The status quo of the five major team change stars: Harden is still in the trough, Paul meets expectations Lillard is reliable at critical moments
This article was compiled from: ESPN Insider
作者:Kevin Pelton
原标题：Navigating NBA stars on new teams: What's working and what's next
It's been more than a month since the NBA season started, and it's time to see how those changing stars are adapting. ESPN's data expert Kevin Pelton wrote an article on the current situation of five team changing stars, including Holiday of the Celtics, Paul of the Warriors, Harden of the Clippers, Lillard of the Bucks and Beal of the Suns.
Boston Celtics: Holiday
Holiday is widely seen as malleable and suitable for any team, and the record proves that the Green Army made the right trade. They currently have the best record in the NBA.
As ESPN's Bontemps notes, the Celtics cleverly broke a potential stumbling block when they settled on their starting lineup before the season, with Horford switching to the bench. The Green Army's starting five outscored their opponents by 27 points in 191 minutes of playing time. The high-level stats show that this is the best performance of any squad that has played at least 65 minutes.
Holiday currently has a 18% usage rate, the lowest level of his career. With White primarily playing point guard, Holiday also has a career-low 6.9 assists per 100 possessions. In addition, his three-point shooting percentage is not high, only 33.8% so far this season, compared to 39.5% in his three seasons with the Bucks.
While the offense hasn't found its best yet, Holiday has been seamlessly connecting with Smart on the defensive end. The Celtics remain a top-five defensive team in the league and appear to be ready for the playoffs.
Golden State Warriors: Paul
Paul was primarily in a bench role with the Warriors, and of course, he returned to the starting lineup during Curry's short-term injury and Green's suspension. On the bench role, Paul did what the Warriors were hoping for, which was to bolster the roster without Curry. So far this season, the Warriors have been able to win by 4.2 points per 100 possessions without Curry playing, which is the first season since Durant joined the team in 2017-18 in which the Warriors can still win points without Curry.
So far this season, Paul has shot just 32.3 percent from three-point range and 45.6 percent from two-point range, which is also close to a career low. Although his individual offense has been sluggish, Paul has been able to make a positive impact and live up to the expectations of the Warriors. The Warriors are ranked 21st in turnover rate this season, which may not sound great, but last season they were ranked 29th. Green's suspension, along with Wiggins and Klay's poor start, has left the Warriors with less than a 50% win rate at the moment, but they could have lost even worse without Paul.
Los Angeles Clippers: Harden
The bench seems to have activated the Clippers, but that also has to do with the fact that the opponents they have encountered are not strong. The Clippers coaching staff did reduce the amount of time Harden and Westbrook spent on the court. During the 0-5 period, Harden played 161 minutes, 85 of which (53%) were on the court. In the next five games, Harden played 164 minutes, of which only 42 minutes (26%) were on the court. Mann would be better suited to stay in the starting lineup, while Willis would create scoring opportunities for the second team.
Harden is still trying to adjust and find his role with the Clippers. Disturbingly, Harden rarely makes layups. The stats show that he averages only one shot per game in the reasonable impact zone, compared to 2.4 last season and 6.3 three-point attempts per 100 possessions, also a career low and down from 9.8 a year ago.
Coupled with Harden's diminished ability to draw fouls, he has become heavily reliant on three-pointers to score. Putting Willis on the bench does free up Harden's playmaking skills, but the Clippers also need his dominance as a scorer.
Milwaukee Bucks: Lillard
ESPN noted that the Bucks' biggest concern, that Lillard and Antetokounmpo rarely play pick-and-rolls, and that this should be the easiest way to use their skills. The stats show that Portis and Da Lo have been blocking Lillard more often.
Lillard has relied on some of his offense, but he's shooting just 32.8 percent from three-point range this season, down from last season (37.1 percent) and career (37.2 percent). However, Lillard is currently shooting a consistent free-throw shooting percentage of 92.1 percent, which is the highest level of his career.
Plus, Lillard is as reliable as ever in crunch time. The Bucks have a 7-1 record in crunch time, and Lillard leads the league in averaging 7.0 points per game in crunch time, shooting 62% from the field during this period, 8-of-12 two-pointers, 5-of-13 three-pointers, and only 1 free throw from 26 free throws.
Phoenix Suns: Bill
The back injury affected Beal's attendance, and it was a risk that the Suns took in exchange for him in the summer. Since the 2021-22 season, Beal has played just 93 of the 181 games. In Beal's absence from the Suns, the team relied more on Gordon and Grayson Allen to fill his scores, and Booker was also playing the point guard role that would have belonged to Beal. Booker averaged a career-high 8.9 assists per game without sacrificing his prowess in scoring.
It is expected that it will not be until the playoffs that everyone will know if the Suns need more experienced playmaking guards, or more playmaking guards. The Suns are doing well at the moment and can keep Beal recovering from his injuries.