Alas, I chose the wrong one again, cut my salary and went to fight for the championship, but I ended up playing my own peak.
Talk about Kent-Bazemore.
Before 2020, he was still quite lucky, although unfortunately lost, but he was appreciated by the Warriors, and then gained a foothold in the Lakers, and gradually revealed the scarce 3D attributes, in 2016, Bazemore's value was as high as $70 million, not worth it?
Look at the 15-16 season, Bazemore's defense alone is worth 15 million annual salary, under his defense, the opponent's shooting rate will be limited to only 40.4%, what is this concept?
Among all the players who defended at least 300 rounds at the time, Bazemore could rank 14th, and in front of him were all top defensive players, such as Bamot, Leonard, Drummond Green, etc. As for the offensive end, although his three points were not stable enough, he also had a 36% shooting rate and 1.5-goal production, which was a good 3D puzzle.
But after 2020, Bazemore is more sad, the contract expires, and the year of standing, although there is still oil in the tank, but his mentality has long changed, like most veterans (89 years are not old), Bazemore also regards the championship as the primary goal, rejecting a number of high-salary offers from playoff marginal teams, but unfortunately, fate always loves to joke with him.
This year, Bazemore received a lot of championship invitations, one of which was from the Bucks, but because the previous few years did not set off much storm, so Bazmore did not consider it, and signed a 1-year salary with the former King Warriors, the result is known to everyone, the Warriors with an untidy lineup, once again missed the playoffs, and the Bucks successfully won the cup under the leadership of the alphabet brother.
Of course, although he failed to win the championship, in the Bay Area, Bazemore continued to be in excellent shape, performing well at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, shooting more than 40% of the three-point shooting rate, while on the defensive end, he could still reduce the opponent's shooting rate by 3.2%, and because of this, the Warriors would be willing to offer a 2-3 year long contract + high salary to renew Bazemore, but did not expect to be rejected.
In the summer of 2021, Bazemore was the same as the previous year's denial of the Bucks, and did not think that the Warriors could have the strength to return to the peak, in contrast, the Lakers who got Wei Shao and added a lot of immediate combat strength were more like the favorites to win the championship, a basic salary, Andzmore was put into the Lakers' big three, however, history is always strikingly similar, this season, the Warriors played the second record in the league, as for the Lakers, they are stuck in the mud.
The only difference was that in Los Angeles, Bazemore ran out of the last drop of oil in the tank.
It's not that the Lakers don't reuse it, it's that he can waste too much of his chances, as the team's most important reinforcement, when signing the contract, Bazmore booked a starting position, in fact, it is true, the first 13 games of the season, he is all starting, playing time is about 30 minutes, but this performance, less than half of the Warriors.
Look at Bazemore's shooting percentage, only 33%, worse than Tucker;
There is also defense, under his defense, the opponent's shooting rate can be increased by 0.5%;
When Bazemore was on the floor, the Lakers had to lose 8.7 points per 100 possessions, and when he wasn't on the floor, the Lakers had to beat their opponents by 2.2 points per 100 possessions, which is why after 13 consecutive starts, Vogel gradually cut Bazemore's playing time and eventually abandoned it.
That's the fate, champion insulating physique.
It is worth mentioning that Bazemore first left the Warriors in 2014, just a few months, the latter under the leadership of Curry, Klay and Green, to open a chapter of domination of the NBA;
Now, a few months after his second absence, the Warriors are back in the top teams and, crucially, Klay Thompson.
PS: If the Warriors win this year, Bazemore will definitely cry in the toilet.