After hearing about Russell Westbrook's surgery, I tried to think who would replace his scoring for OKC before realizing just how unproven their bench is. After running through the game logs for every player on their roster, I found that only 6 players on their current roster had a 20+ point game last year including Westbrook. Of the remaining 5 there was only Durant and Ibaka who had done it more than a couple times last year; Sefolosha did it 2 times, Fisher 1 time, and Reggie Jackson 1 time. The idea is that some young unproven player and specifically Lamb will pick up some slack-but his only game in double figures(13pts) took him 21 shots. It seemed crazy to me just how few players had proven they could score 20pts last year on that team and to place so much hope on unproven young players filling the void of Martin and Westbrook while he's out.
So I went through every Western Conference team and through every player on every rosters game logs to find how many teams have players that scored 20pts or better in a game. 20 points seemed like a reasonable number to set the bar at, because what player could be labeled as a proven offensive threat off the bench if he didn't have a single game last season where he scored 20 points? A single game of 20 or more points all season would qualify a player, this player didn't have to play the previous year for the team he's on now to count towards the teams total. This obviously would rule out all rookies or any players that missed the full season, so it shows just how many players on every roster have shown the capability to score recently in this league. No betting on potential or hoping for the unproven, just a simple measure of how many players on each roster have shown they can score in the last year in the regular season.
Denver-11 players. Darrell Arthur, Ty Lawson, Javale McGee, Wilson Chandler, Kenneth Faried, Evan Fournier, Danilo Gallinari, J.J. Hickson, Andre Miller, Nate Robinson, and Randy Foye.
Dallas-10 players. DeJuan Blair, Dirk Nowitzki, Jose Calderon, Vince Carter, Samuel Dalembert, Wayne Ellington, Devin Harris, Shawn Marion, Brandan Wright, and Monta Ellis
Sacramento-10 players. Marcus Thornton, DeMarcus Cousins, Jason Thompson, Jimmer Fredette, Carl Landry, Luc Richard Mbah A Moute, Patrick Patterson, John Salmons, Greivis Vasquez, Isaiah Thomas.
LAC-10 players. Chris Paul, Jamal Crawford, DeAndre Jordan, Matt Barnes, J.J. Redick, Byron Mullens, Antawn Jamison, Jared Dudley, Darren Collison, and Blake Griffin.
Portland-9 players. Damian Lillard, Mo Williams, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, Robin Lopez, Will Barton, Dorell Wright, and Meyers Leonard.
Minnesota-9 players. J.J. Barea, Kevin Love, Derrick Williams, Corey Brewer, Ricky Rubio, Dante Cunningham, Kevin Martin, Alexey Shved, and Nikola Pekovic.
LAL-9 players. Kobe Bryant, Steve Blake, Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, Jordan Farmar, Wesley Johnson, Chris Kaman, Jodie Meeks, and Nick Young.
Memphis-8 players. Mike Conley, Zach Randolph, Tayshaun Prince, Jerryd Bayless, Marc Gasol, Mike Miller, Kosta Koufos, and Ed Davis.
Houston-8 players. James Harden, Dwight Howard, Omer Asik, Aaron Brooks, Jeremy Lin, Francisco Garcia, Chandler Parsons, and Greg Smith.
New Orleans-8 players. Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson, Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, Austin Rivers, Jason Smith, and Brian Roberts.
San Antonio-8 players. Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Tiago Splitter, Patty Mills, Danny Green, and Marco Belinelli.
Golden State-8 players. Stephen Curry, David Lee, Andre Igoudala, Harrison Barnes, Toney Douglas, Klay Thompson, Marreese Speights, and Jermaine O'Neal.
Phoenix-8 players. Marcin Gortat, Eric Bledsoe, Markieff Morris, Marcus Morris, Gerald Green, Channing Frye, Goran Dragic, and Shannon Brown.
Oklahoma-6 players. Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Derek Fisher, Serge Ibaka, Reggie Jackson, and Thabo Sefolosha.
Utah-6 players. Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter, Alec Burks, Lester Hudson, and Marvin Williams.
It's interesting to see how many teams have players known to be capable of scoring 20+pts. It certainly shows just how much the Jazz are committed to their young players after letting veterans walk but I still don't understand how Oklahoma has so few proven contributors on their team and feel comfortable and not land any quality free agents. In comparing their team to ours we have a much superior bench while providing better starters at every position but SF until Westbrook is back, so that will be interesting to see how much Durant can carry them with so few players capable of creating their own shot on that roster.
