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Nylon Notebook: Kawhi’s playmaking, Westbrook, Harden and more

By Ian Levy

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 31: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Los Angeles Clippers is defended by DeMar DeRozan #10 of the San Antonio Spurs during the second half of the basketball game at Staples Center on October 31, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 31: Kawhi Leonard #2 of the Los Angeles Clippers is defended by DeMar DeRozan #10 of the San Antonio Spurs during the second half of the basketball game at Staples Center on October 31, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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As the NBA season moves through its second week, a new Nylon Notebook looks at Kawhi Leonard’s playmaking and other statistical outliers.

Kawhi’s playmaking

Kawhi Leonard has long since established himself as one of the most potent offensive players in the NBA but this season he’s working on another tier. Through five games, Leonard has a usage rate approaching 40 percent and is creating more than twice as many points per minute through his assists than he did last season.

Playmaking has been one of the (relatively) weaker parts of his offensive game, so this surge is an enormous development, putting him on a tier with players like James Harden (53.4 total points produced per 36 minutes last season), LeBron James (48.5) and Giannis Antetokounmpo (47.3) as players who can serve as an efficient offensive fulcrum regardless of the defensive situation.

Don’t shoot 3s near Mitchell Robinson

Mitchell Robinson has played just 74 minutes for the Knicks so far this season, but he’s picked up right where he left off — blocking shots at an absurd rate. Last season, he became just the third player in NBA history, and the first in more than a decade, to play at least 1,000 minutes and post a double-digit block rate. This season he’s somehow upped that block rate from 10.0 percent to 11.2 percent and he’s already blocked a pair of 3-pointers.

That ability to close out quickly and block outside shooters is one of the most unique things about Robinson’s already outlier defensive profile. He has now blocked 26 3-point attempts in the 1,434 career minutes, a rate of 0.65 3-point blocks per 36 minutes. Here’s how that rate compares to every other player who has played a combined 500 minutes or more this season and last.

He’s literally on his own planet.

Malcolm Brogdon creating off the dribble

The Pacers are off to a rough start this season, amassing a 1-3 record while getting outscored by an average of 3.3 points per 100 possessions. One of the bright spots, however, has been Malcolm Brogdon earning every dollar of his new contract so far. Brogdon has been superb in a supporting role for the Bucks but the Pacers signed him to a four-year, $85 million deal this summer, operating under the assumption that he could be just as effective in a more featured role.

Through their first four games, Brogdon is averaging 22.0 points, 11.3 assists, 4.8 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game, shooting 38.1 percent on 3-pointers and 95.7 percent from the free-throw line. The most impressive part of Brogdon’s game has been his dribble penetration, where he has been one of Indiana’s few reliable offensive creators.

He’s driving significantly more often on a per-minute basis, finishing at roughly the same rate but drawing more fouls and turning more of those drives into assists and open shots for his teammates. Given how effective he’s been, it should be no surprise that the Pacers’ offense is 17.5 points better per 100 possessions when he’s on the floor. If they can just figure out how to get some stops they might be able to get that record back on the right side of .500.

Harden and Russell running everything

After they redefined the upper bounds of offensive usage the past few seasons, having Russell Westbrook and James Harden on the same team was always going to be an experiment. So far, it’s been going pretty well for the Rockets, who have a 3-1 record and are scoring an astronomical 117.7 points per 100 possessions. Harden and Westbrook are scoring a combined 59.3 points per game and producing another 50.8 through their assists (although there is some overlap because they occasionally assist each other).

A look at the Rockets’ assist network from PBPStats.com emphasizes just how central they’ve been to Houston’s offense.

Through four games, the Rockets, as a team, have made 170 shots from the field. Of those 170, 68 were made by either Harden or Westbrook, leaving 102 that were made by the rest of the team. Of those 102, 70 were assisted on by either Harden or Westbrook, leaving 32 shots made by the rest of the team without their direct involvement. Of those 32, three were putbacks and another two solo fastbreak buckets immediately following a steal. That leaves 27 shots made out of the halfcourt offense without the direct involvement of Harden or Westbrook, an average of just under seven per game.

And honestly, I was surprised it was that high…

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