Can someone post the insider article about Kyrie on the ESPN NBA page?
In many respects,
Kyrie Irving is having an under-the-radar season. For the first time in his NBA career, he's playing on a winning team. But in another first, he's no longer the headline-maker for the
Cleveland Cavaliers, a designation that falls on Irving's future Hall of Fame teammate,
LeBron James. Nevertheless, Irving is enjoying the best season of his career, whether or not people realize it.
Despite establishing himself as one of the best scorers in the league with the ball in his hands, we knew Irving was going to have to cede a chunk of his offensive responsibility to James. To a certain extent that has occurred. In order to make up for the smaller role, Irving would then need to up his offensive efficiency and improve his defense in order to maintain or build upon his established levels of value. Check and check.
The growth in Irving's game over the years has been subtle. After entering the NBA as a one-and-done player and top overall pick in 2011, you'd expect Irving's trend line to be steep at the beginning, then gradually level off until he reached his peak seasons. That's a general assessment, of course, and each player is a rare and precious snowflake.
Kyrie Irving over the years
YearPERWIN%WARP
2011-1221.4.6158.0
2012-1321.4.6068.1
2013-1420.1.5929.2
2014-1520.9.59110.3*
*82-game pace
While Irving burst onto the scene with a strong rookie season, his aggregate numbers since have leveled off. That's not a bad thing, since the plateau he's stuck on is really impressive. Yet what gets lost about Irving is that he has emerged as one of the league's most consistent performers. Consider his year-by-year figures in PER, win percentage and WARP.
Irving's per-possession stats have barely changed from year to year, while WARP -- which combines that per-possession efficiency with playing time -- has been growing steadily but surely, like a savings bond. This season, Irving is on pace to add more than a full win to his bottom-line value for the second season in a row. The primary reason: He's been relatively healthy. Irving's various injuries over his first three seasons cost him 49 games. This season, despite some recent shoulder problems, Irving has already played in 60 games -- the second most of his career. If he stays healthy the rest of the way, he'll end up at 77 games.
The seeming stagnation of Irving's per-possession numbers is actually encouraging when you consider the reduced role. His usage rate of 25.4 percent is down 3 percent from last season, and 6 percent from the season before that. According to SportVu, Irving is getting the same number of touches per game he did last season -- after all, he's still the one who brings the ball down the court -- but his frontcourt touches are down by 2.7. He's getting 2.5 fewer shots per 100 possessions, and his assist opportunities have dropped from 11.7 to 10.2.
In order to maintain his value then, Irving needed to make more out of his reduced chances, and that's exactly what he's done. Let's look at the various facets of his game.
Scoring
Next to James and under Dave Blatt, the distribution of Irving's possessions has trended toward enhanced efficiency across the board. According to basketball-reference.com, Irving is taking 11 percent fewer of his shots from midrange. Meanwhile, the portions of his possessions that have gone to 3-point attempts and free throws are up, and turnovers are down. Add it all up, and Irving's offensive RPM of plus-4.75 ranks eighth in the league, just two spots behind James. His true shooting percentage of .577 is easily a career high.
Irving's 3-point shooting has rebounded to the 39-percent mark he established over his first two seasons, but was down last season. But where he's made more significant gains is when he puts the ball on floor. Per SportVu, Irving's rate of pull-up jumpers is down 8 percent, while shots inside of 10 feet are up by that same 8 percent figure. By attacking the rim more consistently, and finishing, Irving has not only established a career-best percentage on 2-pointers, but he's getting to the line more than ever before.
Playmaking
As mentioned, Irving's assists and assist opportunities are down from previous seasons, as is his assist percentage. However, according to SportVu, Irving's assists have created 16.3 points per 48 minutes, the exact same figure as last season. Better teammates and a better system can account for that, but nevertheless, it'd be a mistake to assume Irving has diminished as a playmaker. According to NBA.com/stats, Irving's assists per 36 minutes rises from 4.6 to 5.8 when he's on the floor without James.
As for the drop in turnovers, it's not just a matter of making fewer passes. Per SportVu, Irving's rate of turnovers per 100 touches has fallen from 3.2 to 2.9.
