Does the manager matter? Of course it does. Take this season as an example, after Nurse came to the 76ers, the transformation of the team was quite successful. Even without Harden, the 76ers can still maintain the record of the Eastern Conference powerhouse. What's more, Embiid played more comfortably, becoming Jokic, not to mention, and averaging a new career high in points per game. Also benefiting are Harris and Maxey, who are also in the hands of Nas, and they are also making the best use of their resources. Originally, Maxi was a Poole-style player, but now the guy is different, he directly broke through the bottleneck and became a player of another mode, far behind Poole. These are all bonuses for the manager, and it is the manager who pushes them to new heights.
However, some coaches will only bury talents, and young people will not use them at all, so they know how to use stars. During the period of the Nets' Big Three, in Nash's eyes, there were only Durant, Irving, and Harden, and the rest of the players were basically left aside. For the cultivation of young people, it is not in place at all. Thomas, a player as everyone knows, was drafted with the 27th pick in the first round in '21. When Cameron Thomas was in the hands of Nass, he was actually an unpopular character. A player like Thomas actually has the ability, but Nash just doesn't need it. So much so that Thomas was delayed for a whole year, and it wasn't until after Nash got out of class that Thomas met his new Bole.
If you want to talk about Thomas's Bole, it is naturally Vaughn. Vaughn was previously Nash's assistant coach, but his coaching philosophy is very different. Vaughn can make good use of people, and Nash knows giants. Thomas, in Vaughn's hands, is now the Nets' leading scorer and leading scorer, ahead of Bridges and Dinwiddie. We can look at Thomas's stats this season, and it's still pretty good. In 16 games, Thomas averaged 23.9 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game while shooting 45% from the field and 35.3% from three-point range. All but three-point shooting percentage of those stats are career highs. You must know that Thomas averaged only 10.6 points per game last season, and this season he directly increased by 13.3 points, which is a big increase.
In the last four games, Thomas scored 41 points against the Warriors, 24 against the Suns, and 20 points against the Kings. The guy's scoring ability, there is still room to rise. Of course, it was Vaughn who knew the goods and dug Thomas out. Interestingly, the Nets have recently had trade rumors that if the Cavaliers consider trading Mitchell, then the Nets will make a move, which is a potential next home. In fact, in terms of Mitchell's attributes, he is similar to Thomas. It's just that in terms of fame, Mitchell is bigger than Thomas. But we also note that Thomas is only 22 years old this year, which is the biggest advantage, not to mention that Thomas has also been dug out, and there is no need to trade Mitchell.
Players like Thomas, when they are not very high in the ranks, need Bole to dig him. Fortunately, in the third year of his career, and a crucial season, Thomas delivered on his value. Even if you can't get a super contract, getting a contract of about $25 million is not a big problem. Thomas would like to thank Vaughn, without whom he would not be where he is today. So, sometimes a player has to go through a lot of factors if he wants to be successful.