In June, when the Indiana Pacers traded Paul George to the Oklahoma City Thunder for Victor Oladipo and Domantas Sabonis, people were, understandably, floored. Forget a first round pick; not even a second round pick? On paper, these aren’t the assets you’re hoping for in return for your all-star forward.
For some reason, the Pacers pulled the trigger anyway. And while everyone expected them to be a bottom feeder this season with the departure of a top 20 player, they currently sit at 7-8 thanks, in large part, to the two guys they got in return. And more specifically, it’s been Domantas Sabonis who has really shined so far this season.
Put Him in a Position to Score
Russell Westbrook does a lot of things well. But last season’s historical ball dominance had some ill-effects for some of his teammates, including Sabonis. Last season the Lithuanian ranked in the 19th percentile on plays that he finished as the roll man, per SportsVU. Taking a look at the below clip, and you can see why:
Everyone stands around watching Westbrook dribble for a few seconds before the play starts: a simple pick-and-roll. Sabonis finishes the play with a basket, but Russ gets him the ball about a second too late, and instead of an open jumper from the elbow, Domantas is forced to finish over two Celtics. A lot of the time, that play doesn’t end so well.
Counter that with what the Pacers have been doing:
There is a lot of movement off-ball and Sabonis actually starts the play as the ball handler. Cory Joseph comes around a screen and into the dribble handoff with Sabonis. With Joseph’s man still getting over the initial screen, Gasol initiates a switch leaving Domantas with an easy roll to the basket and a one-on-one finish over a smaller player.
This kind of set has been common for the Pacers so far. Here is a similar play between Oladipo and Sabonis:
These quick dribble hand-offs can leave the defense reeling, and Sabonis has shown that he’s capable of capitalizing on the additional space the Pacers’ offense has given him. Remember that 19th percentile on plays finished as the PNR roll man? This season, through 12 games, on already more than half the attempts he had all of last season, he’s up to the 75th percentile, and is scoring on 60% of such plays, second among players who have 50 or more possessions as a roll man.
Shooters Gotta Shoot
Ready for some more statistics? Last season, per NBA Stats, 33.1% of Sabonis’ shots came from deep, of which he made a respectable 32.1%. Not bad, but his effective field goal percentage was a middling 45.2%. Through his first 12 games in 2017, he is shooting 40% on threes, but has only attempted them on 5.4% of his shots. On the other 94.6% of his shot attempts, he’s shooting over 70%!
Now, that number is probably not sustainable, but he is taking a significantly higher proportion of shots from within 10 feet of the basket (66.3% vs 47.4%) and hitting them at a significantly higher rate (78.7% vs 46.1%). Again, hitting 48 out of 61 shots to start the season is probably not sustainable, but it’s a big reason why Sabonis has looked so good.
And as to why has his rate of attempting three-pointers gone down so much, that figure decreased each month of last season, probably as the Thunder realized he could do more than stand around the arc hoisting threes when defenses double teamed Westbrook. The Pacers staff deserves some credit for noticing and putting him in more situations that better suit his skill set. I expect his number of three point attempts to climb back up as the season progresses (as of today he has only attempted five 3’s), and as long as he continues to be even 80% as efficient as he has been at the basket, that should make him even more lethal.
Triple Threat
Sabonis has always been a willing and able passer:
But the Pacers are putting the ball in Sabonis’ hands more this season than the Thunder ever considered. Sabonis never would’ve been given the freedom to create out of this set in OKC:
Last season Domantas assisted on 7.3% of his teammate’s shots while he was on the floor. That figure has more than doubled this season, jumping to 14.9% according to NBA Stats. A lot of that has to do with both the slight uptick in his usage and having a year of experience under his belt; rookies often aren’t given this kind of freedom. It’s also early. But so far Sabonis has looked like a completely different player than the one most people believed Oklahoma City were shipping away. The Pacers have given him the green light, and he hasn’t looked back.
