Simpson breaks the promising barrier of three blocks and three steals per 100 possessions, rebounds both ways, and stands the greatest chance of providing Luc Richard Mbah a Moute-type value (though likely without the ability to guard as many positions) to an NBA team in the 2009-10 season.At Basketball Prospectus, Kevin Pelton likes what he's done in the D-League this season:
Diamon Simpson is the oddity in this group, a player the stats like much, much more than the scouts. DraftExpress doesn't have him among its list of top 25 potential callups, but he rates here as the best player in the D-League. The big issue is Simpson's size. As a 6'7" power forward, he might not be able to compete in the NBA. Even his numbers show some red flags, as his translated True Shooting Percentage would make him an extremely inefficient scorer in the NBA. Still, there are some things to really like. Simpson has been a beast on the offensive glass; his translated 14.7 percent offensive rebound percentage would put him sixth in the league, just behind DeJuan Blair. His steal percentage is also phenomenal for a big man, and Simpson blocks plenty of shots too. Oddly, Simpson's statistics last year as a senior at St. Mary's were nowhere near this impressive.I don't know about that last sentence. In addition to the aforementioned impressive block and steal rates, Simpson's offensive and defensive rebound rates at St. Mary's were 12.2/24.0, almost exactly the same as more widely touted second-round sleeper Ahmad Nivins and slightly better than Jeff Pendergraph, who is rebounding at a handy 11.3/24.2 clip very early in his NBA career.
Background on Pelton's D-League-to-NBA translations.
3 comments:
Yet another obligatory DeJuan Blair reference-the man who was available for nothing.
As for Simpson-if Chuck Hayes can be a 6'6 center, then I guess Simpson can be a 6'7 power forward.
Bronn,
You mean the DeJuan Blair that is now starting for the Spurs? It can't be, he should have been in a wheelchair by now, right?
I hate smart teams for making the teams I pull for look dumb by comparison. Grrrr.
Do the Hawks really need another big right now, though? I'd like to see someone take some minutes from Joe/Bibby/Jamal, since Teague's getting buried again. Although, if this is just going to be someone to sit on the end of the bench in a suit, I guess it doesn't really matter.
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