All you have to do is look at the True Shooting % of all the Mavericks wings over the past two years (one year for Coop). For those that don't follow TS%, it is basically points scored per shot attempt taking into account 2pt shots, 3pt shots, and FTs.

Naji--58.8%

Max--58.6%

Klay--58%

Risacher--55.8%

Flagg--54.8%

**Bieberovic would actually be the highest over the past two years at 60% TS% in the Euroleague, but while that is legit competition, it isn't directly comparable to NBA stats.

Obviously, Flagg is hitting his rate on the highest usage among these guys as he averaged 21 points per game. But Naji was the second highest at 14.2 pts/game. Flagg also got his own shot the most with only 40.2% of his 2s and 71% of his 3s coming off assists. Once again Naji was second with only 48.8% of his 2s being assisted. Everyone else had substantially higher assisted shot ratios.

So why is Naji such a good TRUE shooter when you hear complaints about the opposite being the case? It's pretty simple. He is an elite 2 point shooter for a wing. Over the past two years, he has shot right at 60% from 2. No one else on the Mavs is close. The second highest is Risacher at 53.8%. Even when you add in the two publicized free agent wings that can score, the 2 point shooting looks like this.

Naji--59.9%

Risacher--53.8%

Peyton Watson--53.3%

Flagg--51.3%

B. Mathurin--50.6%

Christie--47.5%

Thompson--43.3%

Also, when you add the publicized free agents, Naji still is second among these guys on creating these 2 point shots for himself behind Flagg. Mathurin who has been pumped for being able to create his own shot relies on assists on these shots more than Naji.

The most important reason why 3pt shooting is such an important factor in the NBA is that for most players it is more efficient. The average NBA shooter shoots over 35% from 3 and under 50% than 2, so 3pt shooting is the typically easier way to be an efficient shooter. Naji just so happens to be the exception to the rule. If you are extremely efficient at shooting 2s you can be an elite shooter without being a great 3 point shooter.

Yes, 3pt shooting does help spread the floor but the reality is you don't need 4 floor spreaders on the court at the same time. 2 or 3 players on the floor that are respectable does the trick. Naji is probably not going to be one of those guys.

But he does everything else: he is an extremely efficient scorer; he is valuable as a secondary creator and facilitator, he plays good D against wings and even POA, and he's a reasonably good offensive rebounder. All these attributes are why he has averaged the second highest VORP over the past two years:

Flagg: 2

Naji: 0.7

Klay: 0.4

Watson: 0.2

Christie: 0

Mathurin: -0.35

Risacher: -0.5

Glad the Mavs extended him.

Let’s assume we don’t make any more meaningful trades. I think of the likely starters, there’s a good chance that Kyrie, Max, PJ, and Lively/Gafford all come off the floor before Flagg, so I think there’s a good chance Flagg and 4 bench players will be on the floor in the first quarter. Who do we think that will be? I think Rez is obviously going to be one of the guys. Now that we acquired Risacher I see him coming in also to add spacing and defend a guard. Who will be the primary ball handler besides Flagg—I want it to be Larry but Sasser is probably more likely at least early in the year. Then the tough one is the last one, so do you go with Naji and slide Coop to 4 and Rez to 5–that gives you 3 solid ball handlers and athletic defense but missing a little rim protection. Do you bring in another center in Gafford/Cisse (depending on whether Lively or Gafford started)—that’s a very long line up. Or do you bring in even more spacing with Aldama (or even Bieberovic)?

I think May is going to emphasize D and bring in a backup rim protector and let Flagg and Rez hound everyone else. So if Lively is healthy, I think it will be Coop + Sasser, Risacher, Rez, and Gafford. Naji comes in once Coop needs a breather. What do you think?

The 2026 draft initially made its name on the players at top of the draft, but now I think it is actually stronger in its depth and some doubt is creeping about the NBA All Star certainty of the top 4. With that in mind, I think it is interesting to ask why draft player X high in the draft when you could get his clone 10 spots or more lower in the draft. Would love to here other's suggestions but here are a couple of mine:

High usage PG. Acuff (pick 5-7) vs Okorie (teens-low 20s)

Measurables

These two satisfy the clone label when it comes to physical measurables. Same weight and within a half inch on standing reach. The only real physical difference is a material 1.25" wingspan advantage for Okorie--but overall they have very similar dimensions.

Athletic testing was also very similar. Exact same standing vertical leap and Okorie had only an inch advantage in max vert (37.5/36.5). Acuff had the straight line speed advantage (3.06--blazer) compared to Okorie (3.26--quick enough). But Okorie had the lateral quickness advantage (10.71--excellent) over Acuff (10.99--adequate for NBA guard).

