The world is bustling, all for profit. The world is shouting, all for the sake of profit. The same adage applies to the NBA stage. In the materialistic business alliance, everything is based on interests as the starting point and foothold. In the era of chasing high salaries, tens of millions of big contracts abound. However, cancer contracts and garbage contracts are also endless, and it is not uncommon.
Today, take stock of the eight high-paid and low-energy stars in the playoffs.
Eighth place: Russell, the chosen son of the arrogant
Russell was selected by the Lakers with the second pick in the 2015 first round. As the son of genius, Russell's career was not smooth, and Russell's career was adrift in many teams such as the Lakers, Nets, Warriors, timber wolves and so on.
As a talented player, Russell was once pinned on high hopes, but because of his arrogant personality, he never got the opportunity to show it, and Russell's unsociable personality once became the source of contradictions in the dressing room, which also became an important factor in Russell's frequent use as a trading chip.
In 2020, Russell was sent to the Timberwolves by the Warriors to form the Three Musketeers, but Russell was not compatible with the 2020 champion Edwards, and the chemistry between the two was almost zero. Even the efficiency of the two-person single-core team is much higher than that of the dual-core team, which also made the locker room conflict between the two break out for a while.
Although, at the end of the season, Russell's form has rebounded, and the Timberwolves have also turned on rampage mode. Not only stabilized the record of the seventh place in the West, but also the Nuggets in the sixth place in the West.
The Timberwolves defeated the Clippers, who were guarded by George and Reggie, and made it to the playoffs after years. Edwards played at his peak in the playoffs, helping the team to take the lead and bringing a huge deterrent to the young Grizzlies.
However, as the core player of the team, Russell was completely demoralized, completely losing his offensive power, becoming the biggest burden on both ends of the team's attack and defense.
In the playoffs, Russell averaged 12 points, 2.5 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game, a sharp drop in scoring, and became the culprit of the team's defeat. Shooting from the field was only 33.3 percent less than the 41.1 percent shot in the regular season. The decline in various data also reveals Russell's weakness when it is strong.
As one of the three musketeers, Russell's sluggish performance, as well as the attributes of the locker room cancer, in the offseason, this upside-down chosen son is likely to start a wandering career again, after all, his ability does not match his tens of millions of salaries, and it is reasonable to leave.
It is reported that Russell is still executing the 4-year 117 million contract signed with the Nets in 2019, but with Russell's sluggish performance in the playoffs, not only with the inability to catch up with the team leader Towns, even the young Champion Edwards has to play far ahead of Russell, the role model who holds an annual salary of more than 20 million yuan but has never been able to cash in on his talent is likely to start a turbulent and wandering career again.
Seventh place: Lost draft legend VanVleet
VanVleet lost the draft in 2016, was signed by the Raptors in the same year, and won the first championship in team history with the Raptors in the 2018-19 season, VanVleet also gradually grew up in the series and occupied a place in the Raptors.
After the Raptors won the championship, Leonard and Dany Green left the team one after another, which greatly demoralized the Raptors, and the team was once again reduced from a championship team to a playoff team. However, the young VanVleet has completed its transformation year by year, and has even become an indispensable core player of the team.
In the 2020-21 season, Lowry once broke out with the team in the locker room, the intention to leave was extremely obvious, and the team's record fluctuated again, because Lowry's heart had decided, and the state also fluctuated slightly, but the undistracted VanVleet gradually ushered in the peak period, and once became a superstar who could rival Lowry.
In the new season, Lowry was traded, and VanVleet and Siakam became the two core players of the team. With the deepening of the season, VanVleet ushered in an outbreak, successively cut a 30+ scoring feast, and helped the team in the absence of superstars, the record did not rise but fell, the regular season ended, the Raptors are also jaw-dropping, locking the fifth place in the East.
This season, anti-Fleet averaged 20.3 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game, becoming the biggest contributor to the team's record improvement and once becoming the absolute leader of the team.
