has increased his production. I don't think there is anything wrong with saying that a team with Matthews as its second leading scorer isn't going to be a title contender, at least right now. I'm glad he made the game. What else can I say? He isn't Roy's long-term replacement, though.
I agree he's a pretty good player. Of course, with a 15 PER of his own, that must mean that Travis Outlaw was a pretty good player as well, which I also agree with.
