Just over one year ago I wrote about what do we make of Zach LaVine’s game, so far. At the time LaVine wasn’t the full-time starting shooting guard. For 2015–16 he had to sit behind Kevin Martin until the all-star break, so writing about how good LaVine was felt a bit premature.

The question was, can LaVine put together a full season of close to elite shooting and good scoring? The starting line-up that finished the 2015–16 started the 2016–17 NBA season under Tom Thibodeau. The productive line-up of Towns/Dieng/Wiggins/LaVine/Rubio would stay together until February 3rd, 2017. Unfortunately on that night against Detroit LaVine tore his ACL on a driving lay-up. At that point in the game LaVine had 20 points on 9 of 13 shooting with 4 assists.

Much of Zach LaVine before the ACL injury and now after the ACL injury are what he’s capable of potentially. With a potential extension looming, Thibodeau and the Timberwolves had decisions to make. They weren’t willing to wait to see if LaVine would recover (reportedly he’s jumping higher now then before injury) and/or if he’d be healthy to start the year. He’s not. The Bulls say LaVine won’t be cleared for contact workouts until mid-November. So during the 2017 NBA Draft the Timberwolves moved LaVine to Chicago for Jimmy Butler.

When LaVine entered the NBA he was fairly green athletic 2-guard, and it seemed like the Wolves were going to bring him along slowly. Five games into the 2014–15 NBA season Ricky Rubio went down with a injury and the next game LaVine was the Wolves new starting point guard. Goodbye to the slow approach and hello to direct on the job training where he went on to play in 77 games and start 40.

Let’s jump to 2016–17 NBA season, and for 47 games Zach LaVine has grown immensely from those green beginnings. If you’re a Wolves fan you remember those struggles during the rookie year, especially as a pick and roll ball handler. During 16–17, LaVine was in this play type 22.2% of the time according to synergy, and had a point per possession (PPP) of 0.85, an increase from 0.72 during 15–16.

LaVine was in the 67.5 percentile when in the pick and roll ball handler play type. Other NBA guards with similar PPP’s, Andrew Wiggins (0.83), Jamal Murray (.084), Dennis Schroder (0.84), Avery Brady (0.83), John Wall (0.86), and Russell Westbrook (0.89).

LaVine had a 40.7% field goal percentage and an effective FG% of 47%. Russell Westbrook, same FG%, one percent lower eFG%. John Wall, five percent higher FG%, one percent higher eFG%.

LaVine’s improvement here has been aided by his improved ability to finish at the rim. 2014–15 LaVine at the rim FG% was 55.5%, and now is at 60.2%. Not a monumental increase but five percent is five shots per 100 which is ten points.

LaVine shot 30.8% during the 15–16 sesaon from the left wing beyond the 3-point line. During 16–17 we witnessed LaVine make above league average from there at 37.1%. With the danger of LaVine’s drives off pick and roll, becoming a better off-the-dribble shooter makes him exponentially more dangerous like here against Washington.

Even this “long 2” shot VS Orlando is a analytical quote unquote bad shot, but LaVine shot 60.7% on 28 shots from this spot on the floor.

Here is a minute and twenty-one seconds of LaVine in this play type throughout the 2016–17 NBA season.

Two years in a row NBA GMs have voted LaVine top 3 most athletic player in the NBA. The top player, Russell Westbrook, and the number two, LeBron James. The play type that uses his athleticism the most is transition.

LaVine’s athleticism is something to marvel at. He’s six foot five inches, five inches shorter than Blake Griffin, but has three more inches in max reach. His jump force per pound is greater than LeBron. Sport Science also determined that on this dunk LaVine could’ve cleared a car from back to front on the fly.

LaVine’s frequency for transition is 20% and his PPP was 1.26, slightly better than 2015–16 (1.22). LaVine shot 63.9% from the field with a eFG% of 66.2%. He rated into the 79.3 percentile of all the NBA in transition situations.

LaVine rates favorably with other NBA wings for PPP. DeRozan is exactly at 1.26, Giannis is slightly better at 1.28, and Klay Thompson is at 1.21. LaVine’s score frequency is 61.2% while Thompson for example is 46.1% (Thompson shoots and makes a lot more 3's).

LaVine average 4.6 points per game in transition situations, which was 0.1 PPG less than Thompson. He was better than Otto Porter (3.0), Andrew Wiggins (3.4), and Kawhi Leonard (3.8) on per game basis.

LaVine made 85 shots in transition, here are three videos that display a large majority of them (video’s total about five minutes).

LaVine generates a lot of his offense from the hand off playtype. 18.5% to be exact, and he’s in the 75.8 percentile of the league with 1.03 PPP. He shot 47% with an eFG% of 56.3 on 134 shots.

Players LaVine is similar to in PPP are Paul George (1.04), Kawhi Leonard (1.05), Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (1.04), Jamal Murray (1.01), and JJ Redick (1). LaVine took more shots than KCP, and shot a better percentage than Redick. LaVine was similar to Paul George in percentages but for example was a lot better than Nicolas Batum (37.2%).

Here’s one minute and forty seconds of LaVine in hand off situations.

In this example here, LaVine is starting far away from the ball. The Wolves utilize their BIGs abilities along the perimeter and LaVine’s ability to run.

In this example this the Wolves use of LaVine’s ability with the ball to initiate the offense. LaVine’s speed and ability to finish at the rim really makes this clip shine.

LaVine has shot over 40% from 3-point on catch and shoots since entering the league. Utilization of LaVine in spot-up situations has been a constant for the past 2 seasons (NBA.com playtype stats don’t display for 2014–15 and I don’t have synergy).