*Originally I posted this on Blazersedge, but it seemed fitting for this blog.
So I went through every Western Conference team and through every player on every rosters game logs to find how many teams have players that scored 20pts or better in a game. 20 points seemed like a reasonable number to set the bar at, because what player could be labeled as a proven offensive threat off the bench if he didn't have a single game last season where he scored 20 points? A single game of 20 or more points all season would qualify a player, this player didn't have to play the previous year for the team he's on now to count towards the teams total. This obviously would rule out all rookies or any players that missed the full season, so it shows just how many players on every roster have shown the capability to score recently in this league. No betting on potential or hoping for the unproven, just a simple measure of how many players on each roster have shown they can score in the last year in the regular season.
Denver-11 players. Darrell Arthur, Ty Lawson, Javale McGee, Wilson Chandler, Kenneth Faried, Evan Fournier, Danilo Gallinari, J.J. Hickson, Andre Miller, Nate Robinson, and Randy Foye.
Dallas-10 players. DeJuan Blair, Dirk Nowitzki, Jose Calderon, Vince Carter, Samuel Dalembert, Wayne Ellington, Devin Harris, Shawn Marion, Brandan Wright, and Monta Ellis
Sacramento-10 players. Marcus Thornton, DeMarcus Cousins, Jason Thompson, Jimmer Fredette, Carl Landry, Luc Richard Mbah A Moute, Patrick Patterson, John Salmons, Greivis Vasquez, Isaiah Thomas.
LAC-10 players. Chris Paul, Jamal Crawford, DeAndre Jordan, Matt Barnes, J.J. Redick, Byron Mullens, Antawn Jamison, Jared Dudley, Darren Collison, and Blake Griffin.
Portland-9 players. Damian Lillard, Mo Williams, Wesley Matthews, Nicolas Batum, LaMarcus Aldridge, Robin Lopez, Will Barton, Dorell Wright, and Meyers Leonard.
Minnesota-9 players. J.J. Barea, Kevin Love, Derrick Williams, Corey Brewer, Ricky Rubio, Dante Cunningham, Kevin Martin, Alexey Shved, and Nikola Pekovic.
LAL-9 players. Kobe Bryant, Steve Blake, Steve Nash, Pau Gasol, Jordan Farmar, Wesley Johnson, Chris Kaman, Jodie Meeks, and Nick Young.
Memphis-8 players. Mike Conley, Zach Randolph, Tayshaun Prince, Jerryd Bayless, Marc Gasol, Mike Miller, Kosta Koufos, and Ed Davis.
Houston-8 players. James Harden, Dwight Howard, Omer Asik, Aaron Brooks, Jeremy Lin, Francisco Garcia, Chandler Parsons, and Greg Smith.
New Orleans-8 players. Tyreke Evans, Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson, Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday, Austin Rivers, Jason Smith, and Brian Roberts.
San Antonio-8 players. Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, Kawhi Leonard, Tiago Splitter, Patty Mills, Danny Green, and Marco Belinelli.
Golden State-8 players. Stephen Curry, David Lee, Andre Igoudala, Harrison Barnes, Toney Douglas, Klay Thompson, Marreese Speights, and Jermaine O'Neal.
Phoenix-8 players. Marcin Gortat, Eric Bledsoe, Markieff Morris, Marcus Morris, Gerald Green, Channing Frye, Goran Dragic, and Shannon Brown.
Oklahoma-6 players. Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant, Derek Fisher, Serge Ibaka, Reggie Jackson, and Thabo Sefolosha.
Utah-6 players. Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter, Alec Burks, Lester Hudson, and Marvin Williams.
It's interesting to see how many teams have players known to be capable of scoring 20+pts. It certainly shows just how much the Jazz are committed to their young players after letting veterans walk but I still don't understand how Oklahoma has so few proven contributors on their team and feel comfortable and not land any quality free agents. In comparing their team to ours we have a much superior bench while providing better starters at every position but SF until Westbrook is back, so that will be interesting to see how much Durant can carry them with so few players capable of creating their own shot on that roster.
*Originally I posted this on Blazersedge, but it seemed fitting for this blog.
