Tracking Former Wizards 4.0

AFM · Post #221 » by **AFM** » Mon Apr 29, 2024 6:37 pm

Damn, I forgot all about that guy. Yeah that's crazy. I wonder if he and Beal are friends IRL

doclinkin · Post #222 » by **doclinkin** » Tue Apr 30, 2024 2:09 am

AFM wrote:Damn, I forgot all about that guy. Yeah that's crazy. I wonder if he and Beal are friends IRL

Yes, multiple twitter videos of him riding in the car with Mrs Beal. He basically tried to parlay being an inside source into being a relevant commentator. Not even a journalist really since the only information he ever broke was rumors about Beal's feels.

payitforward · Post #223 » by **payitforward** » Thu May 2, 2024 11:36 pm

Time to revisit Rui Hachimura. And time for me to eat some crow!

In his 5th season, Rui did what he'd never done before: he became an unambiguously good NBA player. Productive. Above average. However you want to describe it.

Moreover, you don't even need to "describe" anything -- it's right there in the numbers he put up! It's uncommon for a guy to take this long to establish himself at that level, but uncommon or not Rui definitely did it.

So... what changed? What did he do differently & better? Well, overall, his rebounding, assists, steals, turnovers, fouls & blocks were pretty much right at his career averages.

It was his scoring, in other words. After 4 seasons of mediocre efficiency, Rui posted a TS5 of .628 this year. His 3 point % jumped from last year -- & so did his 2-point %.

Well done, Rui!

Post #224 » by **nate33** » Fri May 3, 2024 12:07 pm

payitforward wrote:Time to revisit Rui Hachimura. And time for me to eat some crow!

In his 5th season, Rui did what he'd never done before: he became an unambiguously good NBA player. Productive. Above average. However you want to describe it.

Moreover, you don't even need to "describe" anything -- it's right there in the numbers he put up! It's uncommon for a guy to take this long to establish himself at that level, but uncommon or not Rui definitely did it.

So... what changed? What did he do differently & better? Well, overall, his rebounding, assists, steals, turnovers, fouls & blocks were pretty much right at his career averages.

It was his scoring, in other words. After 4 seasons of mediocre efficiency, Rui posted a TS5 of .628 this year. His 3 point % jumped from last year -- & so did his 2-point %.

Well done, Rui!

When he played with the Wizards, about 10% of his FGA's were corner 3's, and another 7% of his FGA's were dunks.
This year with LA, 19% of his FGA's were corner 3's and 13% of his FGA's were dunks. With nearly double his shot attempts being the highest percentage shots available, it's no wonder his shooting percentage increased. His shooting percentages from harder areas (3-10 feet, 10-16 feet, and 16-23 feet) are actually worse than with Washington despite being guarded by weaker defenders in LA, he just doesn't have to take as many of them because he is rarely responsible for bailout shots.

I don't think he is really that different from what he was in DC. He is just benefitting from the attention devoted to Lebron and AD. That's not to say he is a bad player. He is a useful low end starter. He is a solid finisher and can defend all 3 frontcourt positions one-on-one, but he remains a poor decision maker on offense and a bad help defender. I'd say he is slightly overpaid for his production, but not dramatically so.

I still don't regret the trade. As I've pointed out in another thread, the cap room saved by not resigning Rui was ultimately used in the Marvin Bagley trade. Essentially, we traded Rui (a useful low-end starter) for Bagley (a serviceable low-end starter) and five 2nd round picks. And Bagley's expiring contract might land us another SRP or two at the Trade Deadline.

Frichuela · Post #225 » by **Frichuela** » Fri May 3, 2024 1:33 pm

Great podcast. Must listen.

Key takeaway: Whit was a solid coach. Brooks on the other hand: smoke and mirrors…

Read on Twitter

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Kanyewest · Post #226 » by **Kanyewest** » Fri May 3, 2024 4:06 pm

nate33 wrote:
payitforward wrote:Time to revisit Rui Hachimura. And time for me to eat some crow!

In his 5th season, Rui did what he'd never done before: he became an unambiguously good NBA player. Productive. Above average. However you want to describe it.

Moreover, you don't even need to "describe" anything -- it's right there in the numbers he put up! It's uncommon for a guy to take this long to establish himself at that level, but uncommon or not Rui definitely did it.

