If Brandan Wright is so good, why has he been at 18 MPG for Dallas for a full three years?
Ever heard of Dirk Nowitzki? There's also a guy named Tyson Chandler there this year. Samuel Dalembert last year. Before that, Elton Brand and Chris Kaman. Plus, apparently Rick Carlisle has not been too interested in playing non-veterans. And still Wright got almost 20 minutes a game, which he has been maximizing the crap out of, more and more every year.
p.s. Good catch above by whoever I just awarded a Tommy Point to, that it's not just PER but just about
all the advanced metrics that love Wright. Please don't let baseball fans look wiser than basketball fans, it's just an accident of their sport being less complex that they wound up being first to appreciate the general usefulness of advanced metrics. Fortunately most NBA front offices are almost all caught up.
He's Leon Powe with more length. A devasting offensive garbage man who doesn't do much else well but he doesn't try to do more.
Any evidence for that comparison, or do you describe all efficient big men playing non-starter minutes in the NBA according to a Powe matrix? Kelly Olynyk is just a tall Leon Powe with longer hair, less melanin, and more finesse...hmmm, this could be useful, actually. Powe Shares, anyone?
FYI: I am not totally convinced Wright is going to be really good or even good if he gets played starter minutes against starters. I just think the odds are good. I still want the draft picks Dallas has, first and foremost. Two picks, preferably. Both first rounders. Preferably 2015 and 2017, because as I said above the West is so brutal this year that Dallas could slip entirely out of the playoffs with a single major injury. Bird in the hand, one in the bush, and
also Brandan Wright. Not as an afterthought, because I really do think he's got sleeper All-Star potential. But if it were just Wright plus, say, two second round picks, I would be livid at Ainge.