At the Hive Approval Ratings: Brian Roberts

It's hard not to love the Brian Roberts acquisition; New Orleans gave him a shot at the NBA that perhaps was never coming, and he flat out delivered.

Vote at the end so we can put together Roberts' approval rating, and if you missed Vasquez yesterday, he's here. Keep in mind, the vote's on how well the player fit his specific role on the team.

Positives: 28.2% assist rate outpaced the league average for backups and Roberts' creative abilities generally were belied by overcritique of him as a single-minded scorer, 11.5% turnover rate was terrific given how much the ball was in his hands, 39% three point percentage ranked among the best on the team, extremely reliable from the foul line (91%), provided a much needed scoring spark when the team stalled (+4 offensive efficiency on 22% usage)

Negatives: Shot poorly from the floor overall (41%) due in equal parts to poor shot selection at times and a very lower assisted on percentage for field goals, didn't particularly develop a synergistic offensive relationship with another teammate the way Vasquez did as a backup a year ago with G. Ayon, was arguably more effective off the ball than on it

My Grade: 5, Explanation: Roberts was, we presumed, brought on to play a 3rd/2nd string role as the team tried to convert Austin Rivers to the point. Under those circumstances (and in his first pro season in the US to boot), Roberts posted a higher PER than the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 8th, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th picks -- all but three players in the entire lottery. You can argue that he should be a 4 I suppose, but given the role he was brought in to play and how he actually performed, I lean 5.