The Indiana Pacers are putting together a what I think could be a really nice team, here's why Jeremy Lamb is the best value of the lot.
Jeremy Lamb is what I would call an underrated favourite of mine. Put it this way he was part of my fantasy basketball team last year and, I did spend a late round pick on him, not just on the waivers.
Anyway, Lamb was a guy that took his time to establish himself in the league. He was drafted by OKC in 2012, and after three seasons totalling 148 games, 8 of which were starts (7Pts in 15.7 minutes per game).
In the summer of 2015, he was traded to Charlotte (Lamb was traded in exchange for guard Luke Ridnour and a conditional 2016 second-round draft pick). Lamb again had to work his way into the Charlotte line up, over a similar three-year span Lamb featured in 208 games, however, again the majority of those were from the bench as Lamb only started 23 games in that stretch. The one major difference this time around was Lamb’s steadily increasing stat line. Lamb was improving with each season and his minutes also steadily increased. Last year was Lamb’s first year as the full-time starter and his stats continued to improve. Here are Lamb’s stats for his career since being traded to Charlotte:
Now the main thing that I feel like we have to think about here is, has Lamb actually improved at basketball, or is the steady increase in stats due to the increase in his time on the court. For me it’s that he has shown the ability to grow into the role he was given, when given extra starts or minutes, his stats jumped as you would expect. This might not sound impressive, but when looking at role plays such as these ones it can be key.
The one thing that might not look every good here for Lamb is the drop that his 3 point % took this year when he became the starter. I would argue that Lamb’s slight decrease could be a symptom of his increased role. If you break it down Lamb is actually a really nice situational shooter; hitting 38.5% on catch and shoot threes, 54% from the corner (only 15% of total threes), and 26% when pulling up. Having the ability to hit this variety of shots, makes lamb a tough guard, on or off ball he should be considered a threat.
Lamb becomes an even tougher hang inside the three-point line; He’s a skilled ball handler with a really nice stoke in the mid-range, his elbow jumper is money, and I mean money. He goes to this shot often because he can, shooting 41% on pull up twos.
This also helps him a huge amount, when he is penetrating the defence, the fact they have to be ready for the pull-up, opens opportunities to blow by his man to the rim. Lamb’s good size and length for the two-guard spot, along with his capable floater and decent court vision. Make Lamb is an extremely versatile offensive player, his shot frequency is such a nice look into the way he gets his points. Lamb scores 42.5% of the time within 10 feet of the rim, 32.1% on pull-ups and 24.5% when catching and shooting. I cannot stress this enough; this guy can score in almost every way.
Lamb isn’t a brilliant defender by any stretch of the imagination, but at this position for the kind of money that he may command. I believe that Lamb might not be a bad option. At 6”5 he could be used to defend the other team’s PG or SG without being too undersized. He boasts really nice rebound numbers for his position and size. In his single starting year; he averaged more than a steal a game, and two pass deflections per game (PG13 lead the league with 3.8), which isn’t anything to scoff at. Not to mention he also did this last year.
Fit: I really like the fit in Indiana for Lamb, I had picked them as a team for him in the earlier version of this piece before the players signed. I think he will be used primarily as the sixth man, which should suit his skill-set really nicely. He will be able to provide an instant impact to the team on the offensive side of the ball, take over some ball handling duties when in with the starters, and be the primary option on offence when with the bench. He adds to an already versatile guard grouping that allows the Pacers to always have players who can create their own shot and/or hit high percentage shots.
Summary: All round offensive threat that can score in any way you want him to. Can create for himself and others, along with a good three-point shooter. Defence should have to account for him no matter where he is on the floor. Decent defender who should be able to hold his own in the playoffs. Do yourself a favour and watch some of his 2019 tape.
Credits: Stats provided by:
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Cover: USA Today via www.indycornrows.com
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