Kev's Trade Value Top 50 - #25-23
A couple misfit toys that I was having a hard time placing. The 2022 playoffs are big for Gobert and Davis.
25. Rudy Gobert – 29 years old, 4 years of team control, 5yr/$202 million (5th year PO)
Gobert is about to win his 4th Defensive Player of the Year, only Dikembe Mutombo and Ben Wallace can match that. I would put the odds of him getting a 5th in the next 2-3 seasons well above 50/50 and a 6th is within reach. He is certainly the most impactful defender of this generation (in the regular season…) and him, Hakeem, and Ben Wallace are probably in the conversation for the most impactful defender since Russell. He definitely loses a bit of his luster in the playoffs where he has been really good but not quite great and teams do seem to not quite expose him but limit his defensive impact. I think he’s clearly the best regular season defender in the NBA, but once you get into the playoffs there are a few guys I would rather have (Davis, if healthy. Green, if healthy. Giannis).
Offensively, he continues to be underappreciated as he can’t generate his own offense. The dude unlocks soooo much of what the Jazz do though. He is the best screener in the NBA, he is a fantastic roll man with a monstrous catch radius (I think he has like a 9 foot wingspan or something), and really good hands. Most of that is pretty well publicized, I think, even if a bit underappreciated. Some other things that he does well that people never talk about – he knows his role, you don’t see him trying to post up another big center and forcing a fading hook shot or something, he rarely turns it over (of his 87 turn overs this year, 45 are ball handling errors of some sort, the rest are offensive fouls which I’m assuming are mostly illegal screens), and while he will hardly be considered a good free throw shooter, he has made 64% of his FTs in his career on a fairly healthy number of attempts (this season he is shooting 68.2% on 6.3 attempts) – for a guy that only dunks the ball, that is really good.
After all that praise, I have him this low as his contract is huge, he is approaching 30 (June), he is really good at what he does, but he hasn’t added anything to his game in the last 4-5 seasons (unless this guarding guys like Doncic thing is real, then he might deserve higher spot), and he definitely is a better regular season player than post season (again, unless he has developed the ability to switch).
24. Scottie Barnes – 20 years old, 7 years of team control, 4yr/$33 million
I haven’t watched enough of him to give a super informed opinion, but he seems to be a long, switchable defender at possibly 1-5 (the results have been iffy, but the skills are there). If he can legitimately play/defend at the center position, his whole offensive skill set goes from good to nearly unstoppable. People have been looking for a Draymond 2.0, I think Barnes may be the first player since Draymond broke out back in 14-15 that could actually develop into that player defensively. I would bet against it, but it is certainly in the realm of reasonable outcomes. Offensively, he has something of jack of all trades, master of none feel, but his jumper has been a little better than anticipated and if he can clean that up to become a slight positive there, he could become a very good offensive player. If he can hit both his 80th percentile outcome offensively and defensively, he’s a top 3-5 player that could fit in any scheme both offensively and defensively. If he fails to turn his defensive potential into reality or his shooting stays pretty blah, he’s more plus starter than all-star (a slightly budget version of his teammate, Pascal Siakam).
23. Anthony Davis – 28 years old, 3 years of team control, 4yr/$157 million (4th year PO)
I’m going to start with the bad. He has become about the biggest health risk of any star player in the NBA and those health concerns have also seemed to ultimately affect not only his ability to get on the court, but also to be his best self when he does make it onto the court. He turns 29 this week but he feels like a really old 29 - these recent lower body injuries might not be on-off things that go away once "healed". Bubble-Davis was a mirage. He shot 55.2% from midrange and 38.3% from three. For his career in the regular season, he is a 38.0% shooter from midrange (never higher than 43.9%) and a 30.3% shooter from three (never higher than 34.0%, 18.2% this season). He has proven time and time again that he is not the best player on a good team, and often can’t even lead his teams to average success. I am genuinely concerned that much better than a fringe all-star player when healthy at this point – I still think he’s better than that, but I wouldn’t bet on it.
The good… As recently as 17 months ago, people were talking about him as a top 3 player in the NBA. I really don't think he was ever capable of being the #1 guy on a championship team, but his skill set makes him about the best #2 guy ever. In those bubble playoffs the only player that may have played better was Lebron. When he is right and his effort is at 100%, he is the best defender in the league. He is an elite rim defender, he can defend the other elite centers in the league (nobody is stopping Jokic or Embiid, but he can at least keep them from completely destroying the Lakers while not requiring help), he can switch on to just about anybody, and he is top notch defensive rebounder. Offensively, he is one of the best pick and roll bigs of all time – he is long and is (was?!?) a top level athlete that can get to the hoop quick and catch anything, he can make the right read on a short screen and roll and exploit the defense, and in more of a pick and pop situation, he can definitely take and make a long jumper (the threat/gravity of him shooting has always been more important than the results), which opens up his attack off the dribble. Even when he isn’t at his bubble best, he’s still uber-elite. He’s also about the best center in transition in the NBA as he’s so fast, knows where to be and where the ball needs to be, and can certainly lead the break himself. When he is on the court, he’s basically the ideal modern center with just enough of an iffy jumper to keep him from ever being in the same conversation as top tier recent HOFers like Garnett or Duncan. If he get’s healthy and the Lakers go on an improbable run to make some noise in the playoffs, ignore that first paragraph. If he isn’t right for the playoffs, that first paragraph becomes a whole lot more important than the second.
and then allowed Caruso go to Bulls.
Yeah good luck pal. Try being able to create your own shot first... 
