Advanced analytic time: Emmanuel Mudiay’s usage percentage
By Mathew Huff
There is an interesting correlation with Mudiay’s usage percentage.
Emmanuel Mudiay had a rough season for the Nuggets to say the least. He was benched for veteran Jameer Nelson and then logged a string of DNP’s (did not plays), which greatly divided Nuggets Nation.
There were two sides of the Mudiay train. One side believed he was a bust that needed to be traded and the other side that believed he still deserved a chance due to his young age. However, whether you like him or not, there was an interesting correlation with one of his statistics. That would be his usage percentage.
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Usage percentage is an estimate of the percentage of team plays used by a player while he was on the floor. One would think his usage rate would have decreased this season, which it did, but not by as much as one would think.
In his rookie season, Mudiay’s usage percentage was 25.7%. This year, it only decreased to 22.6%. This tells me that when he does get playing time, Coach Michael Malone still has a bit of faith in the young point guard to run plays and call the offense even if he has struggled in his career so far. Otherwise, his usage rate would have decreased much more if this was not the case.
It will be interesting to see going forward if the Nuggets will keep their faith in the point guard, or if they decide to move on and package him in a trade deal. He still has potential, but he needs start progressing as soon as soon as possible.
All stats were verified via basketball-reference.com.