Rank the New Players

[jlprk]

Batum is a very weak starter, barely hanging on. If Wright shoots better, he should start.

 

[Public Defender]

Batum is a very weak starter, barely hanging on. If Wright shoots better, he should start.

I think Batum will actually get better, if Wright can play significant minutes. The rest and lower likelihood of injury (minor or major) should help Batum be a better player when he's on the floor.

Not that it's the be-all, end-all, but back in January, Bleacher Report had Batum as the 10th best SF in the league, based largely on the numbers he put up in the early part of the 2012-13 season:

The Blazers will give him $46 million by 2016. That seemed like a lot of money for a guy that didn't even average 14 points per game last year. But now, the Frenchman is averaging nearly 17 points, two steals, a block, five assists and six boards per game. That's pretty good.

ESPN Insider reporter, Bradford Doolittle ranks Batum the 5th best small forward in the NBA coming into the 2013-14 season - but Doolittle's rankings are a little weird, because he considers LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony "power forwards."

 

[Stevenson]

Seems like T Rob, if he decides to and works at it, could morph into a Dennis Rodman-type rebounding machine.

 

[jlprk]

I think Batum will actually get better, if Wright can play significant minutes. The rest and lower likelihood of injury (minor or major) should help Batum be a better player when he's on the floor.

Not that it's the be-all, end-all, but back in January, Bleacher Report had Batum as the 10th best SF in the league, based largely on the numbers he put up in the early part of the 2012-13 season:



ESPN Insider reporter, Bradford Doolittle ranks Batum the 5th best small forward in the NBA coming into the 2013-14 season - but Doolittle's rankings are a little weird, because he considers LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony "power forwards."

I never disagree with Bradford Doolittle, whoever that is. Basketball-Reference says that Dorell Wright was the 30th-youngest player in NBA history, 1 week older than Travis Outlaw.

http://bkref.com/tiny/gN5Hn

I was hoping for some higher ranking to counter yours, but that's all I got.

 

[jlprk]

(I could have worked harder on that project...) Here's something more relevant.

http://bkref.com/tiny/8AzEX

 

[Public Defender]

Thanks for posting that. My read of those is that the two are pretty close statistically, but that Batum is the slightly better player. Wright has an ever-so-slightly higher 3pt%, FT%, and has fewer turnovers, but I think they're more than offset by Batum's superior overall FG%, blocks, and assists.

In the end, the basketball-reference side-by-side helps me feel better about Wright filling in for long stretches should Batum go down with injury. But considering Batum is three years younger than Wright, puts up equal or better numbers across the board, and is a known quantity for his coaches and most of his teammates, I'm pretty confident he's the better choice as the night-in, night-out starter.

 

[Draco]

But considering Batum is three years younger than Wright, puts up equal or better numbers across the board, and is a known quantity for his coaches and most of his teammates, I'm pretty confident he's the better choice as the night-in, night-out starter.

Gosh I would hope so. Batum is signed to a forty six million dollar contract compared to Wrights six.

 

[Shooter]

I'm excited by the ENTIRE BENCH. I think we now have a legitimate NBA second unit and that is going to make a huge difference. Our starting 5 was really good last year, and now we have excellent backups. This team could fly this year.

 

[ABM]

I had never read this site before. Still evaluating....

http://www.portlandroundballsociety.com/



Some reviews of the newbies and the sort...

http://www.portlandroundballsociety.com/home/2013/7/26/summer-reviews-the-rest-of-em.html

 

[Denny Crane]

I had never read this site before. Still evaluating....

http://www.portlandroundballsociety.com/



Some reviews of the newbies and the sort...

http://www.portlandroundballsociety.com/home/2013/7/26/summer-reviews-the-rest-of-em.html

http://www.portlandroundballsociety.com/discussion/

Makes one respect the work of our mods.

 

[ABM]

http://www.portlandroundballsociety.com/discussion/

Makes one respect the work of our mods.

No kidding.

 

[PapaG]

Batum is a very weak starter, barely hanging on. If Wright shoots better, he should start.

No he's not, he's at the very worst an above average starter when healthy, but I know you're just being ridiculous, as should others. Starting Dorrell Wright over Batum? Only a fool would think that, if they were being serious.