TDL Archived: The 2nd Rnd Pick Yankee Swap

[F Gump]

I also think too much is made of DR’s current season and not enough of his total body of work. .

This comment intrigued me, so I went to look up the numbers and see how much of an outlier this season is.
 
Some observations:
1 Yes this season is DR's worst.  
2 However, his high point as a shooter was season 2. That was elite, 47% overall and 45% on 3s, with a TS of 68%. (It must be noted that as a whole, he didn't offer much else - his PER was only 13.1).
3 Since then, his percentages have declined every year, year after year. He's in year 5, and it's the 4th year of a train going downhill.
4 Here's the progression of all those numbers starting in year 2
His NBA season 2 -- 47  45  68  13.1
His NBA season 3 -- 44  41  63  11.0
His NBA season 4 -- 40  37  57  10.6
His NBA season 5 -- 37  33  53   7.9
5 I have to remember that his offense is his calling card, and he's a bad defender.

When I look at that, I don't trust his ability to "rebound" to being a better player. He has in theory been trying to do that for several years, and instead of getting better, he keeps getting worse and worse. Wouldn't he and MIA fix whatever it is, if it was readily fixable?

I have to believe MIA actually signed him to this deal after yr 3 expecting that (a) the next year he would reverse his trend (which did not happen, but instead got even worse, and for two consecutive years now), and (b) they could find a way to trade him and get rewarded (which his being shopped has been out there for a couple years, it seems, with him being an integral part of one pursuit or another that fails).

Personally, I would not want to take MIA's place. After this year, they are stuck with the 3 biggest salaries of his deal, THREE more seasons of about 19.5M per. He's getting more and more unplayable (I wonder if the league figured out how to play him) with his minutes now down to about 18. Lots of DNPs. Low in the rotation unless they have injuries. Lots of injuries himself (he's out for a month now with a hurt finger). I don't trust the ability to get any value from him and would steer way clear.