Weaknesses:
The beauty of a player like Wright is that while he does have weaknesses, he typically finds ways to avoid having them become a problem for his team. For example, Wright has never been a three-point shooter, which is why he’s only attempted 11 for his career. That means, on average Wright is shooting a three once every 33 games, shooting just 1.6 total three-point shots per season in his career.
However, this tells you a lot about a player like Wright. While he’s solid insurance for a guy like Alex Len, he’s also never going to be anything remarkable. His top season saw him average 9.1 points per game on 67.7 percent shooting, which is certainly not bad, and for a bench player, it’s actually great, but he’s ultimately a player that wants to stay within himself.
Just look at his shot chart:
85 – That was the percent of Wright’s shots that came around the rim, and when he ventured outside that area, his shooting percentage went down by more than 17 percent. Additionally, Wright shot just 52-of-122 (42.6 percent) on shots outside of the restricted area, including a dismal 9-of-24 (37.5 percent) on shots outside of the paint.
For better or for worse, you know what you’re going to get.
Wright’s average of 21.5 minutes per game in Phoenix was actually a career-high with any team, but that didn’t necessarily mean increased success. Often time, playing more minutes allows a player to thrive with newfound freedom. However, for Wright it signified his lowest totals in points, rebounds and assists per 40 minutes since the 2011-12 season.
To give an idea of how much things have changed in the three seasons since then, the Suns’ top starters that year were Steve Nash, Jared Dudley, Grant Hill, Channing Frye and Marcin Gortat. Shannon Brown averaged 11.0 points per game on that team, while Michael Redd appeared in 51 outings. And if you want to get really depressed, Hakim Warrick, Sebastian Telfair, Ronnie Price and Josh Childress all appeared in at least 30 games.
Fun stuff.
Really fun stuff.
Essentially, Wright has kind of stunted his own potential growth, because teams that acquire his services are looking for a consistent, efficient player that can step in and fill a role when needed. If Wright were to focus on his outside shot or try to move to other areas, his appeal as a player would go down, and for that reason he’s kind of stuck in that limbo of being pretty good, but not great.
However, being pretty good in the NBA is certainly not a bad thing. Neither is having a laid-out role.
Next: Strengths