The 2021-22 NBA regular season is coming to an end, and the deepest feeling is that this year is the most intense year for the transition of new and old stars.
Taking this year's Cleveland All-Star as an example, there are not only new faces such as Garland, Allen, Van Jordan, Wiggins, Murray, and Ball. And all-stars like Thick Eyebrows, Westbrook, Owen, and Clay, who were once in the limelight, also bid farewell to this stage collectively.
Of course, such as Irving, thick eyebrows, or more or less because of other factors such as injuries. Their performance and stats will remain the league's top stars in the future.
But this season, there are really a number of superstars who once stood at the center of the league stage, and may no longer be able to play the performance we remember.
Westbrook, for example.
First, Wei Shao - the dish is a dish, there are really not so many excuses
For the Lakers' humiliating failure this season, many people are responsible for it. But whoever should carry the biggest pot can't change one fact:
The introduction of Westbrook was the fuse that led to all this failure.
You can criticize LeBron for endlessly brushing points and not defending, you can also accuse thick eyebrows like glass, attendance is not a superstar at all, or you can say that head coach Vogel used the second most starting lineup in the league, but did not find a suitable set of rotations until the end of the season.
But the root of it all is the introduction of Westbrook, or the introduction of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, which is not as good as before.
In order to get him, the Lakers had to send out Kuzma and Pope, losing the rotation of the two most important championship lineups in the first two seasons.
Because of his $40 million annual salary, the Lakers had to give up Caruso, the best defensive player in the guard and LeBron's favorite helper.
Moreover, the combined salary space of zhan meigui and the three of them is close to 120 million US dollars, so that the Lakers management also has to sign a batch of bench rotations that are about to retire or no one wants at all with the basic salary.
Since the Lakers management has done all this, the purpose is to hope that Young Master Wei will play at least 70% or 80% of the peak level, carry 82 regular season games for Zhan Mei, and wipe the butts of this group of benches who "have offense nearly no defense, will defend and delay the offense".
However, this season's Wei Shao is really too dish.
Not to mention those bad shooting choices and mid-range shots that can skew the timer, after all, these are even the peak of Wei Shao can do it.
But the most fatal thing is that the ability of Young Master Wei to break through the world's most unique violent breakthrough and kill the opposing lineup has been left with the increase of age, the increase of injuries, and the loss of self-confidence.
We've seen it too many times this season, when LeBron and Thick Brow opened up space for him, with him facing defenders one-on-one. He repeatedly gave up the head-to-head breakthrough he had ever been best at.
When the block is launched, he can only enter the penalty area in parallel with the defenders, and then make a pass and layup without a margin.
The only time this season can remind us of the fact that he used to be the "three-double mvp" who split Huashan and is now in heaven, probably only the Spurs' unlucky Gobert.
But most of the time, what we see on the court is a transparent person who lacks speed, no impact, misses bouncing, and is helpless.
What was once a thunderous dunk has now become a cautious layup,
What was once a locomotive-like breakthrough is now slow and easy to predict,
Shots that were not accurate are now a disaster. The "free-air treatment" that Simmons only encountered in the playoffs this season has been an option taken by most Lakers opponents.
The constipation of the Lakers' attack can be seen.
Until the end of this season, we didn't know whether Young Master Wei's dishes were due to mutual restraint with LeBron, or because he could never go back to the past because of his age.
The only thing that is certain is that he will have to choose to execute the last year's $47 million player option.
Because in his state this season, he will earn at most 10 million a year in the free agent market.
Randall – "Superstar Shelf Life" is only one year?
Randle averaged 24.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 6.0 assists per game last season, an All-Star + League Second Team + Fastest Improving Player. More importantly, the New York Knicks, the 10,000-year-old team, were brought back into the playoffs after eight years.
In the offseason, he completed the renewal of the contract with the team early for 4 years and 117 million.
With his performance at that time, it can be said that he made sacrifices and had feelings and righteousness.
But just when the Knicks thought they had made a hard time and won a reliable cornerstone.
This season's Randou showed everyone the spectacle of how to progress the most in a year, from the fastest to the biggest regression.
This season his stats drop to 20.1 points, 9.9 boards and 5.1 assists, and his shooting percentage has dropped to 41.1% from 45.6% last season.
The Knicks also went from fourth in the East last season to eleventh today, missing the playoffs early.
Their defensive efficiency was no. 3 in the league last season and drops to no. 11 this season. Once again, they entered the pattern of pendulum that they were familiar with.
In fact, Randall's weakness was evident in last season's playoffs, when he was eliminated 4-1 by the Atlanta Hawks in the first round, and he only had 18.0 points and 11.6 rebounds shooting 29.8%.
When he was targeted by his opponents, he did not have the feeling of killing all fours in the regular season. In vain, "New York Mayor" Trae Young rode his face and output it.
