Porzingis arrives having had the [“best season of his career](https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2023/06/22/boston-celtics-kristaps-porzingis-trade-nba-marcus-smart-grizzlies/) in Washington. Mostly, it was because he was healthy.
Partially, it was because of Daniel Gafford. (Who?)
Gafford is a 24 year old who has no offensive skill beyond the rim – he has tried one three pointer in four seasons, averages 4 minutes between FG attempts, and makes 70% of those dunks/put backs. He blocks shots, while focusing on defense.
Rob Williams is an outstanding defender who blocks shots and has, ahem, a limited offensive game.
KP was good with Gafford:
> “I love playing with Gaff,” Porzingis told NBC Sports Washington’s Wes Hall. “Whenever I’m on the perimeter or I’m not able to get to the help, I know there’s another guy who’s going to have my back and vice versa.”
Rob _should_ be able to do even more “Rob Things” defensively with another drive deterrent/shot blocker the ball handler is worried about. ROB! Blindside Rob is the best Rob.
KP has proven he can thrive offensively with another non-scoring big. And he didn’t have Jays in Washington to occupy the defense.
Keep them both healthy for the playoffs and there isn’t a better big combo in the league.
by PebblyJackGlasscock
12 Comments
TIL that Daniel Gafford is just thicc Ben Simmons
Nice post, friend! This is the type of content we need, enough crying about Marcus Smart.
That being said… very excited to see what KP brings to the table, I think we have a really great opportunity to establish one of the better PnR actions in the league with operators like Tatum and White. Crash in for dunks and lays with Rob, kick outs for jumpers with KP and Al. I’m so hyped to see what The Unicorn can do, been one of my favorite players since he came into the league
Wizards fan here, last season KP and Gafford had a net rating of approximately +6 when on the court together. He will definitely gell well with time lord.
I think that Rob and KP can definitely play together with KP largely playing the same role that Al has on both ends, but I think that KP + Al is the better pairing offensively because Al can space the floor while Tatum or JB runs pick and roll or pick and pop with KP.
If you have Rob out there with KP it’s harder to run those types of plays where KP needs to be in and around the paint because Rob just doesn’t really have anywhere to go. He can go camp out in the corner like Al would but nobody’s going to go out there to guard him so it’s not all that useful. Al can open up the paint for our big 3 to do their thing.
If Rob’s workout videos of him shooting more mid range shots translates to him being used differently (which they often don’t, let’s be real) then that’ll help a bit. If he’s a legit threat to hit 15+ foot jumpers then he can at least space the floor a little bit, but in the playoffs I bet teams let him get that shot anyway. It’s not going to be nearly as efficient as letting our big 3 get what they want.
So it’ll be interesting to see how it all plays out. KP + Rob seems like a combo that will work great in some matchups and not so great in others, while KP + Al seems like it’ll be a more well rounded combo as long as Al is the same player as last year, which isn’t a given considering his age.
I’d also like to add that I get blue veined throbbers at the idea of Tatum/KP high screen actions where Rob comes over as the second screener, KP pops with Rob rolling.
The amount of pressure it’d be putting on a defense to just stay disciplined and match up on all 3 guys and not get lost would be insane. This would also be a huge step for JT to be in that quarterback position, reading the defense and making the right play off the bounce. He could kick it, lob it, pull up or just take it to the cup.
This is the type of shit I’m most excited for this season.
If Porzingis enjoyed playing with Gafford he will absolutely thrive with rob, and that’s because timelord can do everything gafford does while also adding perimeter defense. One of Rob’s trully underrated skills is being able to switch to the perimeter and hold his own while also being one of the best weak side deffenders in the league. It will be a big man duo that complements each other really well imo. The only real question is of course availability
Last season Rob’s switchability on defense regressed a bit simply because of health but I hope we’ll be able to manage minutes a bit better now with the extra frontcourt depth and Tatum playing as the PF for some stretches.
White/JB/JT/Rob/Tingus lineup gonna be special to watch
KP solves so much that this team was lacking…big depth, big shooting, post offense and passing. I fully expect he’s the “missing piece”.
Porzingis + Dwight Powell were an effective combination in Dallas too. Powell’s not the shot blocker that Gafford and Rob are, but he has some of the same qualities as an athletic lob threat + rebounder. In 950 minutes across two and change seasons the Mavs outscored opponents by [5.6 points per 100 possessions](https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612742&Season=2019-20,2020-21,2021-22&SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&PlayerIds=204001,203939) with Powell/KP on the floor vs +2.2 with Porzingis no Powell. And it wasn’t a product of Luka, the Mavs had a +13.7 net rating in 300 minutes with KP/Powell no Doncic
Man our starting lineup is gonna be BIG.
White-Jaylen-Tatum-KP-Rob should be dangerous on both ends. I assume Horford and Rob will kinda switch out too as load management for both guys.
Who’s defending on the perimeter if they’re in the game together?
Color me suspect of the pairing playing effectively together in a playoff setting
All good things with these 2 is dependent on the health of their legs and knees…
That’s a long 80+ games… Plus that in-season tourney…