Offensive Production

They were both among the best guards at putting the ball in the basket. Both averaged over 23 points per game and both had OBPMs above 8. Acuff had a higher AST% at 31.9% to 23.8%, and Acuff was a bit more efficient, but film junkies think Okorie would have had a much higher percentage if his Stanford teammates were better at converting his slick passes into points and he would have been more efficient if he didn't have to create everything on his own. Okorie was better at getting to the FT line, with an excellent 44.9% FT% compared to an average 37% for Acuff.

Defensive Production

Despite a usage rate even higher than Acuff and Philon, Okorie didn't slack on the defensive end. He put up a reasonable 1.6 DBPM, with a 1% BLK rate and a very good 2.7% STL rate. Acuff, famously, did not/was not asked to put in much effort to the defensive side and his negative DBPM shows it.

Defensive Mini-Big. Mo Johnson (pick 10-15) vs. Zuby Ejiofor (mid 20s)

Measurables

At first glance, these two don't look like clones as Johnson measured 1.5" inches taller, but ignore the top of the head and measure the top of the fingers when reaching up and they are, in fact, clones. Both had a 8'11" standing reach. Morez had a longer wingspan at 7'3.5 to 7'2" but both are excellent (both were +6.5"). And they both have the mass to body up bigger players in the NBA, with Johnson weighing 250 and Ejiofor weighing 245.

They are also similarly athletically freakish for their size. They both can touch above 12' on the backboard with a 39 max vert for Johnson and a 38" max vert for Ejiofor (Ejiofor had a .5" advantage on standing vert). They had almost identical 3/4 court speeds at 3.17 and 3.21, which is moving for 250 pound men (Burries and Swain were also 3.21 for comparison). Johnson had a fantastic lateral agility time at 10.59 but Ejiofor was still very good at 11.05 (11 is considered average for an NBA guard). Ejiofor got his revenge with the 6th quickest shuttle run among all players at 2.76, but Johnson was still good at 2.91.

Defensive Production

We're going to start with defense for these two, because that is where they are both elite. Ejiofor had the more dominant stats with a 7.2% BLK rate and 2.2% STL rate--both elite numbers for a post player, but Johnson was no slouch with a 4.8% BLK rate and 1.5% STL rate while having to share defensive opportunities with Mara and Lendeborg. But the reason these two are defensive clones is that they use their size, athletic quickness, and solid fundamentals to be equally good at guarding perimeter players and bigs. They are both elite switchable defenders that can hound guards and body up bigs.

Offensive Production

Although they are tremendous defenders they do contribute on the offensive end. They both start with great offensive rebounding with both players putting up an ORB% above 12%. That leads to a lot of efficient put backs. Johsnson had a 67% true shooting and Ejiofor was at 61% but Ejiofor's scoring was on much higher usage (26.4% to 21.1%). They also both have a career FT% above 70% and started to show a hint of competency on 3 pointers this year. At the combine they both impressed making over 50% of threes off the dribble (Ejiofor was over 50% on all his threes at the combine). Ejiofor was more of a facilitator, but that was something that St. John's asked of him while that was not Johnson's role at Michigan.

Plus Factor

Johnson was obviously a big part of Michigan's title run, playing relentless D and stepping up with Mara when Lendeborg got banged up. Ejiofor also contributed to a resurgence for Pitino's Johnies. He led St. John's to their first Sweet 16 this century before losing narrowly to Duke. Ejiofor also gets plus factor points for becoming the first Big East player to win conference Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and Scholar-Athlete of the Year.

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So those are two of my clones. Who else has some clones that are projected to be taken at very different slots in the draft?

I keep seeing all these comments about smaller PGs limiting a team’s ability to do well in the playoffs. Most recently, there was a thread on Brunson and how if he gets to the finals with NY it might make some teams more willing to draft a sub 6-4 PG. The reality is PG stature has very little to do with NBA team success.

Here are the last 10 NBA champions and the shoeless combine height of their PG:

OKC 6-6
Boston 6-3
Denver 6-3
Golden State 6-2
Milwaukee 6-3
LA 6-1
Toronto 6-0
Golden State 6-2
Golden State 6-2
Cleveland 6-2

What is the correlation that jumps out? Hint—it has nothing to do with PGs. It’s the fact that almost all had either that dude (the most impactful player in playoffs) or two of the top guys. These excuses like but Denver had Jokic, Milwaukee had peak Giannis, or LA had LeBron and AD, and GS had either peak Steph or Steph + Durant miss the point. If you want to win you need a guy that is in the running for most dominant player in the league or two of the top 10. You want a PG that impacts the game, but that can be with size, speed, smarts, vision, etc. Then you need a great post defender, on ball defender, rebounder, and a couple great shooters. But most of all you need that dude.