Kristaps took less shots per game than Smart + Grant. I have no doubt that he took less than Smart + Gallo would have too. He is not a very high volume shooter - under 16 FGAs isn’t that bad.
You seem to be ignoring all the positives on offence he brings. Elite shooting, vertical spacing, ability to beat up post mismatches, and a free throw rate of 0.41 (higher than JT).
Also the fact that he’s an elite pick and roll partner for JT, with far more skill and versatility than Al has at this point in his career. He fits into the actions we want to run very well.
Luka and the Mavs said the same thing.
The Mavs were a .575 team (77-57) with Kristaps. Not terrible - 47 win pace overall, which is a better result than when he missed time.
That Mavs team was also a dominant offence. Prior to the offensive explosion of this season, wasn't one of their offences one of the best ever?
That has gotten me curious about what their record was without Porzingis.
So 2019-20. They were 32 wins and 25 losses with him (0.561). And 11 wins and 7 losses without him (0.611).
2020-21. Dallas was 26 wins and 17 losses with him (0.604). 16 wins and 13 losses without him (0.551). Good improvement that year.
His 2021-22 is awkward moving midseason. Let's see. So Dallas were 33 wins and 23 losses on his final (missed) game. They were 19 wins and 15 losses in games played. Sorry, if that is off, I was counting by hand (well, head). So they would have been 14 wins and 8 losses without him. So they had a 0.558 winning percentage with him and a 0.636 without him.
That is disappointing.
So have I got my math right? I have 77 wins and 55 losses (0.583) as you do so I must have gotten that part right. That would have 41 wins and 28 losses without him (0.594). Almost the same number with or without Porzingis.
That surprises me. I knew there were times where he didn't make much of a difference but I still expected the good times to leave him a positive advantage in his favour.
Anyway, that wasn't what I was trying to say. I was pointing out that Dallas were unhappy with how the two-man game between Luka & Porzingis worked out. That on paper it looked like they should mesh well together. Porzingis has said this himself in an interview. But it didn't.
Many of the same reasons we state for Tatum and Porzingis working together were also the same reasons used for why Luka and Porzingis should work well together.