1. Why pay Rondo the max when players on the same tier as him aren't paid that much? Frankly I don't give a damn what Rondo did in the playoffs 3-4 years ago, that his little impact on how should be compensated for the next 4-5 years.
You're shifting goalposts. I said Rondo shouldn't be paid the same as Lowry. More specifically, I said that Rondo should be paid more than what Lowry is paid.
But, anyways...
Nobody knows what the future holds for both players (or for any player, for that matter). Our best way to prepare for the unknown is to use what we do know and plan accordingly. And we know that Rondo is the league-leader in assists and has the most triple doubles in the league thus far in the season. We know that Rondo is also a premier playmaker and one-on-one/perimeter defender. We know that Rondo is a fantastic rebounder for a point guard. We know that in every playoffs series in which he's played, he's stepped up his level of play significantly. All of what we know about Rondo merits him earning more than $12M per year. At the same age, Lowry is now starting to distinguish himself as a top PG. We know that he is a better scorer than Rondo. But we also know that he's NOWHERE as good as a playmaker as Rondo and he's not as good as a defender as Rondo. Lowry is playing like a guy earning $12M/year. Rondo (poor shooting notwithstanding) plays better than Lowry. Rondo deserves more money than Lowry.
2.
Player A: PER of 14.58, 8.3 PPG, FG% of 38.6, 3P% of 26.9, FT% of 32.4, 7.4 RPG, 10.8 APG, 1.6 SPG, 3.4 turnovers per game
Player B: PER of 23.42, 20.1 PPG, FG% of 43.5, 3P% of 31.0, FT% of 81.2, 4.8 RPG, 7.5 APG, 1.2 SPG, 1.8 turnovers per game
Lowry had a better statistical season last year than Rondo has ever had. And he's on pace to do the same this year. You keep referencing what Rondo did 3-4 seasons ago, who gives a fukk? It's 2014, not 2011. There is literally no argument for Rondo being better than Lowry in 2014.
1. With all due respect, if you use PER to say "NBA player A" is better than "NBA player B", you're an idiot. PER is not effective in measuring a player's defensive contributions. Hollinger/ESPN's formula for PER includes blocked shots and steals, however if PER cannot measure a player's defensive skills, why include two defensive stats in the formula? A player can have a large number of steals and blocked shots, even though he is a lousy defender in the team concept (which is the only thing that matters). The reason for this, of course, is that lots of steals and blocked shots are the result of a player abandoning his team defensive responsibilities to gamble for a steal or a blocked shot. Defense is every bit as important as offense in any sport, but far too many people take PER as a gospel number to compare two players.
Even Hollinger (the creator of PER) freely admits that PER is not the least bit effective in measuring a player's defensive contributions.
Moreover, PER itself isn't even a consistent indicator of a player's offensive contributions to his team. According to Hollinger/ESPN, each two point field goal made is worth about 1.65 points. A three point field goal made is worth 2.65 points. A missed field goal, though, costs a team 0.72 points. Given these values, with a bit of math we can show that a player will break even on his two point field goal attempts if he hits on 30.4% of these shots. On three pointers the break-even point is 21.4%. If a player exceeds these thresholds, and virtually every NBA player does so with respect to two-point shots, the more he shoots the higher his value in PERs. So a player can be an inefficient scorer and simply inflate his value by taking a large number of shots.
2. Lowry had a "better" season because Rondo played much fewer games AFTER he recovered from his ACL injury. And Rondo's team was already out of playoffs contention upon his return to the team.
Lowry last year: 18ppg, 7apg, 5rpg, 2spg while shooting 42% from the field and 38% from behind the arc.
Rondo last year: 12ppg, 10apg, 6rpg, 1spg while shooting 40% from the field and 29% from behind the arc
Lowry this year: 20ppg, 8apg, 5rpg, 1spg while shooting 44% from the field and 31% from behind the arc
Rondo this year: 8ppg, 11apg, 7rpg, 2spg while shooting 39% from the field and 27% from behind the arc
The numbers themselves indicate that, outside of scoring, Rondo trumps Lowry in all meaningful stats. Rondo's a better passer, playmaker, rebounder, and defender. That's before we start talking about career accomplishments. Lowry's FG% isn't even much better than Rondo's. The difference is negligible in that category at best. And as bad as Rondo's been shooting 3s (and in general) this season, Lowry has been almost as poor (27% compared to 31%).
I have NO IDEA how you swear Lowry is a better overall player than Rondo when the stats prove otherwise and EVERYBODY knows that Rondo is a pass-first player.
