Comparing Their Defensive Production
Although Payton can get cast as a “good on-ball defender,” his numbers last year proved otherwise—especially against the pick-and-roll.
By season’s end, Payton was the league’s fifth worst defender in these actions, giving up 44 more points than the average player per Cranjis McBasketball. Overall, he conceded 50 more points than the average player throughout the season.
Rondo, by comparison, gave up 3.8 points less than the average defender on pick-and-roll actions. And overall, he conceded 20.8 points less to opponents throughout the season.
Clearly, Rondo is the much better option in pick-and-roll coverage and on defense in general.
Payton’s overly aggressive behavior does nab him some steals, as he averaged 1.3. But Rondo averaged almost the same amount at 1.1, with a lot less opportunity cost.
Of course, Payton will now be paired with Anthony Davis on the defensive end who ranked as the league’s fourth best help defender in the pick-and-roll. He gave up 55 points less than average.
But this may not be as big of a help as one may expect. After all, his center in Orlando, Nikola Vucevic was the 33rd best at helping in these actions (-15).
If the Pelicans hope to maintain or improve their 14th ranked defense from last season, Payton must become more conservative in his defensive coverage. He appears to have all the tools to do so—the accolade from college which propelled him to a lottery pick in 2014 only confirms this.
Defense is undoubtedly the more team-oriented side of the ball, so perhaps getting out of Phoenix’s 30th ranked defense from last year will already help bolster his numbers. But it still stands: Payton needs to begin playing better on the side of the ball that got him into the league.
Next Up: The Verdict
