Marion and Jefferson

[George O'Brien]

Jefferson just agreed to a $75 million deal, which is just a bit less than Marion's $79 million deal. I makes me think that perhaps Marion isn't as overpaid as some people on this board contend. Last season Marion's productivity was down, but his numbers were comparable to Jefferson's.

Shawn Marion
Phoenix Suns
Position: F
Height: 6-7 Weight: 215
College: UNLV '00
Player file | Team stats

2003-04 Statistics
PPG 19.0
RPG 9.3
APG 2.7
SPG 2.11
BPG 1.32
FG% .440
FT% .851
3P% .340
MPG 40.7

Richard Jefferson
New Jersey Nets
Position: F
Height: 6-7 Weight: 222
College: Arizona '01
Player file | Team stats

2003-04 Statistics
PPG 18.5
RPG 5.7
APG 3.8
SPG 1.12
BPG .34
FG% .498
FT% .763
3P% .364
MPG 38.2

The comparison continues at the Olympics.

P L A Y E R GP-GS MIN--AVG FG-FGA PCT FG-FGA PCT FT-FTA PCT OFF-DEF TOT--AVG PF-FO A TO BLK ST PTS - AVG

11 Shawn Marion 5 0 77 15.4 14 22 .636 0 1 .000 8 8 1.00 5 13 18 3.6 7 0 2 4 1 6 36 7.215

Richard Jefferson 6 6 133 22.2 18 32 .563 4 8 .500 2 4 .500 1 11 12 2.0 14 1 11 8 1 3 42 7.0

Jefferson played more minutes, but Marion scored more per game, averaged more rebounds per game, and had twice as many steals per game. The only area Jefferson was better at was assists, but he played with Duncan and the first team most of the time.

Overall, it looks like Marion and Jefferson are roughly comparable considering. So if the notably cheap Nets think Jefferson is worth $75 million, maybe Shawn isn't so out of line after all.

BTW, Anthony has been given a lot of praise for his play in on the USA team, but he has averaged 9.2 ppg on 35.6% shooting while Marion has 7.2 ppg on 63.6% shooting. Marion averages one more rpg than Anthony, twice as many steals, and only 4 turnovers to Anthony's 11 in similar minutes.

 

[SweetD]

IMO Jefferson numbers will go up this year with Martin gone. But I do think both are very close to there production. Plus when Marion was doing better than Jefferson did.

 

[George O'Brien]

IMO Jefferson numbers will go up this year with Martin gone. But I do think both are very close to there production. Plus when Marion was doing better than Jefferson did.

That last sentence is a puzzler.

BTW, in 2002-03 Marion averaged 21.2 ppg, shot 45.2% from the field, 38.7% for three, 9.5 rpg, 2.3 steals per game. Jefferson's overall shooting was better than that last season because the Nets ran the ball so much better than the Suns, but Marion has historically been better shooting threes.

 

[scotsman13]

IMO Jefferson numbers will go up this year with Martin gone.

is jefferson will get more touchs this year but also the defenses will be designed to stop him from the beginning. the only way you can think that jefferson and marion would be close is if you dont think about rebounds and steals and blocks.

 

[scoutmasterdave]

I think Jefferson's numbers may even dip a little this year because Jason Kidd will likely miss quite a bit of time with his microfractured knee. Jefferson is a very good player, but he'd be nothing close to what he is without Kidd.

 

[Joe Mama]

Unless the New Jersey Nets make some other big moves Jefferson's numbers are sure to increase. He is a good player with or without Jason Kidd. In fact I believe that too often we give all of the credit for players' success to these point guards.

Joe Mama

 

[George O'Brien]

Unless the New Jersey Nets make some other big moves Jefferson's numbers are sure to increase. He is a good player with or without Jason Kidd. In fact I believe that too often we give all of the credit for players' success to these point guards.

Joe Mama

It will be an interesting experiment. Jefferson will go from being a part of a pretty good team to the main focus with a lot less help. He will get the ball more but also get a lot more defensive attention. My guess is that he will score a lot more points but his shooting percentage will drop considerably.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

Unless the New Jersey Nets make some other big moves Jefferson's numbers are sure to increase. He is a good player with or without Jason Kidd. In fact I believe that too often we give all of the credit for players' success to these point guards.

Joe Mama

i completely agree. didn't rj's numbers increase when he had to carry the team w/ kidd and martin out last year?

 

[elindholm]

I'd rather have Marion, because his contract is shorter.

 

[CardsFan88]

I think Marion is quite a bit better.

Scoring wise they are both +-5% from each other

But Marion rebounds, blocks, and steals more.

Both are good players and when you consider Marion's deal to some of the centers deals this offseason, then it looks like an average contract almost.

We shouldn't trade him at all, we'll just have to try to get another center via next years draft or free agency. (A good one I mean)

Our guys will start to mature this year imo and we are at the beginning of a having some good playoff runs over the next 5-7 years. No more trading, our guys our young and probably are some of the most athletic in the league.

Good take O'brien

 

[devilalum]

The big difference between Marion and Jefferson was their PG's.

Jefferson had Kidd to get him easy looks, Shawn had PG dujour on a team that was horrible for assists.

IMO Marion will have another big year with Nash getting him more easy looks.

It's amazing how fast your shooting percentage goes up when you start getting more dunks and layups.