In the playoffs, facing the 76ers with the king bomb combination, VanVleet once again exposed the weakness of being strong and weak, completely losing his super scoring ability and aggressiveness. Before the injury, VanVlee averaged 13.8 points, 3 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game in the playoffs, and the data fell sharply compared with the regular season, which was more shocking, and vanVleet played in 3 games, 76 of them beat the Raptors, and after VanVleet was injured, the Raptors were instead of breaking the bamboo, once forcing the 76ers into a desperate situation.
It is reported that VanVleet is executing a large contract of 4 years and 85 million, but the performance of such a heavy responsibility in the playoffs makes this heavy contract slightly higher again, which is obviously in stark contrast and gap with VanVleet's sluggish state.
As a lost draft, VanVleet once became a legendary story in the league, but this season's VanVleet regular season dragon playoffs have been exposed again, which has also made this all-star guard who cannot be used in the regular season again criticized and questioned.
Sixth place: All-around shooter Harris
Harris was selected by the Hornets with the 19th pick in the first round in 2011. As the most underrated giant of the 76ers, Harris has worked on the Bucks, Magic, Pistons, Clippers and other teams.
Harris joined the 76ers in 2019 and at one point played an All-Star performance at the 76ers. Become the most important outfield musketeer on Embiid's side. Last season, the 76ers returned to the top spot in the East, and Harris was also indispensable, Harris averaged 19.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, an all-around performance, becoming the team's most stable scoring point after Embiid.
In the new season, Simmons once refused to play, the 76ers only relied on Embiid's single core to lead the team, as the most stable scorer around Embiid, Harris was once extremely depressed, both offensive and defensive ends were extremely struggling, and even the overall performance was not as good as the 2020 rookie Maxie. The team was also extremely unhappy with Harris's performance and even wanted to trade him at one point.
Although Harris did not leave the team before the trade deadline, his performance has aroused the dissatisfaction of the team and players, and the offseason has been basically nailed down by the trade.
In the playoffs, Harris averaged 16.9 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game, shooting 50% from the field, shooting 38.6 three-pointers, scoring and shooting a slight decline, and Harris on the defensive end also became the team's biggest weakness. On the offensive end, Harris, who is only paid $30 million, did not perform as well as the young Maxie in the entire series, which became an important factor in the team's 2-4 loss to the Heat in the semifinals.
For the All-Star who played at the peak of the 76ers, planning the future road as soon as possible will be the most important thing for Harris, after all, as Maxie gradually grew up, Harden's addition has made Harris dispensable, and in the offseason, Harris, who has long since lost his courage, will be put on the shelves by the 76ers, after all, the 76ers need to trade Harris to make room for salary space and make way for the team.
As the 76ers' once most relied on outside artillery, it is no longer what it used to be, and for the 76ers, Harris's presence is meaningless. Regardless of whether the 76ers win the championship this season, sending Harris away in the offseason has become an irreversible fact.
Fifth place: Champion defender Lowry
Lowry was selected by the Grizzlies with the 24th pick in the 2006 first round. As a legend of low-ranking counterattacks, Lowry once relied on a tough body during the Rockets period to play at the peak of his form and fame, and was known as a small steel cannon.
In the 2012-13 season, Lowry, who played a famous role in the Rockets, was sent to the Raptors, and the backcourt double-gun combination of Lowry and DeRozan was once the hottest backcourt double-star combination in the league, and once led the team's record to soar.
But the strength of the regular season still can't stop the decline of the two core stars in the playoffs, and they have not been able to go further on the playoff stage for many years.
In the 2018-19 season, the Raptors reached a deal with the Spurs, DeRozan and Leonard exchanged owners, Leonard's trip also brought the Raptors back to life, not only the regular season continued to be strong, on the playoff stage, relying on Leonard's super personal ability, the Raptors went all the way to the finals, grabbed seven major battles in the Eastern Conference Finals, relying on Leonard's two-point shot, killing the 76ers to advance to the stage of the Finals.
On the stage of the Finals, the Warriors successively damaged the two core stars of Durant and Klay, and the exhausted Warriors' dream of three consecutive championships was ended, and the Raptors also won the first championship in team history. But after winning the championship, Leonard returned home, and the Raptors were once again reduced to a middle and lower team.
