Monday, June 17, 2013

Danny Green's Success Begs a Question

How good are NBA personnel people?

Green was cut by the team that drafted him, and then the Spurs cut him twice  Now, he's close to being named the MVP of the NBA Finals (and, if you look at the roster of past NBA Finals' MVP's, it's a who's who of all-stars).

It took Green four tries to find his niche, and he's excelling.  Which begs the other question, which is, how many players just don't get the right shot because either a) the wrong team drafts them, b) a team that has too many guaranteed contracts passes on them and favors an inferior player, c) teams peg them way too early based upon criteria that don't do the best job of predicting outcomes or d) something else?  Meanwhile, the Heat have an antiquities wing on their bench, and over two dozen teams not in the finals have to wonder why they might have passed on Danny Green in favor of a roster of ten-day contract players used to fill time, some of whom might be playing in the D-League or Mali. 

It seems to me that there's some Darwinism due to take place in the NBA, and soon, looking for the next Tony Parker, the next Danny Green, the next Carlos Boozer (taken on the second round).  At some point, the evaluators will have to mix potential with results and then with other factors that the successful players have shared.  I don't know precisely what those are, but it seems to me that there is enough money lying around for a team to come up with a formula that consistently turns up Danny Greens.

Which, then, for them, will turn into green.

1 comment:

CBell said...

There once was a Spur named D. Green,
Who shot 3's at a rate never seen,
Alas his hot streak
Lasted only a week
Thus reverting, too soon, to the Mean...