BIG SMOOTH ANALYTICS

[bigsmoothstats]

Word on the street is that Jerry Sloan is interested in coaching again, provided he can take over a winner.  With Vinny Del Negro's firing, The Clippers seem like the perfect fit.  How do two years CP3 & Blake compare to two years of pre-Sloan era Stockton & Malone? Quite well...

[bigsmoothstats]

Resolved: Kendrick Perkins is the Worst Player in the League

Yesterday over lunch, my friend Dan proposed the above hypothesis.  At first, the statement might seem a bit extreme.  A starter for a title contending team surely can't be the league's WORST player-- not when Austin Rivers plays in that league.  However, when you factor in a salary figure well above $8M per year and the fact that he plays 25 minutes a night with a strong supporting cast, Perk's lack of production does appear to cry "amnesty!". 

It turns out, Perk is not only the worst-- he is historically bad

The above data set shows seasons in which a player appeared in at least 60 games, averaged at least 25 mpg, and failed to achieve a PER above 9.  There have only been 49 such seasons in the past 60 years.  One player accomplished this dubious achievement each of the past two seasons: Perk.

A possible caveat to this data's usefulness exists in one Bruce Bowen.  We all know that while Bowen did not pile up stats, his presence on the court, in particular his outstanding playoff wing defense, helped lead the Spurs to three titles.

In response to the Bowen rebuttal, one must first consider the eye test.  Did it look like Perk neutralized Gasol or Z-Bo in the Memphis series?  Did opponents shy away from paint, as they do with Roy Hibbert? Did his help defense draw comparisons to a flatbed truck carrying a house trying to make a left-hand turn?

Then there is this.  Not only did the Thunder score 17 fewer points per 100 possessions Perk was on the court in the playoffs, their defense was unaffected by his presence on the court.  No Bowen outliers here.  Perk doesn't accumulate stats, has a negative offensive impact, and a negligible defenseive impact.

In trading Harden and keeping Perkins, Sam Presti might have lost all goodwill he earned in assembling the KD-Westbrook core.