Hornets introduce MKG Security campaign to promote Kidd-Gilchrist
Voters for the NBA's annual awards received their ballots on Thursday, which means NBA teams now have until April 16 to campaign for their players to take home honors or make end-of-season teams.
Nobody does campaigning better than the Charlotte Hornets. Last year, they introduced the world to The First Name in Old School Game, hyping Al Jefferson's All-NBA credentials through fake online store Big Al's Paint.
They've gone a similar route this year, introducing MKG Security to outline the defensive resume of Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, one of the league's premier wing defenders.
The site outlines elements of his game like Fire Protection, Real-Time Response, customer reviews and player comparisons. And, of course, a warning: "Coverage by MKG may result in opponent frustration, missed shots and turnovers."
The Hornets also sent voters an MKG security kit, complete with a lock for the gym (or wherever, we suppose).
http://t.co/RY6c1ocVkl has your All-Defensive Team needs covered. Kit sent by @hornets to media. @MKG14 #MKGSecurity pic.twitter.com/KC7xwAAOzY
— Charlotte Hornets PR (@HornetsPR) April 2, 2015
Kidd-Gilchrist has a nice case for inclusion on an All-Defense team but a Defensive Player of the Year award, while very realistically in his future, seems a long shot for this season.
The third-year small forward has been limited to 55 games and 1,587 minutes due to injuries, so it's difficult to see him getting votes, as much as he may pass the eye test with flying colors. There are so many candidates in the wide-open race, and even those - namely Rudy Gobert and Kawhi Leonard - who appear to have limited cases because of playing time have been on the floor more than Kidd-Gilchrist.
For the sake of furthering the discussion, here's a look at how a few of the candidates for the award stack up using some advanced metrics. Your mileage will vary with such measures, and defense is impossibly difficult to evaluate statistically, but these can help create a baseline and a pool of players to evaluate:
| Player | Minutes | Def. Win Shares | Def. Real +/- | Team Def. Improve (Pts/100poss) | Team Def. Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Draymond Green | 2278 | 4.9 | 4.95 | 7.7 | 1 |
| DeAndre Jordan | 2619 | 4.7 | 2.19 | -1.7 | 19 |
| Marc Gasol | 2479 | 4.3 | 1.8 | -6.1 | 5 |
| Tim Duncan | 2038 | 4.2 | 4.46 | 0.8 | 3 |
| Nerlens Noel | 2240 | 4.2 | 3.45 | 4.5 | 11 |
| Kawhi Leonard | 1816 | 3.9 | 4.78 | 6.7 | 3 |
| Rudy Gobert | 1924 | 3.8 | 3.57 | 8.3 | 13 |
| Anthony Davis | 2173 | 3.7 | 3.54 | 4.6 | 22 |
| Khris Middleton | 2156 | 3 | 4.05 | 8.7 | 2 |
| Michael Kidd-Gilchrist | 1588 | 2.3 | 3.62 | 8.9 | 7 |
This might not be MKG's year, but the man who wants to be the best defender of all time could very well be the 2015-16 favorite.