Defense
The Cavs have been 0.8 points per 100 possessions better on defense with Irving on the bench, per basketball-reference.com. That may not sound great, but that deficit has been over six in two of his three previous seasons, and over three the other campaign. Irving has posted lower rates in defensive rebounds, steals and blocks, but nevertheless his defensive RPM (minus-0.68) is easily a career best. He's not going to make All-Defense, but the evidence suggests Irving is not killing the Cavs as much on defense as he has in the past.
News and notes
• We all know about the historical ineptitude of big men
Andre Drummond and
DeAndre Jordanwhen it comes to shooting free throws. Drummond (39.2 percent) and Jordan (40.1) are both in striking distance of Wilt Chamberlain's record low of 38.0 percent among qualifying leaders.
[+] Enlarge
Stacy Revere/Getty ImagesRajon Rondo is a remarkable 8-for-27 from the line since being acquired by Dallas.
Saved from that race is probably going to be
Rajon Rondo, who is hitting just 31.7 percent from the line. Rondo has just 63 attempts on the season, making him a long shot to reach the 125 foul shots required to qualify for the leaderboard. Rondo has never been
Rick Barry from the line, but he's still a 60.8 percent shooter from the stripe, making his brick parade this season all the more remarkable. Rondo is 8-for-27 from the line since being acquired by the Mavericks.
Despite the efforts of this trio, the league mark of 75.3 percent from the line is right on target with recent seasons.
• The
Milwaukee Bucks recognized former player Bob Dandridge on Saturday, retiring his No. 10 in a ceremony at the Bradley Center before a game against Washington, the other franchise for which Dandridge played during his career. Dandridge is an overlooked player whose Hall of Fame case is probably stronger than that of Bernard King, who was inducted in 2014, and I say that even though King is my all-time favorite player.
According to basketball-reference.com, Dandridge ranked seventh in the NBA in points, and eighth in win shares during the 1970s, when he played the bulk of his career. He was a starter on two title teams and two other squads that made the Finals, and was probably the best player on the 1979 champion Bullets. That season, Dandridge was second team All-NBA and first team All-Defense. He always played second or third fiddle to upper-tier Hall of Famers like
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Oscar Robertson, Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes, but when you look at his overall resume, it's kind of amazing Dandridge hasn't gotten more recognition.
• The injury-riddled Bulls have increasingly turned to
Nikola Mirotic for offense, and the rookie has taken double-digit shot attempts in his past six games, averaging 20.8 points and eight boards during that span. Mirotic hasn't shot the ball particularly well, but he's been so aggressive off the dribble that his 8.4 foul shots per game in recent outings has kept his true shooting percentage at a stout .577.
Mirotic is a long shot at best in the Rookie of the Year race, which at this juncture appears to be
Andrew Wiggins' to lose. Mirotic has averaged just over 18 minutes per game this season, which would be by far the fewest for a Rookie of the Year winner. However, consider this: Mirotic's .583 winning percentage and 4.1 WARP lap the field among rookies. If analytics have any say in the matter, Mirotic is a viable candidate.
• Don't look now, but New York's
Andrea Bargnani has averaged 19.6 points per 36 minutes on a .552 true shooting percentage in his 12 games for the Knicks, reflective of his best days earlier in his career with the Raptors. His rebound rates are at a career high, and his assist rate is by far his best, as his game appears to be well-suited to the triangle offense. Along those lines, Bargnani's mid-post game has shined in particular, as he's shooting 52 percent from 3 to 10 feet, per basketball-reference.com.
The quandary for Knicks honcho Phil Jackson is this: Can you let yourself be taken in by such a small-sample performance when a player hasn't played in more than 42 games in four years? At the right price, the free-agent-to-be Bargnani might be worth keeping around. However, his free-agent hold of $17.25 million will be a cap-clogger. You can renounce his Bird rights, but then he's free to sign anywhere and you have no enhanced bargaining power. For me, Bargnani's health record and poor defense make renouncing him a no-brainer. With New York's potential cap space, if Bargnani wants to stay at the right price, then great. But I wouldn't commit before I have to. This is yet another test of Jackson's ability to learn the exec game on the fly.
