Oklahoma City Thunder: What does shot-blocking cost? - NewsOK.com (blog)

on July 11, 2012M at 9:30 am

The Thunder would like to keep Serge Ibaka for more than just next season. But tons of speculation exists on what it costs. Ryan Weisert, a Phoenix Suns blogger (valleyofthesuns.com), went past that question. He looked at what shot-blocking costs. And we know that Ibaka is the NBA’s premier shot-blocker.

Weisert developed a study on what each measurable NBA skill costs. You can read his excellent blog here:

Here are the condensed rankings of each skill/status:

1. Face of the franchise (not every team has one; some teams have two. Weisert considers the Thunder to have two.)

2 Elite scorer (more than 25 points per game).

3. Second-tier scorer (18-25 points per game).

4. Elite rebounder (more than 9.5 per game) Weisert reports that NBA teams pay for rebounding in ways we never realized.

5. Second-tier rebounder (7.0-9.5 per game)

6. Rim protector (more than 1.5 blocks per game). Weisert says “supply and demand strikes again with this skill. A limited supply of elite shot blockers drives the price of rim protection way up.”

7. Third-tier scorer (13.5-18 points per game). Interesting. James Harden has not reached the 18-points-a-game level. By this measurement, Ibaka would cost more than Harden. Of course, contracts are mostly projections of what you will do, not necessarily what you have done.

8. Elite passer (more than 7.0 assists per game). Weisert says the pay drops quickly on assist levels, below the elite level.

9. Good rebounder/guard (more than 4.0 per game)

10. Shot creator (using advanced NBA stats on who can effectively get their own shot)

11. 7-footer. Yes, literally being tall drives up your price tag.

12. Elite 3-pointer shooter (more than 1.5 3-pointers per game). Again, we see this in action, be it the veteran sharpshooters migrating to the Heat, or just the market itself. This is not a skill that draws a ton of money.

13. Post scorer. There aren’t many, yet the price remains “depressed,” Weisert reports.

14. Spot-up shooter. Weisert says the market is saturated.

Of course, many players have multiple skills, which explains why LeBron James and Kevin Durant and Dwight Howard are worth as much as they are. But this is another piece of evidence to understand how much it might cost the Thunder to sign Ibaka and/or Harden.

-------------Berry Tramel can be heard Monday through Friday from 4:40-5:20 p.m. on The Sports Animal radio network, including AM-640 and FM-98.1. You can e-mail him here and follow him on Twitter @BerryTramel. Visit Berry's website here.

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