(12-09-2024, 12:24 AM)Dundalis Wrote: Not sure that's representative of the difference defensively between Lively and Gafford though. Gafford had the superior defensive rating last season and better net rating. Gafford's defensive rating is 5 points worse this season than last. Lively is clearly the better all round defender, but I do expect the data to even out a lot more as the season goes on. Gaff has more weaknesses that can be exploited compared to Lively, but he is still absolutely a positive interior defender, and defended field goal differentials still bears that out.
Not sure if its really an apples to oranges comparison of Lively to Gafford net and defensive rating last year. Most of Lively minutes were prior to the trade when the Mavs were struggling with a lot of injuries, and a lot of Gafford's minutes were when Lively was out and the team was otherwise healthy. There were few games in that sample when both were playing.
In the playoffs (where Gafford's limitations are more exploited) Lively had a significantly better net rating and defensive rating as he does this season. Given that Lively was rookie last year with a very steep learning curve, I think the playoff and current season data is probably more indicative of what those two are.