The biggest issue with the Garland/Sexton pairing is that it's very difficult to field a competitive defensive team with both of them on the court. How exactly does replacing Garland with another poor defender in Ball change that?
I believe that's far from a given. Overall, he was not good this year. Not quite as poor as Garland, but it was much closer than the general sentiment would lead you to believe.
I don't think Love is close to getting his jersey retired, I think he's an absolute lock.
Nobody thinks KPJ's all year stats look great, but from where he started to where he ended up, he made huge progress.
Shot 12% from 3 in Oct, 25% in Nov, was in the high 30's for Dec and after that never shot less than 40%. 3 pt attempts increased form 2 a game to 4.5 at the end. he stopped taking so many off the dribble 3's which he was not good at in favor or catch and shoot which he was good at. Also, generally shot selection improved in a similar way to Sexton the year before.
Assists were 2 and under for most of the year. Feb and March 3 a game. Same pattern with FTA. Doubled from 1.5 to 3 those last 2 months.
Heavy dose of eye test goes into what people were saying. He was locked in better, and did not look like a hesitant rookie who didn't know what to do. He made better decisions and passed the ball well.
KPJ wasn't great this year, but the #30 clearly had a better year than the #3 overall pick, and he had some breakout games like his 30 against Miami. Barrett had a 27 point game
I keep comparing him to Andre Iguodala. I think it is pretty fair. If you compare their rookie season per 100 poss like you like to there are some obvious similarities
Iggy was 2 years older, and he was more seasoned already. They are both about the same size and have a similar handle.
Now Iggy's advanced numbers are better for sure. I think Iggy was far better as a defender for one thing. He also was better at rebounding by 2 rebounds. But it is from 6 to 8. So, from a good rebounder for a wing in Porter to a great one in Iggy.
Ft% is the same, assist rate and per 100 poss is very similar. Porter has the scoring edge, but also had a higher usage. I think if he continues his progress and he works on his shot selection he might be looking even more similar to Iggy by the time he is the same age.