Divergent Skills leaders

Dunks + 3’s + Steals + Blocks – Fouls = Divergent Skills. These players are versatile.

The “Divergent Skills Gauge” was created by USA Today several years ago. It was mentioned in the book 7 Seconds or Less, but a google search shows that it was last referenced way back in 2005.

At first, I was tempted to call them the most versatile stars in the NBA. To qualify, a player must have made at least 10 dunks (to eliminate bombers like Peja) AND at least 10 threes (to eliminate beasts like D-Howard).

And sure enough, everyone listed below has a diverse range of basketball skills. Most are between 6-5 and 6-9 and can play multiple positions on the floor, a valuable asset indeed. But there’s one problem: no KG. So I’m not going to say that they’re the most versatile, but I still believe that this is a useful gauge.

I’ll start from a fantasy hoops perspective. Only a handful of guys average 1+ steal, 1+ block, and 1+ three per game. I view them as valuable “fantasy gold,” because most players struggle to average even half of that. After displaying the players who made that cut, I will add slam dunks into the mix. In fact, you could call this a follow-up to my last featured article. Lastly, I will factor in personal fouls, to see which players’ skills are the “most divergent.” As an added bonus, we get to see why the Knicks suck so bad!

75+ each of: Steals, Blocks & Threes (4)

NAME	GAMES PLAYED	STEALS	BLOCKS	THREES	TOTAL
Danny Granger	80	95	84	171	350
Rasheed Wallace	77	91	129	112	332
LeBron James	75	138	81	113	332
Rudy Gay	81	111	79	134	324

These are the only guys you could count on to give you a steal, a block, and a three nearly every single game in ‘07-08. ‘Sheed’s presence is no surprise: he racked up 75+ in those 3 cats for the 3rd year in a row (4th time overall). LeBron made this club for the 1st time by setting a career-high in blocks and Gay nearly tripled his triples this past season after making just 52 as a rookie. But Danny Granger is the key name on this list. After averaging just 2.9 total steals, blocks & threes in ‘06-07, that number shot up to 4.4 in ‘07-08. Of course, my 82games readers will remember me mentioning him in my 1+ Block & 77% FT club article.

40+ each of: Steals, Blocks & Threes (14)

NAME	GAMES PLAYED	STEALS	BLOCKS	THREES	TOTAL
Jason Richardson	82	116	57	243	416
Baron Davis	82	191	43	173	407
Kobe Bryant	82	151	40	150	341
Andre Iguodala	82	171	49	101	321
Shawn Marion	63	125	85	66	276
Gerald Wallace	62	131	58	71	260
Andrei Kirilenko	72	86	109	44	239
Jamario Moon	78	80	108	40	228
Kevin Durant	80	77	75	59	211
Dirk Nowitzki	77	51	71	79	201
Mickael Pietrus	66	66	43	66	175
Travis Outlaw	82	59	63	40	162
Eduardo Najera	78	69	40	53	162
Al Thornton	79	46	43	43	132

Marion actually averaged a steal, block & three per game this past season, but he missed 19 games, which hurt his value. G-Wallace made a three per game for the 1st time in his career, but his blocks slipped and he still has never played in more than 72 games. Moon, Durant & Thornton had solid rookie seasons and have nice fantasy potential. I’m also a big fan of Pietrus & Outlaw’s blend of shooting, length & athleticism. Najera is rock solid. ‘Melo (39 blocks) & Artest (38) just barely missed this list.

Now let’s add those Dunk Stats…

10+ each of: Steals, Blocks, Threes & Dunks (88)

