Suddenly, like a spring breeze overnight, thousands of trees and pear blossoms. This philosophical seven-word poem also applies to the NBA stage. In a star-studded, star-studded arena, superstars abound.
But in the era of commercial leagues, whether it is the wishes of stars or the interests of the team, frequent turnover between stars has become the general trend of the league, from Holladay joining Milwaukee to help the Bucks regain the O'Brien Trophy after 50 years, to Paul going to Phoenix, making the Sun Phoenix nirvana and reborn from the ashes. Stars can not only bring commercial value to the league, but also make the team fly to the top of the phoenix.
Today, take stock of the six stars who are afraid to become fragrant in the offseason.
Sixth place: Energy Kid Giddy
Giddy averaged 16.6 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists per game in the 2022-23 regular season, shooting 48.2% from the field, 32.5% from three-point range, and 73.1% from the free throw line.
Giddy was selected by the Thunder with the 6th pick in the first round in 2021. As an all-round star with outstanding athleticism and excellent physical fitness, Giddy has an extremely soft shooting feel and good impact, although the outside projection ability is not stable, but Giddy has super insight, according to the changes on the court, to create easy shooting opportunities for teammates can better provide deterrence for the team, excellent play and strong physical talent, all make Giddy have a good impact and ball skills, is a young star who combines talent and ball skills, defensively, Giddy is very aggressive , good defensive awareness, can bring extreme deterrence to the opponent, and bring defensive intensity and defensive strength to the team, is a young star with both offensive and defensive skills, and has outstanding overall perspective.
In the 2022-23 season, Giddy ushered in the peak of his career, excellent performance, once became an excellent core star around Alexander, excellent performance, but also became the key contributor to the team's win, Giddi's outstanding performance, but also became an important factor for the team to get rid of the title of a fish-belly team, and even promoted to a play-off team, as an all-round star, Giddy's outstanding performance, as well as explosive physical talent, have injected huge energy into the team, so that the team's deterrent power continues to improve, super performance, It also makes Giddy's excellent performance and ability to see the overall situation bring a certain improvement to the team, and become an important factor for the team to continuously improve and even play the strength of the super strong team.
But with the team's play-off loss, the team once again entered the offseason early, in the case of Holmgren's imminent return, Giddy was once again put on the trade shelf, although Giddy was in excellent form, but due to the lack of excellent projection, and the key moment once limited, the inability to help the team through his own scoring flaws, but also became an important factor in the young man's most likely to be abandoned by the team again, Giddy will also become a victim of the team's reconstruction, after all, Alexander and Holmgren are the cornerstones of the team. Giddy is also very likely to become a victim of the team again, and the young man who played at the peak is also likely to be abandoned by the team because of his poor shooting ability, or even leave the Thunder, and will also start a jaw-dropping wandering journey, and even become a dispensable homeless man again.
Fifth: Defensive titan Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt, averaged 7.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game in the 2022-23 regular season, shooting 54.8% from the field, 32.2% from three-point range, and 69.1% from the free-throw line.
Vanderbilt was selected by the Magic with the 41st pick in the second round in 2018. As a defensive titan, Vanderbilt has good physical talent and good defensive intensity, can make good use of his own advantages, bring deterrence to the opponent, and create a huge sense of pressure for the opponent through excellent defensive selection and defensive awareness, thereby improving defensive efficiency, and is a very defensive aggressive defensive titan.
In the 2022-23 season, Vanderbilt continues to grow, is still very threatening in defense, and also has a good offensive desire and offensive ability on the offensive end, before the trade deadline, Vanderbilt joined the Lakers, and once played the ultimate game presentation, excellent performance, but also became a key factor for the team to win one after another, as a defensive titan, Vanderbilt can not only limit the opponent's core stars on the offensive end, good offensive energy, but also inject new strength into the team, The depth of the team's roster and overall strength have been improved again, and the excellent performance has also become the proudest signing for the Lakers, and it has also injected new energy into the team.
After the start of the playoffs, Vanderbilt as a blue-collar star, although with the excellent play of Hachimura, once shortened the defensive titan's time, Vanderbilt was still able to complete the work in the playing time, bringing a huge improvement to the team on the defensive end, allowing the team to improve the defensive intensity of the striker, excellent leading and defensive ability, and also very good limit the opponent's core stars, providing huge support for the team to win and write legends, and it was also a key factor for the team to complete counterattacks in the playoffs and win games.
After losing to the Nuggets, the Lakers' dark horse season ended, but this is already gratifying for a team at the bottom of the league at the beginning of the season, and the Lakers have performed so extremely. But after the start of the offseason, Vanderbilt is very likely to leave the team again, after all, the Lakers will face the signing of many stars such as Russell, Reeves, Hachimura Takashi and so on in the offseason, obviously as a blue-collar star, Vanderbilt is very likely to be abandoned by the team because of the team's tight salary space, but as a defensive tough guy, once Vanderbilt tests the free market, this defensive tough guy will still become the absolute sweet potato in the free market, and even become the fragrant food for the championship teams.
