NBA Player Ranking - ESPN & SI

[AHF]

I wouldn't go that far. You all think that Smoove held Horford and Teague back. First yall said that Joe Johnson was the reason, once he left you all started blaming Smoove. What happens next? I think Teague will improve but not Horford. I wonder about this teams defense without Smoove but then again this is a completely different team. Who can defend on this team? Edit: Outside of Schröder

Make the case that Josh was anything but one of the least efficient scorers of all front court starters in the league. It seems like it is beyond debate.

[MaceCase]

I think Millsap has the edge in the most popular advanced metrics but it is not a big edge. Those metrics are universally recognized to do a very poor job of quantifying defense so I would guess that the rationale is that Josh is so superior on defense that the margin of better metric performance is outweighed by the defense.

Either that or ESPN guys like the bigger name which never, ever happens.

PER, surely, but WS (which includes D and O) and RAPM do more to quantify defense. DWS utilizes box score stats with a mix of DRTG so that may be iffy but +/- has been a tool used in the past to justify guys like Bruce Bowen and JaCo not being taken out back and shot but instead being coveted by teams. It's the simple fact that Josh performs so well on D that is buoying his numbers that high, he'd probably see a sizable increase if he doesnt attempt a single shot this season. Yea, that O is that bad.

[AHF]

I would say all those tools are useful but crude ways of measuring defense.

[TheFuzz]

Al is #22. Funny that Noah is #21. Al had some really good numbers last year while remaining efficient. A true double double and shot over 50% from the field. He needs to get his FT stroke back. He could have easily averaged 18 last year if he was making FT's. I can see him averaging 20,10 this year.

Agreed. 20/10 is the goal, but he's definitely gotta hit those free throws what with that midrange shot.