Surprisingly (at least to me), Kanter’s offense also suffers on the
sabermetric front: He doesn’t appear to help his teams score as efficiently as would be expected from his basic statistics.
Only a few players have scored as much, and with as much efficiency,
2 as Kanter has over the past three seasons, but it doesn’t seem to matter.
During Kanter’s career, his teams have scored 1.5 fewer points per 100 possessions with him on the floor than without, and — perhaps not coincidentally — he had the
second-worst offensive
Box Plus/Minus (BPM) of any player in the aforementioned group, and the fifth-worst offensive RPM.
The single
most important component of a player’s on-court offensive influence
3 is
scoring efficiency, and that’s not a trouble spot for Kanter. But even more important (when taken collectively) are a player’s assist rate and his ability to get to the line and to take 3-point shots, and Kanter sets the team back in both areas.
That may not seem important because Kanter is still personally scoring points, but basketball is
a tricky sport that way. The fascinating thing that happens when you
search for links between component categories and overall offensive performance is that unexpected relationships fall out of the data. A player’s passing can amplify (or diminish) the potency of the threat his scoring talent represents; his ability to stretch the floor or collapse defenses into the paint can open up opportunities for teammates. Kanter’s own numbers might not be affected, but his weaknesses show up in his team’s rates of shooting efficiency, turnovers and, ultimately, offensive success.