NAME	GAMES PLAYED	STEALS	BLOCKS	THREES	DUNKS	TOTAL
Josh Smith	81	123	227	25	106	481
Jason Richardson	82	116	57	243	59	475
Andre Iguodala	82	171	49	101	137	458
LeBron James	75	138	81	113	109	441
Rudy Gay	81	111	79	134	114	438
Baron Davis	82	191	43	173	16	423
Kobe Bryant	82	151	40	150	80	421
Shawn Marion	63	125	85	66	130	406
Rashard Lewis	81	99	38	226	27	390
Danny Granger	80	95	84	171	28	378
Rasheed Wallace	77	91	129	112	27	359
Gerald Wallace	62	131	58	71	70	330
Stephen Jackson	73	92	29	182	17	320
Carmelo Anthony	77	98	39	58	123	318
Manu Ginobili	74	109	33	156	14	312
Jamario Moon	78	80	108	40	74	302
Kevin Durant	80	77	75	59	87	298
Andrei Kirilenko	72	86	109	44	57	296
Paul Pierce	80	101	36	143	16	296
Vince Carter	76	93	33	98	71	295
Mike Dunleavy	82	86	31	165	11	293
Hedo Turkoglu	82	74	25	166	24	289
Ron Artest	57	133	38	84	29	284
Joe Johnson	82	84	18	169	12	283
Al Harrington	81	74	16	153	40	283
Ronnie Brewer	76	129	19	11	119	278
Caron Butler	58	128	20	66	61	275
Antawn Jamison	79	106	34	120	10	270
J.R. Smith	74	62	12	157	36	267
Richard Jefferson	82	76	21	77	90	264
Jason Terry	82	88	18	136	13	255
Ricky Davis	82	87	14	135	19	255
Anthony Parker	82	79	17	133	23	252
Rashad McCants	75	66	18	142	23	249
Lamar Odom	77	75	72	31	66	244
Chris Bosh	67	63	67	10	92	232
Monta Ellis	81	124	27	12	67	230
Tracy McGrady	66	68	30	86	43	227
Mike Miller	70	35	16	155	15	221
Dirk Nowitzki	77	51	71	79	19	220
Mehmet Okur	72	55	29	114	22	220
Martell Webster	75	42	28	123	26	219
Linas Kleiza	79	44	19	94	61	218
Mickael Pietrus	66	66	43	66	40	215
Carlos Delfino	82	69	11	120	14	214
Josh Childress	76	71	43	22	77	213
Troy Murphy	75	49	32	94	37	212
Deron Williams	82	90	23	83	15	211
Maurice Evans	75	46	10	81	73	210
James Posey	74	72	19	106	12	209
Travis Outlaw	82	59	63	40	43	205
Andres Nocioni	82	25	43	126	10	204
Larry Hughes	68	99	17	67	16	199
Cuttino Mobley	77	78	34	67	17	196
Brad Miller	72	69	74	28	22	193
Brandon Roy	74	79	16	73	19	187
Bostjan Nachbar	75	44	21	94	27	186
Dwyane Wade	51	87	37	22	39	185
Andrea Bargnani	78	23	37	90	33	183
John Salmons	81	93	31	39	20	183
Tayshaun Prince	82	42	33	53	54	182
Josh Howard	76	59	32	67	24	182
Eduardo Najera	78	69	40	53	17	179
Tim Thomas	63	40	29	83	25	177
Lou Williams	80	81	13	55	27	176
Grant Hill	70	65	56	33	19	173
Vladimir Radmanovic	65	46	12	95	20	173
Kelenna Azubuike	81	45	34	71	20	170
Al Thornton	79	46	43	43	35	167
Jeff Green	80	46	49	21	50	166
Charlie Villanueva	76	30	35	55	46	166
Bonzi Wells	73	75	32	12	46	165
Matt Barnes	73	48	36	53	20	157
Damien Wilkins	76	62	19	50	21	152
Ryan Gomes	82	65	10	59	16	150
Willie Green	74	54	22	51	21	148
Hakim Warrick	75	36	29	13	60	138
Thabo Sefolosha	69	61	30	29	17	137
Marquis Daniels	74	79	18	27	12	136
Boris Diaw	82	61	39	13	11	124
Mark Blount	69	33	34	17	37	121
Rodney Carney	70	39	23	38	21	121
Jerry Stackhouse	58	28	10	60	21	119
Luke Walton	74	60	18	28	12	118
Tony Allen	75	62	21	18	16	117
Shawne Williams	65	26	26	43	10	105
Antoine Wright	56	28	21	32	12	93
Julian Wright	57	29	12	10	32	83

To qualify for the Divergent Skills gauge, a player must be in double digits in threes & dunks (98 qualified), but I believe that should apply to steals & blocks as well. As a result, guys like Kevin Martin (5 blocks) & Corey Maggette (7) got eliminated. There are some serious uber-athletes at the top of this list! (Keep scrolling for per game leaders).

