Always glad to get in a chitchat here.
It's all fairly subjective as to who is better or worse but for my money, salary aside, I think those guys would fetch a higher draft pick than JJB. Also, not that the NBA is the most efficient market, I believe they all make more than JJB.
To be exact, I said his talent is fine as a #8/#9, not that he's as good or better than most comparable #8s. I think he's average and probably closer to a #9. Just looked at Denver and JR Smith is their #8 (they are also missing KMart so somebody's not a true #8 there). To me, #8s are players who play a significant role during the season and contribute in the playoffs and JJB is a kick below that level for a championship team.
That aside, JJB has his place as a #9 slash 10-12mpg kind of guy.. though he'd also probably be a better #9 else where because with him, 3 of our top four players at the 1/2 are <6-2. He's a good bit player but in a weird place of being over-used as well as having his talent set be relatively duplicable on our team. That's probably more of a nod to the front office and coaches than JJB, as you said, and what probably gets him whippingboy status.
I don't really hate on JJB during the games and I've always said that if JJB was 6 inches taller, he'd be a starting PG somewhere in the league. I just can't wait to see his minutes and his role go down a level as we get talent back.
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Originally Posted by LonghornDub
Appreciate the response. Two things.
First, I'm still not really convinced that JJB is worse overall than any of those four guys you listed. They all have some pretty glaring weaknesses, even if they're not apparent from just their physical profile (unlike JJB). I find it much more likely that this is just another case of us as Mavs fans being more attuned to JJB's weaknesses than the other guys', because we watch every Mavs game and pay close attention to these things.
I'm not saying I'm convinced that JJB is equal to those guys, but I really just don't know. I think it's a debatable question, which leads me to believe that the immense amount of JJB hate is misplaced. The level of hate here would lead you to believe that he's unquestionably inferior to all of those #8 guys (and others in the league), which I really don't think is true.
Second, I think it's important to note, like you said, that he's probably as good as or better than the #8 guy on 2nd or 3rd tier teams. That means he's better than the #8 on most NBA teams. That's significant.
On the one hand, I totally get that we're trying to be in that top tier and not just "better than most" of the NBA. So it makes sense to want our #8 guy to be as good or better than the Lakers/Heat/Celtics/etc. But at the same time, even if we assume that he's worse than the #8 on those squads, that doesn't necessarily mean we're in a bad spot relative to those teams. It could just be a function of how the talent is distributed throughout each team's roster. For example, I'd argue that our #5 guy is better (and higher paid) than the Heat's #5 guy.
In short, I think you really have to look at JJB's abilities in the context of where he sits on the roster. I absolutely don't like him starting or playing 25+ mpg. But that's a coaching decision more than a JJB problem. And nobody's ever really sold me on the idea that he's not quite productive for the spot he occupies.
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