View attachment 23688
Here’s what should happen next. Pretend they acquired Porter, Oubre, or any other apparent “missing piece” wing, and give whatever role/ looks they would’ve given them to Layman. I don’t care if it costs Portland games. We have to find out what we have in Layman. If that means CJ takes a backseat for a couple games, so be it. It has to be done.
I really like to use stats to buttress arguments
however, they need to be like for like and in the NBA, one of the quickest ways to get into an apples and oranges thing is to try and 'normalize' minutes for players that play a lot and for players that don't.
In this case, you have Layman who has only averaged 16 minutes and are comparing him to Ariza at 34 minutes, Porter at 30 minutes, and Oubre at 25. Those are too wide of gaps in minutes, and it's almost certain there is noise and skew in the numbers
there's a couple of other factors too that I think are really important to keep in mind. One is that Layman has been absent from the rotation lately when the Blazers, as a team, have been struggling. If he had been in the rotation his efficiency and advanced numbers would have regressed along with the team's
another big factor is that the other three players have established their games over multiple seasons. This isn't their first rodeo. Their numbers are a reflection of how they've played over a thousand games and 30,000 minutes (Ariza), 300 games and 10,000 minutes (Porter), and 270 games and 5400 minutes (Oubre)
meanwhile, you're comparing that to Layman this season for only 20 games and 326 minutes. It's just a comparison that erodes under any scrutiny
further than that, it's nearly impossible to believe or credit the numbers Layman is posting right now:
* he has a 13.5 PER when the previous two seasons it was 4.9 & 4.9
* he has a .645 TS% when the previous two seasons it was .404 & .352
* he has a .106 winshare/48 when the previous two seasons it was -0.054 & -0.021
* he has a +0.6 box plus/minus when the previous two seasons it was -7.4 & -5.0
like I said, there should be little confidence in the numbers he's currently posting. He's likely not as bad as the numbers show in his first 2 seasons, but he's certainly not as good as they show right now
all that's not to say he shouldn't be part of the rotation, especially a rotation that somehow has 'room' for 43 minutes a game from Turner & Curry