Robert Covington is the 2nd best help defender in the league. His defense often gets underrated by people who tend to weigh man defense too heavily, his point of attack defense isn’t good and his man defense is weak which is why Portland doesn’t have a great defense. But with that being said, in a good defensive system off ball defense is far more valuable than on ball defense which is why I think RoCo is still a top 8 defender in the NBA. Let’s get into it.

RoCo’s side rim protection is very good. He has excellent off ball awareness and is able to rotate to the rim to prevent easy layups. He is a good weak side shot blocker and also has the versatility to play as Portland’s primary rim protector at times. He’s a great transition defender too and can block transition layups at the rim. He averages 1.9 BLK/100.

Covington’s switchability is also a very impactful factor of his defense. He’s very comfortable switching onto guards and has the versatility to switch out and shut down the perimeter and lock up the rim. This allows him to be an excellent pick and roll defender. He defends the PnR ball handler 2.6 times a game which is more than other versatile bigs such as Bam Adebayo, Draymond Green, and Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Robert is also great in passing lanes. He’s very active on defense and doesn’t fall asleep off ball. He often jumps passing lanes to rack up deflections and steals and these steals can turn into transition offense for the Blazers. He also pokes away on the ball to get steals too. He averages 2.2 STL/100.

People often like to hype up defenders for their versatility which is why I find it odd Robert Covington doesn’t get more attention considering that he’s arguably the most versatile defender in the league.

One of the more interesting parts of RoCo’s defense is his man defense. He’s not a bad man defender by any means but teams often try to target him to play one on one defense so that he can’t provide value as an off ball defender. In a system with a better point of attack defender that allows him to play to his off ball strengths, I think he’d be more widely recognized as one of the best defenders in the league.

Robert Covington is a defensive ceiling raiser, he’s not an elite point of attack defender that can make do with garbage defensive help, it’s why the Blazers still have one of the worst defenses in the league. What he can do is play great help defense and raise an already good defense to even higher heights.

Christian Wood is putting on a show, he’s currently averaging 21-10 on 59% TS. His potential as a pick and roll big is insane and he’s one of the most underrated offensive bigs in the league today.

Christian Wood is an excellent off ball player, it’s the main part of his offensive game. He’s a spectacular lob threat, he has good size and an insane catch radius plus the ability to finish lobs at a high level. Some of the lobs he is able to finish are just insane, the only players with a better catch radius are AD and Gobert.

Wood is a great rim roller and a good screen setter in addition to his lob catching abilities. He shoots 79.9% at the rim, his insane finishing abilities make him an elite roll man. He’s also explosive at the rim.

Wood is an amazing spacing big from 3, he shoots 37.4% from 3 on 5 attempts a game and 38% on catch and shoot 3’s. He can pop to the 3 point line and catch and shoot which adds even more of ball value to his rim running and lob catching abilities.

Wood gets 2-3 post touches and 3-4 iso touches a game, while this might be a product of the limited options the Rockets have, but it’s notable that he’s not very good in these situations. He’s not a good passer out the post, not a good mid range shooter, and not a good self creator.

Overall Wood is a great off ball player combining his rim running and lob catching with his 3 point shooting and floor spacing abilities. His on ball self creation isn’t good and his passing isn’t good either but he still has potential. Overall he’s a top 10 offensive big and has a bright future.

In 1962 Wilt Chamberlain played 48.5 minutes per game, the average number of possessions per game 129.8 possessions. Wilt was playing 130 possessions a game, he didn’t spend a single possession off the court. A lot of people have started to use this against him, saying that his scoring numbers are inflated by the minutes he played, but what they don’t realize is that Wilt is actually giving more value by playing more possessions.

Wilt playing every single minute for a bad team keeps a below average center from entering the game giving his team more value. It also accumulates more defensive value, if you put Wilt in any era on any team and he’s still shutting down the rim for 48 minutes a game. This also ties in to all time defenders like Bill Russell, not only is Bill the most “skilled” defender ever but he’s giving you that value for 45.2 minutes a game.

A high minutes player gives a lot of floor raising value. Take a player like Steph Curry, due to him constantly running around off the ball he depletes his energy meaning that he can only play a certain amount of minutes per game. On a championship level team that doesn’t hinder his value that much, obviously you’d rather have Stephen Curry in the game instead of Shaun Livingston but the supporting cast is usually  good enough to keep the team afloat with their best player off the court, or in Steph’s case the team went up by so much with him on the court that they couldn’t blow the lead when they went off. Where this really impacts a team is in the floor raising department. Curry is currently playing 34 minutes a game and the team falls apart in the 14 minutes he’s off the court. If you were to put a player like Wilt into a similar situation though, he would give more value just because he can stay on the court for more possessions.

The “Per 75” method has been adopted in player comparisons too, people in the NBA community often suggest someone like Manu was better than someone like Iverson due to his numbers per 75 possesions. What people don’t realize when doing this comparison is that Manu doesn’t provide the same impact as Iverson since he played so many less minutes. In his season with the most minutes played, Manu only played 31.1 minutes per game versus Iverson who played 43.7 minutes a game as a 6 foot shooting guard in 2002. Iverson was also taking in a much higher load and was much more active than Ginobli. AI playing that much more minutes means that he can play on any team and give value versus Manu who can only give you the same value on a perfectly constructed roster like the Spurs which is why comparing his per 75 numbers to a high minutes player such as Iverson is stupid. Allen Iverson gives more global impact.

