Mason Plumlee: 70 G, 22 GS, 18.2 MPG, 7.4 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 0.9 APG, 0.70 SPG, 0.79 BPG, .659 FG% .000 3P%, .626 FT%, 19.09 PER, 4.8 EWA
Plums. EELMULP NOSAM. Plumdog Millionaire. Free Mason. Professor Plum With The Hammer In The Paint. The Plumber With The Flush. it’s safe to say that Mason Plumlee could get a season grade solely based on his long list of new nicknames.
But that would be a disservice to the rookie that helped save Brooklyn’s season.
After drafting Plumlee with the 22nd overall pick in June, Nets general manager Billy King believed that the rookie would spend most of the season in the D-League. Instead, Plumlee lead all rookies in Player Efficiency Rating (19.0) and Win Shares (4.7), had the highest field goal percentage on the Nets (65.9%), and threw down dunks with reckless abandon, often in reverse. (Hence EELMULP NOSAM!)
Plumlee had his frustrating rookie moments, often getting punished in the low post or hacking his way to foul trouble. Indeed, he lost his rotation spot in the playoffs. However, you’d be hard-pressed to find other rookies that made such a positive impact on a winning team this year: he admirably filled in for Lopez and Garnett when they went down with injuries, and even pushed Andray Blatche out of the rotation. What other rookie can say he filled in for a 15x NBA All-Star and former MVP while saving a sinking team worth 190 million dollars? Not Michael Carter-Williams, that’s for sure.
Plumlee’s crowning moment came against LeBron James, blocking the superstar’s game-winning dunk at the rim as time expired. And there Mason Plumlee stood triumphantly, reminding us that on a full team of experience and money, even unheralded rookies can make a difference.
Must-Read: Is Mason Plumlee The Rookie Of The Year?
