Lamar Stevens: Junkyard Dog

[Lee]

I’ve made this comp before and I think others have too… but he reminds me a lot of another late bloomer defensive minded bulldog.

That would be PJ Tucker.

Stevens is an NBA player. That much is clear.

I actually like the comp....i have thought that for a bit. I have liked Stevens since the begining of his rookie year. He is just a solid player who does the little things...he is a junk yard dog, the type of guy you can go to battle with and will never back down.

 

[Mcreek]

A Bigger version of Bobby Phills ? Not as good of a three point shooter but a couple inches taller and more versatile . Similar defender

 

[Heat Check]

So remind me... what does Okoro do better than Stevens?

Stevens is bigger, a better shooter, a much better finisher and IMO a better defender too. And unlike Okoro, Stevens actually has a legit go-to move (the FT line turnaround jumper) which is super important for a guy like him.

I'm having trouble seeing why Okoro should start before Lamar.

 

[Jscc]

So remind me... what does Okoro do better than Stevens?

Stevens is bigger, a better shooter, a much better finisher and IMO a better defender too. And unlike Okoro, Stevens actually has a legit go-to move (the FT line turnaround jumper) which is great for a guy like him.

I'm having trouble seeing why Okoro should start before Lamar.

If Stevens can do this consistently, then that's a fair question. He mostly matched up with Mitchell and Clarkson tonight. Both are undersized compared to Stevens.

 

[MirORich]

So remind me... what does Okoro do better than Stevens?

Stevens is bigger, a better shooter, a much better finisher and IMO a better defender too. And unlike Okoro, Stevens actually has a legit go-to move (the FT line turnaround jumper) which is super important for a guy like him.

I'm having trouble seeing why Okoro should start before Lamar.

Love the development we are seeing out of Stevens.

The primary thing most people would point to is him being 3.5 years older and having four years of college experience.

So even though the two have played in the NBA the same amount of time(1.5 years) Stevens body and game had a much longer development opportunity prior to joining the NBA.

Tonight represented the very best of what Stevens has ever done in the NBA. It also represents a very small sample size of games in which Stevens has even come close to playing this good. So if we are going to compare the two, we should not be comparing this one game of Stevens to all of Isaac's games. A fair comparison would be a snapshot of each of their best 5 games in the NBA. And Isaac has had some games like this or better.

Both of them merit continued development. And honestly, neither of them should necessarily be starters at this point but our roster contraction at SG and the injuries we've sustained does sort of necessitate one of them starting.

So again, I am not diminishing anything that Stevens has done, But let's be fair when we compare the two and acknowledge that they both have a long way to go. It's not easy, but offensive competency can be developed. Defensive tenacity and body attributes are far harder to develop. If either or both of their offensives games catch up to what they can offer on defense and either or both of them reach their highest two way potential, we'd be in really great shape.

I just don't want the wet deserved now of Stevens best game or best stretch of games as a pro take away from the fact that Isaac has had some games this year and last that have been equally impressive and impactful.

 

[cabs]

ol' Tough Buckets

 

[Sir'Dom Pointer]

He just really needs a 3pt shot. Teams are able to game plan against our front court and take away the high PnR/lob because of the lack of shooting from the shooting guard position. JAzz triple switched the PnR and triple teamed most of the entry passes in the post. It's tough dealing with that kind of thing. He really needs a 3pt shot. I hope he can do it.

 

[letgocavs]

Jimmy butler for me

 

[CleveRocks]

He can drain a three from the arc between 30 an 40 degrees off the base line from the left side of the basket. I watched him warming up for the second half of the Pacers game.. Very comfortable drained 10 consecutive no misses.. However from the same corner he was very inconsistent, made 2 of ten perhaps.. Clearly someone has been working with him.. last year I don't think he made any threes, this year he started out bricking, but has started hitting a decent percentag.percentage.. He gets comfortable with that corner three and he is going to be quite an asset we got for nothing..

 

[avs2000]

So remind me... what does Okoro do better than Stevens?

Stevens is bigger, a better shooter, a much better finisher and IMO a better defender too. And unlike Okoro, Stevens actually has a legit go-to move (the FT line turnaround jumper) which is super important for a guy like him.

I'm having trouble seeing why Okoro should start before Lamar.

I am just seeing them as a very solid duo. Don’t really care who starts. Right now your right they are pretty interchangeable.
Because of youth I think okoro has more upside But it’s ok to like them both

 

[shoes22]

So remind me... what does Okoro do better than Stevens?

Stevens is bigger, a better shooter, a much better finisher and IMO a better defender too. And unlike Okoro, Stevens actually has a legit go-to move (the FT line turnaround jumper) which is super important for a guy like him.