The fall of this season actually has a precursor.
It's just bitter Knicks, and at the same time as it is rotten again, there is a rotten contract that is ridiculed.
Porzingis – I really don't blame Dallas for not playing well
This season, the Dallas Mavericks have finally lost patience with Porzingis, preferring to exchange Bertans, who is useless except for an unstable three-pointer, and Dinwiddie, who broke the Wizards locker room, to send the great master away.
He is no longer the European god tower that is considered Doncic's "partner for ten years".
In the playoffs last season, he was 2 meters 21 tall and could not beat Paul George and Batum, who were almost 20 centimeters shorter than him, and finally let the Clippers unscrupulously use the small lineup to pack Doncic, which directly led to the Lone Ranger being overturned and head coach Carlisle being dismissed.
This season's new coach Kidd also wanted to activate him when he first arrived, even at the expense of giving up some of the ball.
However, he is still an unsupportable Ah Dou, averaging only 19.2 points per game and shooting 45.1%, all of which are new lows in the team.
And he kept yelling that he wasn't getting enough respect.
However, even when it comes to the Wizards, this Bill and Kuzma team have been reimbursed for the season, and the team is a group of temporary workers, he has not played brightly.
Still afraid of confrontation on the inside, crazy iron outside the three-point line, forcing head coach Unseld Jr. to sometimes use a small lineup rather than let him sleepwalk on the court.
Averaging 22.1 points and 8.8 boards per game, that's how he performed after 17 games for the Wizards.
The only good thing is that he has a two-year, $70 million contract, enough to be chic for another two years.
It's just that after two years, it is estimated that no team is willing to do the wrong.
Sabonis – a low-key data brush
Son of a legend, two-time All-Star, the league's famous inside all-round axis.
The Pacers averaged 17+10+4 in five years, the best year 20+12+7.
Although there is no exaggerated physical talent, Sabonis Jr. has always had a good wind rating in the league.
So when the Pacers decided to rebuild this season, he immediately became a hot chicken in the trading market.
Popular teams like the Lakers, Warriors, Nets, and Philadelphia have all been associated with him more than once.
In the end, the Kings sent Harry Burton, who had almost won the best rookie last season, to invite him to the Kings.
The purpose is clear, hoping that his and Fox's interior combination can take the Kings to a rush and end the embarrassing history of missing the playoffs for 16 consecutive years.
However, before the trade, the Kings won 20 and lost 36,
After the trade, 9 wins and 16 losses.
Half a pound and eight two, early missed the playoffs.
And Xiao Sa's performance is still tepid 19+12, still unable to lead the team to victory.
Some players are better suited to shine in a complete system.
And to expect him to be like a real superstar, with his own system, is often embarrassing.
Watching Harry burton play well with the Pacers now, 18+10 quickly replaced Brogdon as the core of the outside line.
I don't know if the King's management who once missed Doncic has sent warmth again this time.
V. Gobert – The reconstruction of Sir Is just around the corner
If the first (14.7) and third (2.1) towers in the league today are also considered to be underperforming, it is estimated that many people think that the author is maliciously embarrassing.
But the truth is that with the second half of the season almost collapsing, the Utah Jazz are seriously evaluating whether there is a future for their team building ideas with Gobert Mitchell as the core.
They have lost 10-11 since March, including a five-game losing streak at the end of March, not only by the Clippers by 25 points, but also by the Green Army in the East by 32 points, and lost to playoff direct rivals the Warriors and Lone Rangers.
Now they're tied for fifth in the West with a 48-33 loss and are on the verge of playing the playoffs.
Among them, the most embarrassing is Gobert.
As the league's no. 1 high-paid center who only renewed his five-year, 200 million-dollar contract last season (although he will certainly be overtaken by Joshua and Embiid), the first highest salary in the Jazz team today (35.3 million)
Gobert made only 7.7 shots per game, fifth on the team, with 15.5 points, and fourth on the team.
He is a "super blue collar" with a maximum salary.
You said he started with defense, but this season the Jazz's defense fell from fourth in the league last season to 12th.
Gobert's fourth best defensive player, at least this season, is no longer expected.
This season, as the rest of the league's centers have gotten better and better, the all-knowing all-rounder on the pitch, the scoring probes such as Embiid, and the rapidly awakening Towns.
Even Jarrett Allen, who was the same type as him, younger and more efficient than him, quickly woke up.
In recent years, Gobert, who has been the cornerstone of the Jazz's defense, is facing a crisis of not advancing or retreating.
If this season's Jazz still has no breakthrough, it will still collapse at the first touch of the small ball lineup, and it will be cured as soon as it encounters an opponent who is fighting for the championship.
Then their system may be rebuilt at any time.
After all, the last Blazers, who ate in the Regular Season in the West and could not break through in the playoffs, have begun to rebuild this season.