Inventory of NBA rabbit players: Doncic Morant shows off "rabbit" Zhao Si "rabbit" soared

On January 22, Beijing time, the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, from today, the Year of the Tiger is a thing of the past, and the Year of the Rabbit has officially arrived. The new year brings new expectations and hopes, and those stars in the NBA who ushered in the "year of their lives" have also reached the moment when the "rabbit" and "rabbit" are advancing rapidly, and the money "rabbit" is immeasurable.

"Rabbit"

Luka Doncic: According to incomplete statistics, there are currently a total of 57 registered players in the league (including two-way contract players and short-contract players) "rabbits", of which the most interesting is the Lone Ranger young star Luka Doncic.

In 2018, at the age of 19, Doncic landed in the NBA as a European Grand Slam winner, conquered the league with comprehensive technology and mature and stable style of play as soon as he debuted, and in the past four years, he has continued to improve on this basis and gradually grow into a new generation of leaders, constantly comparing with historical supergiants such as LeBron James and Michael Jordan.

This season, Doncic has played phenomenal performance, averaging 33.7 points, 8.8 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game so far, becoming the most influential player in the league offensively, and there may be no one, and the performance of 60+20+10 is unprecedented. Doncic, born in 1999, will make a strong attack on his first regular-season MVP trophy in his NBA career this year, can he get his wish?

Ja Morant: Also born in 1999, Ja Morant will also be a potential contender for this year's regular season MVP, although after yesterday's one-point defeat to the Lakers, the Grizzlies have trailed the Nuggets, the first in the West, by 1.5 wins, but with the strength and form of this team, there is still a lot of possibility of counterattacking to the top of the Western Conference in the future, if so, as the best player on the team, Morant will naturally enter the final discussion of MVP.

Morant is talented, full of personality, and extremely fan-grabbing play, and faced Jaylen Smith's amazing dunk against the Pacers, which he named his best dunk of the career and almost locked the best dunk of the NBA season.

Today, when the old generation of supergiants such as Zhan, Du and Ku is gradually aging, and the middle generation is almost monopolized by international players, the league urgently needs a superstar in the United States to hold the market, and Morant is the best candidate.

Jalen Jackson Jr.: Shrouded in Morant's halo, teammate Jalen Jackson Jr., who is his age, is also experiencing the best season of his career, and may even win the heavyweight individual award earlier than Morant.

In the latest edition of the NBA's official Best Defensive Player list, JJJ ranked first. This season, the young unicorn is averaging 16.5 points per game while grabbing 6.8 rebounds, making 1.1 steals and making a staggering 3.3 blocks.

Defense is key to the Grizzlies' success, and this season they ranked first in the league in defensive efficiency, conceding only 109.1 points per 100 games, including second in the league in blocks, and the importance of JJJ.

Jordan Poole: Poole this season has been scolded, and the reason for this is that expectations have risen after renewing a big contract, so that all his shortcomings and problems have been put under a magnifying glass.

Poole did have mistakes and some offensive selection problems, which were further highlighted in the context of the league's strict crackdown on overstep violations. But that doesn't hide how helpful he has been to the team on the individual offense, especially during Curry's absence due to injury, and it's hard to imagine the Warriors going 6-5 if it weren't for Poole.

As of today, Poole is averaging 21.3 points, 2.7 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game this season, and unless he gets a lot of starting opportunities in the second half of the season, he will have a good chance of winning his first career award, the NBA's best sixth man.

Money "rabbit" is immeasurable

Emmanuel Quickley & Sadiq Bay: According to NBA rules, first-round picks are eligible to complete early contract extensions with the parent team before the start of the fourth season of their rookie contracts, but most of the outstanding rookies in the class of 2020 - such as Anthony Edwards, LaMelo Ball and Tyrese Haliburton - were born after the millennium, and among the players born in 1999, only Knicks guard Emmanuel Quickley and Pistons forward Sadiq Bay have more hope of getting an early extension.

 The Knicks brought in Jaylen Brunson through free agency last summer, renewed his contract with RJ Barrett, and promoted Quentin Grimes to the starting shooting guard position shortly after the start of the season, and it looks like Quickley's space has been severely squeezed.

Still, Quickley took limited opportunities to prove himself, playing well as a bench grabber for most of the season, and during Barrett's absence due to injury, he came on as a starter, averaging 20.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 5.9 assists per game.

