Nobody knew that biyombo would improve that well
Literally nothing about this surprises me.
I pointed out numerous times that Charlotte's best defensive lineup included Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Biyombo. Biyombo had the best defensive rating on the entire team. It made no sense that they didn't play those guys more and just build an identity around defense. When Biyombo was given the opportunity to start on Charlotte, he consistently contributed. It's one of the many reasons I feel Charlotte is one of the two worst-run teams in the league.
Last year, for instance, in 21 games as a starter he averaged 6.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 1.8 blocks with 55% shooting in 27mpg. He was remarkably consistent in his ability to rebound and defend. His defensive rating was consistently great. His offense was bad, of course, but he was very clearly a (very cheap and attainable) option for rim protection.
His per-36 minutes constantly showed a player who would get you 8-9 points, 12 rebounds and 3 blocks with 36 minutes. And when he played 36+ minutes, he was remarkably consistent in backing up those per-36 numbers.
I got heckled when Biyombo signed for cheap with Charlotte. As anticipated, he ended up putting up comparable numbers to Willie Cauley Stein. This season, he once again put up per-36 numbers of 9 points, 13 rebounds, 2.6 blocks. He once again had the best defensive rating on his team.
In 22 games as a starter, he averaged 7 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2 blocks with 55% shooting in 30 minutes.
His past 8 playoff games he's averaged 35.5 minutes. He's averaged 8.8 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.4 blocks. Which, again... shouldn't surprise anyone. Remarkably consistent in what he's been doing the past few seasons with both his strengths and weaknesses.
Where controversy arose with Biyombo was the comparisons to Ben Wallace. Biyombo is only 23 years old (supposedly) and as we've seen, he is remarkably consistent in getting you 8-9 points, 12 boards and a few blocks per 36 minutes. When Ben Wallace was 23 years old, he avearged 3.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 1 block. It actually wasn't until Wallace 5th season in Detroit (as a 26 year old), that he saw his minutes spike to 34.5 and started avearging 6.4 points, 13 rebounds, 2.3 blocks. The comp I made over the Summer with Biyombo was that during Wallace's 4th season with Orlando, he averaged 4.8 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.6 blocks in 24.2mpg... which was shockingly close to what Biyombo did in his 21 games as a starter in Charlotte. If you look at Wallace's per-36 numbers, he was remarkably consistent in his ability to get you 6-9 points, 10-14 rebounds and 2-3 blocks per game. What changed for Wallace was his role. So naturally, it infuriated people when folks suggested that 22 year old Biyombo compared well with 25 year old Ben Wallace. It was obviously a stretch to say Biyombo's best-case was a dominant defender like Wallace, but you had to wonder what a player with Biyombo's skillset could do if given significant minutes on a solid team. Now we see... He's made major contributions to a 56 win team that is now tied 2-2 in the Eastern Conference Finals.
^^This is a perfect example of someone cherry picking box score statistics in order to prove themselves correct. Charlotte improved immensely this season and finally produced a decent offense for the 1st time in a decade.
Irrelevant. Biyombo didn't have a significant role in their team last year. If you paid attention, my point was that in the rare instances that MKW and Biyombo DID have a significant role, they won more. I'm not cherry picking anything. Obviously, if they failed with Biyombo as a starter and then succeeded without him a starter, you'd have a point. But Charlotte played better with Biyombo in the rare instances he actually got the minutes. Their best stretch of the season last year (winning 8 out of 9) happened with Biyombo as their starter.
I don't think we need to go into all the ways Charlotte has operated like a brain-dead franchise. It's pretty established at this point.
As for this season with Toronto, Biyombo once again had the best defensive rating on the team. They were 8-3 in the games he played at least 30 minutes. Tiny sample size, but a greater win pace than the Raptors had with him playing less than 30.
Obviously with Biyombo you get what you are gonna get. He's not a good offensive player. He can rebound and defend rather well, though. So if you need someone to rebound, defend and occasionally dunk, Biyombo is a fine option.