What Does This Team Need Most?

[Insomniacal Fan]

Let's try out the new tables function by putting Domas up against these 5 guys in some advanced stats over the last four years (since he's been in Sac) vs. these guys' last four years and see where he stands:

Player	PER	WS	WS/48	BPM	VORP	TS%	TRB%	AST%
Sabonis	23.1	36.6	.204	5.7	16.6	.649	21.3	30.2
Don. Mitchell	21.9	30.1	.163	5.0	15.7	.589	7.4	25.2
Haliburton	22.5	30.2	.193	6.1	15.4	.616	6.3	42.9
Banchero (3y)	17.1	11.1	.079	0.8	4.9	.542	11.8	22.6
A. Davis	26.0	32.0	.199	5.2	14.1	.607	18.8	15.3
T. Young	21.5	27.0	.131	2.9	12.2	.582	4.9	45.2

So it turns out you're right! Sabonis is not even on the same tier as any of those players!

The criticism of Sabonis is that he isn't helpful at the highest level of competition. So instead of ignoring that criticism, let's probe playoff stats over the same period
Playoff advanced stats 2022-2025

| Player            |   PER |   WS |   TS% |   WS/48 |   BPM |   VORP |   TRB% |   AST% |
|:------------------|------:|-----:|------:|--------:|------:|-------:|-------:|-------:|
| Domantas Sabonis  |  15.9 |  0.3 | 0.517 |   0.064 |   0.7 |    0.2 |   16.2 |   20.8 |
| Anthony Davis     |  24.7 |  3.6 | 0.616 |   0.212 |   6.1 |    1.7 |   19.9 |   12.1 |
| Paolo Banchero    |  19.4 |  0.8 | 0.537 |   0.079 |   5   |    0.8 |   12.6 |   22.6 |
| Tyrese Haliburton |  22   |  2.9 | 0.609 |   0.182 |   6   |    1.5 |    8.7 |   36   |
| Donovan Mitchell  |  21.2 |  2.5 | 0.555 |   0.118 |   5.6 |    2   |    7.3 |   27.8 |
| Trae Young        |  14   | -0.2 | 0.501 |  -0.026 |  -1.6 |    0   |    6.5 |   34.4 |

---

Pretty clear separation there, but let's consider the difference between playoff performance and regular season performance to really highlight the issue.
Playoff - regular season advanced stats 2022-2025

| Player            |   PER |    WS |    TS% |   WS/48 |   BPM |   VORP |   TRB% |   AST% |
|:------------------|------:|------:|-------:|--------:|------:|-------:|-------:|-------:|
| Domantas Sabonis  |  -7   | -42   | -0.132 |  -0.135 |  -4.8 |  -19.1 |   -4.8 |   -8.1 |
| Anthony Davis     |  -1.3 | -28.4 |  0.009 |   0.013 |   0.9 |  -12.4 |    1.1 |   -3.2 |
| Paolo Banchero    |   2.3 | -10.3 | -0.005 |   0     |   4.2 |   -4.1 |    0.8 |    0   |
| Tyrese Haliburton |   0.5 | -31.2 | -0.001 |   0.005 |   0.6 |  -15.9 |    2.4 |   -4.7 |
| Donovan Mitchell  |  -0.7 | -27.6 | -0.034 |  -0.045 |   0.6 |  -13.7 |   -0.1 |    2.6 |
| Trae Young        |  -7.5 | -27.2 | -0.081 |  -0.157 |  -4.5 |  -12.2 |    1.6 |  -10.8 |

You could make a case that Trae is worse, but clearly there are different levels here. This is the quantified version of the argument. Taking 13 points off his TS% is

 

[SLAB]

To be fair, Trae Young sure as hell isn’t a star either. He’s a scorer. Same as De’Aaron Fox. Not a star.

 

[Joshyjosh31]

View attachment 13508

Huh, weird. B-Ball ref must be broken since Domas is better in every single category

lol Sabonis is 28 Sengun is 22 and already cleared Sabonis in playoff performance and was the all star over him. Shades of fox being better than Mitchell and Brunson

Interesting. When did you ask them? Were they taking into account current contract status or was it more of a generic "who'd you rather have to build a team around?" question?

