3. Improve Defensively
T.J. Warren won’t be a bad defender in this league. In fact, despite his 109 defensive rating, he usually passed the eye test as a rookie when it came to straight up, one-on-one defense.
On shots from less than six feet, Warren actually held opponents to 6.1 percent worse shooting than they’d normally shoot on such attempts, per NBA.com. However, as you can see from Warren’s defensive numbers after the All-Star break, when he was finally playing noteworthy minutes, he was excellent when it came to defending two-pointers…but not so great at defending the three-point line:
Since the break, T.J. Warren has been fantastic on his defense inside the arc. Guys are burying 3s on him, though pic.twitter.com/nI0pC4lNk6
— Michael Gallagher (@MikeSGallagher) April 3, 2015
Why? Because Warren’s biggest need for improvement on the defensive end comes from his fit within the team defense. Warren is a great on-ball defender, but he sometimes struggles with help rotations, which might help explain why opponents shot such a high percentage from downtown when Warren was on them: they were more than likely wide open.
Head coach Jeff Hornacek often cited Warren’s fit within the team defense as the biggest thing holding him back from being a good defender. Warren is capable of hounding opponents with the ball, so even if he’s never a P.J. Tucker-caliber wing defender, he has the tools to hold his own as long as he shores up his understanding of the team defense (which he should, in time).
Next: No. 2