NBA 2K15 Roster Analysis 11/5/14

Due to my heavy work schedule, I haven't been able to keep up with the daily roster updates.  As such, the stats I post may not accurately reflect rating decisions.  I will try to note as such.

NEW PLAYERS

Kalin Lucas (Grizzlies, 67/PG)

Lucas will likely stick on the team another two weeks until Nick Calathes returns from suspension on November 23rd.

PLAYER RATING / BADGE EDITS

J.J. Redick (Clippers)

77 Overall (NC)

80 Standing 3PT (-1)

83 Moving 3PT (-3)

Season	G	MP	PER	TS%	ORB%	DRB%	AST%	STL%	BLK%	TOV%	USG%
2012-13	78	2379	14.7	.571	0.8	7.3	20.0	0.8	0.3	12.5	20.8
2013-14	35	987	16.6	.598	1.0	7.1	12.6	1.4	0.2	8.6	21.8
2014-15	6	172	13.3	.580	0.0	10.6	6.5	1.2	0.0	11.4	20.9

Redick has struggled a bit with his 3pt shot, hitting only 27% (9-33) compared to 39% for his career.  He'll eventually get it going and return to his usual ratings.  His assist rate has dropped like a rock and this is likely due to a reduction in ball-handling responsibility (more Spotups, fewer Pick and Rolls).

Trevor Booker (Jazz)

75 Overall (+1)

74 Standing 3PT (+15)

48 Moving 3PT (+10)

79 Defensive Rebound (+7)

Season	MP	PER	TS%	ORB%	DRB%	AST%	STL%	BLK%	TOV%	USG%
2013-14	1553	15.0	.563	10.9	17.5	6.3	1.4	2.4	11.7	14.4
2014-15	127	20.7	.656	10.4	17.7	8.6	1.2	0.0	13.9	20.7

As was previously covered, Booker added a 3PT shot to his repertoire (currently 6-13 on the season).  What hasn't been focused on yet is his significant improvement to his Usage rate concurrent with his shooting percentages.  Ball Control (35) has always been poorly rated for the 6'8" tweener.

Chandler Parsons (Mavericks)

80 Overall (+1)

80 Standing Three (+1)

80 Free Throw (+6)

79 Driving Layup (+3)

Season	G	MP	PER	TS%	ORB%	DRB%	AST%	STL%	BLK%	TOV%	USG%
2012-13	76	2758	15.3	.584	3.3	13.2	15.6	1.4	0.9	12.7	18.3
2013-14	74	2783	15.9	.565	2.9	12.8	17.3	1.6	0.8	11.7	19.3
2014-15	6	188	16.6	.524	3.7	11.5	6.9	1.7	0.5	7.5	23.0

The only important takeaway from Parsons' production this year is that his USG rate has gone up while his assist rate has vanished.  I see a player desperate to prove he's worth his massive contract, but is really lacking in consistency.

G	Date	Opp		MP	FG	FGA	FG%	TRB	AST	STL	BLK	TOV	PTS	GmSc
1	2014-10-28	SAS	L (-1)	33:49	2	10	.200	4	0	2	1	1	5	0.9
2	2014-10-30	UTA	W (+18)	29:06	8	16	.500	7	2	0	0	2	21	15.7
3	2014-11-01	NOP	W (+5)	33:56	7	13	.538	4	4	0	0	3	20	13.9
4	2014-11-03	BOS	W (+5)	34:50	10	15	.667	3	2	2	0	0	29	25.6
5	2014-11-06	POR	L (-21)	28:29	5	13	.385	4	1	0	0	1	11	4.8
6	2014-11-07	UTA	W (+23)	27:54	1	11	.091	3	0	2	0	0	5	0.6

Parsons really came on after his season opening dud, but returned to form AFTER this update was implemented.  With so many other Mavericks playing well, Parsons will be able to get away with inconsistent play, but once players like Brandan Wright (30 PER), Dirk Nowitzki (27 PER), and Devin Harris (22 PER) fall back to earth...

