is as strong as Conley was only the No. 4 show back then, who are the 3 people in front of him? How is the development of the future

There is no 24th in the rivers and lakes

2024-05-29 16:00Posted in Henan Sports Creators

Preface

With the Timberwolves pulling one back in the Western Conference finals, the series is 1-3, and while the team is still on the edge of a cliff, at least they still have a chance to make history. For the Timberwolves, their problem is still offense, but with Edwards passing half as good as Doncic, they could be the one in the lead.

Because the Timberwolves are very "poor offense", the veteran Conley is also very important to the team, and his passing, experience, scoring and other abilities can still help the team. In this year's playoffs, Conley averaged 11.8 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.9 assists and 1.2 steals per game, with a three-point shooting rate of 40.6%, and the Western Conference G4 was on the verge of the team's elimination, and he scored 14 points, 3 rebounds, 7 assists and 4 steals to help the team win with foul troubles, which was also the first time in his career to win in the Western Conference.

This performance has made many fans forget that Conley is 36 years old, and he has played in the league for 17 seasons since he entered the league in 2007, and many players have been eliminated by the league in the same period. And as strong as Conley, he was only selected with the fourth pick when he participated in the draft that year, so who are the three people in front of him? How did they develop after entering the league?

Third pick: Al Horford

Career averages: 13.1 points, 8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.2 blocks per game

Before entering the NBA, Horford was a star player in the NCAA, playing for the University of Florida, where he helped the team win two consecutive NCAA championships before entering the draft in 2007. As a defensive interior player, Horford's style of play was very popular in those days, and his defensive mobility was also very good, plus his skills on the offensive end were more delicate than many blue-collar centers.

In his rookie season, Horford averaged 10.1 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game, and his performance was fully in line with the team's expectations, and he was eventually selected for the All-Rookie team. In the 2009-2010 season, he averaged 14.2 points, 9.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.1 blocks per game, and was successfully selected as the first All-Star of his career.

Horford was also selected to the best three teams next season, and he really entered his peak in those years, and under his leadership, the Hawks also won the first place in the East for a time, and the best result in the playoffs was the Eastern Conference Finals. However, after losing to the Cavaliers in 2016, Horford decided to move to the Celtics in the offseason, and from that year on, he also began to completely transform into a space interior lineman.

Although Horford didn't shoot three-pointers at all in the early part of his career, he developed his shooting potential later in order to adapt to the change in NBA play. With Horford's help, the Celtics have been in the first echelon of the Eastern Conference championship for many years, and although he is getting older, he can still play well on the court.

The 37-year-old Horford averaged 9.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.9 assists and 0.9 blocks per game in the playoffs, and averaged 1.9 three-pointers per game on 34.6% shooting. In some games, Horford can still step up to save the team, such as 22 points, 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, 3 blocks and 6 three-pointers in the semifinals G5, and 23 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal, 3 blocks and 7 three-pointers in the Eastern Conference G3.

Second pick: Kevin Durant

He averaged 27.3 points, 7 rebounds, 4.4 assists, 1.1 steals and 1.1 blocks per game in his career

In the 2006-2007 season, Durant played for the University of Texas, averaging 25.8 points and 11.1 rebounds per game, and his outstanding performance allowed him to win various individual honors, and he also broke those doubts about him along the way, and he was drafted by the SuperSonics early in the second pick when he entered the draft.

In his rookie season, the team gave Durant enough balls to use his talents, averaging 20.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game that year, and he successfully proved the team's decision to select him correctly. In his second season, Durant once again widened the gap between him and the rest of his peers, averaging 25.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game, and his offensive efficiency became more efficient.

In the 2009-2010 season, Durant won the first scoring title of his career with an average of 30.1 points per game, and then he also achieved the achievement of being elected as the scoring champion for three consecutive years. Although Durant was still very young at the time, he relied on his talent to play on the court was completely enough to support him to score wantonly, and even on the stage of the Finals, Durant could still average 30+ per game, and he was only 23 years old that year.

In the 2013-2014 season, Durant averaged 32 points, 7.4 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 1.3 steals per game in the regular season, shooting 50.3% from the field. However, in the eight seasons of the Thunder, Durant only reached the Finals in 2012, but unfortunately failed to win the championship in the end, so in the summer of 2016 he decided to leave here and joined the Warriors.

After the Warriors Durant won two consecutive seasons of championships, he also became the first player since James to win the FMVP two consecutive years. In 2019, the 30-year-old Durant suffered an Achilles tendon rupture, originally thought he would never return to his peak, but he was still one of the league's best scorers after his comeback, and he averaged 34.3 points, 9.3 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game in the 2021 playoffs.

Durant applied for a trade last season and came to the Suns, although he is 35 years old, he averaged 27.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5 assists and 1.2 blocks per game this season, but the team's shortcomings were still too obvious after all, and he was finally swept by the Timberwolves in the first round.

First pick: Greg Oden

He averaged 8 points, 6.2 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game in his career

Looking at the talent alone, Oden is undoubtedly the best player in this class, he is 2.14 meters tall, has an arm span of 2.24 meters, and as a big center he jumps 0.81 meters on the spot, 0.86 meters on the run, 11.67 seconds for switchbacks in the penalty area, and 3.27 seconds for the three-quarters sprint, which is even better than some small weight players. And in the NCAA, Oden has also shown his absolute talent on both offensive and defensive ends, and he once had a single-game explosion of 25 points, 17 rebounds and 6 blocks.

Therefore, the Trail Blazers, who held the No. 1 pick at the time, had long thought about selecting Oden, but after the latter was selected, he was reimbursed for the season due to injury after not playing a game. Oden returned for the 2008-2009 season, but he was still not completely out of injury, having undergone five surgeries before February 2012, and his knee could not support him anymore, and he finally played his last NBA game in 2014.

But Oden didn't give up completely, he even joined the CBA later, but unfortunately he still couldn't play dominant here, in the 25 games he played for the Jiangsu team, he averaged only 13 points per game, and finally the team also completed the contract with him early, and now he has long since left professional basketball.

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