(January 6th) Very little has changed on Jordan Gainey’s profile over the last few weeks. He’s still seeing good returns on the jump shot, is still showing out as an elite defender, and is still providing a little bit of extra value as a playmaker and finisher. The primary changes since the last profile are an increase in blocked shots (81st percentile to 98th) and a decrease in assist rate (67th percentile to 54th). These fluctuations are fairly typical early on in the season, as the sample is still fairly small so averages can move very fast. As things are, Gainey is a vital part of the best team in the country, and so teams are unlikely to overreact to small differences like those.
(December 12th) For the better part of years now, we’ve said here that all that needs to happen for Jordan Gainey to be right back in prospect territory is for his three-point shot to start going in again. His defense was too good, and the additional playmaking has always been a nice bonus.
Well, Gainey is still an excellent defender, ranking in the 96th percentile in DBPM due to an 81st percentile block rate and an 85th percentile steal rate, two numbers that both understate how smart he is rotationally. He has also continued to be an effective secondary playmaker, posting a clearly above average 67th percentile assist rate. But more important than all of that, the shots seems to have returned at a high level. Gainey is currently in the 77th percentile in three-point percentage, something that’s a definite relief to see after the struggles of last year.
Gainey has also benefited significantly from the ways he learned to be effective when the jumper wasn’t falling. Both his two-point percentage (95th percentile) and FTr (90th percentile) are significantly up, showing that there is a clear offensive plan outside of the jump shot.