To piggyback on the Claxton talk. Every year I look at areas the Blazers need to improve. I go through stats and look for players that fit those needs. There ends up being a couple fits at different positions that I become enamored by. This year has been Claxton at C. I could be overrating him because I like the fit and now I am gassed up. Or maybe last year was a fluke. Or he doesn't translate to the Blazers, but I'd rather trade and see. Or even extend him as a show of good faith. Risky, I know
Why?
-Defends at 3 levels
-Can defend 1-5. BKN switched a lot this year
-3rd in DPOY voting amongst centers. In front of Allen
-4th in the league in opponent FG % within 6ft
-8th in the league in defending 2pt FG
-lead the league in number of times per game defending iso 2.7Fg 0.79ppp 36.2fg% 78.7 percentile
-Defends the 3 at 34%. This is on 4 FG attempts per game Interestingly Dame, Grant and Nurk were at 37.9, 38.6 and 38.5 respectively. Simons 32.5 on 4.5 FG, strange
-2nd in blocks. Many of them live ball TO. Est over 70%. I watched all his blocks this year, should have counted live ball but didn't
-Was 4th in Def win share at 4, according to BBref
-Looks like a good help defender
-lead the league in FG% at .705
-90th percentile in the pick an roll as the role man
-Is good at cutting. could be better at finishing but not bad 3.2fg 1.32 ppp 51.9 percentile bam 32.6 Ayton 44.5
-good rebounder
-Showing some signs of being able to dribble and drive
-A bit of a mean streak
-Looks like he has solid hands. But I haven't watched full games
-Plays well in transition. Looks good running the floor 1.5Fg 1.38ppp 80.0fg% 88.9 percentile
-Pretty low turnover rate
-Low usg, but impacts the game doing things the blazers are missing
-Seems like a high motor guy, pretty fluid, but highlight video. Who knows
-Played 76 games last year
Watched a video of him talking about working on a jumper. He knows he can't rely solely on athleticism for his whole career. In the same video talked about liking being the point of attack defender
Downsides I have seen so far-
-FT shooting is bad.
-Gets in foul trouble by being too aggressive
-Can get bulled by bigger Centers. Doesn't handle defending the post well. Luckily not as many of those around, but still Jokić and Embid
-Not great in defending the pick and roll around 11% percentile. But Simmons is in 98% . Neither defends it a lot, both .7 pos a game
Probably more issues that I haven't seen yet
The one area I'd like to know more on is pick setting and navigating
Overall, he fits the timeline and has experience. Center is an area where I think the Blazers should spend capital to make sure you a have a good prospect who is well on their way
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