If you disagree, fine, but he's not some hot take artist and he lays out his reasoning pretty well. And he said that if his jump shooting remains at the level it was at in the playoffs then he's in tier 1. He just wants to see a bigger sample because his jumper wasn't nearly as good in the regular season.If anybody illustrates the degree to which the very top end of the scale requires making very fine grade comparisons and distinctions, it is this group of players. Frankly, I’ve waffled back and forth on whether to call this group Tier 1C or Tier 2A, and they might as easily be known as Tier 1.5. They are the three current finalists for induction into the inner circle of NBA greatness, but each of the three has one or more big questions needing answers before they can make that final leap.
Anthony Davis: Look, at this level we’re picking the finest of nits, and as I wrote about during the Western Conference Finals, there remains some question whether Davis can sustainably perform as the Alpha on a contending team. He is easily the weakest in this regard among the players currently in Tier 1 in terms of both volume and efficiency, while even dropping down to Tier 2, only Rudy Gobert (a multiple-time Defensive Player of the year and near guarantee of a top 10 defense on his own) is not a high volume shot creator. To illustrate what an outlier Davis is in this regard amongst high usage players:
That isn’t just a gap between Davis (over his career) and other top scorers in this regard, it’s a chasm. In discussing Tier 3A, I asked rhetorically why weren’t the AD/Jrue Holiday Pelicans better, and if I had to point to one reason, this would be it. That is the biggest knock against Davis’ candidacy for Tier 1. As I’ll discuss more when Tier 1 is unveiled, I don’t think a player necessarily has to be the best player on a Finals team to prove he is capable of being the best player on a likely Finals team. (While the reverse is usually true, Butler represented one of the rare unusual cases in the last decade of a Finals team not having one of the five or six best players in the game, alongside the 2013 and 2014 Spurs and arguably 2011 Mavs.)
But Davis has never really come close in that regard. While he certainly can’t be held responsible for many of the questionable team-building decisions of the Pelicans’ front office during his tenure there, a Tier 1 player will make the playoffs more than twice in seven years regardless. Kevin Garnett’s Timberwolves made the postseason every year from his second to eighth year in the league, even if they only advanced out of the first round once. Prior to this postseason, Davis simply hasn’t shown he can carry a team in that way.
Now, in real-world terms, it might not matter. Davis plays alongside LeBron James, which means that if he is nothing but an all-court defensive destroyer and one of the most effective finishers of plays created by others, that’s plenty good enough. Though the Lakers might not have ultimately needed it, one of the bigger factors in their march to a title was Davis becoming much more effective getting his own.
An enormous part of this was his jumper, which hadn’t been a great weapon for most of the season (42.5 percent eFG% on shots from 10 feet or more), was locked in during the postseason (49.5 percent eFG%). The question is, are either Davis’ ability to create for himself or the related jump-shooting touch sustainable going forward, because for him to jump into Tier 1, they need to be.
The degree to which Davis performed at another level in the playoffs is perhaps best demonstrated by a comparison of Lakers’ lineup combination between the regular and postseasons. In the regular year, LA crushed in the minutes where LeBron played without Davis, but struggled mightily in the reverse situation. Come the playoffs, the Lakers were actually more successful with just Davis on the floor than just James.
The general ethic of creating these tiers is to be stingy, most of all at the very highest levels. With that end in mind, especially with the general weirdness and hot jump-shooting in the bubble environment, I’m going to be a skeptic and keep Davis just outside the top tier. For now.
Forgot about that. 3 playoffs in 8 years. Compared to Dame who's only missed the playoffs his rookie year. How dare we think the guy that wins more is better than the guy that wins less and shocks everyone when he makes it to 70 games played. This is the part where you surprise none of us and bring up the championship.
I agree. With harden you getting a 50 win season and 2nd round of the playoffs at minimum. He’s an all time great floor raiser no doubt.
That is literally the same thing I said. It's not some crazy opinion to hold.Did you guys even read the damn thing
Damn I forgot about the $80 million from the pistons. Klutch dropped the ball on that one but like you said charge it to the game
Whatever agency that is is mad that they’re losing market share & commission. Noel hired Klutch after he had already rejected the $70M or whatever it was.I was done with him after the Pelicans series. If you can trap my star at halfcourt, and I’m paying another guy $100M who can’t take advantage then I’m wasting my money.
