Troy Murphy was literally one made FT away from being Above Average in all 5 categories. Instead he is Above Average in 4 out of 5
via Looking at “VORP†With Colorful Charts, Vol. 2: Shooting Percentages.
On Twitter, one of the WFNY crew pondered about if the Cavs would get Jamison or settle for Troy Murphy, their other supposed target, pre-Amar’e availability (or re-availability, whatever). I responded that the Troy Murphy idea was more up Ferry’s alley. A value deal, versus the homerun. I said Ferry was a Value Brand shopper. Dude probably drinks Dr. Thunder.
But then I started wondering after taking a look at Jared’s fantastic chart breakdown of the Pacers’ performance compared to average, how good is Murphy in terms of a trade asset?
The verdict? Pretty damn good.
Troy Murphy is 30 years old, Jamison is 33. Murphy makes $11 million this year and a little under $12 million next year, which is an expiring contract year (SUPER TRADE VALUE BONUS x3!). Jamison makes $11 million this year, $13 million next year, and $15 million the year after, when he’ll be 36.
Jamison is averaging 22.5 points per 40, 8.8 RB per 40, 1.1 steal and .2 blocks per 40. Murphy is averaging 18.0 points per 40, 12.4 rebounds per 40, 2.5 assists, 1.1 steals, and .8 blocks per 40. Jamison has a PER of 19.55, Murphy a PER of 18.19.
Wowzers. That’s much closer than I thought it would be.
You could argue that Jamison is a star, while Murphy is not, that Jamison is a difference maker, which I’ve been arguing for weeks, while Murphy is not. Check the standings. Indiana’s a half game better than Washington, with Arenas only having been out a month, and having Haywood, Butler, and Mike Miller versus Granger, Dunleavy, and Hansbrough.
It’s pretty apparent that the difference between these two guys may not be as wide as we thought, if we’re looking at actual production. I still believe that Jamison is the right play, a guy capable of going off in a pick and roll set versus LeBron. But if the Cavs can’t weasel him free of Washington, it’ll be a lot easier to hand rebuilding Indiana Z’s Get Out of Cap Jail Free Card and get Murphy. Murphy’s younger, cheaper, and if he doesn’t work out, you’ve got an expiring contract for next year.
Jamison may be the sexiest pick, heck, the right pick, but when trades are so difficult to accomplish, Murphy may be the easy way out. And what’s more Dr. Thunder than that?
