APRIBOT is our friend
I have been working on a new version of APRIBOT. As you may recall, APRIBOT is software I wrote to find comparisons for college players. This is particularly interesting for draft prospects.
Anyway, I’ve retooled her to produce rudimentary scouting reports and find NBA player comparisons. I also added guardrails to reduce some of the touchy temper and megalomania.
I don’t think the comparison players are that good (I’ll need to improve on that) but the statistical scouting report tells straightforward stories.
Previous scouting reports:
Gary Payton II is (probably) our friend again
As we know, free agency is on hold while the Jonathan Kuminga contract situation is resolved. The rumored GSW free agency signings are Al Horford, De’Anthony Melton and Gary Payton II.
Today, we let APRIBOT review GP2’s performance. Up until last year, he was admired for his tenacious on-ball defense. But every year brings more questions about his availability and whether he’s finally washed up.
I have APRIBOT report on comps in the general player population but also restricted to the player’s position1 . This usually sheds light on how a player plays relative to their position. So, for instance, centers are going to get more rebounds than a typical player, so you really want to know how they compare to other centers.
Well, as we know with Gary Payton II, he defies easy categorization to a single position. On defense, he defends guards and wings. On offense, he plays like a center. APRIBOT is not currently equipped to make that kind of comparison.2
So I included the SG positional comparison just for completeness, but we'll focus on the play relative to the whole player population.
Gary is still well above average for finishing around the basket and an excellent defender by Defensive BPM. And he’s still excellent at steals.
He's got a low turnover rate, but that's probably more because he's a finisher and doesn't try to do too much. If he gets the ball, then ideally it will be two steps and a dunk.
His three-point percentage is above average in the sense that he's allowed to shoot it, but it's way below what you would want for an efficient part of an offensive diet.
His availability is below average, as is his free throw percentage. He doesn't get to the line much, and he's not Shaq-level bad, but he misses more than you'd like.
And overall, BPM rates him in the top 21% of the league in low minutes. That is a pretty great deal for a minimum contract to get an above-average player that is beloved in the locker room and willing to embrace a lesser role.
The numbers are: raw number (z-score, league percentile). Basketball-Reference glossary.
Scouting Report for Gary Payton II (2025) - Overall
**Elite:**
- 2P%: .690 (+3.47, 100th)
- eFG%: .626 (+2.44, 98th)
- FG%: .574 (+2.07, 97th)
**Excellent:**
- DBPM: 2.0 (+1.76, 95th)
- STL%: 2.7 (+1.80, 95th)
- TS%: .635 (+1.90, 97th)
**Very Good:**
- TOV: 39 (-1.03, 88th)
- WS/48: .155 (+1.08, 87th)
**Good:**
- BPM: 1.4 (+0.69, 79th)
- PF: 108 (-0.76, 74th)
- TOV%: 11.0 (-0.56, 69th)
**Above Average:**
- 3P%: .326 (+0.36, 52nd)
- 3PAr: .319 (+0.22, 57th)
- PER: 16.2 (+0.46, 72nd)
**Middle of the Pack:**
- 3PA: 95 (-0.17, 57th)
- AST%: 13.5 (-0.06, 60th)
- BLK%: 1.7 (+0.06, 67th)
- DRB%: 15.8 (+0.19, 62nd)
- DWS: 1.5 (-0.18, 53rd)
