BasketVols in the NBA (Pros)

[Rifleman]

Dallas Mavericks = 2nd to last in the league in passing

It sucks Grant is on an irrelevant team, but they finally look like up-and-comers. Happy he found a good home and he can be part of building a good team instead of just arriving on one.

With Luka's crazy high assist percentage, that is truly sad.

 

[n_huffhines]

With Luka's crazy high assist percentage, that is truly sad.

He's too heliocentric. He gets the assists because he's always got the ball until a cutter gets open or he takes a shot, or kicks out to 3p with shot clock winding down.

Luka is so, so good. Top 5 player in the league for sure in terms of what he can do with the ball in his hands. He's an A+ with the ball in his hands but he's not interested in doing anything else on offense. He doesn't work off ball. He doesn't set many screens. He's just a bump on a log when he doesn't have the ball. I don't think it's a fun place to be for fans or teammates. Kyrie gets his touches but nobody else really does.

Suns passed on Luka and I wish we could've drafted him just so we could have the asset to trade (imagine the haul), but I know we wouldn't trade him if we had him. We'd build around him, and then we wouldn't be built around Booker and we wouldn't be having fun watching basketball (and probably still 0 titles because we'd be too heliocentric).

 

[LeannaVol]

I have always been surprised by Grant's lack of rebounds at the NBA level. He seems to be grabbing more with Charlotte in a small sample size. I don't watch that much NBA but in the games I did watch with the Celtics and a few with the Mavs it never looked like he hit the boards that hard. For a guy that plays hard defensively and does other little things it always surprised me. Some of it may have been based on assignments and offensive spacing. Just a thought I had on ways he could increase his value in the league.

 

[Rifleman]

I have always been surprised by Grant's lack of rebounds at the NBA level. He seems to be grabbing more with Charlotte in a small sample size. I don't watch that much NBA but in the games I did watch with the Celtics and a few with the Mavs it never looked like he hit the boards that hard. For a guy that plays hard defensively and does other little things it always surprised me. Some of it may have been based on assignments and offensive spacing. Just a thought I had on ways he could increase his value in the league.

On the Celtics, he was in the corner on offense often and just needed to hold his box out on D because Tatum, Brown, and others are such great quick-to-the-ball rebounders. So this is honestly an open question as to how good a rebounder he can be.

His 3 game Hornet average so far is 17 and 7. If he can keep that up, I'd be impressed.

 

[n_huffhines]

Grant had a man's body in college, and that was enough to get 7 RPG when you're playing near the hoop in the SEC, but 7 RPG is nothing special, really.

He's not a quick jumper, he doesn't have good length, and he's further from the basket now. I'll be pretty surprised if the 7 RPG holds up. But maybe he'll be a 5 RPG guy in Charlotte.

 

[chuckiepoo]

Dallas Mavericks = 2nd to last in the league in passing

It sucks Grant is on an irrelevant team, but they finally look like up-and-comers. Happy he found a good home and he can be part of building a good team instead of just arriving on one.

I can’t imagine Grant enjoying playing on a team where his accountability to his teammates was causing problems. Luka can keep South Oklahoma.

 

[Rifleman]

He's too heliocentric. He gets the assists because he's always got the ball until a cutter gets open or he takes a shot, or kicks out to 3p with shot clock winding down.

Luka is so, so good. Top 5 player in the league for sure in terms of what he can do with the ball in his hands. He's an A+ with the ball in his hands but he's not interested in doing anything else on offense. He doesn't work off ball. He doesn't set many screens. He's just a bump on a log when he doesn't have the ball. I don't think it's a fun place to be for fans or teammates. Kyrie gets his touches but nobody else really does.

Suns passed on Luka and I wish we could've drafted him just so we could have the asset to trade (imagine the haul), but I know we wouldn't trade him if we had him. We'd build around him, and then we wouldn't be built around Booker and we wouldn't be having fun watching basketball (and probably still 0 titles because we'd be too heliocentric).

100%

Came across this stat which backs up your assessment: if the season ended today, Luka would be in the top 25 all time players for single season usage rate.

