FanHouse previews a player to watch from each NBA team in advance of the 2009-10 season.You have to know it killed me to dub Andrew Bynum, a Laker, as the league's 24th best player in advance of the 2008-09 season. As a Kings fan, I should have aligned myself with all the "prove it for more than 30 games" chaps who tried to convince me Bynum, surrounded by stars, played over his head during the abbreviated 2007-08 campaign.
Bynum's muted (but still effective) 2008-09 season served as relief for my Royal Purple heart, but confusion for my rational, "this kid's a beast!" mind. Until, of course, I checked the end-of-season numbers, where -- according to John Hollinger's PER -- Bynum finished the year as the league's 24th best player. Hmph.
The reason we can discount Bynum's fourth season without seeing the numbers is because he doesn't put up gaudy numbers. On the season, he averaged 14.3 points, 8 rebounds and 1.8 blocks -- solid but not particularly special on the surface. But underneath it all, when you account for minutes and Bynum's role on the stacked Lakers, it's so impressive.
Bynum, who had a very efficient 59.3 percent True Shooting mark last season, used up more possessions than ever last year. This is the leap centers have trouble making -- from bit player/garbage man on offense, to featured player. Dwight Howard is the exception; Samuel Dalembert, Andris Biedrins, Darko Milicic ... even Chris Kaman are the rule. The Lakers had no real need for Bynum to expand his usage rate, with a line-up featuring Pau Gasol and Kobe Bryant. Bynum was not thrust into a featured role. But he took it, and he succeeded. That bodes well for his future, when he very well may need become the team's offensive star.
While Bynum's rebounding fell, this can be attributed at least in part to the full-time presence of Gasol last season (Bynum didn't play with Gasol in 2007-08) and the rotational swap of Trevor Ariza (an excellent rebounder) for Vladimir Radmanovic and Luke Walton (average rebounders) at small forward. Rebounding is all relative to the opportunities presented. The Lakers were a better rebounding team in 2008-09, which required less of Bynum on the boards.
The other physical aspect of Bynum's game that will keep the bandwagon from tipping over the next few seasons is Drew's health. Bynum missed 32 regular season games in 2008-09, and 47 games in 2007-08. Both injuries came on freak on-court accidents. But while those causes were oddball, knee damage don't lie. Bynum didn't come into the league with bad knees, but too many more bodies flying into them and he'll have bad knees, which are death to big men. On the mental side, some wonder whether Bynum will ever get the maturity he'll need to be a top-flight center. With Phil Jackson at the controls and Bryant in practice every day, I'm no counting that as a major concern, though the weird dismissal of mentor/legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gives pause.
But the play itself when Bynum's on the court? Hard to be discouraged by that.
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
The kid is an absolute monster. I just don't understand the Bynum hate out there, I guess it's because people love to hate the Lakers. Gotta respect his game.
If Bynum stays healthy, he'll be the best center in the Western Conference... That's a big if. He's kinda lanky and awkward which puts him at constant risk for injury. But his game is better every time he steps on the floor, and at the rate he's progressing he could really be dominant by the end of the year.