01-05-2023, 05:53 PM
(01-05-2023, 02:17 PM)F Gump Wrote: I want to believe that THJ is "playing really well" and I get encouraged when he has some good shooting games here and there, but the reality is that as a whole, he's still quite sucky on offense.
He's a "shooting" guard, but he's just not good enough as a shooter. Unfortunately, I think we notice the games where he is doing okay, and our minds figure he's probably doing pretty good, when in reality the numbers say something very different. Starting has NOT fixed his broken shot!
He's become better on defense, to be sure, and apparently is a leader with a good attitude.
But the one thing you want from him the most - the ability to knock down shots, especially 3s, to open the floor for Luka - is something he still is fairly lousy at. The season overall - 38% overall, 36% on 3s. Most recent 10 games, all starting, with much against some crappy opposition - 42% overall, 33% on 3s. And he has the benefit of Luka feeding him open looks, so it's not likely to get better.
For that reason, in any trade where there's a decent player coming back, I'd gladly include THJ in the package. In fact, maybe I should say "eagerly." I don't think he's a solution to build around, but I do think he has enough value resuscitated where, given his declining-dollar contract, moving him is at least value-neutral and might even be seen as value to a team needing a SG.
I agree with the sentiment that Hardaway's defense has been pretty above average this year but you can't ignore all the above in your post. When the entire planet is screaming "get Luka help" it's essentially a euphemism for "replace the starter who is shooting less than 40% overall while shooting 12 times a game". He's a fine basketball player but he's just not good enough for the role that he's in.