All Rights Reserved. It helps that, at his core, George is such a dynamic long-range player. The Nuggets place in the Denver needn't place too much stock in these Jokic-less returns...yet.

He is no longer a young prospect ahead of schedule. Capacity is its own kind of skill. Whenever Rubio delivers some timely, clever pass, what goes unsaid is that they should happen even more often, if only the defense had reason to honor the threat of his scoring. There’s no reason to expect that Love would shoot so poorly (38.5% from the field) again—particularly if healthy and given any reason to compete.

That's different from their most valuable player. The learning curve for NBA defenders is steep.What's clear is that he has the physical tools to dominate defensively.
Middleton is central to that independence. He has great chemistry with bigs out of the pick-and-roll, can spot shooters while going downhill and boasts great ball control but is overtaxed as the primary setup man.The Portland Trail Blazers offense when he plays without Damian Lillard has only ranked higher than the 38th percentile once over the past five seasons (By those measures, McCollum could be overrated, now more so than ever after he signed a three-year, $100 million extension over the summer. Every minute that Simmons plays requires conscious tending to his biggest weakness. If anything is starting to go for Millsap, it's durability. Some resorted to tough angles that never had much chance. Every team has use for a first-rate perimeter defender, in particular one with this kind of positional fluidity. All of this leaves Valančiūnas as something of a niche player, albeit the kind that can make room for 19.9 PPG and 10.7 RPG from the comfort of that niche.Jeff Teague’s brand is competence. Everything is adaptable, in part because Kuzma can get to a wide array of runners and leaners whenever needed. His 17.7 points and 6.8 assists per game don't leap off the page, but they come on tough-to-fathom efficiency. He spreads the floor, hits threes at an above-average rate and is capable of bothering the top perimeter option from about any opponent.Marcus Morris Sr.'s final placement is a tale of two seasons. He might not be Toronto's best player—though he was during the DeRozan years—but he is certainly its most important.The numbers support as much. The Rockets are significantly worse off, both now and later, if they cannot count on Westbrook to successfully spearhead units without Harden.

But there is some room for nuance; the relationship between more traditional centers and their small-ball opponents tends to be discussed broadly, when every team and player involved has their own unique basketball character.

Gone were the improvisational drives, the smooth pull-up jumpers, and—on the other side of the two-man game—the pick-and-pop looks that had rounded out his game in Detroit and Los Angeles. And this year—well, this year is some of Lowry's best work yet. No matter the system, the roster, or the opponent’s coverage, there’s only so much that can stand in the way of a scorer with counters upon counters. Yet if Iguodala isn’t in the right locker room or even in the right mood, his cantankerousness could cause more problems than it ever did for the Warriors. Tough fadeaways are business as usual.
And that may be on the way. Players like Gordon are always party—in some way or another—to their own inconsistency.To say that Gordon Hayward underwhelmed last season is putting it kindly. What's more, it doesn't appear to be on the horizon, either.This might be the easiest call of this project.