Pistons: 4 reasons Isaiah Stewart will be a better player than Draymond

Isaiah Stewart of the Detroit Pistons is off to a better start in his young career than Draymond Green, although that isn’t saying much.

Coming out of Michigan State, Green was barely a role player in 2012, and Stewart was in the actual rotation for the Detroit Pistons, and even started 14 times at the end of the year. But even as Draymond became more of a focal point of Golden State’s game, it still took him a while to get on the level Stewart has already established for himself.

There’s a reason one was named to the All-Rookie Team and the other wasn’t named to his first All-Defensive Team until his third year in the league.

The two have already drawn some comparisons. They are both burly undersized center/power forwards who play with a defensive focus. Neither are flashy, and both can out-muscle much larger opponents. But, at the end of the two careers, one has to be better than the other, and there are plenty of reasons why Stewart will take home that crown.

Detroit Pistons: Here are four reasons Isaiah Stewart will finish as better career than Draymond Green

4. Early Career Defense

Draymond Green is a defensive mastermind, even if he thinks he’s better than anyone else. He deserves his credit, there’s plenty of good reasons why he has won a Defensive Player of the Year Award and has been named to six All-Defensive Teams.

But Stewart has shown he can be better. Stewart already averaged 1.3 blocks, which Green has done in less than half of the nine seasons he’s played. Stewart also has done it playing fewer minutes per game than Green has throughout his career.

The defensive advanced numbers back this. Green’s best year he averaged a blocking percentage of 3.4%, while Stewart already sits at a whopping 5.2%. I’ll admit that Green is probably a better perimeter defender, he led the league in steals and averages, just under one and a half throughout his career, while Stewart could barely get half of one per game. The steal percentage numbers reflect this.

But other numbers show that Stewart was the best rookie defender specifically because of his ability to switch on the perimeter.

Based on career trajectory, Green will be a better perimeter defender and Stewart will be better as a shot-blocker, but the gap between the shot-blocking ability is much greater than the steals.

Plus, Stewart is very young, so he may become more agile or savvy and able to eventually match, or come close, to Green’s steal numbers. The chances of Stewart outperforming Green on all matters defensively seem plausible, if not probable.

Oh, did I mention that Green commits more fouls? In my mind, it’s easier to foul on a block than on a steal, and Stewart commits those at a less frequent rate than Green, so he’s even more disciplined with only one season of experience.