The headline here should really be “fun with small sample sizes” so let’s all keep a level head when discussing. This is just something interesting I noticed and wanted to share.
Despite the agonizing start for Trae, the Hawks are much better both offensively AND defensively when Trae is on and DJM is off so far this year. The ORtg jumps 3 whole points and the DRtg jumps a whopping 4.5 points in those scenarios. This is a more extreme continuation of what we saw last year, where the Trae-only minutes were a positive NetRtg and the DJM-only/Both lineups were negative with roughly equal DRtg and a big disparity in ORtg.
My takeaways:
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Dejounte Murray has great shooting splits this year, but he’s not adding much more offensively compared to Bogi when playing within a SG role
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Bogi is an incredible offensive SG to bring off the bench when healthy. We’re lucky to have him.
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As a PG, DJM is simply not on the same stratosphere as Trae in terms of being an offensive engine even though he has had more frequent efficient shooting nights so far this year.
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Trae’s defense (or the defense taking shape around him specifically) has improved significantly. DJM’s has not. Bogi/Trae/DJM are all bad defenders, but so far the lineups featuring Trae indicate he’s a better defensive ingredient or at least not the worst defensive piece of the three.
Reasons for optimism?
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Quin Snyder’s offensive system is notoriously hard to master. It’s understandable that Trae has adapted to it faster than DJM. That doesn’t mean DJM won’t figure it out as the season continues
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Our NetRtg is already much better than our record implies despite implementing a new coach’s system and Trae’s putrid shooting in our first ~7 games. This team is capable of beating anyone on a good night.
This is all probably very impacted because of our and our opponent’s rotations. Trae staggers early with the bench and potentially faces opponent’s bench/stagger, while Trae and DJM are on court when other teams are running their starters. Similarly, early on, DJM faces opponent’s starters when Trae goes to bench to rest before the stagger.
I feel like people so often miss context to these stats (not accusing you here OP, just talking in general regarding people putting up these stats).
This problem is solved by bringing in Delon or Tyus Jones to play PG in the non-Trae minutes