In the 2021-22 season, Lowry, who was at odds with the Raptors, left his old club and traded to the Heat for 3 years and 85 million, and once helped the Heat become a superpower team in the East, and also locked the top spot in the East before the end of the regular season.
But after the playoffs began, Lowry was in a slump and suffered injuries against the Hawks. After the comeback of the semi-final game against the 76ers, not only was his personal status sluggish, but also lowry's team from the semi-finals onwards ended in defeat, but after the lack of Lowry, the team attacked and defended more freely and played with ease. It also made Lowry the biggest cancer on the team, and his existence was extremely embarrassing.
So far in the playoffs, Lowry has averaged 6.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game, and the single-digit data performance has completely reduced Lowry to a role player, such a sluggish performance, completely unmatched with an annual salary of nearly $30 million, and even in the Heat's playoff trip, there is no sense of existence at all.
Fourth place: Inside giant Tower Gobert
Gobert was selected by the Nuggets with the 27th overall pick in the 2013 first round. Then he moved to the Jazz. As a three-time best defensive player winner, Gobert acted like a natural barrier on the inside, making the attackers feel frightened and retreat.
The Utah duo of Gobert and Mitchell has also once made the Jazz return to the glory and glory of the past from a fish-belly team, and the team has always been in the ranks of the western superpowers.
However, the locker room conflict between Gobert and Mitchell has always been the biggest obstacle to the Jazz's progress. Despite the denials on both sides, the team's record and the lack of communication between the two on the pitch hint at the possibility of discord between the two.
At the end of the season, according to the statistics of the NBA official website, Gobert averaged only 2.3 times per game to receive Mitchell's passes this season, of which 0.6 were converted into assists, which also confirmed the rumors of the two discord.
In contrast, Mitchell has only passed 151 passes to Gobert this season, compared to Trae Young's 152 assists for Capela. Such a gap is enough to explain the fact that Mitchell and Gobert are at odds with each other.
This season, Gobert averaged 15.3 points, 14.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game, still extremely stable, and as an interior defensive gate, Gobert is still stable, and the decline in scoring is also closely related to the contradiction between the two locker rooms.
However, Gobert, as an inside tower, is still the biggest defensive end of the team and a natural barrier to the inside. It also allowed the Jazz to keep improving their defense on the inside. Despite the locker room conflicts, the Jazz still locked in the fifth place record in the West.
In the playoffs, facing the lone ranger who lacked Doncic, Gobert was once again affected by the contradictions in the locker room. The stats are extremely low, and the defensive end has lost its former toughness and dominance.
Throughout the series, Gobert averaged 12 points, 13.2 rebounds and 0.5 assists per game, and Gobert's stats fell sharply, completely losing the aggressiveness and deterrence of the giant tower, and also became the culprit of the Jazz's 2-4 defeat to the Lone Ranger.
As Gobert, who is executing a 4-year, 170 million contract, the best defensive player who is gradually weakening on the offensive end, the sluggish state does not match the salary of 3700 per year.
Moreover, after the return of the playoffs, Gobert deliberately provoked an incident to anger Mitchell, so that the contradictions in the team's locker room continued to intensify, almost to an irreversible state.
As the situation continues to heat up, the Jazz are also frequently sent out about asking Gobert's quotation information, once it is in the offseason, forced by the contradiction between the two, Gobert's unobstructed remarks have made the team locker room contradiction irreversible, in the offseason, jazz is very likely to endure the pain of love, trade Gobert, so that the team continues to maintain the style of a strong team. Gobert will also be reduced to a prisoner of the order again and start a career of wandering.
Third place: Lone hero Yang unrepentant
Trae Young was selected by the Mavericks with the 5th pick in the first round of 2018. As a small defender, Trae Young is extremely talented on the offensive end, extremely comprehensive in technology, and the foul-making technology is at its peak.
Last season, Trae Young led the Hawks to the playoffs as the fifth place in the East, and successively staged the following bridges, not only defeating the Knicks, who returned to the playoff stage after many years, but also defeating Embiid to lead 76 in the semifinals to reach the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Against the Bucks, Trae Young suffered an injury that eventually led to the team's return. However, throughout the series, Trae Young averaged 28.8 points, 2.8 rebounds and 9.5 assists per game, an all-around statistic performance that led the Hawks to create the biggest dark horse miracle of last season.
