2021 FREE AGENCY: Markkanen wants out of CHI | DAL "definitely interested"

[KillerLeft]

I still think it is the best number because it is an unadulterated number (when you mess with the numbers by trying to take context into account you can actually turn the numbers into complete nonsense...that is the danger). Yes, you need to interpret On/Off and look at further context to get understanding, especially in smaller sample sizes. But in a large enough sample it will reveal some pretty simple truths. In LM's four years in the league it tells us that he has not been a large negative factor overall in the Bulls TEAM defense. According to On/Off he is not the defensive liability that many claim.

Talk to me like I'm three, very slowly, using only small words and explain to me why it's not just an evaluation of the player relative to his teammates. That's what I've never understood. I think there's a time and place for that kind of examination (see Richardson on the Mavs last year) but I can't quite see how that data helps form a predictive analysis of how another team's player might function on the Mavericks.