David Thorpe: Parsons is the best defender of K.Durant I've ever seen

Parsons is a smart guy. He figured out the market: Defense doesn't really get you paid. Highlights and offensive stats get you paid.

Defense gets you on the court as a young player. But after the coach already trusts you, offense gets you paid.

So, he re-allocated his energy rationally.

 

i think defense does actually get you paid. but to each its own player. there's plenty who are known to be in league on their defense alone with little offense in their overall player resume

 

It's the lesser traveled path but take a look at Afflalo pre-Orlando (basically got paid for defensive potential), or Tony Allen, Thabo Sefolasha or similar 3 and D type players. You have to have SOME skill to contribute on offense (still not sure what Thabo really contributes consistently on that end, as he only really has two great 3 point shooting seasons) but defense can get you a contract. Beverley's next contract will likely be at least in the 3-4 mill/yr range because of defense alone - while he has started to shoot the 3, he's not exactly an offensive juggernaut. That doesn't take away from his value as a player, just saying that defense can net you a payday, just less often and probably not like Parson's albatross $15 million/yr contract.

 

As much as I hate this attitude, I can't fault him for playing the style of basketball that gets him paid. Never thought about it this way, but man, it is really upsetting. Nice point.

 

We will definitely find out when Bev's contract is up for renewal

 

There are some NBA guys who get paid a ton for D, but those are usually bigs. Perimeter guys who defend well often only get midlevel money or perhaps a little more even in their prime: Tony Allen, Shane Battier, Courtney Lee, Trevor Ariza.

I am sure there is some market value for being a, say, 80th percentile defender vs. a 50th percentile defender as a wing, but it's likely not worth sacrificing 4 extra ppg and 2 extra apg to save some more energy for D if you are concerned about money.

I recall that Dennis Rodman figured something similar out when he played: Rodman was an elite defender for the Bad Boys Pistons but he was nothing special statistically. So, in order to get paid, he started concentrating on getting rebounds, sometimes not challenging shots as closely as he could have in order to grab the rebound, just so he can have some special stats when he negotiate with teams for a new contract.

The market incentives can be weird like that.

 

lets add avery bradley to that list as well

 

No one pays for defense unless the guy has some semblance of offense.

 

so whats MKG? his offense is disgusting lol

 

nba teams pay for defense thats for sure

 

Is it a coincidence that when Harden joined the Rockets Parson's defense took a nose dive? Guarding your man while spot guarding a lazy defender's man. Maybe that has something to do with it.

 

Maybe but more often than not Parsons was lost on transition as well. I suspect part of this is a coaching issue, as Parsons clearly demonstrated great defensive instinct his first year when he focused on defense. It will be interesting to see how much of Parsons' production was predicated on pace and fast breaks from the Rockets offense and how much Carlisle can coax out of him on half court offense and on defense.

 

He's either a bust because of his lack of offensive skills or someone who can find some niche on offense in the right environment and remain a plus defender. Hard to tell with only a couple of years of experience, and being raw from the starting gates (I remember people saying he was NBA ready around draft time, absurd in retrospect). He regressed in almost every way last year.

 

damn who said that? he was far from it. the only thing he could do was play defense and get garbage points basically. it doesnt even look like any offense has developed as far as he goes.

 

Just noticed the poll question...

One of the better laughs I've had in a while!

 

And unless he shows some pretty big strides soon, he will be lucky to get paid what his rookie deal guaranteed him.

 

depends on the position.

If you are a big men you'll get paid plenty for defense.

 

A lot of people were saying he wasn't Davis level talent but could help a club right away. Clearly not the case.

 

this is a good point. You look at someone who's below average on offense but elite on defense - Tony Allen - compared to a guy who's the opposite with elite offense but below average defense - James Harden - and it becomes quite clear what gets more recognition

 

The Rockets were rumored to be very high on Vesely at the time. Who knows how he could have developed with CD's big man coaching.