Of those 25 highest usage rate seasons, only 1 player has ever even gotten his team to the Finals.

That was Allen Iverson with Dikembe Mutombo in the box to 1) eat up all those offensive boards--130th best offensive rebounding season all time--and 2) anchor the defense--140th best shot blocking season all time.

So, Dikembe, AI and Larry Brown were able to make the heliocentric gimmick offense work just this once in a very weak East and they still got beat pretty convincingly in the Finals. Still, if there's anyone out there who can do the same for Luka, that would start to get interesting. As constructed, there are 3 or 4 teams in the West no amount of Luka magic is going to get Dallas through.

 

[Col_Cathcart]

100%

Came across this stat which backs up your assessment: if the season ended today, Luka would be in the top 25 all time players for single season usage rate.

Of those 25 highest usage rate seasons, only 1 player has ever even gotten his team to the Finals.

That was Allen Iverson with Dikembe Mutombo in the box to 1) eat up all those offensive boards--130th best offensive rebounding season all time--and 2) anchor the defense--140th best shot blocking season all time.

So, Dikembe, AI and Larry Brown were able to make the heliocentric gimmick offense work just this once in a very weak East and they still got beat pretty convincingly in the Finals. Still, if there's anyone out there who can do the same for Luka, that would start to get interesting. As constructed, there are 3 or 4 teams in the West no amount of Luka magic is going to get Dallas through.

Luka draws comparisons to lebron because of all the “youngest player to do X since lebron” stats but lebron always played a much more inclusive style of basketball. Luka is amazing, but a lot of the time he’s a drag to watch.

 

[Vol49er]

Luka draws comparisons to lebron because of all the “youngest player to do X since lebron” stats but lebron always played a much more inclusive style of basketball. Luka is amazing, but a lot of the time he’s a drag to watch.

Not to mention Lebron could defend when he was young (he still can now but most times doesn’t)

 

[pimo1]

Luka draws comparisons to lebron because of all the “youngest player to do X since lebron” stats but lebron always played a much more inclusive style of basketball. Luka is amazing, but a lot of the time he’s a drag to watch.

There is no parallel between Luka and Lebron, the closest parallel between Luka and any modern player would probably be James Harden. With Luka being a better player around the basket and Harden being more perimeter-oriented. But even then Harden has a much more well-rounded game, defensively, off the ball etc. Harden can make a big impact on the game when he is not scoring. Luka passes the ball to teammates when he has to. Createing shots for his teammates at least on purpose does not seem to be his M.O..

Grant is gonna have a long career in the NBA. He will never be a dominant in one stat. He will be a glue guy the guy that gets in where he fits and does what needs to be done.. Need an enforcer.. he can sorta do that.. rebounds? he can get a few, score yup he's a great 3rd or 4th option, defend other teams post players and frustrate the H out of them sure. He will be like a PJ tucker before he lost his mind (those first 11 years). He can be a key cog on a championship team that needs his talents ala Robert Horry/Lamar Odom.

 

[headhunter15]

 

[Lankykong]

Surprises me that Grant wasn’t in shape? And I thought talking obnoxiously was how a team becomes good at defense. Just saying

 

[headhunter15]

Surprises me that Grant wasn’t in shape? And I thought talking obnoxiously was how a team becomes good at defense. Just saying

Agreed.

 

[Lukusw]

"Out of shape" ... but he's averaged 30 min a game since being traded.

"Yapping" too much ... coach of Hornets has already credited Grant with improving their defense through his communication. I can see Luka & Kyrie not liking that, though.

The Hornets are a very different situation from Mavs or Celtics. I'm excited to see what Grant does there.

 

[walkenvol]

"Out of shape" ... but he's averaged 30 min a game since being traded.

"Yapping" too much ... coach of Hornets has already credited Grant with improving their defense through his communication. I can see Luka & Kyrie not liking that, though.

The Hornets are a very different situation from Mavs or Celtics. I'm excited to see what Grant does there.

Any clue if this narrative came from the Mav’s organization? If so, what an unprofessional bunch of dweebs! Why would any organization make any comment on a traded player other than “we are trying to improve our roster”?