Fourth place: Late bloomer Markkanen
Markkanen, averaged 25.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game in the 2022-23 regular season, shooting 49.9% from the field, 39.1% from three-point range and 87.5% from the free throw line.
Markkanen was selected by the Timberwolves with the 7th pick in the first round in 2017. As a big man with outstanding shooting ability, Markkanen has excellent physical talent and good projection ability, excellent shooting ability and excellent finishing ability under the basket, so that Markkanen can give what he wants on the court, and at the same time has a good view of the big picture, through the ability to respond, help teammates easily score, can bring improvement to the team from different aspects, so that the overall strength and deterrence of the team have been improved, defensive end, Markkanen's excellent athletic talent, It can also be a good limit for interior players in the same position, and it is more mobile, and can limit the opponent's score well in the change of defense, create a huge sense of pressure on the opponent, from putting pressure on the opponent, making mistakes or delaying the offensive time, is a young star with balanced attack and defense.
In the 2022-23 season, after Markkanen joined the Jazz, he swept away the slump of the Cavaliers, excellent outside range, good interior dominance, all-round technical characteristics, stable output ability, so that Markkanen can be described as completely reborn, excellent performance, but also made the Jazz once play the strength of a big team at the beginning of the season, and even Markkanen relied on his own strength to almost play a rebuilding team to the championship team again, Markkanen as the leader of the team, He also became the key to the team's blockbuster, and even completely got out of the trough and started a legendary journey that can be sung and crying. Markkanen has also risen from a softball to a feared star.
Although as the game deepened, the Jazz once again exposed the lack of depth of the team's lineup, but as the core star of the team, Markkanen is as stable as Tarzan, still extremely stable to maintain the ultimate output ability, and even compared to the Cavaliers period obsessed with outside projection, after joining the Jazz, Markkaning can be described as finding a better sense of balance, can better distribute the number of shots from the outside and the box, not only can use the deterrent power of the outside line to create lethality for breaking through the box, but also can use its own deterrence, Create easy scoring opportunities for teammates, completely transform from an outside sharpshooter to an all-round star who can attack, break and pass, with a super leadership temperament.
But despite this, the Jazz are still a team aiming to rebuild, and after ending the regular season early, the Jazz still need to trade the team to rebuild.
Although Markkanen is still young, as a superstar who plays for a price, if the Jazz never have the will to make a comeback, Markkanen is likely to leave the team again to prepare for the championship, and the young man who played the ultimate performance last season, once tested the free market, will inevitably become an absolute leader, the ultimate performance and all-round play, will also make him a very competitive young man, and even hope to become the absolute sweet potato in the free market.
Third place: late bloomer Johnson
Johnson, averaged 22 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game in the 2022-23 regular season, shooting 45.2% from the field, 32.9% from three-point range and 74.9% from the free throw line.
Johnson was selected by the Spurs with the 29th pick in the first round in 2019. As a Spurs star with a low pick, Johnson through the acquired efforts, with stable projection ability and excellent awareness of the overall situation, so that he is very big on the court, strategic organizational ability and a variety of scoring methods, so that Johnson once stood out in the Spurs, and after DeRozan and Murray left the team, Johnson once became the leader of the new generation of the Spurs with his own efforts, excellent ball intelligence and good ability to play tough battles, so that Johnson once won the favor of Popovich's old man , also gradually promoted from a nobody to the future pillar of the team, and is even expected to match Leonard and write a legend again.
In the 2022-23 season, Johnson grew up in adversity, played a shocking game presentation, excellent performance, and once made him the absolute leader of the team, and at the beginning of the season, with its own reverse growth performance, the team played a short-lived performance, although as the game deepened, due to the lack of superstars for the Spurs, the team's record will also decline significantly, but Johnson's outstanding performance continued until the end of the season, and the excellent performance also became the only surprise and gain in the team's swing.
But as a team chasing Venbanyama, once the Spurs get the top pick, or even the top signing, Johnson is likely to become a victim of the team again, after all, the Spurs need to be rebuilt, and Johnson does not meet the Spurs' intention to rebuild, so, in this case, Johnson is very likely to become a victim of the team's rebuilding road, and even after playing at his peak, he was abandoned by the team again, Johnson will also be expected to part ways with the team in the offseason, and even test the free market, but last season's excellent performance, Once you test the free market, you will inevitably become a superstar favored by each team, and even become a sweet potato for championship teams.
Second place: Best Defensive Player Green
Green, who averaged 8.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 7.6 assists per game in the 2022-23 regular season, shot 52.7% from the field, 30.5% from three-point range and 71.3% from the free throw line.
