Brandan Wright

Several seasons ago, we saw Mareese Speights have a top 10 PER amongst players. I think reserves being compared to starters by advanced sabre metrics leaves a lot of room for misintepretation. Wright was basically a practice player till recently and upon his contract expiring there wasn’t a bloodbath to sign him. He does a lot of nice things on the court, however his role allows him to exert all of his energy into select minutes. 

I think a better comparison would be how many teams Brandon Wright could be a starter for. Maybe 4? 

Several seasons ago, we saw Mareese Speights have a top 10 PER amongst players. I think reserves being compared to starters by advanced sabre metrics leaves a lot of room for misintepretation. Wright was basically a practice player till recently and upon his contract expiring there wasn’t a bloodbath to sign him. He does a lot of nice things on the court, however his role allows him to exert all of his energy into select minutes. 

I think a better comparison would be how many teams Brandon Wright could be a starter for. Maybe 4? 

The problem with per-minutes stats is that you cannot compare players whose minutes on the field are way too different. For example, player A has PER=18 in 35mpg, player B has PER=20 in 20mpg. "Player B is better than player A" is not a valid statement. What if player B is getting a lot of garbage time? What if player B doesn’t have the stamina to play 35mpg? All the little things matter. The only conclussion you can make with those stats is that Brandan Wright COULD BE good if given the minutes. But it’s not guaranteed.

The problem with per-minutes stats is that you cannot compare players whose minutes on the field are way too different. For example, player A has PER=18 in 35mpg, player B has PER=20 in 20mpg. "Player B is better than player A" is not a valid statement. What if player B is getting a lot of garbage time? What if player B doesn’t have the stamina to play 35mpg? All the little things matter. The only conclussion you can make with those stats is that Brandan Wright COULD BE good if given the minutes. But it’s not guaranteed.

 I’d guess it is somewhere inbetween.  I doubt he would average 17+8 in 36 minutes, but 13+8 with solid defense and good efficiency is attainable for him with starters minutes.  He would be a solid glue guy for another team that didn’t have a superstar ahead of him.  

 I’d guess it is somewhere inbetween.  I doubt he would average 17+8 in 36 minutes, but 13+8 with solid defense and good efficiency is attainable for him with starters minutes.  He would be a solid glue guy for another team that didn’t have a superstar ahead of him.  

 Well first I would like to say (this is is coming from a Mavs fan) that Brandon Wright is a great player who brings energy and knows his role. He’s 6’10 with long arms and springy.

As for your question Wright isn’t being drastically underutilized playing behind a great PF in Dirk because he doesn’t really play power forward that much. The ways Carlisle uses him is so great and effective for both Brandon Wright and the Mavs. Usually Wright is the Center with the second unit with 4 guys who can play on the perimeter, with Wright down low with a big guy on him. This allows him to use his quickness and bounce to go around slow big men, and Writht has a soft touch and is good at finishing. On the defensive end he uses his length to block shots and rebound pretty good. 

Wright is a great energy player off the bench as backup center being too quick for opposing big men, yet still lengthy and jumps high enough to protect the paint and rebound. Not sure if he is big enough to be a full time center, but I think the reasoning for his great per 36 minutes numbers are so good is because of the role he plays for the Mavs is perfect for him.

 Well first I would like to say (this is is coming from a Mavs fan) that Brandon Wright is a great player who brings energy and knows his role. He’s 6’10 with long arms and springy.

As for your question Wright isn’t being drastically underutilized playing behind a great PF in Dirk because he doesn’t really play power forward that much. The ways Carlisle uses him is so great and effective for both Brandon Wright and the Mavs. Usually Wright is the Center with the second unit with 4 guys who can play on the perimeter, with Wright down low with a big guy on him. This allows him to use his quickness and bounce to go around slow big men, and Writht has a soft touch and is good at finishing. On the defensive end he uses his length to block shots and rebound pretty good. 

Wright is a great energy player off the bench as backup center being too quick for opposing big men, yet still lengthy and jumps high enough to protect the paint and rebound. Not sure if he is big enough to be a full time center, but I think the reasoning for his great per 36 minutes numbers are so good is because of the role he plays for the Mavs is perfect for him.

Even after you adjust for the fact that Wright may be going against back-ups or getting PT in garbage time, his productivity is off the charts to the point where Dallas is doing themselves a serious disservice not playing him more.

Even after you adjust for the fact that Wright may be going against back-ups or getting PT in garbage time, his productivity is off the charts to the point where Dallas is doing themselves a serious disservice not playing him more.

Wright was considered a top prospect back in 2007 when he ended up going 8th in the draft. A lot of mocks had him inside the top 5 and he was in many cases considered the best long term prospect behind Oden and KD.

Whilst being a work in progress he was hit hugely by injuries playing under 120 games on his rookie deals and low minutes in those he played. He ended up via the Nets and was snapped up as a minimum free agent by Dallas in 2011. Whilst not setting Dallas on fire he became a good enough rotational player to earn a nice $10 million two year deal in 2013.

Whilst his minutes are still fairly limited given he plays behind Dirk and Tyson Chandler plus as Dodger says above, him being a high energy player, he is best used in short bursts.

Brandan Wright given his hype has perhaps had a disappointing NBA career to what we hoped it might be. He will likely never be a superstar but he has turned things around in Dallas and is now in his 8th season. He has only just turned 27 so could have several more years in the NBA as a good role playing big.

Wright was considered a top prospect back in 2007 when he ended up going 8th in the draft. A lot of mocks had him inside the top 5 and he was in many cases considered the best long term prospect behind Oden and KD.

Whilst being a work in progress he was hit hugely by injuries playing under 120 games on his rookie deals and low minutes in those he played. He ended up via the Nets and was snapped up as a minimum free agent by Dallas in 2011. Whilst not setting Dallas on fire he became a good enough rotational player to earn a nice $10 million two year deal in 2013.

Whilst his minutes are still fairly limited given he plays behind Dirk and Tyson Chandler plus as Dodger says above, him being a high energy player, he is best used in short bursts.

Brandan Wright given his hype has perhaps had a disappointing NBA career to what we hoped it might be. He will likely never be a superstar but he has turned things around in Dallas and is now in his 8th season. He has only just turned 27 so could have several more years in the NBA as a good role playing big.

 Brandon Wright is a Center in a PF’s body. He doesnt stretch the floor enough to play with a true Center and he isnt big enough to consistantly play Center. He is a supereffective situational tweener thats why his minutes are limited.

 Brandon Wright is a Center in a PF’s body. He doesnt stretch the floor enough to play with a true Center and he isnt big enough to consistantly play Center. He is a supereffective situational tweener thats why his minutes are limited.