Post by eric on Feb 12, 2020 19:05:47 GMT
Read an article on the internet website www.theringer.com today suggesting that Andrew Wiggins would be a better fit for the Warriors than D'Angelo Russell because he'd play defense and the mighty Warriors would coach him up and make him even better on that end.
Let's start with: Is Wiggins a Better Defender than Russell?
...maybe? Individual defense is always hard to measure. By career values Wiggins has a better defensive on/off (+1 to +3) but both are not good, while Russell has by smaller margins better Defensive WS/48 (.03 to .02) and Defensive Box Plus Minus (-1 to -2), but again all these numbers are bad. So even if Wiggins is barely a better defender, he's certainly not a good one.
Will the Presence of Draymond Green Lead / Inspire / Yammer Him into a Better One?
Probably not! Green scores very well on these metrics (-5 .09 +4) so he probably is a very good defender (although he's been in decline since 2017), but Russell's one Golden State year saw his numbers drop in every category: +5 .02 and -3 respectively. It's reasonable to assume adding Green to a team would make that team's defense better, but it does not appear adding a player to Green's team makes that player's defense better.
.
We mercifully stopped hearing the 'Cleveland should never have traded Wiggins for Love!' (from) BS after the Cavs won the title and Wiggins hasn't even managed an All-Star berth. To me it remains unclear why people are still trying to talk themselves into him - he's a volume scorer with fantastic athleticism, mediocre efficiency, limited playmaking skills, and no defensive chops. This has been shockingly consistent for the better part of six years.
Why should this time be any different?
Let's start with: Is Wiggins a Better Defender than Russell?
...maybe? Individual defense is always hard to measure. By career values Wiggins has a better defensive on/off (+1 to +3) but both are not good, while Russell has by smaller margins better Defensive WS/48 (.03 to .02) and Defensive Box Plus Minus (-1 to -2), but again all these numbers are bad. So even if Wiggins is barely a better defender, he's certainly not a good one.
Will the Presence of Draymond Green Lead / Inspire / Yammer Him into a Better One?
Probably not! Green scores very well on these metrics (-5 .09 +4) so he probably is a very good defender (although he's been in decline since 2017), but Russell's one Golden State year saw his numbers drop in every category: +5 .02 and -3 respectively. It's reasonable to assume adding Green to a team would make that team's defense better, but it does not appear adding a player to Green's team makes that player's defense better.
.
We mercifully stopped hearing the 'Cleveland should never have traded Wiggins for Love!' (from) BS after the Cavs won the title and Wiggins hasn't even managed an All-Star berth. To me it remains unclear why people are still trying to talk themselves into him - he's a volume scorer with fantastic athleticism, mediocre efficiency, limited playmaking skills, and no defensive chops. This has been shockingly consistent for the better part of six years.
Why should this time be any different?