Green was selected by the Warriors with the 35th pick in the second round in 2012. As a super tough guy, Green has excellent ball skills and strong physical fitness, good dribbling skills and strong impact, can make Green have the technical actions of guards, excellent overall view also allows Green to connect the team well and become an organizational forward, while Green has an extremely excellent forward dealing ability, is the team's second point guard, but also the team's most passable inside star, defensive, Green defensively fierce, outstanding defensive awareness, is a very aggressive, A defensive player with excellent defensive judgment, excellent defensive skills and defensive ability, Green can change defenses wirelessly in any position, and is a superstar who can attack and defend, have comprehensive skills and outstanding physical fitness.
In the 2022-23 season, although Green was trapped by the boxing incident and the overall performance was not good enough, as an experienced veteran star with outstanding ball sense, Green was able to play amazing matches at key moments, and the tacit cooperation with the team and the skillful ability to control the ball combined with the ball allowed Green to better integrate the team, and even in the case of lack of offensive strength, it was still able to bring great contributions to the team, and even to some extent, Green's role and value still completely crush the younger Poole, after all, Green's rich experience, as well as super brain and strong defensive ability, are all heights that Poole cannot reach.
During the playoffs, Green's performance is still decent, every time at key moments, Green can bring surprises to the team and help the team get out of the trough, although the impulsive personality, once made the team passive, but more often, Green can use his own deterrent power to lead the team out of the trough, Green's existence, but also become an important factor for the team to always be able to overcome the danger, but also the key factor for the team to win.
Despite this, the Warriors still face a dilemma in the offseason, after all, after Klay and Green refused to cut their salaries one after another, the stretched Warriors are very likely to make difficult choices, recently Green live revealed that almost fell apart with the Warriors, the team will not give Green a big contract, and Green, as a meritorious veteran of the Warriors, is naturally unwilling to cut salaries, Green is even more ruthless, once the Warriors are not willing to offer a top salary contract, Green will choose to leave the team, and even once cut by the team, Green will be willing to join the Lakers or Blazers with a base salary, After all, as a defensive player, if Green is willing to test the free market with a base salary, the superstar is likely to become a super signing in the trade market again, and will also become a sweet potato for teams to compete for, after all, rich experience and excellent ability to see the big picture make Green still very competitive, so once Green fights with the Warriors, or even tests the free market, it will become a firm fact that he will become a sweet potato in the free market again.
First place: The all-around big man Embiid
Embiid, 2022-23 playoffs averaged 23.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists, 43.1% shooting, 17.9% three-point shooting, and 90.5% free throw percentage.
Embiid was selected by the 76ers with the third pick in the first round in 2014. As an interior star, Embiid has excellent athleticism and explosive physicality, excellent performance, and soft shooting feel, making him a very intimidating superstar.
In the 2022-23 season, Embiid experienced a rough adjustment at the beginning of the season, once again played a shocking performance, excellent performance, and the ultimate dominance in key moments, which not only allowed Embiid to lead the team to continue to play the strength of a big team, but also made him win the scoring championship award, not only that, Embiid also fought in Jokic for three consecutive years, completed the comeback into victory, Bingcheng Cong Jokic snatched the MVP trophy in his hands, became a real superstar, can also be described as an absolute core leader.
After the start of the playoffs, although Embiid was plagued by injuries, Embiid played with injuries and continued to play shocking games, and the ultimate performance also became a key factor for the team to sweep the Nets.
Against the Celtics, Embiid's dominance inside is also self-evident, but due to the overall ups and downs of the team and Harden's slump in key moments, Embiid was alone, and the team was also counterattacked by the Celtics when they led 3-2.
Despite this, Embiid's performance in key moments is more consistent and outstanding than Harden, and he is also the absolute core leader of the 76ers to remain competitive.
Even if the team is in a desperate situation, Embiid is the only superstar in the team who can fight the Celtics, so as the only superstar who can step up in the team's key moments, Embiid can also be described as the only superstar who has played extremely consistently despite the defeat.
Although Embiid fluctuates in statistics, playing with injuries and being able to play such an extreme performance is already the biggest miracle for Embiid, after all, in the face of such a fierce confrontation, Embiid can withstand the pressure and can play a shocking game presentation, which has proved Embiid's greatness and strength.
But despite this, because the team lost the season and cut Rivers, which once caused Embiid's dissatisfaction, the superstar who had long been disgusted with the team also expressed his dissatisfaction with the team after the team cut his head coach, and even once rumored a trade storm, no wind and no waves, once Embiid took the initiative to apply for a trade or was put on the trade shelf by the team, the superstar despite the chatter, but excellent skills still make him a superstar that everyone is vying for and favoring. It is also the absolute sweet potato of the free market.