Brogdon has his FTr up to 25.7% this year (his career best) which isn't surprising given his changed role. Kemba is right at his career average of 28.8%. So yeah, Kemba gets to the line more often but that is much more a function of him just getting a lot more shots. Brogdon is without question a better FT shooter than Walker. It isn't really all that close. And Brogdon is quite simply a better shooter from virtually every where. Even this year when his 3 point shooting is down, his TS% is still 57.4% which is a higher than Walker's 56.3%. Their USG is nearly the same so they have the overall finishes in the same neighborhood. Brogdon is a better rebounder and assister, by a pretty wide margin. Walker takes better care of the ball in addition to getting to the line more frequently (Walker also shoots a much higher rate of 3 pointers), but Brogdon overall has had the better year and he is 12 million dollars cheaper. You can do a lot for 12 million dollars. Brogdon is also 3 years younger and fits a lot better timeline wise with Tatum and Brown.
Lots of stuff I disagree with here. First, "timeline" changes quite a bit if there are injury concerns. Brogdon has concerns. I would guess Walker will be healthier and more effective over the next four years than Brogdon.
FTR matters. Brogdon has been good this year, but 13 games is way too small of a sample size to compare to Walker's career FTR.
As others have argued as well, Walker has never played with a player as good as Giannis, or Middleton. Lamb was the second best player for the Hornets last year, and he is probably the fourth best player for the Pacers this year (and will be the sixth when Oladipo and Turner return). That's a direct correlation to the talent level each has been able to play with.
Walker did play with an effective Al Jefferson for one year, but you could argue that Sabonis is as effective as Jefferson so far this year. Most of Walker's stats come from him creating his own offense for the team. Brogdon has never had to face that kind of pressure.
It's just not a comparison that needs to be made. Underrating our all-star point guard by comparing him to a guy with a small sample size is ludicrous. I would seriously wonder if every GM in the league would take Walker over Brogdon with their same salaries, including Indiana.
13 games of FTr, not 13 games to reach the conclusion that Brogdon is a better shooter from virtually every where than Walker is. Pretty much every single year Brogdon has been in the league he has been a better foul shooter, better free throw shooter, with a higher TS% than Walker. Brogdon is taking more shots and getting more assists this year, but he has been very good since a rookie and has shown reasonable improvement every year. For example, his per 36 scoring numbers are 13.9 to 15.7 to 19.7 to 21.9, but that is as a much a function of increasing his shots as anything 8.5 to 10.5 to 11.7 to 14.7.
Boston will go as far as Tatum will take them. If, like me, you don't think Tatum will be ready for another couple of seasons, then maximizing his window makes more sense. I'd rather have the younger player that is still improving that is significantly cheaper as I believe that better maximizes Boston's chance of actually winning a championship. To me Brogdon at 29 is the better guy to have than Walker at 32.
Topic: Would you have preferred Ainge gone in this direction during offseason? (Read 15325 times)