Check out Moon besting Vince Carter (Toronto fans have gotta love that) and Butler besting Jamison in 21 fewer games. J.R. Smith ranks 29th on this list despite playing just 1,421 minutes (207th overall). Guys like Deron Williams (48th) and Brandon Roy (56th) don’t rank very high, but they simply get the job done. Julian Wright’s got game, because 297 guys played more minutes than him this past season.

Team w/ Most Players: Golden State Warriors = 7

(Baron, Jackson, Harrington, Monta, Pietrus, Azubuike, Barnes)

This shows you how versatile the Warriors have been the past two seasons and the types of players that Nellie loves.

Team w/ Fewest Players: New York Knicks = 0

Ouch! I think this helps to explain why the Knicks have been so terrible.

Top 25 (Steals + Blocks + Threes + Dunks) Per Game

NAME	GAMES PLAYED	TOTAL	PER GAME AVERAGE
Shawn Marion	63	406	6.44
Josh Smith	81	481	5.94
LeBron James	75	441	5.88
Jason Richardson	82	475	5.79
Andre Iguodala	82	458	5.59
Rudy Gay	81	438	5.41
Gerald Wallace	62	330	5.32
Baron Davis	82	423	5.16
Kobe Bryant	82	421	5.13
Ron Artest	57	284	4.98
Rashard Lewis	81	390	4.81
Caron Butler	58	275	4.74
Danny Granger	80	378	4.73
Rasheed Wallace	77	359	4.66
Stephen Jackson	73	320	4.38
Manu Ginobili	74	312	4.22
Carmelo Anthony	77	318	4.13
Andrei Kirilenko	72	296	4.11
Vince Carter	76	295	3.88
Jamario Moon	78	302	3.87
Kevin Durant	80	298	3.73
Paul Pierce	80	296	3.70
Ronnie Brewer	76	278	3.66
Dwyane Wade	51	185	3.63
J.R. Smith	74	267	3.61

Now let’s add Personal Fouls…

Top 50 “Divergent Skills” Leaders

NAME	STEALS	BLOCKS	THREES	DUNKS	FOULS	TOTAL
LeBron James	138	81	113	109	-165	276
Andre Iguodala	171	49	101	137	-187	271
Shawn Marion	125	85	66	130	-150	256
Jason Richardson	116	57	243	59	-241	234
Josh Smith	123	227	25	106	-269	212
Rudy Gay	111	79	134	114	-230	208
Kobe Bryant	151	40	150	80	-227	194
Baron Davis	191	43	173	16	-247	176
Rashard Lewis	99	38	226	27	-214	176
Kevin Durant	77	75	59	87	-122	176
Ronnie Brewer	129	19	11	119	-110	168
Jamario Moon	80	108	40	74	-152	150
Stephen Jackson	92	29	182	17	-171	149
Rasheed Wallace	91	129	112	27	-213	146
Gerald Wallace	131	58	71	70	-189	141
Manu Ginobili	109	33	156	14	-173	139
Tracy McGrady	68	30	86	43	-91	136
Andrei Kirilenko	86	109	44	57	-165	131
Ron Artest	133	38	84	29	-159	125
J.R. Smith	62	12	157	36	-144	123
Joe Johnson	84	18	169	12	-168	115
Caron Butler	128	20	66	61	-160	115
Paul Pierce	101	36	143	16	-200	96
Anthony Parker	79	17	133	23	-157	95
Tayshaun Prince	42	33	53	54	-90	92
Danny Granger	95	84	171	28	-290	88
Mike Dunleavy	86	31	165	11	-208	85
Jason Terry	88	18	136	13	-170	85
Josh Childress	71	43	22	77	-129	84
Mike Miller	35	16	155	15	-145	76
Antawn Jamison	106	34	120	10	-195	75
Chris Bosh	63	67	10	92	-157	75
Ricky Davis	87	14	135	19	-187	68
Maurice Evans	46	10	81	73	-142	68
Carmelo Anthony	98	39	58	123	-253	65
Martell Webster	42	28	123	26	-159	60
Larry Hughes	99	17	67	16	-139	60
Vince Carter	93	33	98	71	-241	54
Dwyane Wade	87	37	22	39	-137	48
Lou Williams	81	13	55	27	-130	46
Hedo Turkoglu	74	25	166	24	-244	45
Cuttino Mobley	78	34	67	17	-152	44
Brandon Roy	79	16	73	19	-147	40
Julian Wright	29	12	10	32	-43	40
Richard Jefferson	76	21	77	90	-225	39
Linas Kleiza	44	19	94	61	-181	37
Carlos Delfino	69	11	120	14	-177	37
Jerry Stackhouse	28	10	60	21	-82	37
Monta Ellis	124	27	12	67	-195	35
Travis Outlaw	59	63	40	43	-173	32

