LA Clippers: Landry Shamet being left off 25-under-25 is a farce

With FanSided releasing their top 25-under-25, it’s a complete joke that LA Clippers’ sharpshooter Landry Shamet was left off the list entirely.

This week, FanSided revealed their top 25-under-25, a list which (as the name implies) attempts to rank the top players who are still under 25 years of age. In addition to the top-25, they also added an honorable mentions section which added an additional ten players to the list. Somehow out of 35 players, LA Clippers’ guard Landry Shamet didn’t make the list. This has to be a joke, right?

Let’s be realistic. Most of the list is right. Nikola Jokic at number one makes complete sense and I’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who disagrees. The top 20 or so all are reasonable as well, with maybe just some slight disagreements on a few names. I’m not saying Landry Shamet belongs in this group. But inside the top 35? Most definitely.

Prior to writing this, I quickly scanned the list for names that I thought might be ranked a little high and threw them into the basketball-reference player comparison tool along with Shamet. The four players and their ranks are:

• #35 – Kevin Huerter
• #31 – Jonathan Isaac
• #30 – Lonzo Ball
• #29 – Dejounte Murray
• #24 – Justise Winslow

As you’ll see in a second, Winslow is probably properly rated and is in this grouping as more of a control. Dejounte Murray is probably in that same category. I’m not saying Shamet is better than everyone, obviously. First, let’s look at each of these players’ statistics from the 2018-19 season which will also include Shamet.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/20/2019.

To a casual fan, they would look at these statistics and see that Shamet has the second-lowest scoring average and assist average and the lowest average of rebounds, blocks and steals among the group. He must be worse then all the guys listed out, right? Well, what happens when we standardize each player using their Per 36 minutes? It paints quite a different story.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/20/2019.

By using the Per 36 minutes, Shamet is starting to look a bit more effective. He suddenly becomes the second-highest scorer and while still not as high, his rebounding and assist numbers go up. Here’s the logic FanSided used for putting Huerter at 35:

"Why he missed: Unlike the previous two men who occupied this spot, Huerter doesn’t have nearly the variance of a Jackson or a Russell. We kind of already know what he’s going to be: a really useful floor-spacer in a league where such players are more valuable than ever. The flip side of that, however, is that his ceiling seems somewhat capped, so no one was willing to say he belonged much higher, ahead of several guys with bigger boom (and bust) potential.Why we might look stupid: If he continues growing as a playmaker and a defender and maintains his trajectory as a shooter, throw out everything I just wrote. In that case, he’s a poor man’s Klay Thompson. Not bad."

Ignoring the obvious, “Well you do look stupid” joke, how is the logic for Huerter not applicable to Shamet? Shamet has already proven he’s a knockdown shooter. He hit 42.2% of his 5.0 attempts from deep compared to Huerter’s 38.5% on 4.7 attempts. So, um, who’s the better floor spacer?

Also worth noting here – Shamet played for a playoff team both before and after he was traded. He only started in 27 games and was never more than maybe a rare second option at best with the Clippers. Meanwhile, Huerter was on the Hawks who could afford to give him more time and opportunities. Huerter, Ball and Winslow all had this opportunity as none of their teams made the playoffs. It’s easier to put up numbers when you’re getting more touches.

Here are some other tidbits that should be noted.

Shamet has the highest offensive rating per 100 possessions at a staggering 120. The next highest was Jonathan Isaac at 107. Granted, Sham does have the second-worst defensive rating per 100 possessions at 115, but the lowest is 101 for Dejounte Murray.

Sham does have the second-worst box plus/minus of the group at -1.0, but it’s the defensive end that is hurting him (he has the only positive offensive box plus/minus). Defense is part of the game, but with Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Patrick Beverley sharing the court with Shamet this coming season, I’d be willing to bet his defensive numbers start to look better just by having the fourth weakest assignment.

Playoffs

As I mentioned, Shamet, Murray, and Isaac all made the playoffs. Competition is stiffer in the postseason so seeing how a young player performs on that stage is always interesting. Here’s the Per 36 minutes for each player in their playoff series. It actually works out pretty well as each of the three was eliminated in round one.

Provided by Basketball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/20/2019.

Shamet looks good here too. Murray has way higher stats across the board, but he played just 96 minutes total compared to Isaac’s 137 and Shamet’s 174 which inflates his numbers slightly. One thing that Shamet has over both of them that won’t show up in any statistics is his clutch shot versus the Warriors.

The shot he hit during the Clippers’ historic 37 point comeback will be on highlight reels from now until the end of time. That’s worth something, right?

Shamet got props from Kevin Durant during the series for his offensive ability. He was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team (He had more total votes then Huerter, by the way). He was invited to Team USA Select Camp. But nah, he totally shouldn’t be on the under 25 list. He shouldn’t even be on the honorable mentions.

Shamet is poised to have another great season this year. He’ll get more open looks sharing the court with George and Leonard and could even see some point guard duties come his way. Like FanSided said in their article, they might end up looking stupid with a few picks on their list. I’m pretty sure not including Landry Shamet will be one of those.