The Draft ModelSteals and blocks
Stats
PTS, REB, AST, BLK, STL, YRS
Claim
Higher steals plus blocks predict more career points, rebounds, assists, blocks, and steals per game and more career seasons.
Test
Drafted players, 1947-2019. Top steals-plus-blocks third n = 317. Bottom steals-plus-blocks third n = 387. Outcomes: career PTS, REB, AST, BLK, and STL per game, and career seasons. Compared inside the same age band (under 19.5, 19.5 to 20.5, 20.5 to 21.5, 21.5 to 22.5, 22.5 and up), height third (cuts at 77 and 81 inches), and pre-draft points third (cuts at 14.7 and 18.4). 22 of 45 bands had at least 5 players on each side.
Result
PTS +1.2 (p 0.023) · REB +1.0 (p<0.001) · AST +0.4 (p 0.001) · BLK +0.3 (p<0.001) · STL +0.2 (p<0.001) · YRS +1.8 (p<0.001)
Verdict
Confirmed. Feeds the player model: Yes.