 

[Vol49er]

Any clue if this narrative came from the Mav’s organization? If so, what an unprofessional bunch of dweebs! Why would any organization make any comment on a traded player other than “we are trying to improve our roster”?

No organization that trades for Kyrie Irving at this point is a serious organization

 

[BernardKingGOAT]

Any clue if this narrative came from the Mav’s organization? If so, what an unprofessional bunch of dweebs! Why would any organization make any comment on a traded player other than “we are trying to improve our roster”?

The entertainment organization reporting it likely has something to do with it

 

[n_huffhines]

There is no parallel between Luka and Lebron, the closest parallel between Luka and any modern player would probably be James Harden. With Luka being a better player around the basket and Harden being more perimeter-oriented. But even then Harden has a much more well-rounded game, defensively, off the ball etc. Harden can make a big impact on the game when he is not scoring. Luka passes the ball to teammates when he has to. Createing shots for his teammates at least on purpose does not seem to be his M.O..

Grant is gonna have a long career in the NBA. He will never be a dominant in one stat. He will be a glue guy the guy that gets in where he fits and does what needs to be done.. Need an enforcer.. he can sorta do that.. rebounds? he can get a few, score yup he's a great 3rd or 4th option, defend other teams post players and frustrate the H out of them sure. He will be like a PJ tucker before he lost his mind (those first 11 years). He can be a key cog on a championship team that needs his talents ala Robert Horry/Lamar Odom.

Lots, actually. Both rely heavily on the drive and kick. Their ability read and beat the double team with their size and vision. The way they back down defenders and score or pass out of the post is similar. They both have a slow but effective step back

 

[aWhiteLoftonChism]

I have always been surprised by Grant's lack of rebounds at the NBA level. He seems to be grabbing more with Charlotte in a small sample size. I don't watch that much NBA but in the games I did watch with the Celtics and a few with the Mavs it never looked like he hit the boards that hard. For a guy that plays hard defensively and does other little things it always surprised me. Some of it may have been based on assignments and offensive spacing. Just a thought I had on ways he could increase his value in the league.

Have you seen the average height of NBA post players? Grant is undersized and the last time I saw him playing it seemed like he has become a 3 & D player.

 

[pimo1]

Have you seen the average height of NBA post players? Grant is undersized and the last time I saw him playing it seemed like he has become a 3 & D player.

He has been a 3 and D player since day 1 in the NBA.. just a note there is nothing wrong with being a 3 and D player that's a legit important role on every championship team. Its not a knock in fact its a compliment.. most guys are 3 OR D players....

 

[508mikey]

Any whereabouts of Kennedy Chandler ?

 

[aWhiteLoftonChism]

He has been a 3 and D player since day 1 in the NBA

I guess. I don’t keep up with the NBA because teams change too much. I know his playing time Has slowly increased over his career. Probably trying to figure out how to play a guy who played 4/5 in college who’s 6’7”ish.

 

[Lukusw]

Any whereabouts of Kennedy Chandler ?

Playing G League for Long Island Nets. 14pts / 5 assists per game this year

Coincidently, Keon is a teammate. He's averaging 16 pts / 5 rbds per game

 

[chuckiepoo]

Any clue if this narrative came from the Mav’s organization? If so, what an unprofessional bunch of dweebs! Why would any organization make any comment on a traded player other than “we are trying to improve our roster”?

Other than the espn Dallas mouth piece, Tim McMahon, being interviewed by Brian “Hot Air” Windhorst?

 

[aWhiteLoftonChism]

Grant had 27 points, hit 7-10 three's, 8 boards, 3 assists and steals, a block and no turnovers. But, they lost to the Kings

The amount of 3’s he takes and makes is wild to me. I know the NBA requires everyone to shoot 3s now but he takes more 3s than 2s and is an above average shooter! He lived in the paint in college and only took one 3 per game.
His pro career seems similar Dale Ellis’s. An incredible post scorer in college who developed into terrific shooters in NBA.
Dale is on another level and a borderline HoFer but still similar.