What is not to advance and retreat? Look at Derwent Graham today and you'll see.
Speaking of this name, many people's impressions may have been blurred, it doesn't matter, I will help you recall it.
In the 2018 draft, Graham was selected by the Hornets with the 34th pick in the second round, and in his rookie season, he played 46 games as the team's third point guard, averaging 4.7 points, 1.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, shooting less than 35% from the field and shooting only 28.1% from three-point range.
To tell the truth, just like this performance, if you don't get cut, even if you burn high incense, but guess what? In the summer of 2019, the Hornets failed to renew Walker's contract and directly announced the demolition of the rebuild, so that the young Graham became the object of cultivation.
In the 19-20 season, second-year student Graham became the transitional core of this team, although there was rozier who had just been traded in the team, but after all, he was a player who led the team to the NCAA final four, Graham was no less than Rozier in terms of self-confidence, very brave to shoot and take responsibility, that year, He averaged 18.2 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 7.5 assists per game, including points and assists, all of which were the first in the team, in addition, he also shot 218 three-pointers, not only the most on the team, but also in the league, but also ranked 5th.
That is, this season, many fans remembered Graham's name, and even once thought that he was the next generation of "Queen Bee", but in fact?
Look at Graham now, in the new owner Pelicans, he is not only gradually marginalized, after entering the playoffs, Graham is reduced to a substitute for the lost draft Alvarado, as of now, Graham can only average 10 minutes of playing time per game, can get 4.7 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 assists.
So the question is, why in just 2 years, Graham has gone from a potential stock to a junk stock?
The main reason is the slow growth, several very obvious shortcomings, so far has not improved.
Hmmm, who is Graham like? Thinking about it, it should be Fred VanVleet, they have a lot of similarities, the same height, the same style of play, all like to control the game, like to shoot three-pointers, like to play the role of the terminator in key moments, but the difference is that Van Vliet in his own area of expertise, almost can do the league's top 10%, such as marksman-level three-point shooting rate, elite level defensive ability, etc., while Graham, in addition to passing is OK, there is no stable second skill.
Shooting? The jump shot is indeed Graham's main scoring method, but he does not have a season of jump shot shooting rate, can exceed 37%, as for the prolific three-point shot, it is all piled up by the ball, the efficiency is very unstable, only 34.1% this season, the career is only 36.4%, in addition, his basket finishing ability is also very bad, not only rarely can break through here, the shooting rate is only 54.5%, basically the bottom level of the league.
Today's point guard compulsory course, blocking the offense, but also can only score 0.79 points per round, second to the 65.8% of players in the league, as a comparison, we look at Van Vleet, can reach 0.93 points.
The offense is not strong enough, so what about the defense? Alas, it is not as good as offense, Graham's arm span is good enough, but the body is thin, there is almost no confrontation ability, defensive awareness and skills are seriously insufficient, no season average steals more than 1.0 times per game, from the data of limiting the opponent's shooting rate, it is simply a big colander, under his defense, the opponent's shooting rate in the less than 6-foot area will increase by 7.2%, and the shooting rate in the 15-foot area will increase by 0.9%.
In fact, there are shortcomings are not terrible, terrible is not to see progress, Graham's problems, as early as the 19-20 season was exposed, but to this day, he is still not solved, with a wave of excellent talent influx, this kind of players who can not see the future, naturally will gradually be marginalized in the competition, Alvarado's figure, although not as good as Graham, but he is very tough at both ends of the attack and defense, the ability to seize opportunities is also very strong, 3 games, a total of 13 shots, hit 8 goals, Outside the three-point line, it was 4-of-6 shooting.
If Graham continues like this, his place will be replaced sooner or later, and this person is likely to be the younger Alvarado.