Trey Young, who played the performance of a superstar, also became famous and became the absolute leader of the younger generation. Trae Young's value is also rising, and the Hawks also completed a 200 million contract with Trae Young in the offseason.
In the new season, Trae Young continued his peak state, but the Eagles as a whole suffered from objective factors, and Collins' locker room conflict with the team also affected the team's record for a time.
This season, Trae Young averaged 28.8 points, 3.8 rebounds and 9.6 assists per game, and all the statistics have been greatly improved, completely playing the performance of a superstar. However, the Hawks have a poor record and have completely lost the strength of last season's dark horse.
In the middle of the season, Trae Young stepped forward again and became the biggest killer on the offensive end of the team, not only personally killing the four sides, but also helping the team to recover again through the needle lead, under the efforts of Trey, the team gradually woke up, and also once again entered the play-off seat, as the team leader, Trey's performance in the late season is indisputable.
At the end of the season, Trey Sample was even more outstanding, playing against Durant, and on durant's career night of scoring 55 points, the Nets swallowed a defeat, and the Hawks also boosted morale, defeating the Hornets and Cavaliers in succession and advancing into the playoffs.
As a young leader, Trae Young is extremely steady and calm, and the outbreak of the second half also shows Trey Young's amazing talent and super personal ability, in time, Trae Young and Doncic will inevitably become the most brilliant Gemini stars in the class of 2018.
However, in the face of the playoff journey, Trae Young, a young man with high hopes, not only failed to create miracles, but also fell to the bottom in the face of the Heat. In five games, Trae Young performed extremely depressed, completely losing the responsibility and responsibility of the leader. With only 8 points in the first game, it was far from the peak performance and became the culprit of the team's defeat.
Due to Trae Young's self-defeating performance, the Hawks lost to the Heat 4-1 in the Series, failing to create a miracle. Even more frightening will be Trae Young's mentality and competitive state, although the Hawks hard power is not matched by the Heat, but Trae Young's super personal ability in the regular season is definitely unique in this series, but the miracle can not be staged, but Trey Young is in a slump. If Trae Young can't adjust in the offseason, it's not just a series that's lost, but even Trae Young's psychological qualities to face strong opponents, play hard battles, and his entire career.
Second place: Young Hollywood Lavin
LaVine was selected by the Timberwolves with the 13th pick in the 2014 first round. As a dunk with amazing bouncing power, LaVine won the 2015 and 2016 All-Star Dunk Contest championship.
In 2017, LaVine was traded to Chicago due to a locker room conflict with Towns, and LaVine also grew up to become the bulls' well-deserved leader.
In the new season, DeRozan joined the Bulls, the team's record improved by leaps and bounds, and became the most shocking super team in the league, DeRozan's amazing performance, but also put the leadership of the LaVinne team in jeopardy.
In the middle of the season, LaVine was even more tormented by injuries, and repeated injuries also affected Lavine's competitive state, and even the Bulls' record continued to decline, once again losing the morale and combat effectiveness of the beginning of the season.
In the regular season, LaVine averaged 24.4 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, shooting 47.6% from the field and shooting 38.9% from three-point range. Affected by injuries and mentality, the overall data and shooting percentage are slightly fluctuating compared to the beginning of the season.
After the start of the playoffs, the Bulls faced last season's champion Bucks in the first round, and the Bulls' overall strength was slightly different from that of the Bucks, but if Lavin yu DeRozan's two-gun combination played at its peak, the Bulls still had a chance to fight to the death.
But this is not the case, in order to renew the maximum salary lavine failed to bottom out, but because of the mentality and injury troubles, the entire series is extremely sluggish, completely losing the ability of the team's core stars.
As an All-Star, LaVine is extremely physically talented, but due to various objective factors, LaVine has never been able to cash in on his talent, and LaVin has become a representative of his appearance.
In the playoffs, LaVine averaged 19.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 6 assists per game, 42.9% shooting percentage, 37.5% three-point shooting rate, and the average score per game and shooting percentage fell again than in the regular season, and the hope of the Bulls from the top salary extension was once again slim.