Your 2007-08 Divergent Skills winner is… LeBron James. If I had to guess, I would say this is the first time in several years that Marion hasn’t won. In Iggy, J-Smoov, and Gay, you have some serious young talent at the top of this list. Did anyone notice that Baron & Kobe are next to each other on every single table? The all-around abilities of these two veterans are quite apparent here.

Check out Ronnie Brewer getting 19 more steals than personal fouls! And for anyone questioning the validity and usefulness of the divergent skills stat, look no further than Tayshaun Prince. We all know that Prince is a superb defender, but this doesn’t really translate into fantasy value because he doesn’t get many steals and blocks. But on the flipside, he got called for just 90 personal fouls! As a result, he ranks 25th in divergent skills. It’s hard to argue with the athleticism and versatility of the 50 players on this list.

Bottom 20 in “Divergent Skills” (In the Red)

NAME	STEALS	BLOCKS	THREES	DUNKS	FOULS	TOTAL
Matt Barnes	48	36	53	20	-159	-2
Ryan Gomes	65	10	59	16	-154	-4
Troy Murphy	49	32	94	37	-217	-5
Charlie Villanueva	30	35	55	46	-174	-8
Mark Blount	33	34	17	37	-133	-12
Tim Thomas	40	29	83	25	-192	-15
Luke Walton	60	18	28	12	-133	-15
Mehmet Okur	55	29	114	22	-236	-16
Hakim Warrick	36	29	13	60	-156	-18
Josh Howard	59	32	67	24	-202	-20
Eduardo Najera	69	40	53	17	-199	-20
Shawne Williams	26	26	43	10	-132	-27
Andrea Bargnani	23	37	90	33	-211	-28
Al Thornton	46	43	43	35	-195	-28
Jeff Green	46	49	21	50	-198	-32
Antoine Wright	28	21	32	12	-127	-34
Andres Nocioni	25	43	126	10	-245	-41
Boris Diaw	61	39	13	11	-166	-42
Tony Allen	62	21	18	16	-168	-51
Brad Miller	69	74	28	22	-247	-54

By including personal fouls, the Divergent Skills gauge informs us of players who may not be holding their own on the defensive end (hey, at least they qualified). Rookies tend to get called for more fouls, so it’s no surprise to see Thornton & Jeff Green on this list. Nocioni ranks poorly because he gets called for a lot of fouls, but he makes up for it by being one of the best at drawing charges (12th in ‘07-08, 8th in ‘06-07, 2nd in ‘05-06).

Diaw’s fouls usually result from him having to guard larger players and his nice passing skills help to compensate for his lack of everything else. Tony Allen returned from a major knee injury, so many of his potential steals became fouls instead. But Brad Miller’s -54 divergent skills score is a little more worrisome. He’s never been a good shot-blocker, but his 247 fouls tied a career-high and his lack of athleticism and old age is apparent in his 22 dunks. By comparison, his replacement (Spencer Hawes) had one less dunk in 1,584 fewer minutes, so expect more playing time for the 20-year old next season.

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