It's not though...
If he gets the minutes, I'd actually expect it. I'd be willing to put money up too
How would that bet possibly be determined? The subject of the better player is pretty subjective, even now we differ on who is better between Tristan and Derrick Williams. Should we take durability into consideration? AB missed more games in his lone rookie season (30) than Tristan's missed his entire three year career (5). I've long believed a player maintaining good health and adversely his availability is a valuable skill, you can't help the team while you're in street clothes.
I wouldn't argue AB would score more points in the same minutes, just that he'd give those points right back with subpar defense. For all the talk about his amazing defensive potential with all his size and length I've yet to see that manifest itself in positive ways defensively. He's never even been a mediocre defender in his 2 years in major basketball, can we slow the brakes on how great he can be on that end? I'd settle for mediocre next year, but
that's pretty unrealistic. I'd be ecstatic if he could move his feet quick enough to stay in front of washed-up 36-year-olds.
You want to base it on PER? Best alternative I could think of. Tristan posted a PER of 16.1 his second season, I'll bet you $20 AB doesn't top that next year.
We should also add on Derrick Williams, who you keep pushing as a better player than TT as well, to bump it up to $40 in two separate bets.
The last 25 games or so Bennett played he was already better than Thompson is.
Because he scored more points in his limited minutes? He was also much more shot-happy than Tristan is, which accounts for the slight difference in points. AB had a 21.2% Usage Rate over those 25 games, Tristan had a 16.3%. Just looking at their per 36 numbers together-
AB: 14.4 points (42-35-67) for a 49.5% TS%, 9.4 rebounds, .9 assists, .5 blocks, .9 steals, 2.8 turnovers
TT: 13.4 points (51-0-79) on 57.0% TS%, 10.4 rebounds, 1.1 assists, .6 blocks, .8 steals, 1 turnover
Shows Tristan to be the more efficient, productive big while having a turnover rate half of AB's. The team's success with Tristan on the floor (119 Offensive Rating/109 Defensive Rating) compared to AB (92 Offensive Rating/110 Defensive Rating) over their own respective final 25 games is also further proof AB wasn't nearly as effective as he was made out to be, and certainly not a better player than Tristan was.