The Whiteboard: Andrew Bogut vs Andre Drummond plus Steve Nashiness

On the first ever Monday Mailbag edition of The Whiteboard, some fun NBA questions get tackled for your viewing consumption.

A good mailbag article is always fun, and we’re all about fun here at The Whiteboard. If you’d like your question to be featured in next week’s Mailbag Monday, Tweet at me or send them via email to timeoutwithti@gmail.com. Without further ado, let’s get to the first batch of questions!

@ShamShammgod wonders who is better: Prime Andrew Bogut or current Andre Drummond?

I think this one is actually pretty close. I jokingly suggested the results were biased by Sham’s Detroit Pistons following on Twitter, but Drummond does have a good case. Let’s peek at a comparison between prime Andrew Bogut (I’m going with his 2009-10 season, his one All-NBA appearance) against Drummond’s last season.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/2/2018.

Bogut was the slightly better scorer, but Drummond’s passing was definitely more effective than the Australian big man’s was. Their efficiency from the field and the charity stripe were similar too.

Both players have big advantages in one area. For Drummond it’s rebounding, and for Bogut it’s defense. Not many players across history can rebound like Drummond does, and Bogut was one of the league’s top defenders until injuries effectively stalled his career.

It’s a close one, but ultimately I give the edge to prime Andrew Bogut. Drummond’s rebounding matters, but Bogut’s lockdown defense feels more important. Also, 2009-10 Bogut helped get the Milwaukee Bucks to the postseason, while 2017-18 Drummond couldn’t get his Pistons there despite playing all 82 games.

@WCGoldberg wants a ranking of the top five point guards in the NBA, in terms of their “Steve Nashiness”

This one is really fun. Steve Nash has two NBA MVP awards, but he never took more than 13.6 shots per game in any season. Considering his knockdown shooting numbers, he probably should’ve shot more. It’s safe to say that Russell Westbrook is out in terms of Nashiness.

The Steve Nashiness scale needs to weigh a few things. A player obviously needs a lot of assists to rate well in Steve Nashiness — they also need to be fast, exciting, and a dangerous scorer even if they don’t shoot that often. There needs to be a little bit of excitement there. Some bad defense doesn’t hurt.

That being said, here’s the top five, from least to most Nashy: Milos Teodosic, Trae Young, Rajon Rondo, Ricky Rubio, and Chris Paul.

Teodosic unfortunately didn’t get to play that often in his first NBA season, but he’s definitely got the fun passing, solid 3-point shot, and lack of good defense stuff down. With more minutes he could rise here.

Rajon Rondo has been a solid 3-point shooter for a few seasons, but he doesn’t have the scoring pop of a peak Nash-type player. His passing gets him on the list, but he’s not truly Nash-like. Trae Young hasn’t played an NBA minute yet, and his game may be more shot-heavy than Nash, but in time Young could end up leading this group. He seems very Nashy.

Ricky Rubio is starting to sort of make 3s, and aside from his deficit there compared to Nash his game is very Nashy, even to the point where both players are simply likable. That being said, there can be no doubt about the number one here.

Chris Paul has all the tools to be a top NBA scorer, but he only took 13.8 shot attempts per game last season. CP3 can definitely score from anywhere on the floor, and his passing is top-notch. If he were a worse defender, he would be perfectly Nashy. Still, it’s got to be Chris Paul at the top.

#Content you can’t miss

You need to read this; Sarah Spain tells the dramatic, unbelievable story of a football coach trying to find his birth parents

Shoutout to Mitch Kupchak; Adrian Wojnarowski and Ramona Shelburne report that Luol Deng gave back some $7.5 million on his buyout from the Lakers

A Deng reaction; Ronald Agers is not exactly disappointed about the end of the Luol Deng era in Los Angeles

This is so fun; Kareem Gantt sums up the shade thrown recently by Walt Frazier at Kevin Durant, and then by Stephen Jackson at Walt Frazier

Finishing the series; Gerald Bourguet ranks all 30 starting centers in the NBA