I'm having trouble seeing why Okoro should start before Lamar.

Okoro is still the better defender I think. Okoro is also way more athletic than Stevens and ultimately has more potential, even though his offense is coming along slowly.

 

[BimboColesHair]

Heat Check with some Hot Takes this week.

Good lord.

Love Lamar, and especially his mentality. Sounds like he is a fairly vocal leader, which isn't surprising coming from a 4 year college player who was his schools star on both sides of the floor pretty much all 4 years. His development is a testament to the fact that we finally have a culture and coaching staff able to further develop guys from the bottom of the scrap pile, which bodes well for when they add more high level talent.

But let's not pretend Okoro didn't just have a similar stretch of games himself a month ago before Covid knocked him out. Both guys still have problems with consistency.

Big thing for Lamar is his shot areas have been simplified. Went from 30% of his 3PAs being in the corners as a rookie to nearly 60% of his attempts being in the corners this season, and he has upped his shooting percentage from 25% to 33% on those looks. Needs to keep getting closer and closer to that 40% mark from the corners for me. On top of that 80%+ of his shots are from 10 feet and in or outside the 3 point line, last year that figure was in the high 60s. Higher quality shot selection typically leads to higher shooting percentages and better scoring efficiency.

Hope he keeps it up. We shouldn't have to prop up Lamar by putting down Okoro, be better than that.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

From Pluto today:

On this 4-game trip, he’s averaging 14 points, shooting 64 percent from the field.

Stevens has now started six games in his career and has played 900 minutes. Okoro has started 90 games and has played 2,900 minutes.

Okoro is shooting 45.4% this year compared to 46.8% for Stevens. On 3's Okoro is at 32.1% while Stevens is at 33.3%. Negligible differences. Stevens is the better rebounder on a per minute basis; 5.6 to 3.6 per 28 minutes.

For me it's the trajectory. Stevens is starting to get comfortable starting and playing major minutes with the other starters. He's figuring out how he fits in and what the team needs from him. And he's getting more confident and aggressive. Just look at the last three games.

Warriors: 8-for-11, 17 points (the rest of the Cavs combined only scored 65)
Kings: 4-for-5, 9 points in 20 minutes
Jazz: 10-for-15, 23 points in 30 minutes

He's learning how he can best score in this league, like taking it to the rim, elevating but holding onto the ball, taking the contact, and then banking it in on the way down like Ja Morant. Or if his path to the rim is cut off he hits the brakes and puts up a 10-15 foot jumper, which he is very accurate with. And he excels finishing on a fast break.

His next task is developing a 3-point shot when he's left unattended.

I'm not getting too excited because the Warriors had a 6'9" center and the Jazz had no center at all. Lamar may not be scoring 14 points when we play teams with real shot blockers in the paint. But I'd like to see him start and play 30 minutes for five more games and see what we have at that time.

 

[Wham with the Right Hand]

Just wanted to point out that Okoro had a four-game stretch in December when he scored 16, 20, 18, and 20 points, going 28-for-40 from the field and 10-for-17 on 3's. He was on a roll, but that's when he tested positive and was out for 13 days. When he came back he started slowly, but was 9-for-17 from the field and 3-for-5 on 3's in his first three games before injuring his elbow.

Both of these guys are developing into legitimate NBA starters. The fact that Okoro has made 13 of his last 22 attempts from the 3-point line is really encouraging. That might separate him from Stevens, who is a better rebounder. However, Stevens is hitting 33% from deep as opposed to 16% last year so he is trending upward.

Give Stevens another 2,000 minutes to even him out with Okoro and they could be very similar and close to equal players.

 

[BimboColesHair]

Just wanted to point out that Okoro had a four-game stretch in December when he scored 16, 20, 18, and 20 points, going 28-for-40 from the field and 10-for-17 on 3's. He was on a roll, but that's when he tested positive and was out for 13 days. When he came back he started slowly, but was 9-for-17 from the field and 3-for-5 on 3's in his first three games before injuring his elbow.

Both of these guys are developing into legitimate NBA starters. The fact that Okoro has made 13 of his last 22 attempts from the 3-point line is really encouraging. That might separate him from Stevens, who is a better rebounder. However, Stevens is hitting 33% from deep as opposed to 16% last year so he is trending upward.

Give Stevens another 2,000 minutes to even him out with Okoro and they could be very similar and close to equal players.

Even with that, it still doesn't take away that Lamar played 3500 more minutes at the college level than Okoro.

Lamar is significantly more experienced as a player to this point, has logged 5200 minutes post-HS. Okoro is at 3700.