Tyreke Evans (Pelicans)

79 Overall (+1)

80 Standing 3PT (+4)

71 Moving 3PT (+3)

Season	G	MP	PER	TS%	ORB%	DRB%	AST%	STL%	BLK%	TOV%	USG%
2012-13	65	2016	18.1	.558	3.1	13.5	19.0	2.3	1.0	12.6	22.3
2013-14	72	2028	18.4	.504	4.3	15.4	30.4	2.2	0.9	14.5	27.1
2014-15	5	179	16.3	.479	3.8	19.2	27.7	1.1	0.8	13.9	26.2

Evans is shooting 9-19 (47%) from 3PT after going 21-95 (22%) all of last season.  Ironically, it's his 2PT% (38% from last year's 46%) that is now a cause for concern.  These numbers will likely sort themselves out, but the 2010 Rookie of the Year's improved 3pt shooting is likely here to stay.

Eric Gordon (Pelicans)

77 Overall (-2)

79 Standing 3PT (-5)

77 Moving 3PT (-6)

68 Shot IQ (-2)

65 Offensive Consistency (-10)

Season	G	MP	PER	TS%	ORB%	DRB%	AST%	STL%	BLK%	TOV%	USG%
2012-13	42	1264	15.4	.523	0.9	6.4	19.3	1.9	0.5	14.6	29.4
2013-14	64	2057	14.9	.540	1.7	7.7	16.6	1.9	0.5	12.8	23.2
2014-15	5	169	2.9	.357	1.7	7.6	5.1	2.4	0.9	16.2	15.9

Gordon does not resemble an NBA player right now.  He needs the ball in his hands to be effective, and that's not going to happen with Anthony Davis, Tyreke Evans, and Jrue Holiday playing so well.  Hitting only 3-17 of his 3PT thus far, the Pelicans desperately need a pure shooter like last season's Anthony Morrow to permanently fill Gordon's shoes.  With a 15.5M Player Option for next season, a trade will not come easy.

PLAYER TENDENCY EDITS
Devin Harris - Increased 3PT Tendency

Harris is playing more off-guard, similar to what he did in Atlanta, which is leading to more 3PT attempts.  Over 50% of his FGA are threes, and his season in ATL is the only other time that happened.

NBA 2K15 Roster Analysis 11/4/14

Wouldn't say this was a small update by 2K as they had a lot of Accessory changes.

PLAYER RATING / BADGE EDITS

Shawne Williams (Heat)

68 Overall (+1)

Standing Three (+2)

Moving Three (+2)

Shot IQ (+7)

Offensive Consistency (+5)

Season	G	MP	PER	TS%	ORB%	DRB%	AST%	STL%	BLK%	TOV%	USG%
2006-07	46	556	9.7	.533	6.7	10.6	6.7	0.6	1.1	12.4	15.5
2007-08	65	967	12.8	.522	6.0	14.0	9.8	1.3	2.0	12.2	21.3
2008-09	15	170	7.5	.345	13.0	18.1	1.7	0.6	3.9	7.6	17.8
2010-11	64	1323	12.2	.558	5.1	15.6	5.3	1.5	2.8	10.2	15.2
2011-12	25	514	4.9	.372	4.4	11.2	4.9	1.0	1.6	7.9	14.7
2013-14	36	751	9.5	.503	3.6	20.2	5.7	1.2	2.9	9.5	12.9
2014-15	3	89	15.5	.539	5.7	16.2	11.7	2.3	1.0	3.1	16.4

Williams is starting for the Heat (instead of Josh McRoberts) and his having his best season since Mike D'Antoni discovered he was a stretch-four.  Don't look now but the Heat are 3-0 playing team basketball.

Tony Parker (Spurs)

88 Overall (NC)

85 Standing Three (+4)

81 Moving Three (+1)

Season	G	MP	PER	TS%	ORB%	DRB%	AST%	STL%	BLK%	TOV%	USG%
2013-14 ★	68	1997	18.9	.555	1.0	7.5	31.7	0.9	0.3	12.9	26.5
2014-15	2	73	19.9	.641	1.7	5.8	25.4	0.0	0.0	13.2	24.9

Parker is 6-6 3PT through his first two games.  He hasn't hit more than 25 threes in a season in a decade.  Seems like he'll shatter that number by the end of the month if teams don't start respecting it.

