Is He Any Good – Pace and Space

Thaddeus Young: Is He Any Good?

April 6, 2018April 6, 2018 - by Fox Doucette

The Indiana Pacers traded the 20th pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, which became Caris LeVert, to the Brooklyn Nets for Thaddeus Young. Nearly two full years later, Young is a key piece in the starting lineup for a team that just won its 47th game, still has a chance to win 50, and has improved immensely this year after the departure of the majority of last year’s team. Now, we know Young’s not an All-Star. He’s a serviceable starter, the fifth option behind Victor Oladipo, Myles Turner, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Darren Collison in some order. And since this column’s …

Is He Any Good

Damian Lillard: Is He Any Good?

March 30, 2018 - by Fox Doucette

Oh man, I can’t wait for Twitter to slam me for the headline. “Damian Lillard? He’s great! MVP candidate!” Settle down, Beavis. What we’re asking here is, as is normally the case when we’re talking MVP-candidate-level players, whether Lillard is truly worthy of that kind of consideration. If we were writing about, say, Evan Turner, we’d be asking if he was a waste of money and establishing he was good if he wasn’t. (He is.) As on the show from which this series’ premise shamelessly cribs, you have to remember what the “myth” is before it being busted or confirmed …

Is He Any Good

Carmelo Anthony 2018: Is He Any Good?

March 22, 2018 - by Fox Doucette

Carmelo Anthony used to be good. He used to put up spectacular numbers on some truly awful Knicks teams, and before that he developed a reputation as a guy who couldn’t get the job done in the playoffs because apparently he was expected to turn the Denver Nuggets into champions by himself and with famous playoff choker George Karl as his coach (this site is based in Seattle. Where were you on May 7, 1994?) When sitting down to write this, my first thought was “is Carmelo Anthony washed up?”, and I would look at all the evidence to arrive …

Is He Any Good

Khris Middleton: Is He Any Good?

March 15, 2018 - by Fox Doucette

The Milwaukee Bucks have been in free fall since just before the All-Star Game. The team has lost 8 out of their last 12, their lone double-digit win in that span a win over the hapless and tanking Orlando Magic. Their point differential is down to minus-0.3 on the season, they’ve fallen to seventh in the East just above the equally anemic Heat, and they look an awful lot like they’re simply going to bow out in five games against the likes of Toronto or Boston come playoff time. Against the backdrop of this underachievement is a team with a …

Is He Any Good

Trevor Booker: Is He Any Good?

March 1, 2018 - by Fox Doucette

The Pacers recently acquired Trevor Booker off the waiver wire for their playoff run, shoring up their power forward situation and presumably giving Thaddeus Young a backup who isn’t Al Jefferson. In theory, this should add bench depth to a team that is in critical need of it while at the same time they get Glenn Robinson III back; by the time Darren Collison returns, this should be a fully loaded team for the playoffs. But that presumes that Booker is actually any good…and at age 30, he’s as good as he’s ever going to be. So let’s frame the …

Is He Any Good

Spencer Dinwiddie: Is He Any Good?

February 22, 2018February 22, 2018 - by Fox Doucette

This year, in the absence of Jeremy Lin and D’Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie has been drafted into the role of starting point guard for the Brooklyn Nets. On the one hand, he’s a G-League refugee, a guy who never caught on in Detroit, and a third option. On the other hand, dude won the Skills Competition at All-Star Weekend. But anyone who is not Joel Embiid can navigate a skills course. Doing meaningful things in actual games is a whole other matter. In the grand tradition of movable goal posts on this here publication, we tailor the test to the …

Is He Any Good

Julius Randle: Is He Any Good?

February 15, 2018 - by Fox Doucette

Sometimes you learn more in a trade by who a team keeps rather than who they ship out, and the Lakers’ decision to keep Julius Randle at the deadline speaks volumes about what they think of him compared to, say, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr., who got shipped to Cleveland in the Isaiah Thomas trade to placate LeBron James. Randle is the incumbent power forward on a team that has Brandon Ingram coming to his own at the 3 and Kyle Kuzma evolving as a sixth man behind Randle at power forward. It is that latter competitor for minutes …

Is He Any Good

Myles Turner: Is He Any Good?

February 8, 2018 - by Fox Doucette

by Fox Doucette Myles Turner is in his third season in the league, and he’s played 180 games now. The day looms large where the Pacers will have to decide in free agency whether he’s essential to the franchise future; his rookie deal, which pays him $2.57 million this year and $3.41 million next year, is up in 2019. But is Turner worth it? The way he sends shots back and protects the rim brings to mind Hassan Whiteside, but his rebounding draws comparisons to Roy Hibbert. Likewise, he’s ranging out beyond the arc and shooting slightly below league average. …

Is He Any Good

Blake Griffin: Is He Any Good?

February 1, 2018 - by Fox Doucette

Blake Griffin, he of the max contract and frequent injury, got traded from the Clippers to the Pistons this week, and as he begins his career in Detroit, the question must be asked…is he actually any good? And not just “is he a good basketball player”. Any fool can see that. He’s athletic, strong, a massive improvement over just about any power forward in the game today. But that’s not the point of the question. This week, we ask the question a different way: Is Blake Griffin worth his max-level contract, or is he a massively overpaid cap albatross who …

Is He Any Good

Steven Adams: Is He Any Good?

January 26, 2018 - by Fox Doucette

Steven Adams has always been a bit of a wild card in his four years in Oklahoma City. He started his career as a bit of a cleanup guy on offense, putting back whatever Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant missed while doing very little offensive work of his own; at his peak in that role, he was hitting on 61.3 percent of his shots while grabbing 2.7 offensive rebounds a game. Last year, he was the second-best player on a Thunder squad that was Russell Westbrook and the Oklahoma City Blue Featuring Steven Adams. This year? His role is the …