Dubs by the Digits: Jason Thompson

Last year, we started a series of articles called “Dubs by the Digits.” These articles gave fans a quick statistical breakdown on members of the Golden State Warriors. This offseason, we’ll start up this series again by looking at one of the newest members of the Warriors, Jason Thompson.

The first article in the Dubs by the Digits series was about Warriors backup point guard, Shaun Livingston, the second article of this series was about Warriors shooting guard/small forward, Brandon Rush, the third article in this series was about Warriors small forward/power forward, Draymond Green.

The fourth article in this series was about Warriors shooting guard/small forward Andre Iguodala, the fifth article in this series was about Warriors center Andrew Bogut, the sixth article in this series was about Warriors guard Leandro Barbosa, and the last article published in this series was about Harrison Barnes.

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Let’s kick off this season’s Dubs by the Digits series by first taking a look at Thompson’s stats.

Thompson is one of the newest additions to the NBA champion Warriors’ 2015-16 roster. On July 31st, the Warriors acquired Thompson from the Philadelphia 76ers in a trade for Gerald Wallace, who the Warriors acquired in the David Lee trade. Thompson, a power forward and center, had been traded earlier in the offseason from the Sacramento Kings to the 76ers.

Thompson is a seven-year NBA veteran, and he played all seven of those seasons with the Kings, who selected him with the 12th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft. He played four years of college basketball at Rider University, and he grew up in New Jersey. He has career averages of 9.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists, 0.7 blocks, and 0.5 steals on 49.7 percent shooting from the field and 65.5 percent shooting from the free throw line.

Thompson has been both a starter and a reserve for the Kings over the years, and on the Warriors, he will most likely be an end-of-the-bench type of reserve, which isn’t a negative comment about his game but more of a reflection on the Warriors’ tremendous depth. He provides the Warriors with more depth in the frontcourt, more versatility off the bench since he can play both power forward and center, more veteran experience, and another proven scorer and rebounder off the bench.

Let’s take a look at Thompson’s stats in his best statistical season (2009-10), from last season, and his stats as a starter and as a reserve last season.

	PTS	REB	AST	BLK	FG %	FT%	TS%	Off./Def. Rtg	Games(starts)	MIN
2009-2010	12.5	8.5	1.7	1	47.2	71.5	51.8	106/109	75 (58)	31.4
2014-2015	6.1	6.5	1	0.7	47	62.2	50	103/108	81 (63)	24.6
As starter	6	6.7	1.1	0.7	45	60.2	47.8	96/108	63	26
Off bench	6.3	5.9	1	0.8	55.6	68.6	59.1	119/110	18	19.8

-TS%, true shooting percentage, measures player’s shooting efficiency, takes into account field goals, three-point field goals, and free throws.
-Offensive rating: points produced per 100 possessions
-Defensive rating: points allowed per 100 possessions

Thompson is 29 years old, which would most likely mean that he’s in his prime years, but he actually put up better numbers in his sophomore season than he did last season. He also had a slightly different role last year than in his sophomore season, as the Kings didn’t need him to score as much last season with DeMarcus Cousins and Rudy Gay handling most of the scoring.

In the 2009-10 season, he put up solid numbers and played a higher amount of minutes, which could explain, at least partially, his higher averages in every statistical category. Last season, Thompson put up similar offensive and defensive ratings as his sophomore season, and he played in more games and started more games than in 2009.

Thompson’s defensive rating as a starter last season was practically the same as when he came off the bench, but his offensive rating as a starter versus off the bench is significantly different. As a starter last season, he had just a 96 offensive rating, compared to a 119 offensive rating coming off the bench.

This suggests that when he came off the bench, he might’ve played more freely and with the flow of the game, which allowed him to score more naturally and have a higher offensive rating. This could also be a result of him being a primary scorer with the second unit but not as a starter. These are just theories, but it is interesting that his offensive rating was significantly higher as a reserve.

His field goal percentage, his free throw percentage, and his true shooting percentage is higher as a reserve (which explains the higher offensive rating), but other than that, his stats as a reserve are fairly similar to his stats as a starter.

Thompson most likely won’t play 19.8 minutes per game this season like he did last season with the Kings, but he is still a solid addition to the team in the depth category. If he is considered a team’s “12th or 13th man,” then that’s an impressive feat, given his rebounding and scoring ability. The Warriors’ depth is one of their strongest assets yet again this season, and Thompson just adds to that.

Next: Warriors: Low Likelihood of Repeat Championship

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