During 2015–16 LaVine used spot-ups 14.1% with a PPP of 1.15 placing him in the 90.2 percentile. 2016–17 was very similar, 16.9% frequency, 1.15 PPP, and 86.7 percentile. But, in 2016–17 LaVine shot a little worse, 42.9% FG compared to 49.6%, and his eFG% dropped to 59.8% from 64.9%. His per game averages were up, 1.2 makes (0.9), and 2.8 attempts (1.7).

Players with similar PPP’s to LaVine, Klay Thompson (1.17), Russell Westbrook (1.16), Avery Bradley (1.15), Kyrie Irving (1.15), Paul George (1.14), Hayward (1.14), and Dion Waiters (1.12). LaVine isn’t just similar to them in PPP, they all have similar FG% and eFG%, and most of them utilize the spot-up with the same amount of frequency.

Here’s a quick minute of LaVine knocking down spot-ups.

This spot-up was a Minnesota staple of 2016–17, with LaVine and without (Rubio would hit Brandon Rush wide open in the corner every night it seemed). LaVine is perfectly stationed for the corner 3, a spot he knocked down 44.7% from in 16–17 (other corner 42.3%). The Wolves seem to be setting up a Karl-Anthony Towns post-up and to his credit, he gets excellent position on Cousins. Ty Lawson helps a bit too much to stop the entry pass, and Rubio slings it across to the open LaVine.

Playing along side Ricky Rubio doesn’t allow for a lot of isolation situations for LaVine, but during 2016–17, LaVine did take a little dip under Thibodeau in ISO situations. In 15–16 while not playing with Rubio as much, his PPP was 0.92 and he placed in the 72.9 percentile of all the NBA.

ISO was LaVine’s lowest PPP in 2016–17, 0.83, and he shot a lowly percentage from the field, 35.5% FG, and his eFG% was just 39.5%. LaVine was in the exact middle of the league at 50.2 percentile, and he scored 38.5% of the time.

Even though LaVine has some less than stellar ISO stats, he does rate similar to 2 current all-star’s, John Wall and Gordon Hayward. Wall shot 39.6% on 260 shots in ISO situations with an eFG% of 40%. He also scored 41.3% of the time with a frequency of 16%. Hayward, probably a better comparison for LaVine, 38% FG on 92 shots, and 39.7% eFG.

Other comparable players, Victor Oladipo (0.87), Waiters (0.85), Eric Bledsoe (0.85), and the player LaVine was dealt for, Jimmy Butler (0.87).

If LaVine wants to improve here, Klay Thompson might be the player to look at. Thompson utilized ISO’s half as much as LaVine (4.2 to 9.2) but shot 52.7% from the field with a 1.10 PPP which placed him in the 94.6 percentile. If that’s not achievable, maybe getting to Courtney Lee’s level, 1.05 PP with a frequency of 7.6%.

Here’s a minute of LaVine in ISO situations.

On one-dribble FG’s, LaVine shot 60.2%, and when that defender is 2–4 feet from LaVine, he shot 54.7% on 2-point shots. His speed and athleticism is key to his one dribble pull-up, and getting a defender like Shumpert on his heels enables this hit.

And like this one too.

And when LaVine is guarded by slower footed guard/wing, this is where he needs to get to the rim like this clip.

While LaVine is still finding his way via ISO’s, he’s pretty good in 2 other areas, off screen, and cuts. One, off screens, he’s used a bit more, 7.8% frequency, and the other, almost not at all, 1.4%, or just 11 shots.

Off screen Zach has respectable numbers, 1 PPP, 67.5 percentile and an eFG% of 50.8%. That 1 PPP is the same as Rodney Hood and Paul George. That 1 PPP is slightly better than heavily used off screen Bradley Beal (0.98), and Allen Crabbe (0.96).

LaVine was better in 2016–17 off screen than he was in 15–16 where is PPP was 0.87, and his eFG% was just 45.4%.

The Wolves used one specific play a lot of LaVine seen here. It’s an elevator screen, a play a lot of NBA teams now use (Warriors specifically). The play worked for the Wolves early in 2016–17 season, but eventually faded once teams scouted it.

Another way the Wolves used LaVine off screen was floppy action like here. With LaVine’s ability to knockdown spot-ups you’d think the Wolves would have gotten more creative with him off screens.

Apart of LaVine’s game that could use an uptick in frequency is cuts. Although he saw an improvement in PPP, FG%, and percentile from 15–16 to 16–17, LaVine had a frequency of only 1.4%. He was in the 81.7 percentile with a PPP of 1.42 and a FG% of 63.6%.

It’s not uncommon for guards/wings to not be used cutting, Paul George (2.3%), Eric Gordon (1.7%), Allen Crabbe (5.1%), CJ Miles (2%), and Courtney Lee (2.8%) for example, very little. But, a player like Avery Bradley gets used 9% of the time on cuts, and Gordon Hayward as well.

Here’s a video of LaVine scoring off screen’s and cuts.

Passing

His growth into a significant secondary ball handler might have shined through during 2016–17. Every year in the NBA Zach LaVine has averaged at least three assists per game. His rookie year even he averaged 3.4 APG, but that year he wasn’t a very polished pick and roll passer, or offensive generator.

2016–17 we witnessed the LaVine/Dieng 2-man game really make strides, just unfortunately we won’t get to see if it was to blossom anymore. The fluid back and fourth between the two really was a nice wrinkle in the Wolves offense.

Dunks

Every dunk from 2016–17

Dunk Contest

Dunking

Soon