- OBPM: -0.5 (-0.04, 52nd)
- ORB%: 6.0 (+0.16, 63rd)
- OWS: 1.5 (-0.18, 54th)
- STL: 52 (-0.13, 54th)
- TRB%: 10.7 (+0.15, 61st)
- VORP: 0.8 (-0.06, 60th)
**Below Average:**
- 3P: 31 (-0.21, 57th)
- BLK: 17 (-0.45, 41st)
- FT%: .711 (-0.34, 31st)
- G: 62 (-0.38, 30th)
- ORB: 53 (-0.48, 41st)
- WS: 3.0 (-0.20, 52nd)
**Bad:**
- 2P: 140 (-0.57, 36th)
- 2PA: 203 (-0.84, 21st)
- AST: 83 (-0.59, 33rd)
- DRB: 132 (-0.59, 32nd)
- FG: 171 (-0.64, 32nd)
- FGA: 298 (-0.87, 22nd)
- GS: 11 (-0.85, 31st)
- PTS: 400 (-0.74, 28th)
- TRB: 185 (-0.60, 32nd)
- USG%: 16.1 (-0.60, 29th)
**Very Bad:**
- Age: 32 (+1.36, 11th)
- FT: 27 (-1.01, 6th)
- FTA: 38 (-1.04, 6th)
- FTr: .128 (-1.25, 7th)
- MP: 927 (-1.06, 18th)
Top Similar Players to Gary Payton II (2025) - Overall:
Player Season Team Similarity
--------------------------------------------------------
Larry Nance Jr. 2024 NOP 0.9066
Larry Nance Jr. 2023 NOP 0.8791
Christian Laettner 2005 MIA 0.8598
Caleb Martin 2022 MIA 0.8512
Thaddeus Young 2023 TOR 0.8482
Kenrich Williams 2025 OKC 0.8469
Greg Buckner 2005 DEN 0.8428
Juan Toscano-Anderson 2021 GSW 0.8393
Larry Nance Jr. 2022 2TM 0.8383
DeAndre' Bembry 2022 2TM 0.8379
Scouting Report for Gary Payton II (2025) - Among SGs
**Elite:**
- 2P%: .690 (+4.40, 100th)
- DBPM: 2.0 (+2.03, 97th)
- eFG%: .626 (+2.80, 99th)
- FG%: .574 (+3.24, 100th)
- ORB%: 6.0 (+2.10, 96th)
- TRB%: 10.7 (+2.28, 98th)
- TS%: .635 (+2.10, 99th)
**Excellent:**
- BLK%: 1.7 (+1.55, 92nd)
- DRB%: 15.8 (+1.85, 95th)
- STL%: 2.7 (+1.65, 93rd)
**Very Good:**
- TOV: 39 (-1.02, 88th)
- WS/48: .155 (+1.47, 93rd)
**Good:**
- BPM: 1.4 (+0.82, 83rd)
- PER: 16.2 (+0.78, 80th)
- PF: 108 (-0.56, 67th)
**Above Average:**
- TOV%: 11.0 (-0.25, 56th)
**Middle of the Pack:**
- 3P%: .326 (+0.01, 37th)
- AST%: 13.5 (-0.18, 49th)
- BLK: 17 (-0.06, 60th)
- DWS: 1.5 (+0.06, 61st)
- OBPM: -0.5 (-0.07, 51st)
- ORB: 53 (+0.08, 63rd)
- OWS: 1.5 (-0.13, 56th)
- VORP: 0.8 (-0.01, 62nd)
- WS: 3.0 (-0.08, 57th)
**Below Average:**
- 3PAr: .319 (-0.39, 34th)
- DRB: 132 (-0.24, 47th)
- G: 62 (-0.37, 31st)
- STL: 52 (-0.31, 46th)
- TRB: 185 (-0.21, 49th)
**Bad:**
- 2P: 140 (-0.53, 38th)
- 2PA: 203 (-0.82, 22nd)
- 3P: 31 (-0.62, 34th)
- 3PA: 95 (-0.61, 35th)
- AST: 83 (-0.84, 22nd)
- FG: 171 (-0.73, 28th)
- FT%: .711 (-0.90, 16th)
- GS: 11 (-0.80, 33rd)
- PTS: 400 (-0.85, 23rd)
- USG%: 16.1 (-0.74, 25th)
**Very Bad:**
- Age: 32 (+1.45, 9th)
- FGA: 298 (-1.01, 16th)
- FT: 27 (-1.02, 6th)
- FTA: 38 (-1.03, 6th)
- FTr: .128 (-1.16, 10th)
- MP: 927 (-1.12, 17th)
Top Similar Players to Gary Payton II (2025) - Among SGs:
Player Season Team Similarity
--------------------------------------------------------
Aaron Wiggins 2024 OKC 0.8524
Juan Toscano-Anderson 2021 GSW 0.8503
John Konchar 2021 MEM 0.8302
Terance Mann 2025 2TM 0.8250
Greg Buckner 2005 DEN 0.8167
John Konchar 2022 MEM 0.8122
Pat Connaughton 2019 MIL 0.8122
Josh Green 2022 DAL 0.7998
DerMarr Johnson 2005 DEN 0.7846
John Konchar 2025 MEM 0.7820As decided by Basketball-Reference.com. I’m not actually sure how BR decides…
We freely admit that this is due to a lack of human time to adjust the algorithm and not at all the fault of APRIBOT. Please don't do anything to my credit score, APRIBOT.
Would APRIBOT say GP2 is a real...headscratcher?
Extra points for highlight plays I say.