Perry Jones (Thunder)

72 Overall (+2)

70 Free Throw (+3)

68 Lateral Quickness (+3)

72 Speed (+8)

70 Quickness (+7)

40 Offensive Consistency (+10)

Season	G	MP	PER	TS%	ORB%	DRB%	AST%	STL%	BLK%	TOV%	USG%
2012-13	38	280	7.8	.417	5.3	19.1	5.5	0.9	1.6	12.4	19.6
2013-14	62	764	10.1	.541	4.3	12.1	4.9	0.9	2.0	9.5	12.8
2014-15	4	147	13.7	.575	1.7	11.7	8.2	0.7	0.6	13.4	22.5

You can see in this video that Jones does a lot of his damage in the post, yet his Post Control sits at a meager 56 (three points below the average SF).  In fact there are a lot of Jones' ratings that are underrated at this point, and will need to be addressed rapidly.

All of his Standing shots
All of his Post ratings
All of his Defensive IQ ratings.
32 Passing Vision
40 Offensive Consistency

Touching on Speed again (Jones position used to be PF), it's absurd that Jones' athleticism was rated this poorly for two years.  Just further evidence that there isn't some magical speed gap between SFs and PFs.

Averaging 18.5 PPG over the first four games (23.7 on 53% shooting over the last three), Jones is obviously in the midst of his career year.  It's safe to say he'll have a big role even when OKC gets healthy.

Damian Lillard (Trail Blazers)

86 Overall (-1)

84 Shot IQ (-4)

85 Offensive Consistency (-5)

Season	G	MP	PER	TS%	ORB%	DRB%	AST%	STL%	BLK%	TOV%	USG%
2012-13	82	3167	16.4	.546	1.5	8.0	28.8	1.2	0.5	14.5	24.2
2013-14 ★	82	2937	18.6	.568	1.3	9.2	25.1	1.1	0.5	11.5	25.0
2014-15	3	103	11.6	.439	5.1	10.7	17.7	0.5	0.7	7.9	21.7

I've noticed that there are far more players going up in rating in each update than there are going down.  It seems like 2K is trying not to hurt anyone feelings.  When players do drop it seems like the only affected ratings are IQ and Consistency.  Hopefully that changes going forward.  If other players get bonuses in other areas, other players need those decreases as well or everyone will have the same ratings.

Garrett Temple (Wizards)

70 Overall (+2)

73 Driving Layup (+4)

66 Shot IQ (+10)

75 Ball Control (+2)

40 Offensive Consistency (+10)
50 Defensive Consistency (+5)

Season	MP	PER	TS%	ORB%	DRB%	AST%	STL%	BLK%	TOV%	USG%
2012-13	1156	8.8	.478	2.8	9.1	15.5	2.3	1.2	18.2	13.2
2013-14	638	7.8	.431	3.8	8.7	15.8	2.8	1.4	20.8	14.3
2014-15	102	12.9	.641	2.6	8.3	4.3	2.5	0.8	15.1	15.1

Temple has been shooting well for a change.

Otto Porter (Wizards)

69 Overall (+1)

65 Standing Three (+3)

80 Free Throw (+3)

Season	G	MP	PER	TS%	ORB%	DRB%	AST%	STL%	BLK%	TOV%	USG%
2013-14	37	319	6.0	.405	7.5	13.3	4.6	1.3	0.3	12.7	15.6
2014-15	3	78	20.9	.688	3.5	12.4	4.0	3.9	0.0	6.8	17.7

It would seem like Porter is poised to have a much better year as a sophomore! He's 2-5 3PT after going 4-21 last year.

TEAM RATING CHANGES

Changes are from the 10/29 roster (honestly forgot to check Team ratings in previous rosters)

EASTERN CONFERENCE
91 Cavaliers (NC)
86 Hornets (NC)
86 Raptors (NC)
86 Heat (+1)
84 Wizards (NC)
83 Bulls (-6) - Derrick Rose sidelined
83 Celtics (+1)
83 Hawks (NC)
80 Knicks (-1)
79 Nets (+2) - Brook Lopez return
78 Pistons (+1)
74 Bucks (NC)
72 Magic (-2)
70 Pacers (-NC)
65 Sixers (NC)

WESTERN CONFERENCE
91 Clippers (NC)
90 Spurs (NC)
86 Trail Blazers (-1)
84 Pelicans (NC)
84 Warriors (NC)
83 Rockets (-1)
83 Suns (+1)
82 Grizzlies (-1)
82 Mavericks (NC)
81 Lakers (NC)
80 Nuggets (-1)
80 Kings (NC)
80 Timberwolves (+1)
74 Thunder (-2)
72 Jazz (NC)