We shouldn't lose sight of Dray's larger point, that writers and content creators should not have so much influence in who is eligible for a super-max and who isn't. Ultimately, there is a symbiotic relationship between players and writers/content creators. Removing the financial stakes involved in awards voting is better for both sides; Bill Simmons should absolutely be able to vote the way he wants, generate buzz, and drive traffic to the Ringer and Spotify. He should not need to take into consideration the effect his personal analysis has on a player's future compensation. I'm on board with absolutely loving the F*ck Jalen Green meme. Bill Simmons is one of the wealthiest content creators involved with the NBA; being able to root for the Rockets to shove it in his face is rooting for Stone Cold Steve Austin showing up Vince McMahon. I'm happy I get to punch up against a guy who has accumulated generational wealth and can profit by my reaction, rather than getting mad at someone who is still putting in the hustle and putting in the work on a weekly basis (Zach Lowe or Kelly Iko, I see y'all). I also don't have a problem with giving Herb Jones some recognition on the all-rookie first team for what they did this year. At the end of their careers, I expect that Jalen will have a number of All-NBA team awards on his resume, and no one is going to care about the smallest of snubs because he was a slow starter on the worst team in the league.
It should be a combination of gms and players. Gms shouldn't be allowed to vote for their own players and players can't vote for themselves or teammates. Problem solved.
Should be a reminder that in 2022, 297 players got at least one peer vote to start the All-Star game, including Zylan Cheatham, Jay Huff, Moses Wright, Robert White, Mckinley Wright IV, Joel Ayayi, and George King. One of these guys I made up, and there is probably a 0% chance most people actually know which player it was without guessing. Yes, players can vote for themselves, but there's basically no way to get them to take it seriously, or enforce a ban on voting for teammates. And what about a guy that gets traded, or signs multiple contracts during the year? https://www.seattletimes.com/sports/nba/analysis-nba-all-star-voting-by-players-again-was-flawed/ It would potentially put more power into the hands of agencies who could control large portions of the player vote via proxy. NFL players and coaches every year scalp their own superbowl tickets for a few grand when they're making millions. With most players being pretty uninvested, it wouldn't take much for Klutch Sports to "encourage" some end of the bench guys to vote for a client and get them paid. Jayson Tatum was 2 first place votes away from an extra $30M last year; you don't think you can find two guys in the league willing to put him down on their ballot for $5k each? Considering that GMs and owners get fined for tampering if they even mention another player's impending free agency, I also assume that there would be tons of "leaking" of the executive votes as yet another way of openly recruiting players, not to mention that GMs would be strongly incentivized to try and get guys not on their team qualified for designated player deals; that means a higher cap hit, and less money available in FA.
Sounds like he's screaming for an analytics-based approach. I agree - gotta stop all this "Andrew Wiggins is an all-star" crap.
Can't think of a more perfect way to start the summer than bulletin board material like this for Green's summer workouts. Perfect timing.
You can see in these playoffs: the importance of defense. It's really important Green is a better defender than Morant, it's what will tip the scales for him in terms of impacting the game at a superstar level. Have to follow the MJ, Kobe, Kawhi and Wade model (even Holiday, Middleton, Lebron). Stay away from T-Mac, Iverson, Beal, Harden model unless he can add 8-10 assists on his points and maintains free throw rate in the playoffs. Difficult to sustain, not amazing for generating chemistry and trust between teammates. This type of player is not as rare as we think, and rarely leads to success as a primary contributor. Having said that, if there's any young player who looks like he's going to shatter the all time points and ppg records, it's Jalen Green.
Individual defense is great, but for team success it will involve a philosophy that everyone believes in and executes. I look at the Celtics and how they have staffed the team with GREAT defenders tweaked their schemes and how that trickles down to star players like Tatum who buy in. Still too early to tell who will stick from these drafts, but ultimately Jalen will need a Robin to share the offensive load and play creation AND great defensive minded role players to enjoy team success (big duh right?). If Jalen gets to All NBA type defense then that would be a monumental surprise for me and the biggest cherry imaginable for Rocket fans. It probably means the team is close to winning championships and the kid may start to build a case for Springfield. (Way ahead of myself I know).
Agree scheme is very important. Impossible to judge a player's defense in a bad scheme. I don't think Green needs to be that borderline DPOY-good defensively to have a massive impact. 25 points, 4-5 assists and above average defense will yield franchise player impact on the court in any season. How many players do that? It's quite rare. Can see Green achieving this by year 3.
