What is the current situation of the six players who have been hailed as "the next James"? One won the championship and three got big contracts

Preface

For those players who have gone down in the annals of NBA history, fans are eager to see their successors so that everyone can continue to enjoy the best of the league. It's a pity that anyone's success can't be directly replicated, and most of the players who are staring at the successor or the next so-and-so can't achieve the achievements that everyone expects, and finally disappear under endless pressure.

As the first scorer in history and the leader of the league, James naturally has many players who are directly named "the next James" when they enter the league, so what are the achievements of these players? What is the situation in the NBA now? Let's pay attention to it!

First place: Simmons

Draft Pick: No. 1 (76ers)

Career achievements: Best Rookie, Best Rookie Team, 3-time All-Star

Status: Core to offcuts

Talented, with excellent qualities as a striker and defender, able to defend from the No. 1 position to the No. 5 position, with an overall rating of 100. This is Simmons' draft report that year, for such a player with enough talent and performance to explode, when he officially came to the NBA as the top pick in 2016, everyone was full of expectations for him. The media and fans did not hesitate to praise him, thinking that he would become the next James, so everyone gave him the nickname "Western Emperor".

Simmons, who was at the beginning of his career, did not live up to everyone's expectations. He was outstanding on both ends of the floor, contributing 15.8 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.2 assists in his first season. His combination with Embiid also helped the 76ers become regular visitors to the playoffs again.

Just when fans were expecting the 76ers to rise again, Simmons' performance changed dramatically. Switching from forward to guard, he simply couldn't create any threat from beyond the three-point line, and even if he had reserved enough space, his final choice was just passing. Coupled with injuries and conflicts with management, all of this made Simmons choose not to play against the team.

In the end, he became a bargaining chip and was traded to the Nets, thinking that he could gradually regain his form after changing circumstances, but Simmons still chose to continue to play badly. Coupled with repeated injury problems, this core player who once held the highest salary has eventually become a leftover material for the team, and he does not have any trade value in the transfer market. What makes fans even more dissatisfied is that every offseason, Simmons vows that he will train hard and show a different competitive state in the new season. As a result, when the game really started, it was found that he was still no different from before.

Second place: Wiggins

Draft Pick: Champion (Cavaliers)

Career achievements: 1-time champion, 1-time All-Star, Rookie of the Year, Rookie Challenge MVP

Status: Wellness is the most important thing

After James left the team, the Cavaliers went straight from the Eastern Conference powerhouse to the league. So getting the champion to sign Taobao has become the most important reliance on the rise of knights. So in the 2014 draft, the Cavaliers used the top pick to get Wiggins. Fans are also eager for him to be the next James and help the Cavaliers regroup.

However, that offseason, the Cavaliers completed two heavy reinforcements, one was James returning to Cleveland, and the other was using Wiggins as a bargaining chip to get the Timberwolves' star Love. After coming to the Timberwolves, Wiggins was naturally regarded as a gem by management, after all, his talent and physical data are there.

What he didn't expect was that Wiggins directly saw through the true meaning of life, so he chose to lie flat at a young age. The team's results and individual stats didn't keep him motivated. As a result, nicknames and stalks such as "Health Mamba" and "Goji Brother" came into being. Wiggins, on the other hand, will only explode with great energy in the contract year, and once he gets a stable contract extension, he will directly switch back to lying flat mode in the next second.

However, in the 2021-22 season when the Warriors won the championship, Wiggins became the best helper next to Curry. He showed great defensive strength and made Tatum, the star of the Green Army, suffer. However, after the Warriors completed a contract extension with him, Wiggins directly achieved stealth in the past two seasons, and the decline in various statistics was very obvious. It can only be said that apart from renewing the contract, there is nothing that can arouse Wiggins' desire to win.

Third place: Zion

Draft Pick: No. 1 (Pelicans)

Career achievements: 2 All-Stars, All-Rookie of the Year 1st Season

Status: Fighting injuries

Zion is the most praised player in the league's star-making era, and the day he becomes the champion, surpassing James in career performance and achievements has been the biggest gimmick of media publicity. Under such pressure, Zion's performance is stable enough, especially his violent basket offense and rebounding scramble, which impresses fans enough. But the violent style of play and the full tonnage of weight made Zion's knees and ankles a major challenge.

As a result, during the first three seasons of his career, Zion would always be out with injuries shortly after the start of the season. Injuries have been the biggest obstacle to his development, but fortunately he has maintained his health well this season, and the Pelicans have finished sixth in the West. As for whether Zion can really play a good enough career in the future, it can only be left to time to confirm.

Fourth place: Jabari Parker

Draft Pick: Top-Pick (Bucks)

Career Achievements: None

Status: League Tramp

Since becoming a member of the Bucks in 2014, Parker has been nurtured as a nucleus. Averaging 12.3 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.7 assists per game in his rookie season is also a decent one. But then Parker was plagued by injuries, and he couldn't guarantee enough games due to injuries for several seasons in a row, and finally had to be traded by the Bucks.

After leaving the Bucks, Parker became a famous tramp in the league, and in just a few years, he played for many teams including the Bulls, Hawks, Kings, Celtics, and more. And after being cut by the Green Army in 2022, Parker left the NBA stage completely.

5th place: Cunningham

Draft Pick: Champion (Pistons)

Career achievements: MVP of the rookie game, the best team of the rookie

Status: The future is unknown

The Pistons set the record for the longest losing streak across seasons and in franchise history, which completely demoralized the players. Although Cunningham didn't give the game night and tried to get the team to win, the current Pistons are really too muddy to support the wall. At present, the team is at the bottom of the league with 8 wins and 45 losses, and it is going straight to the top pick.

In such an environment, even if Cunningham has unlimited firing rights, it obviously does not help his growth. What kind of development will take place in his future career still needs to wait for time to test.