Post by eric on Jul 5, 2016 14:59:17 GMT -6
Kevin Durant, a former MVP, has joined the team of the reigning MVP (Steph Curry). Let's see a table of MVPs joining the teams of other MVPs: the year of their union, the MVP who was already on the team, the MVP who joined the team, and the time elapsed since the most recent MVP for each player.
2017 Curry, Durant, zero years and two years
2013 Kobe, Nash, four and six
2010 LeBron, Shaq, zero and nine
2004 Shaq, Karl, four and five
1997 Hakeem, Barkley, three and four
1986 Bird, Walton, zero and seven
1983 Erving, Moses, one and zero
1982 Abdul-Jabbar, McAdoo, one and six
1979 Cowens, McAdoo, five and three
The last time two MVPs joined forces and won a title was 1986. They are 0 for 4 since.
Only three of these eight previous pairings resulted in at least one championship, and only one of those came with both players starting (the 1983 76ers). Four of these eight never even reached the Finals (2013 Lakers, 2010 Cavs, 1997 Rockets, 1979 Celtics). I was surprised that three involved the reigning MVP, I would have guessed way lower.
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Usage% estimates how often a player finishes a possession with a field goal attempt, free throw attempts, or turnover. This in and of itself is not a good indicator of how much the ball is in a particular player's hands because it counts assisted baskets the same as unassisted. Since 2001 we can obtain that information, and we can add in the rate of teammates' baskets assisted as well. Here is how the value shakes out for certain recent teams:
What jumps out immediately to me is how much Klay is of a catch and shoot player. Everyone knows about his paltry assist numbers so that's not a surprise, but he creates less of his own looks than Draymond by a wide margin, and even less than Harrison Barnes(!!). It was possible that Klay's additionally paltry rebounding numbers skewed this figure because putbacks count as unassisted field goals made, but as it turns out Klay had 10 and Barnes only had 11 last year (a shockingly low figure for how many ORBs he had by the way) so that's not it.
I had been saying in shout that Golden State should trade Klay in order to make more touch-space for Durant (as well as fill out their increasingly thinning roster) but it looks like that might not even help that much. As it stands Klay is more analogous to post mega trade players than pre: Cleveland Love, Los Angeles Dwight, Miami Bosh. I still think they should trade him because you can get multiple pieces back and he's by far the least valuable of the four, though.
I also thought it was interesting how uneven the sacrifices were: everyone knows about Love in Cleveland and Bosh in Miami, but Allen was the odd man out in Boston, and Nash got hammered as Kobe bizarrely took on more touches when paired with a traditional point guard.
2017 Curry, Durant, zero years and two years
2013 Kobe, Nash, four and six
2010 LeBron, Shaq, zero and nine
2004 Shaq, Karl, four and five
1997 Hakeem, Barkley, three and four
1986 Bird, Walton, zero and seven
1983 Erving, Moses, one and zero
1982 Abdul-Jabbar, McAdoo, one and six
1979 Cowens, McAdoo, five and three
The last time two MVPs joined forces and won a title was 1986. They are 0 for 4 since.
Only three of these eight previous pairings resulted in at least one championship, and only one of those came with both players starting (the 1983 76ers). Four of these eight never even reached the Finals (2013 Lakers, 2010 Cavs, 1997 Rockets, 1979 Celtics). I was surprised that three involved the reigning MVP, I would have guessed way lower.
.
Usage% estimates how often a player finishes a possession with a field goal attempt, free throw attempts, or turnover. This in and of itself is not a good indicator of how much the ball is in a particular player's hands because it counts assisted baskets the same as unassisted. Since 2001 we can obtain that information, and we can add in the rate of teammates' baskets assisted as well. Here is how the value shakes out for certain recent teams:
2012 2011 2010 name
43 45 49 lebron
38 36 49 wade
15 16 23 bosh
97 97 121
2016 2015 2014 name
43 47 40 lebron
39 36 42 kyrie
15 12 25 love
97 95 107
2013 2012 name
41 35 kobe
38 59 nash
22 21 pau
12 20 dwight
113 135
2009 2008 2007 name
45 34 33 rondo
25 29 28 pierce
17 23 25 garnett
16 19 28 allen
103 105 114
2016 name
40 curry
30 durant
29 draymond
12 klay
111 What jumps out immediately to me is how much Klay is of a catch and shoot player. Everyone knows about his paltry assist numbers so that's not a surprise, but he creates less of his own looks than Draymond by a wide margin, and even less than Harrison Barnes(!!). It was possible that Klay's additionally paltry rebounding numbers skewed this figure because putbacks count as unassisted field goals made, but as it turns out Klay had 10 and Barnes only had 11 last year (a shockingly low figure for how many ORBs he had by the way) so that's not it.
I had been saying in shout that Golden State should trade Klay in order to make more touch-space for Durant (as well as fill out their increasingly thinning roster) but it looks like that might not even help that much. As it stands Klay is more analogous to post mega trade players than pre: Cleveland Love, Los Angeles Dwight, Miami Bosh. I still think they should trade him because you can get multiple pieces back and he's by far the least valuable of the four, though.
I also thought it was interesting how uneven the sacrifices were: everyone knows about Love in Cleveland and Bosh in Miami, but Allen was the odd man out in Boston, and Nash got hammered as Kobe bizarrely took on more touches when paired with a traditional point guard.
