The NBA playoffs aren't over yet, but most teams have moved into the offseason early. Looking back on the journey of this season, there are many players who have played their worth and proved their strength, such as Brunson of the Knicks, who was abandoned by the Lone Ranger last summer and then agreed to a four-year, $104 million contract with the Knicks, which was not worth it in the eyes of many at the time. Because Brunson has not won any honors and achievements since his career, static talent is not dominant, only 1.85 meters tall, it is difficult to help the Knicks who are already in a desperate situation (last season the Knicks stopped the regular season, once had to start the rebuild mode), unexpectedly, Brunson played well in the Knicks this season and led the team to the second round of the playoffs.
Brunson averaged 27.8 points per game in the playoffs, teaching a good lesson to Randle, who has continued to be in a slump, and it is estimated that in the future, Randall's position as the Knicks' boss cannot be maintained. In addition, the playoffs have played until now, the Lakers' Reeves is also eye-catching, as a lost draft, Reeves' starting point is not high, watching him play and even physically a little uncoordinated, it is difficult to sit firmly in the NBA ordinary rotation players. Unexpectedly, Reeves has become the most important role player in the Lakers' playoff journey, the team's third scoring point after James, averaging 16.9 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game, his personal ability is very balanced, defensively does not suffer, and offensive projection efficiency is also above the team average.
The most important thing is that Reeves is indeed very high, loved by James, plays smart, and will not be like Wilson. In fact, Westbrook's trade, the introduction of Russell, Beasley these new signings, is not the primary reason for the rise of the Lakers at the end of the regular season, the key is that the departure of Westbrook has given role players such as Reeves, Schroder, Walker and other role players more opportunities to play, the cohesion of the whole team has become stronger, Reeves and others also have space to show their talents, the Lakers were able to rise from 13th in the West to the top 8 in the West, and finally entered the playoffs through the playoffs. After the end of this season, Reeves' 2-year $2.49 million contract will also end, and the Lakers are estimated to renew his contract heavily, there is such a saying that it is 98.7 million for 4 years, if it is really achieved, his value has directly increased dozens of times.
Some people's values have skyrocketed, and some people's values are plummeting. The same Lakers, Dangelo Russell suffered in the playoffs this year, his personal performance is catastrophic, the defense is a big colander, the offensive end is also very unstable, and the projection is basically lucky. In the regular season, Russell was also known as a major savior for the Lakers, after all, as soon as Wei Shao left, a group of new signings led by Russell came, and the Lakers' record immediately began to pick up. But to be honest, although Russell can raise the lower limit of the Lakers, it is difficult for him to help the Lakers break through the ceiling, and once the playoffs come, all teams begin to compete to increase the intensity, and Russell has little room to show his ability. During the regular season with the Lakers, he also averaged 17.4 points and 6.1 assists per game, shooting 41.4% from three-point range.
However, as soon as the playoffs arrived, Russell's average data dropped to 13.3 points and 4.6 assists, and his three-point shooting rate was 31.0%, a direct drop of more than 10 percentage points, which is a bit exaggerated. Throughout the Western Conference Finals series, Russell scored 8 points + 10 points + 3 points + 4 points, averaging 6.25 points per game. At both ends of the offensive and defensive ends, Bruce Brown was finished by Bruce Brown, who was in line with him, and Brown wanted to beat him alone, like a pile. You know, Russell's annual salary is more than $30 million, while Brown's annual salary is only more than $6 million. In fact, at the beginning of the playoffs, the Lakers were already preparing for Russell's contract extension, and were expected to give him an ideal maximum salary contract, even if Russell's state was low in the first two games of the finals, the Lakers did not let him go to the bench, and still gave him a starting position, in the hope of retaining Russell next season.
However, since then, the Lakers have been ruthlessly swept by the Nuggets, and management's attitude has changed, saying that they will prioritize the renewal of Reeves and Hachimura, and Russell is not in a hurry. Recently, ESPN reporter Dave McMenamin said that Russell is eligible to sign a 2-year early contract extension with the Lakers close to $70 million before the free market opens on July 1, but the Lakers will not give this maximum salary extension, and Russell is likely to become a free agent. 70 million worth, was spent by the 6 million worth of Brown, it seems that Russell's real worth is not even as good as 6 million, the West final averaged 6 points per game, which is why the Lakers did not give him a maximum salary to renew his contract. With James' continued pressure on management, I wonder what roster changes the Lakers will make this summer?