The delay in the Red Shirt Theory wrap up is almost done! Today we tackle the most expendible player for each team in the Atlantic Division.
Philadelphia 76ers
Brandon Davies
The Sixers were terrible last year. Their openfaced attempt at tanking for the draft was so egregious that the NBA is now going to change the rules in regards to the draft. The 76ers were also a young team who should have gotten some decent rotation off of their young core. Brandon Davies was a rookie last year, but was more in the dumps. A 7.5 PER in 51 games was the lowest PER for anyone with over 50 game appearances. He only attempted 2.5 field goals per game. And for a 6-10, 240 pound power forward, he only got 2 rebounds a game. It’s hard to blame Davies entirely since the whole organization was out front begging for change, but somebody has to be an Ensign.
Boston Celtics
Phil Pressey
The Celtics were another young-ish team and with Rajon Rondo having limited games due to injury, Pressey was pushed into a very rought guard corps. In 75 games, he had an 8.8 PER, averaging 2.8 ppg, 3.2 assists and a turnover percentage of 24.02% gets Pressey the red shirt. The Celtics also saw him as expendible, even after that one year, they drafted Marcus Smart, leaving Pressey to probably waste away on an ice planet, probably.
New York Knicks
Iman Shumpert
The third-year guard was really supposed to start to stand out, but in 74 games his PER was 9.6, a turnover percentage of 13.3% and an Offensive Win Share of 0.4. Shumpert was caught on a bad team with a bunch of ball hogs, so it’s been hard to tell his ceiling, but after a while he may be tagged with underperforming for too long. It will be interesting to see how he thrives in the Triangle, but for now, it’s not looking good.
Brooklyn Nets
Alan Anderson
In 78 games, his most in his NBA Career, Anderson knocked a 9.5 PER, a 10.4% turnover rate, a 1.7 winshare but 7.2 points a game. Anderson is a journeyman in the NBA, having knocked around overseas, the D League and in some garbage time in the league. The Nets had issues off the bench and Anderson contributed to it, the points aren’t bad considering how poorly the second unit was at scoring, but he wasn’t carrying much else for the program with 2.2 rebounds and 1 assist a game.
Toronto Raptors
John Salmons
An eternal trade piece, Salmons was racking up a 7.6 PER with a 1.4 Win Share and an 11.2 turnover rate. The 5 points a game matched with a 1.7 assists and 2 rebounds to make a miniscule per game line for someone in there 21.4 minutes a game. The Raptors were also pretty deep on their bench, but it was easy to see why he was traded at the end of the season for Lou Williams and Lucas Nogueira.
Elevator Doors 