Cowherd is right; Isaiah Thomas is closer to Kyrie Irving than we think

A popular talk show host raised eyebrows with a comparison between Isaiah Thomas and Kyrie Irving. Here’s why he is right.

One of sports media’s loudest voices, figuratively and literally, made ripples on his show this week.

Colin Cowherd regularly sparks debate, and sometimes controversy, with his comments. It’s kind of his job as a host on Fox Sports 1. Cowherd isn’t making $6 million a year to stay out of the national spotlight.

The bombastic host recently dipped his toes into Cleveland Cavaliers waters, measuring Isaiah Thomas’s talent to his former opposing trade piece, Kyrie Irving.

In his diatribe, the host argued Thomas is nearly as good as Irving. More specifically, the Cavaliers got “95 percent of Kyrie Irving” in their summer trade.

Surely that’s music to Cavs fans’ ears — you essentially get the same player you gave up in a trade along with Jae Crowder and multiple prospects. He also postulates point guard Irving is marketed better than point guard Thomas.

Is Cowherd’s argument fair or foolish? I can see you, the Cavaliers fan, vivaciously nodding in agreement. There is some accuracy to the “95 percent theory,” specifically when you looking at Thomas’ work in Boston compared to Irving’s recent couple seasons.

Over his final two years as a Celtic, Thomas averaged 27.8 points, 6.5 assists and 2.9 rebounds per 36 minutes. He shot 44.5 percent and hit 2.9 3-pointers per 36 minutes. Those are obviously very impressive offensive numbers.

His Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) was 4.05 with a defensive rating of 109 during that time.

Irving averaged 24.2 points over his final two Cavs seasons, with 5.7 assists and 3.3 rebounds per 36 minutes. He shot 46.0 percent and drilled 2.1 3s per 36 minutes. His VORP averaged out at 2.2 with a defensive rating of 109.

Live Feed

Hardwood Houdini

So Irving averaged 87.0 percent of Thomas’ points, 87.6 percent of his assists. Thomas nearly doubled Irving’s VORP and posted a comparable defensive rating. By these numbers, it was Boston who got 95 percent of Thomas.

Had Cowherd made the Thomas-Irving comparison prior to the season, he might have underestimated the value of the now Cavs point guard. Statistically speaking, Thomas was undoubtedly the better player over the past two years.

But, under Brad Stevens point-guard friendly system, Irving is averaging 26.7 points, 5.5 assists and 3.8 rebounds per 36 minutes. His defensive rating is improved and his VORP is 2.6. That’s fifth in the league. Thomas finished with the 15th-highest VORP in his last year in Boston.

By that measure, Irving has been more productive in his first Celtics season than Thomas was in his best season in Boston. But Thomas’ win shares per 48 minutes was .234 last season. Irving’s is just .218. So opinions on who is the better Celtics floor general can sway with each measurement.

Is Cowherd’s “95 percent” totally accurate? Based purely on in-game performance, yeah, possibly. The raw, recent numbers seem to indicate Thomas might actually be better than Irving.

But don’t downplay the immeasurables of Irving. Coach Stevens has noted the value of his leadership, shepherding a young squad to the Eastern Conference’s best record. He’s also younger than Thomas, who is maligned by what appeared to be a serious hip injury.

While Thomas relied on his teammates to create for him through a series of screens and designed plays, Irving is a master playmaker that needs just the ball and space to create.

This is typical Irving, dicing through defenders with an array of flashy dribbles against the Los Angeles Lakers. It’s this raw talent that adds value Thomas can’t bring.

But this flashiness also aids the Irving brand, adding marketability, creating hype and inflating fans’ perception. Statistically, Irving and Thomas are extremely comparable. And his VORP as a Cavs player was hardly impressive.

Last season, his VORP was 11th in the league among point guards. In 2015-16 it was 17th and in 2014-15 it was sixth.

Yes, Irving is young and is already blossoming under Brad Stevens. But it’s not absurd to say Thomas almost adds as much value as his trade counterpart.

Next: 2017-18 Week 12 NBA Power Rankings

Especially if Thomas, who is shooting 52 percent and averaging 32 points per 36 minutes in two games as a Cavalier, continues to prove that he’s healthy.