When a player can maintain a high load and play high minutes, he gives you an insanely high impact. Look at a player like KG, the most active defender of all time who led his team in every offensive category while playing 40 minutes a game. Always boxing out off the ball and going after every loose ball available. A player with that high of a motor who is also playing high minutes gives you insane value and we’ve started to underrate these types of guys through the emergence of pace adjusted stats.

The debate for the best shooting guard in the NBA is an interesting one, I thought I’d lay out some of my thoughts on it.

Let’s start off offensively where I think it’s a clean sweep. We can start by noting the differences in their scoring games. PG is often criticized for his reliance on jump shots and lack of pressure put on the rim, we can clearly see how Kyrie is less dependent on his jumpers and a better player at the rim.

Kyrie: 40.2% FGA from 0-10 Feet

PG: 33.8% FGA from 0-10 Feet

Kyrie: 88.4th Percentile Rim Gravity

PG: 74.9th Percentile Rim Gravity

Kyrie: 97th Finishing at the Rim Percentile

PG: 69th Finishing at the Rim Percentile.

Kyrie also has a more dependable in between game, the percentages are similar but PG’s are clearly juiced by no fans. 

PG has ZERO seasons in the last 3 years shooting 45% from 16-3P, he’s shooting 52.5% this season.

PG has ZERO seasons in the last 3 years shooting 41% from 16-3P, he’s shooting 45.9% this season.

Kyrie is also a much better self creator, he arguably has the best handle in league history and can get his shot from anywhere on the floor. 

His self creation is much better than PG’s which helps him be the more consistent scorer.

Overall Kyrie is averaging 27.7 Points/75 on +3.6 rTS

PG is averaging 26.3 Points/75 on +3.6 rTS 

Note that PG has streaky shooting stretches and much better spacing.

Kyrie is also an excellent PnR ball handler, he’s in the 85.3rd percentile for PnR scoring and is an excellent passer out of the PnR too. He’s very good at manipulating the defense and attracts a lot of defensive attention. Kyrie is also much better at dealing with doubles compared to PG.

PG’s playmaking is good but it’s very inflated by the shooters that the Clippers have. He can’t create as many shots at the rim as Kyrie. PG only has 1.9 rim assists a game (36% of his total assists) vs Kyrie who has 2.8 rim assists a game (44% of his total assists).

Kyrie also attracts more defensive attention, by far the better playmaker.

Offensively Kyrie is less jump shot dependent, has a better floater game, has a better in between game, is less streaky, has a more dependable mid range shot, is a better shot creator and isolation scorer, is a better PnR ball handler, is a far better passer, is better at creating high value shots for teammates, deals with double teams better,  and just by far the better playmaker. The offensive gap is HUGE but PG makes up some ground defensively.

Paul George is regarded as an elite defender but that just isn’t the case anymore. He’s still good but due to a sad series of injuries he’s clearly lost a step.

PG often gets blown by, he can’t stay in front of his man as well as he used to. PG’s off ball rotations are also a lot worse, he’s less engaged when off ball than before and is a worse help defender due to his motor and positioning. PG also doesn’t give much defensive effort when his shot isn’t falling making him very inconsistent on both sides of the court. His rim protection has also faded due to the loss of athleticism that came with the gruesome injuries he faced in his career. The fading of Paul George’s defense is a sad thing but we have to acknowledge it when making comparisons.

Kyrie on the other hand is around a neutral defensively. Due to his height and other physical limitations he doesn’t have that much of an effect on the ball. While his on ball defense isn’t good, I have been impressed by his off ball D. He’s making good rotations and communicating well with his defense, especially since the Wizards game when he said he had to start playing better defense. He’s also pretty decent in passing lanes, clearly the best defensive season of his career.

The defensive gap between Kyrie and PG is still big even with George’s fall off and Irving’s improvements but I think that the difference in offense is actually larger than the defensive difference at this point which is why I think Kyrie Irving is the best shooting guard in the NBA.

Brandon Ingram has consistently improved from year to year. He’s left the stench of the Lakers behind and become one of the better offensive players in the league. Let’s get into it.

Ingram’s playmaking development is what has impressed me the most when watching his film. One of the keys to his playmaking is the pressure that he puts on the rim. He drives to the rim 13.1 times a game and has a 10.1 AST% out of drives (AST% deflated by lack of surrounding shooters). He’s become a good kick out passer and has a good feel for hitting players near the rim on drives. Another impressive part of his playmaking is his improved PnR passing. He gets 7 PnR possessions a game and is good at hitting the roll man. He also attracts a lot of defensive attention inside the PnR which frees up his teammates. His turnover rates are at a career low and he’s more comfortable than ever. Another improved facet of his playmaking is his tunnel vision, he’s good at changing from a shot to a pass and no longer takes unnecessarily difficult shots when a passing option is available.

Ingram’s capabilities as a scorer are well documented. He’s a good 3 level scorer shooting 70% at the rim, 46% from mid range, and 38% from 3. He’s a great self creator, his handle is good and he can flow into mid range shots very well. Almost Kevin Durantesque. He’s also a good off ball scorer, he’s shooting 43% on catch and shoot 3’s.

Ingram’s defense is well, not good to say the least. He’s a clear negative but I think he does have promise. He has good length and decent athleticism and I think he can develop into a decent rim protector.

Overall, Ingram is looking like one of the best offensive players in the league. He’s a top 30 playmaker and a great scorer with good off ball abilities. He still needs his touches but his skill set can clearly translate to a system where he doesn’t have the ball as much. His defense is far from good and is often just used to defend the corner since he doesn’t give value anywhere else but I think that his lengthy build will eventually help him be a positive.