Not to mention James Harden's superior .618 TS% to Derozan's .532 TS%. A ball-hogging teammate is infinitely more frustrating if he's inefficient.
The difference would be bigger if I did a fairer calculation and counted every 2 free throw attempts as 1 "shot." Instead I counted each attempt as a single shot which is not a fair way to demonstrate how many shots Harden takes, but the point still stands.
James Harden is not a perfect player and his hero ball at the end of games is something I loathe, but people severely overrated how much he dominates the ball. He is so efficient that he gets his points without being the dominant force on the ball that most players that are "stars" are. Durant is a better player than James Harden. He also takes nearly 6 shots a game more than Harden to get about 7 more points. Harden had a lower usage rate, fewer shots and more assists than the guard that Lowry played with last year yet a Lin fan would say Lowry wouldn't get the ball because of Harden. The real issue with another teammate who wants to score is whether there will be opportunities with Howard+Parsons on the floor as well.
But McHale is terrible, Harden dominates the ball, Howard doesn't want a 3rd star...... If there's anything I've learned in fandom, it's that don't underappreciate the ability of fans to completely overeact to everything.
We are use it or lose it with cap space right now. Overpaying is not a concern. This is a one time shot. Lowry at 10 million vs Lowry at 13m is not going to make a difference to this team.
True. Fans see what they want to see. If your only vested interest is the success of one player that you believe to be the greatest player since Zeus laid half the world, then you are going to find blame with everyone around him if he isn't successful but never blame him.
I reckon there is a chance that issue might get fixed via trade. Might as well pay 13 million to take care of the one while we are at it.
True, but you are forgetting Lowry was the 2nd option in Toronto. He would be the 3.5th option on Rockets. Maybe Lowry is mature enough now to sacrifice his stats and ego for the Ws. But back when he was with us, it was not the case.
That's why I don't mind overpaying a little, so long as his salary (or what we have to trade to get him) doesn't compromise our ability to get Love or Anderson.
Yeah I mentioned in another post that it is fair to wonder whether he can thrive on a team that is going to have Harden/Parsons/Dwight on the floor with him, but it's not because Harden is a ball dominating player.
Did you know: When accounting for free throws, if Jeremy Lin was given the exact same amount of time on the Raptors that he was given by the Rockets he would have been the third most utilized player on the team? He would also have led the team in turnovers per 36 minutes. Poor poor Jeremy.
Got it. Would be awesome to get Lowry. Definitely a big upgrade. I like Bev but he would be better served as an energy spark. He can't maintain his play style and keep healthy at the same time as a starter.
Also, don't forget staggering minutes. Much like the Heat, our players will get plenty of time on the court to maximize their productivity (along with plenty of time to rest). If both Lowry and Harden play 35 minutes a game and one is always on the court, then both should get 13 minutes without the other.
Yeah, it's also interesting if you go look at the Raptors players. They didn't have guys like Dwight/Parsons in terms of comparable players taking those shots, but they had a lot of guys taking a decent number of shots.
It's unfortunate Lin can't adapt to play along with Harden. He needs the ball in hand and a constantly moving 2 to operate. I like him, and hope he thrives on another team.
