Los Angeles Lakers: Comparing LeBron James’ season to other top free agents

LeBron James vs. Klay Thompson

2018-19 Season Averages

LeBron James:

27.4 points | 8.5 rebounds | 8.3 assists | 1.3 steals | 0.6 blocks | 51.0% FG | 33.9% 3PT | 66.5% FT | 3.6 TOV | 25.7 PER | 7.2 WS (Win Shares) (55 games | 35.2 mins)

Klay Thompson:

21.7 points | 3.9 rebounds | 2.4 assists | 1.1 steals | 0.6 blocks | 46.6% FG | 40.1% 3PT | 81.6% FT | 1.5 TOV | 16.6 PER | 5.1 WS (Win Shares) (76 games | 34.3 mins)

Klay Thompson is one of the NBA’s best two-way players. Thompson can defend the best wing player on opposing squads and is liable to drop 40 points at any given night. But, like DeMarcus Cousins and Jimmy Butler, Thompson is not asked to be the No. 1 option on his team.

James has a more efficient overall shooting percentage, besting Thompson at 51.0% to 46.6%. This is more of a product of their style of play. James drives to and scores near the basket more often than Thompson, who takes more jump shots overall.

There can be no comparison between Thompson and James from a pure shooting perspective. Thompson is one of the best shooters in NBA history and easily bests James in 3-point percentage, 40.1% versus 33.9%, and free-throw percentage, 81.6% versus 66.5%.

Nevertheless, even if this was not a down year for Thompson, there is no comparison to the overall impact James has on the game over Thompson, as Thompson’s close-to-average PER of 16.8 illustrates.

Winner: LeBron James