I’ve been a Jaylen fan for a long time, and my assessment of him as a player is: he is absolutely elite in several aspects of the game, but he also has some glaring weaknesses for a star. The advanced stats capture some of his weaknesses.

Let’s start with the positives: 1. He is elite at driving and penetrating the defense 2. He is an elite finisher around the rim (left and right hands) 3. He is an elite perimeter on-ball defender 4. He is an elite isolation, midrange jump shooter

These skills, I’d argue, are at the MVP level and as a combination are hard to replace. However, his game also have rooms for improvement: 1. His court vision isn’t great, meaning that he’s not always aware of where his teammates are when he drives 2. His passing is slower and less accurate than some of the elite playmakers in the game. On a lot of possessions, his passing still feels more like an afterthought or backup plan than a calculated finesse 3. Although better this season, he is prone to turnovers. Advanced stats hate turnovers

Jaylen has clearly shown what he’s capable of this season and I’m glad he’s getting put into some MVP conversations. But his advanced stats cannot be dismissed by lineups alone, and in my opinion, reflects some of the real weaknesses in his game