Considering this is one of the worst teams in the league, we have many holes to fill. Evans happens to be one of our most talented and versatile players who is capable of playing multiple positions. This is the reason why he has been shifted around so much. It's as simple as that. It's not that we don't know what to do with him. In the beginning of the season, we were under the impression that we had 2 solid SFs (Salmons and Outlaw). Unfortunately, these two players had argubably their worst seasons last year. Well lets possibly try Garcia at SF. To our dismay, he shot horribly last year from three and that is one of his few contributions to the team. So that leaves who? Evans. He is the only one left who is capable of filling the SF position adequately. It's confusing to me how you don't seem to comprehend that.
I don't think Evans is in the top 25 as of now, and I'm not sure why the top 25 is such a significant measurement of talent. He is 22. Keep that in mind. How many 22 year olds crack the top 25? Not many. If Evans gets a jumpshot, like Rose or Westbrook did, I see no reason why he can't be included in that list. Once his defenders have to respect his jumpshot, it will make it even easier for him to get by his man (as if it wasn't easy enough for him already). Now getting by his man more easily and hitting his open jumpshot is great, but it is not the entire story. We need to have good shooters around him to punish help defenders. If one of the main reasons for Evans dissapointing seasons was the opposing team stacking the paint, that blame doesn't all fall on Evans. His teammates need to make shots and make their competitors respect them as shooters, and if we don't have the right type of players around him that can't make shots, then Evans will be the one to suffer. By no means does that mean they can stop him, but teams would be able to contain him and our offense to a degree.
Evans is a SG who can play PG. I don't see why playing him in his natural position means we are "handicapping ourselves" or "wasting his talents." There are plenty of ball dominant SGs and non-ball dominant PGs. Again it is true that he doesn't have a jumpshot, but that is the major thing he is working on in the offseason. From what I have read, it sounds like he is taking it seriously and putting in the effort that it will take. So if he is able to develop some sort of jumpshot that automatically helps him as an off the ball player because it increases his chances at hitting a spot up jumper or a jumper off a screen. In addition, the one positive thing Evans gained from his experience by playing SF was learning how to play off the ball. Towards the end of the season, I liked the improvement I saw out of Evans in that department. He made numerous cuts through the paint or backdoor. If he does add that jumpshot, then you might see some off the ball screens set for him to get him a nice little mid range shot. He obviously was out of his element, but he seemed to improve as the experiment went on. By no means do I want him to continue to play SF, but it was just something I noticed.
You also question his basketball IQ and court awareness in terms of him playing PG. If we were to have him play PG, I think it would be best if we had another player who was a good playmaker such as Iguodala (I would say Williams, but he isn't a good 3pt shooter) next to him. I agree we can't rely on him entirely to run and facilitate our offense, but he is more than capable of sharing that duty with another player. Compared to many of the SGs in the league, his court vision and awareness are certainly above average (much better than Thornton).
I don't see how you can call his rookie campaign "fools gold." The next season, when he was plagued with injuries and teams had an entire season to figure him out, his stats were not too far off from his rookie season (-2.3 pts, -.5 reb, -.2 ast, 0 stl). He was essentially 18-5-5 his injured season. I know stats don't tell the entire story, but it shows there wasn't a significant dropoff. Then last season he began tweaking his shot. He didn't spend too much time on it, but he began the process. Then this year he returned to his 18-5-5 self and then was shifted to SF where his production dropped. Having to change coaches in the middle of the season is one thing. Having to learn a new position in the middle of the season is another. He was not set up for success by his organization.
It's obvious why his production dropped this season, and probalby explains why he is not in your "top 25" this season. Now Evans is fully focused on improving his jumpshot the entire offseason to help push him into that "unguardable" status and you say he is expendable? It just doesn't make sense.
