I posted this is another (dying) forum, I just want more opinion's, so here goes:

So I got bored, and decided to see how Bargs truly stacks up with the rest of the league in terms of scoring. So I hit up Basketball Reference and sorted out all current players this season that have played more 900 minutes or more, and have a USG% of 24.5 or higher.

And we get this (right-click->View Image):


39 players, from 25 different teams. Somebody's definitely has to carry the offensive load, and our guy is Bargnani.

Bargnani's on the low end of efficiency (26 out of 39 players), and on the high end in usage. He's 12th in usage rate this year, and is still trending upwards a bit. Now that's really odd, with DD turning the corner. But maybe DD is just taking touches away from Kleiza, rather than Bargs.

Defensively (Drtg), Bargs is the 3rd worst player on the list. Beasley (who's far younger and thereby has a good chance of improving drastically), Jamison, and Mo Williams, are the only players ranked worse...And they play for the Cavs...

The average age of the players on this list is 26.48.

The closest players from this list would have to be Beasley and Ellis. Ellis is just about as bad as Bargnani on defense, but the Warriors are full of weak defenders, probably worsening things for him. But he actually scores efficiently though. Beasley looks like a Bargnani clone, but because he play SF rather than center, he doesn't hurt the defense as much I would assume. And Beasley's younger, and young players aren't really efficient until they get older.

Bargs is approaching middle-age in basketball years. His offensive rating isn't that bad though, especially considering that he's been forced to take far more possessions then normally takes, compared to the rest of the year. It's currently at 105, reaching a respectable 108 isn't that far off, when he has a lot of room for improvement.

Bargs is 18th for his total rebound rate, but the list is mostly composed of guards. When you filter down to just forwards, he's 14th...out of 18. The players ranking lower than him a Beasley, Durant, Granger, and S-Jax.

So what I got from this is that Bargs is on the cusp of becoming an elite scorer, if he works hard. He's defense and rebounding are still terrible though. It only confirms the thoughts flying around that we should move him, or re-imagine his role, barring huge improvement.