So... what changed? What did he do differently & better? Well, overall, his rebounding, assists, steals, turnovers, fouls & blocks were pretty much right at his career averages.

It was his scoring, in other words. After 4 seasons of mediocre efficiency, Rui posted a TS5 of .628 this year. His 3 point % jumped from last year -- & so did his 2-point %.

Well done, Rui!

When he played with the Wizards, about 10% of his FGA's were corner 3's, and another 7% of his FGA's were dunks.
This year with LA, 19% of his FGA's were corner 3's and 13% of his FGA's were dunks. With nearly double his shot attempts being the highest percentage shots available, it's no wonder his shooting percentage increased. His shooting percentages from harder areas (3-10 feet, 10-16 feet, and 16-23 feet) are actually worse than with Washington despite being guarded by weaker defenders in LA, he just doesn't have to take as many of them because he is rarely responsible for bailout shots.

I don't think he is really that different from what he was in DC. He is just benefitting from the attention devoted to Lebron and AD. That's not to say he is a bad player. He is a useful low end starter. He is a solid finisher and can defend all 3 frontcourt positions one-on-one, but he remains a poor decision maker on offense and a bad help defender. I'd say he is slightly overpaid for his production, but not dramatically so.

I still don't regret the trade. As I've pointed out in another thread, the cap room saved by not resigning Rui was ultimately used in the Marvin Bagley trade. Essentially, we traded Rui (a useful low-end starter) for Bagley (a serviceable low-end starter) and five 2nd round picks. And Bagley's expiring contract might land us another SRP or two at the Trade Deadline.

Rui also kind of went MIA for a couple games in the playoffs, It might have to do with the LeBron centric offense (ie Rui was relegated to standing in the corner shooting 3s).
.
I guess it evens out a bit. Rui had a few playoff series where he outperformed regular season expectations. His prior two postseason he shot a ts% 70% and 66% but this season his TS% went down to 47%. A team like the Nuggets did seem to expose him a bit defensively although LeBron is arguably a bigger culprit.

payitforward · Post #227 » by **payitforward** » Sat May 4, 2024 11:03 pm

nate33 wrote:
Chocolate City Jordanaire wrote:
Dark Faze wrote:To his credit, outside of that dud in game 4, Brad was playing his role well. Average something like 45/45/80 splits playing his role well as the third option scorer.

The glory numbers for KD and Book shot up with that last game. Outside of that, they were pretty meh. Durant had 5 *makes* from 3 across an entire playoff series. Booker had 7 3pt makes. Brad had 10.

Not that 3pt makes are the end all of everything, but it comes to show that the Wolves managed to force them into shots closer at the rim which is bad when you've got Gobert there.

Whoever the Suns hire is eventually going to have to convince Bradley Beal to accept a 6th man role, similar to what Klay Thompson did initially with Golden State. Bradley Beal used to put up 30 a night. What changed? I think watching superior players Booker and Durant subordinated Beal. I think a bit of hesitance and insecurity has crept in. Beal needs to become a super 6th man who knows the offense is built around him when he's on the floor.

It's hard to separate Beal's play from his contract. He is obviously a terrible player relative to his contract, but he is still a totally competent NBA player. Beal averaged 18 points, 5 assists, and 4.4 rebounds on .607 TS%. Per 36, he averaged 20, 5 and 5. It's basically the same production as guys like Austin Reaves, Darius Garland, Immanuel Quickley and Devin Vassell.

If he was being paid MLE money, or even up to $20-25M a year, nobody would even be talking about him as a disappointment. The problem is, he is paid $50M a year.

(moved this here for discussion...)
Brad had a very good year overall -- I'd call it one of his 4-5 best. For sure he's overpaid, but still he was better than all the guys you list, nate -- only Reaves was close overall.

If you look at all his numbers, the only thing down was points per 40 minutes -- & surely that's to be expected on a team with Kevin Durant & Devin Booker taking as many shots as they do!

Brad's TS% was the highest of his career -- despite not getting to the line anywhere near as often as he used to.

In fact, both his 3 point % & his efg% were the best he's ever posted -- by a significant margin!

For that matter, overall his other numbers were also well above his career averages.