Goran Dragic signed with the Nets, but the teams like the Lakers and Bucks who "missed out" should be lucky that they didn't get the veteran point guard
Dragic's numbers have dwindled the last couple of seasons, and even though he is a veteran with playoff experience, that doesn't mean we should overlook his regression over the past two seasons
Advanced statistics used in this article are from StatMuse.com, NBA.com, and ESPN.com
The Bucks, Lakers, Celtics, and other contenders all had their eyes out on Dragic after being bought out by the San Anotio Spurs following a trade from the Raptors. After speculation linked Dragic to the Lakers, he ended up surprising everyone by picking the Nets, who aren’t as big of championship contenders as they were before trading James Harden. Dragic seemed to think this was the best fit for him and his hopes of becoming an NBA champion, and even though I disagree, only time will tell.
Dragic is a veteran with playoff experience and has a solid repertoire of shooting and playmaking that could help any contending teams on the offensive end that don’t value defense. The Nets certainly don’t care about defense so this seems like a win-win situation for both the Nets and Dragic. However, Dragic is also not the same player he was even two seasons ago for the Miami Heat, where he thrived as the point guard of the Eastern Conference champions and helped lead the Heat to the Finals where they lost to the Lakers in 6 games.
That season (2019-2020) Dragic averaged 16.2 points, 3.2 rebounds, 5.1 assists with an eFG% of 52.6, a TS% of 57.3, and a 3PT% of 36.7. His advanced shooting metrics were fantastic that season and he followed that up with only a slightly regressed 2020-2021 campaign for the Heat averaging 13.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, 4.4 assists with an eFG% of 51.4, a TS% of 55.2, and a 3PT% of 37.4.
Although his 3PT shooting percentage increased, he was taking fewer 3’s per game and wasn’t as efficient from the field. His average career PER is 16.2 which isn’t great, but also not terrible. Last year with the Heat his PER was 13.07, the lowest PER he has had since 2011, which should be concerning for Nets fans.
His PER of 16.48 this season so far for the Raptors is misleading as he has only played in five games so far this season. Dragic averaged 18 minutes, 8 points, and 1.8 assists in those games. Dragic’s efficiency regressed even more so in the five games he has played this season with a miserable eFG% of 44.1, a TS% of 52.1 (which isn’t bad), and an atrocious 3PT% of 28.6. Dragic is also averaging 4 assists per 40 minutes and 17.6 points per 40 minutes, both some of the worst numbers of his career on a per 40-minute basis.
Granted, Dragic doesn’t have a big enough sample size this season to determine how much he has truly regressed, but what we do know is that he is a liability on defense and that his points, assists, and advanced shooting percentages are decreasing at an exponential rate each season he ages.
What I don’t understand is how a team like the Lakers, who need to desperately improve their defense and get younger, not older, wanted a guy like Dragic who is 35, doesn’t play defense, hasn’t shot the ball from beyond the arc over 40 percent since 2017 and hasn’t been an efficient shooter since the 2019-2020 season.
I also don’t understand why the Bucks, a team that thrives on its consistent offense and defense, wanted a guard who is a liability on defense since their starting point guard is the best on-ball defender in basketball (Jrue Holiday) and fuels the team. They have enough shooting with Portis, Nwora, Holiday, Middleton, Connaughton, and others, and Dragic wasn’t going to all of a sudden make their shooting or playmaking improve drastically by any means.
In conclusion, the Lakers, Celtics, and Bucks should all see this as a blessing in disguise, since Dragic isn’t the same player as he used to be and is more of a liability than an asset at this point in his career. Just because of his past accomplishments, front offices circled Dragic as the best player on the buyout market instead of actually looking into his advanced statistics where they would have found out that Dragic hasn’t been an impactful player in two years.
Is it nostalgia that drove front offices to overlook the statistics? Or pressure to make a splash to get the media members off of their neck for not doing enough to “contend”? Either way, Dragic isn’t an asset anymore and the advanced metrics prove that. He will have to turn back the clock and become more efficient on the offensive end to have any impact on the Nets competing for a championship this season.
Although this is the best fit for both sides as Dragic doesn’t play any defense and neither do the Nets, Dragic will likely have no impact on the Nets this season, and the teams who “missed out” on Dragic should be counting their lucky stars that they didn’t land him. Many media members will call this signing a slam dunk based on past performance and them not analyzing his statistics, but this is actually another dud of a signing for the Nets, just like the Blake Griffin one.