Kristen Mann Traded

The big news among Dream players is that Kristen Mann has just been traded for Alison Bales of the Indiana Fever.

We'll take a look at the stats to see if either side got a clear advantage in the trade.

Efficiency

Kristen Mann: 3.85 in 223 minutes
Alison Bales: 3.79 in 126 minutes

So we can see that Mann and Bales basically have the same output for their respective teams, with the caveat that Bales has played about half as many minutes as Mann.

Versatility

Kristen Mann: 1.76
Alison Bales: 0.84

Egad. Then again, Bales's versatility stats might be in a cocked hat. She's had a grand total of two assists, but she only plays nine minutes a game. For players who have at least ten minutes a game, the least versatile player is Lisa Willis of the New York Liberty.

Now, we're going to introduce a new stat called "usage". Usage basically counts turnovers, attempted field goals, assists (times 0.33), free throw attempts (times 0.44), multiplies the sum of all of those by 40 and divides by minutes played.

What does this algebraic mess add up to? It estimates "possessions used while on court" and tells how much the player participates in the offense.

Usage

Kristen Mann: 11.63
Alison Bales: 13.85

Here's an interesting statistic: of Atlanta Dream players, Mann is second to last in possessions used, contributing little to the offense in terms of minutes played. Whereas on the Fever, Bales is third from last. Bales contributes more to an offense in her minutes played than Mann does.

Furthermore, Alison Bales is 6 feet 7 inches tall. She's a center and she's a friggin tower. Imagine a night when Bales and Feenstra are clicking on all pistons.

So was this a good trade or a bad one? We'll know more when Bales gets more minutes. Who knows, it might be for the best.

Ivory Latta will be interested in reuniting with Allison Bales. Of course, they've met before....




Postscript: Usage values for all Dream players:

Lennox: 29.58 (fourth in WNBA)
Terry: 20.69 (all teams)
Latta: 20.28
Feenstra: 20.06
Castro Marques: 19.00
Lovelace: 18.24
Young: 18.23
Lacy: 18.17
De Souza: 15.66
Nnamaka: 14.78
Haynie: 14.69
(Mann: 11.63)
Strother: 7.25 (last in WNBA)