Get him to play some D. Worst defensive player on the team last year. If he was an average defender he'd be a great player.
I went to ESPN's real plus/minus to try and prove you wrong and I ended up proving you right:-))
IT is the 73rd worst defender out of 83 PG's. OUCH!!!
http://espn.go.com/nba/statistics/rpm/_/page/2/sort/DRPM/position/1
I will support your argument now and shut up!!!
Smitty77
Advanced defensive Metrics aren't as straight forward as offensive ones, idk if he's THAT bad.
I didn't watch a whole lot of him before he came here, but in his time here I've been impressed by the effort he puts forward on D. His size puts him at a severe disadvantage against almost every opposing guard in the league and that's not gonna change. Hence why he's best used as a microwave kinda instant offense 6th man. He's Jamal Crawford level at that, but if you start him he's gonna be burned more often by better players, this limiting his overall impact.
I really like the idea of a Smart/Rozier/Thomas/Hunter back-court if they all progress well and Rozier can develop his off-ball skills the way Smart has. There's a lot of versatility there because their skill-sets mesh well. I expect Smart to take a big step forward this year, becoming our lead ball-carrier in the starting line-up while he also can play more off-ball next to IT or Rozier. TR is going to be a very good defender, IMO. I think he'll get a chance in that Phil Pressey spark-plug role at the end of the bench this year, and mesh with our other guards.
Thomas is the perfect 20-25 mpg 6th man for what we hope this group grows into. His defiences on D can be covered up by any of the other guys so you have the versatility to go with the hot shooting hand or best defender, etc. Hunter gives us a true shooting guard with great length, a very high BBIQ, capable ball-handler with good defensive instincts and lights-out shooting range. Compliments the rest of them really well. I think he could see a little time in 3 guard line-ups or nights where were shooting poorly. If Rozier and Hunter show good development, it kinda leaves Bradley as the odd man out in the future. But if we do see that good development from the rookies, Bradley just doesn't fit as well.
I think Thomas needs to stick to what he does well because Ainge will put guys around him that can all play effectively. While I think Ainge got him mostly because the price was so low he could likely flip him again for better value, I also think we could see him be the instant-offense guy on the next C's contender if all goes right.