Diving into Even More On-Off Numbers: 5 Guys
If you've checked out my first and second installments in this series -- and, really, why wouldn't you? -- I'm gonna finish with a quintet of the NBA's elite.
I'm seeing where all these dudes stand using the on-off statistic, which is designed to provide insight on a player's performance when he's on the court as compared to his pine time.
No stat is perfect, and virtually all stats are twistable, so take this for what it's worth: grist for the mill over a pint or two.
I’ve spent so much time in the Eastern Conference through the two articles that I feel gross inside.
Let’s go about as West as we can and zero in on the Portland Trail Blazers' Damian Lillard.
| POR with Lillard on the floor | POR with Lillard off the floor | |
| Offensive rating ... 111.8 | Offensive rating ... 107.1 | |
| Opponents offensive rating ... 115.9 | Opponents offensive rating ... 108.6 |
The difference: -2.7
Again, maybe it's not entirely indicative of his actual play, but by these numbers, dude may have to overcome a few bargaining points come contract time.
Remaining in the Rose City ...
Evan Turner? Who said they wanted to look at Evan Turner? Why would we do that?
| POR with Turner on the floor | POR with Turner off the floor | |
| Offensive rating ... 103.9 | Offensive rating ... 117.7 | |
| Opponents offensive rating ... 115.1 | Opponents offensive rating ... 112.7 |
The difference: -16.1
Whoa! The Blazers are 13.8 points per 100 possessions worse with Turner on the floor. By on-off numbers, Turner's been about as bad for Portland as LeBron has been good for the Cavs.
My apologies for doubting you, Damian Lillard.
Turner's clearly a shroud who's covered this entire team and turned it to darkness. I trust Lillard will lead Portland back into the light ... after the suits deal Turner outta town.
Speaking of ... time to head down the coast to visit the franchise with the dumbest name this side of Vegas Golden Knights.
I hesitate to spend too much time on Stephen Curry's and Kevin Durant's numbers because -- as with the Cavs -- the fact that there’s almost always an elite scorer on the floor in Golden State skews things a little.
That'll show with Durant’s numbers, especially.
But first:
| GSW with Curry on the floor | GSW with Curry off the floor | |
| Offensive rating ... 120.3 | Offensive rating ... 110.6 | |
| Opponents offensive rating ... 104.7 | Opponents offensive rating ... 103.7 |
The difference: +8.7
And now:
| GSW with Durant on the floor | GSW with Durant off the floor | |
| Offensive rating ... 118.4 | Offensive rating ... 115.0 | |
| Opponents offensive rating ... 104.6 | Opponents offensive rating ... 103.8 |
The difference: +2.6
Really, if anything, I think this illustrates a reason you can’t consider either of these dudes for MVP if you’re actually trying to decide who’s most valuable to his team.
Let’s check out a cagey Spaniard, like Marc Gasol:
| MEM with Gasol on the floor | MEM with Gasol off the floor | |
| Offensive rating ... 106.4 | Offensive rating ... 94.7 | |
| Opponents offensive rating ... 100.6 | Opponents offensive rating ... 105.7 |
The difference: +16.8
This is further evidence that dude's consistently, extremely underrated.
I know he’s won a Defensive Player of the Year award, and that’s nice, but I just think he should get more pub. I’m guilty of it, too. It can be hard to watch Grizzlies games, but Gasol deserves more credit and more attention.
Let this be the beginning of that. Your move, national media.