Re: Can Wiggins dunk anymore?
Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2019 6:53 pm
Q12543 wrote:longstrangetrip wrote:Q12543 wrote:longstrangetrip wrote:I took the question literally and voted yes, but I agree with the premise...he doesn't use his athleticism enough for my taste.
But let's put Wig in perspective. Last year we were all drooling over Donovan Mitchell. This year his stats and Wig's are comparable. Overall shooting stats are almost even, but Wig has a much better 3-point percentage. Wig out rebounds Mitchell believe it or not, and Mitchell out-assists Wig while turning the ball over more. Mitchell outscores Wig 20-17, but primarily because he is Utah's primary scorer and takes more shots per game than Wig.
Most of us love Mitchell and would likely endorse a straight up trade. But is he any better? The stats don't say so. I get that Wig was the first pick in the draft and Mitchell went 13 and that Wig is currently paid more (they may be even in a couple years), but overall I'm as satisfied with Wig as KAT's sidekick as I would be with Mitchell...and that's saying a lot.
Mitchell is having a sophomore slump without a doubt, yet is still better than Wiggins in any of the comprehensive stats that measure overall performance: PER, win shares, RPM, net rating, etc. He's also one year younger and has three fewer years of NBA experience. That's a big deal, although as we've seen with Wiggins, there is no guarantee of improvement either!
(Highjacked thread warning)
True, but the more I think about it, I don't know that I trade Wig for Mitchell straight up. Wig is a far better 3-point shooter, and I think his additional 5 inches of height makes him more of a force on defense. Is Mitchell having a sophomore slump, or did he outperform his potential in his rookie season...frankly, he did not project to be a good shooter at all coming out of college, and his play this season is more similar to his college shooting.
Getting back to the thread topic, yes, Wig can still dunk...spectacularly at times. But he needs to dunk as frequently as he did his rookie year. And no, I'm not trading Wig for a 6'3" shooting guard who doesn't hit threes.
I think you are taking the 30-odd games of this season and putting way too much emphasis on them. Wiggins is always better in the theoretical sense (he's taller! he can jump higher!), but in reality Mitchell is more of a positive contributor for his team while also being younger and having less NBA experience.
It's interesting to look at Mitchell's percentages for the basic shot zones. Mitchell is actually shooting well from long 2 range his problem is poor shooting from 3-10 feet and shooting under 30% from 3. I've heard the buzz about Mitchell is he is just taking really bad shots. I haven't watched him enough this season to know especially when he is completely healthy. LST has some interesting takes at times and taking them seriously it makes you really think about some stuff. I'd likely still take Donovan Mitchell over Wiggins. Some of the shine is coming off Mitchell but I think the guy is pretty talented and it's worth memtioning sometimes being crowed a star when it was unexpected can be a certain challenge.