Didn’t need to ask the all star balloting said it themselves coaches picked Sengun I’ll ask next time the criteria

 

[TheMobb]

To be fair, Trae Young sure as hell isn’t a star either. He’s a scorer. Same as De’Aaron Fox. Not a star.

So is a star just the top 10 or 15 guys in the league? Because that’s what it sounds like some definition of a star is. No Sabonis isn’t on the level of the elite guys in the league, but he’s in the tier below with guys like Young, Fox, Haliburton, Siakam, etc.

 

[Joshyjosh31]

Probably asked them the same time he was getting proof that Dallas gave the Lakers Luka as part of a conspiracy.

Let me guess tim donaghy was a lone wolf

 

[dude12]

I think most people are tired of seeing regular season Domas disappear in the play in and playoff games….the games that matter most in a season.

 

[MizzouKing]

What PGs might be out there? Besides Ja and Trae.

Josh Giddey seems like a great potential fit...

 

[Joshyjosh31]

I think most people are tired of seeing regular season Domas disappear in the play in and playoff games….the games that matter most in a season.

Apparently not

 

[QWERTYLICIOUS]

Probably asked them the same time he was getting proof that Dallas gave the Lakers Luka as part of a conspiracy.

I'm still waiting for the proof, by the way...Just in case anyone was wondering...

 

[Capt. Factorial]

The criticism of Sabonis is that he isn't helpful at the highest level of competition. So instead of ignoring that criticism, let's probe playoff stats over the same period

But over that period Domas has played in 7 total playoff games with a broken wrist and while having been chest-stomped.

I'll take four years of data over a small sample size when he was hurt. I tend to take "doesn't show up in the playoffs" criticisms with a big grain of salt. Small sample size, defenses are playing harder so everybody's numbers go down.

 

[Angelo127]

I think people just want to see Sabonis perform better in the playoffs?

 

[Joshyjosh31]

But over that period Domas has played in 7 total playoff games with a broken wrist and while having been chest-stomped.

I'll take four years of data over a small sample size when he was hurt. I tend to take "doesn't show up in the playoffs" criticisms with a big grain of salt. Small sample size, defenses are playing harder so everybody's numbers go down.

Sabonis playoff stats in Indiana filtering out three games he didn’t play over 24 minutes

10.8 ppg- 5.7rpg- 2apg

STAR PLAYER!!

 

[TheMobb]

Sabonis playoff stats in Indiana filtering out three games he didn’t play over 24 minutes

10.8 ppg- 5.7rpg- 2apg

STAR PLAYER!!

Are stats from 6-7 years ago even relevant today? Sabonis was a 21-22 year old in Indiana.

 

[SLAB]

Are stats from 6-7 years ago even relevant today? Sabonis was a 21-22 year old in Indiana.

I mean, Sengun (22) is getting compared to current Sabonis in this thread (both for better and worse arguments), so I think going backwards to Sabonis at that age is at least somewhat kind of relevant.

 

[Joshyjosh31]

Are stats from 6-7 years ago even relevant today? Sabonis was a 21-22 year old in Indiana.

We brought up Sabonis recent playoff stats and the poster I responded to said he was hurt as an excuse now we bring his Indian stats and it’s another excuse. Meanwhile anothee poster said he’s a lot better than Sengun who doubles those Indiana stats at the same age while outperforming recent playoff stats as well vs the same team, hilarious!

 

[Tetsujin]

Are stats from 6-7 years ago even relevant today? Sabonis was a 21-22 year old in Indiana.

He wasn’t even a starter at that point in his career either lol
The thing about Domas is that he is a late bloomer who got drafted after being a role/hustle dirty work big for Gonzaga, played that role for OKC in his rookie year as a backup to Steven Adams, got traded to Indiana in the Paul George deal where he was Myles Turner’s backup until he randomly got so good that Indiana had no choice but to start him. But that all happened after his age 21 season