Offseason, the Bulls are difficult to give a playoff so sluggish All-Star a 200 million maximum salary contract, whether it is signed first or then exchanged or directly abandoned, the maximum salary renewal is almost a mirror flower for LaVine, it is impossible to achieve, and LaVine is also very likely to start a turbulent and wandering career.
First place: Harden, the almighty god of war who runs for his dreams
Harden was selected by the Thunder with the 3rd pick in the first round of 2009. As the best sixth man to stand up from the bench, Harden not only won the regular season MVP with his outstanding physical talent, as well as keen organizational ability and accurate projection ability, but also became one of the few dual-energy positions in the league.
In the 2020-21 season, Harden broke up with the Rockets, Bing forced the Palace Rockets to trade them, and finally Harden left the Rockets he played for 8 years through a three-way trade, passing through here is not where Harden's dream began, but Harden has embarked on the peak of his life here.
After leaving the Rockets, Harden formed a big three team with Durant and Irving, and the Nets also became the hottest super team in the league for a time because of Harden's arrival.
The spell of hugging and warming up continues on the Big Three, and injuries have once again become the biggest obstacle to the integration of the Big Three. During the regular season, Durant and Irving have truces, making Harden, the person who holds the thigh, become the biggest thigh, Harden is also affected by hamstring injuries, Harden suffered from injuries again in the playoffs, and Irving also entered the truce stage after being stepped on by the alphabet brother in the semifinals. Despite Durant's divine fall, it was still unable to stop the Bucks from moving forward, and the Nets' Big Three semifinals returned home.
In the new season, the Nets made a comeback, but Irving's suspension once again made the two giants physically and mentally exhausted, in the middle of the season, Durant's injury once again became the fuse, when Harden once again faced a single core to lead the team, the superstar who declined in form broke out again, and the contradiction with the Irving locker room was constantly intensified, Harden once again repeated the same trick, forcing the Palace Nets management to seek a trade.
Before the trade deadline, Harden completed the whistle trading and went to Philadelphia to join forces with Embiid. After a very sweet honeymoon with the 76ers, Harden's undulating state was once again exposed.
Embiid has also publicly ridiculed Harden several times, believing that Harden lacks aggression, the contradiction between the two locker rooms is also constantly erupting, and the contradictions between Rivers and Harden are also continuous, it is reported that Harden even suggested that the 76ers management lay off Rivers, invite Enshi De Antoni, so that he can return to the peak, and the 76ers have never stopped in the locker room contradictions. But Harden's arrival has helped the 76ers improve the overall strength of the team to a certain extent. It's just a slight deviation from what you expected.
After the playoffs began, Harden continued to lose, facing the Raptors' G4 and G5 Harden almost disappeared, but also let the opponent chase two consecutive innings, almost completed the earth-shattering reversal.
In the semifinals against the Heat, Harden was completely lost in the second half, the entire series, Harden in addition to the G4 second half to cut 19 points, the rest of the game, the second half are completely lost, the half of the single digits of the score, but also became the 76ers semifinals and the biggest failure.
In the playoffs, Ha debuted 18.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 8.6 assists, 40.5% shooting percentage, 36.8% three-point shooting rate, the data is lower than the regular season, 18.6 points is only a new low in 5 years, the 76ers semifinals lost 2-4 to the Heat, after two consecutive years of semi-final feathers, Embiid also once again ridiculed Harden, thinking that harden in the Rockets period has gone.
It is reported that in the middle and late of the season, the 76ers revealed that they hope that Harden will reduce his salary and renew his contract, and provide him with a 5-year 180 million contract. Today, Harden's state is so depressed, 76ers naturally will not offer a big contract of 270 million yuan for 5 years.
As a superstar, Harden still holds a salary of more than $40 million this season, but throughout the playoffs, Harden's non-existent performance, as well as the performance of the habitual disappearance in the second half, completely lost the strength of the superstar, in the offseason, if Harden can not return to the peak state, not only 270 million top salary is lost, but may even face the risk of being traded again.