Marcin Gortat: The Orlando Magic's Junk Is the Phoenix Suns' Treasure

Let this be a lesson to all NBA teams. When a player with the résumé that Marcin Gortat possesses comes to you and demands more minutes and more shots, you find a way to give them to him no matter if you have a player the caliber of Dwight Howard ahead of the player in the rotation. You give them to him because it is a virtual certainty that both the minutes and shots will be put to extraordinarily good use.

What made Gortat such a special player for the Orlando Magic was never going to be found in his points per game averages. The four points per game he was averaging for the Magic this season through 25 games was his highest scoring average for the team. In his other full seasons for the Magic, in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons, Gortat scored 3.8 and 3.6 points per game, respectively.

Looking solely at his points per game average, yes, it does seem foolish that he would think he qualified for a larger role in the Magic's plans, but Gortat was and continues to be so much more than his points.

The reason why Gortat was not just an ordinary bench player had everything to do with his rate statistics and how he utilized the few minutes and shots he got with the Magic.

Gortat first informed the Magic of the ultra-efficient player the team was choosing to underutilize in his first full NBA season in 2008-09. Through 63 games that year and 12.6 minutes per game, Gortat produced 121 points per 100 possessions, allowed just 97 points per 100 possessions and accumulated 0.202 win shares per 48 minutes.

His spectacular offensive rating was due in large part to his 57.8 true shooting percentage and his 14.0 offensive rebounding percentage. Since that season, Gortat has been unable to equal that offensive rebounding percentage, but even the decrease in that statistic has barely lowered his effectiveness on the court.

Gortat's defensive rating was helped along by his monster 26.3 defensive rebounding percentage and 4.8 block percentage. There is no denying Gortat was quite the defensive force in addition to be a potent offensive threat.

In the 2009-10 season in 13.4 minutes per game, Gortat regressed slightly from 2008-09 and "only" produced 113 points per 100 possessions, allowed 99 points per 100 possessions and contributed 0.151 win shares per 48 minutes.

Gortat kept up his stellar play in the 25 games for which he played for the Magic this season, producing 114 points per 100 possessions, allowing 99 points per 100 possessions, and accumulating 0.156 win shares per 48 minutes. There has never been a season where Gortat turned in disappointing performances.

His superior play was not unique to the regular season, however, as he put up even better rate statistics in the Magic's playoff contests. In his 46 playoff games where he averaged 11.5 minutes per game, Gortat produced 129 points per 100 possessions, allowed 100 points per 100 possessions and contributed 0.186 win shares per 48 minutes.

Yet, despite all Gortat gave the Magic in his limited time, the team still decided to trade him away to the Phoenix Suns, a trade that has in fact worked out for the Magic. It has just also worked out for the Suns.

In his 20 games with the Suns after being traded away, Gortat has been receiving the extra field goal attempts and minutes he so coveted; his 7.3 field goal attempts per game, 25.0 minutes per game and 10.6 points per game are all career highs.

Those extra shots and minutes have in no way adversely affected his game as he is still a remarkably efficient player, producing 121 points per 100 possessions, allowing 106 points per 100 possessions and contributing 0.161 win shares per 48 minutes.

Although his 7.5 offensive rebounding percentage is the lowest of his career, Gortat is making up for it with a career-best 62.8 true shooting percentage.

Additionally, Gortat's 3.4 block percentage with the Suns is the lowest of his career, but his 28.3 defensive rebounding percentage is the highest of his career. Also, he can be forgiven for not blocking as many shots as the Suns do not exactly place a premium on defense.

Still, Gortat has remained a notably superb player on both sides of the ball.

Furthermore, when the Phoenix Suns obtained Gortat, they did not just get an outstanding player, but they also upgraded the center position that had grown weak as Robin Lopez has been experiencing a troubling regression since last season.

Since Gortat's career rate statistics are better than Lopez's in PER (15.7 to 14.8), effective field goal percentage (55.6 percent to 55.1 percent), offensive rebounding percentage (11.6 percent to 11.1 percent), defensive rebounding percentage (25.4 percent to 14.1 percent), total rebounding percentage (18.7 percent to 12.7 percent), assist percentage (3.6 percent to 1.3 percent), block percentage (4.4 percent to 3.9 percent), steal percentage (1.0 percent to 0.6 percent), offensive rating (117 points produced per 100 possessions to 116 points produced per 100 possessions), defensive rating (100 points allowed per 100 possessions to 111 points allowed per 100 possessions) and win shares per 48 minutes (0.168 to 0.112), the Suns can now live with Lopez's disappointing play this season.

Gortat's importance to the Suns is magnified when one takes into account he is the only player that came over from the Magic in the trade who is actually helping the team.

Both Vince Carter and Mickael are producing fewer points per 100 possessions, 105 for Carter and 97 for Pietrus, than they are allowing per 100 possessions, 112 for Carter and 112 for Pietrus.

Not every bench player who demands more minutes and shots deserves them, but any player that can boast the same sort of qualifications that Gortat had for the Magic certainly does. It is a sure bet the Suns will not regret giving him those extra minutes and shots, either, as they now possess their center of the future.