NBA Twitter Quarantine Debate: Shooting Guards Edition
Alright by now you should know the drill. We get an NBA Twitter debate tweet it is my duty to break it down. We've had some real tough choices during these two months of lockdown, but this one at least for me wasn't all that tough. The beauty of these exercises is the fanbase of the player who gets snubbed will be mad online, but I think this one is pretty straight forward. Three All Star caliber and franchise players, all three have their issues but also can score with the best of em. Let's have a look
Start: Devin Booker
Stats: 26.1 points / 4.2 rebounds / 6.6 assists / 0.7 steals / 48% FG / 36% 3P with 2.0 3PM / 114 Ortg / 115 Drtg / 1.0% STL% / 0.6 BLK%
You may have thought this was going to be Bradley Beal huh? Well let me explain why that is not my choice. Devin Booker is the more efficient shooter, has the better TS%, has better assist numbers and AST%, better Ortg, better Drtg, better defensive win shares, and he does all this while taking 4 fewer FGA a game. It's not like the Suns are loaded with offensive threats so Booker is still the primary focus of opposing defenses yet he still finds a way to be efficient. If that's not enough to convince you, there's also this
Uhhhh yeah, that's good enough to start for me.
Bradley Beal
Stats: 30.5 points / 4.2 rebounds / 6.1 assists / 1.2 steals / 45% FG / 35% 3P with 3.0 3PM / 111 Ortg / 117 Drtg / 1.6% STL% / 1.0 BLK%
You know who is really fucking good? Bradley Beal. That's why he has to make my lineup. Did you know he's only 26? Feels like he's been in the league for no fewer than 15 years. We've seen his ability to be a true #1 option while John Wall has been out, and sure his team sucks but that's not really on Beal. The biggest negative when it comes to Beal is clearly his defense, he's by far the worst of the three in my opinion. Guy only has a 0.5 defensive win share and a -2.4 DBPM. I think a lot of people might have Beal as a starter mostly out of name recognition, but if we're talking about right this second, Booker is the better all around player.
Cut: Donovan Mitchell
Stats: 24.2 points / 4.4 rebounds / 4.2 assists / 1.0 steals / 45% FG / 36% 3P with 2.5 3PM / 110 Ortg / 1171Drtg / 1.5% STL% / 0.5 BLK%
I can understand why this may seem weird to cut someone who made his first All Star team this year at 23, but what can I say, Mitchell doesn't do anything all that much better than the guys ahead of him. He's for sure the best defender of the three, but he's not quite at the level offensively of the other two. His advantage on the defensive end isn't enough over Beal for me to swap them. He is by far the worst playmaker of the three, his assist numbers and his AST% are well below the other two. Same with TS%, despite having the second highest usage rate of the three.
So that's my list
Booker
Beal
Mitchell
Who knows how many games we would win considering Booker and Beal aren't exactly stacking Ws for their respective teams, but in terms of individual talents I feel like this is the way to go.
Disagree? Cool, gimme your list