Quickley isn't top potential, but if Knicks management is smart enough, they should try to negotiate a mutually acceptable early contract extension with Quickley, because the later the extension, the greater the price they may have to pay.

The same conclusion applies to the Pistons and their third-year forward Sadiq Bay. Because of the arrival of Bojan Bogdanovic, Bey fell out of the starting line-up this season, but don't forget that he once played 50+ per game, and as a 24-year-old 3D player, there is still a lot of room for imagination in the future. In the last five games, Bay, who returned to the starting lineup, averaged 21 points and 7 rebounds per game, making the Pistons realize his ability and value.

Gary Trent: The Raptors are at the center of rumors as the trade deadline approaches, and Gary Trent, a 24-year-old young 3D shooter, is also considered likely to change owners in February.

An important reason why Trent is involved in trade rumors is that his contract is facing a contract extension after the end of this season, and the Raptors, who are hesitant about the future direction of the team, are not sure whether to offer a big enough contract to satisfy the other party and keep him on the team.

Trent is not strictly an expiring contract, but has the right to jump out of the contract this summer to test the waters of the free market. He has been doing well in recent times, averaging 22.2 points, 3 rebounds and 2.1 steals in his last 13 games, and 3.2 three-pointers per game while shooting 39.4 percent from the field. With such performance, it is not too much to ask for a large contract with an average salary of $20 million.

Naz Reed: The Timberwolves made a big deal last summer before the big deal came in with Rudy Gobert, and Towns formed the "400 million" twin towers. This means that they will not leave much "salary space" for others in the center position, and Naz Reid, whose contract expires this summer, is likely to leave the team.

Reed is much less well-known than the names mentioned above, but friends who have followed Timberwolves games will definitely be impressed by this big man who is physically strong, can protect the basket and shoot threes. Reid was a draft player who spent the first four seasons of his career with the Timberwolves, but earned just $1.93 million this season, while he posted 20.9 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.9 blocks per 36 minutes.

It's not that Reid will be able to play 20+10 with 36 minutes of playing time, but it's clear that he at least deserves a mid-tier contract, and even if the Timberwolves can't give it, other teams will offer it.

"Rabbit" leaps and bounds

Nicholas Claxton: Before the start of the season, almost everyone predicted an explosive performance for the Nets' young center, Nicholas Claxton, but not many could have imagined that he could improve to this extent.

So far, Claxton is averaging 12.2 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game this season, and most amazingly, 2.7 blocks per game! His total blocks (115) and shooting percentage (73%) are among the highest in the league.

The Nets surpassed the Grizzlies this season as the team with the highest number of blocks in the league, with Claxton at the core. In the past, he was more recognized for his ability to change defenses. Last season, his personal stats were just 8.7 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.1 blocks per game.

The existence of Irving and Durant ensures the Nets' offense, but the Nets can become a balanced offensive and defensive top team in the league after the change of coach, and the defensive stalwarts represented by Claxton are absolutely indispensable.

Bol Bol: If a player's improvement is measured by multiples of data growth, Magic big man Pol Poll may be the most improved award winner this season.

The famous son barely played a steady game with the Nuggets last season, playing in 14 games and averaging just 2.4 points, 1.4 rebounds and 0.1 blocks per game, while this season, he got a chance to perform with the young Magic, averaging 25.7 minutes per game, contributing 11.9 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks.

As a 2.18-meter-tall "spider-monster" with an arm span of more than 2.30 meters, Polpol often grabs backcourt rebounds after playing blocks in games, and then dribbles to complete a one-man fast attack, becoming one of the few highlights in the Magic game, and some people even joke that the Magic don't need to swing and dive Ventanyama, because they already have a Ventanyama-style player.

Anfini Simmons: Compared to Claxton and Ball Pol, the Trail Blazers' Anfini Simmons has already shown his talent one step earlier, and last summer, the team signed him with a four-year, $100 million contract extension, which already recognized his star status.

Objectively speaking, the 24-year-old Simmons has not yet fully reached the impact of CJ McCollum's game, especially in terms of offensive organization. However, he has shown his talent in terms of individual offensive scoring, averaging 21.6 points per game this season, and several single-quarter performances in Lillard's absence have been impressive.

Next, what Simmons needs to do better is to maintain efficient output while on the same floor as Lillard, so that the Blazers can return to the ranks of the contenders.