The thing is probably like this, at the last moment when the trading window closed yesterday, the Lone Ranger and the Wizards reached a whistle-blowing deal, and the specific transaction details are as follows:
- The Lone Ranger sent Porzingis a second-round pick
- The Wizards send Dinwiddie and Bertans
Since Harden and Simmons swapped teams yesterday, the deal hasn't been discussed enough, but if you look closely at the deal, you'll see that the Lone Ranger is completely "committing suicide."
Let's start with Porzingis.
Porzingis is not happy in the Lone Ranger, and the Lone Ranger has tried to trade him out many times, which must have been known to many people, but making this deal at this point in time may not be an ideal choice.
This season, Porzingis has played in only 34 of the Lone Ranger's 56 games, averaging 19.2 points, 7.7 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.7 blocks per game, shooting 45.1%/28.3%/86.5% of the three and shooting 56.1% of the true shooting.
Porzingis has three main disadvantages:
As in previous years, he always missed one game, this year he has missed 22 games, and in the past two years, he has played 57 and 43 games in the regular season
Second, the contract is too big, this season Porzingis's annual salary is 31.65 million, the remaining two years are 33.83 million, 36.01 million
The third is that Porzingis' three-point shooting rate has dropped this season, and his three-point shooting rate has been above 35% in the previous two seasons.
But what needs to be said is that Porzingis's long two points, free throw shooting rate, and free throw number are all new highs in the past three years, so his efficiency is still guaranteed - in fact, even in the past two seasons, Porzingis has been criticized by fans for not being able to do it, and his true shooting rate can be maintained at 55.1% and 58.2%, indicating that his lower limit is still guaranteed.
Coupled with the role of the defensive end - the shooting rate of Porzingis's opponents within 6 feet has dropped from 63.4% to 55.5% this season, Porzingis is now more of a premium player, and there is still some room for rebound, after all, everyone knows that the Lone Rangers are Doncic's team.
Look again at what the Lone Ranger got.
Bertans has played in 34 games this season, averaging 5.7 points, 1.8 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game, shooting 35.1 percent from the field, 31.9 percent from three-point range and 52.7 percent from the field.
Dinwiddie has played in 44 games this season and averaged 12.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.8 assists per game, shooting 37.6 percent from the field, 31.0 percent from three-point range and 50.1 percent from the field.
Bertans used to be one of the league's best shooters, but his performance has been declining since he signed a five-year, $90 million contract in 2020, especially outside the three-point line, shooting just 31 percent as a shooter, and his playing time this season is less than 15 minutes, coupled with the all-time negative effect on the defensive end, and has fallen out of the wizards' regular rotation.
At present, Bertans's contract has 3 years and 49 million left, and the Wizards should have taken a first round to possibly clean him up, but in this deal, the Wizards did not have any draft picks, but the Lone Rangers sent a second round - is it not true that the Lone Rangers really think Doncic can save Bertans? Even if the offensive end is saved, the Lone Ranger has relied on defense for some time to pick up, not afraid that Bertans will drag down the team's defense?
As for Dinwiddie, he can hold the ball or attack, but his career efficiency has been precarious, with a true shooting percentage of only 54% in the past two years, and one of the main reasons the Wizards sent him away was that he didn't match Beal — Bill wasn't on the floor, Dinwiddie's ball usage was 24 percent, Beale was there, that number fell to 15 percent, and the true shooting percentage also fell.
Dinwiddie is still a good player when his teammates lack firepower, which has been proven during the Nets, but the problem is, the Lone Ranger has Doncic, a recognized ball-handling core, with Dinwiddie's less than 33% three-point shooting rate over the past five seasons, can he really match Doncic? Maybe a question mark.
And Dinwiddie's contract has just been signed, and his annual salary for the remaining two years is 18 million and 18.86 million, which is definitely a premium - Dinwiddie and Bertans' contracts add up to more than Porzingis, which does not help the Lone Ranger's space for reinforcements for the next two years.
What we can think of is that the introduction of Dinwiddie is to reduce the price of Brunson - Brunson has played a good level this season, he will become a full free agent this summer, when the Lone Ranger can undercut the other side, but, Brunson is three years younger than Dinwiddie, scoring efficiency is much higher than Dinwiddie, the Lone Ranger as a championship team, with a better price, really appropriate?
Of course, the deal has been completed, regret what is too late, just a little pain in Doncic, he played the level of superstar in the second year of his career, but the rookie contract has not been enough help, as far as the loner's operation is concerned, people can't help but worry that Doncic's peak will not really be wasted.