I’m Really Playing Basketball

Time comes to February, and of course the most important event in the entire NBA is this year's NBA All-Star Weekend.

Although it is said that every year at the All-Star Weekend, many people complain that it is not exciting enough and that it is not as good-looking as before, but the fans always follow and watch every year because of their integrity.

Especially the All-Star Game at All-Star Weekend.

Because the NBA is now in its golden age, although you say that the All-Star Game is not good enough, this is another matter, but it is really difficult for players to be selected for the All-Star Game.

I don't know how many stars in the East and West are rarely selected even once in their entire career.

Even with the strength of the All-Star, players who cannot be selected for the All-Star Game are really everywhere.

Among the more famous ones, such as Mike Beasley, the third-generation Mitsubishi boss of Marquette University, the Pacers star, has not been selected as an All-Star for so many years in his career.

Until now, Beasley is 34 years old and is working hard for the first All-Star of his career.

You know, Beasley has almost been considered by fans and experts to be a player comparable to a superstar.

In fact, Beasley's offense is a superstar player, just because the defense is really terrible, so he is not a real superstar, his performance in the NBA playoffs is also average, his career has never broken through the first round, if he can Breaking through the first round once, even if there are problems with his defense, he will be recognized as a superstar.

A player with superstar-level strength has never been selected as an All-Star in his career, and this may have appeared in this era.

There is no such precedent in the entire history of the NBA.

However, this also has a lot to do with Beasley's bad luck.

In his entire career, what kind of gods were the Eastern Conference strikers?

In the early days, there were Chen Xiao, James, Durant, Stoudemire, Anthony and other players.

When Chen Xiao left, Sisi went away, Anthony and Westbrook broke up, Antetokounmpo rose up again, and James and Durant were always green.

Let's just put it this way, although the All-Stars are only divided into the backcourt and the frontcourt, the frontcourt is not only your small forward.

In the East, it's not only the small forwards that are desperate to compete, but also the power forwards and centers.

In short, in an All-Star game, there are 12 players in the East, generally five in the backcourt, and seven in the frontcourt. Seriously, except for James, Durant, Antetokounmpo, Gobb, Oden. Outside of the five players who are almost certain to be selected, even Embiid, the 76ers head, is actually competing with other Eastern Conference frontcourt stars for the remaining two spots.

It's understandable that Beasley can't compete with these people.

In particular, with the rise of the Nets this season, Ingram and Drummond have joined the fray.

What makes people even more desperate is that Chen Xiao has returned from the west, and now he is playing in the frontcourt.

In this way, in fact, the entire East, the frontcourt position is really not enough.

At the very least, no matter how strong Beasley is, he is still a recognized superstar. I am afraid it will be difficult for him to compete for the last All-Star spot.

And this is where the whole East is desperate.

The stars are really hungry for All-Stars.

It is precisely because of this that every February, the entire NBA media will frantically hype the list of the All-Star game to see who has become the biggest loser.

The roster for this year's NBA All-Star Game.

On the east side, the five starters are the frontcourt, the ticket kings Chen Xiao, Durant, Gao Bo, and the backcourt are Curry and Rose.

The five starters on the west side, the frontcourt, the ticket king Zhouqi, Jokic, Leonard, and the backcourt are Doncic and Morant.

The 7 bench players on the Eastern side, Antetokounmpo, James, Zach LaVine, Ingram, Oden, James Harden, Westbrook.

The 7 bench players on the west side, Paul George, Siakam, Trae Young, Jimmy Butler, Thick eyebrows, Alexander, Devin Booker.

As far as the list of the 24 All-Star games is concerned, let's just put it this way, there are really a bunch of undrafted superstars in the East and West.

For example, Embiid, Beasley, DeRozan in the East, Griffin and Chris Paul in the West, Towns and so on.

So much so that the Netball star Drummond, who was very brooding about his failure to make the All-Star Game, was finally brooding after seeing the list of players from the East and the West who were absent from the All-Star Game. became regret.

The Nets have a solid record so far this season. Before the start of the All-Star break, the Nets were 45-14, the third-best record in the Eastern Conference, behind the 52-7 Heroes. The Deer and the 50-9 Heat are third in the Eastern Conference.

If you count the entire league, it's only fifth place in the league after the same 50-9 Lakers and 48-11 Warriors.

It is precisely because of such a record that Drummond, who has averaged 15 points and 15 rebounds per game so far this season, actually has further expectations.

But in the end, Drummond didn't make it to the All-Star Game, and to be honest, it's far from bad.

He was sixth in the frontcourt in the fan-voting stage, the closest he's gotten to an All-Star game in his career.

After all, he overtook Embiid in this year's vote.

It's just that, no matter who has beaten him, when he can't vote for the All-Star Game, it means that the All-Star Game is no match for him.

"Five Dynasties Rivers, Mountains, Wind and Moon"

Even the superstar who lost the All-Star Game did not have his name.

For the time being he is not very qualified.

However, with the arrival of the All-Star Weekend, the discussion of the missing fish in the All-Star game has ended, but the core of the player transaction has the name of Drummond, and it is still the protagonist.

Drummond and Bruce Brown, the two Nets players, performed very well because of their excellent performances in the first half of the season.

Both have shown very good offensive and defensive abilities and good potential.

Drummond will not say anything, just say Bruce Brown, who has averaged 14 points, 3 assists, 5 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 0.9 blocks per game so far this season. As a swingman, the Nets' starter this season The No. 2 position can average 1.6 three-pointers per game, and the shooting rate is as high as 42%. It can be said that in terms of data, he is simply a perfect 3D player.

Even many Nets fans feel that the Nets should not trade him as an option for the team, and feel that the team still has his place.

After all, he was a player in 1996, only 26 years old this year, and the 4-year, 30 million contract he signed with the team the year before was not a big deal. In this case, this player is definitely a high-quality asset for a team.

And with such excellent 3D strength, it seems that he is a player who is very suitable for Chen Xiao.

Therefore, as the trade deadline approached, the entire trading market became confusing for a while.

To be fair, the NBA trading market at the beginning of this year was actually very active. What is the reason?

Of course, it's because Kobe's son, Kobe Bryant, will participate in the NBA draft this year. This player has been the No. 1 player in the United States since middle school.

In this case, many teams in the league are actually changing directions for Xiao Chen this season.

Many teams want to be bad, but many stars may not actually want to be bad.

For example, New York Knicks star Westbrook is very unhappy with the Knicks' bad behavior this season.

The team is rotten, and Westbrook is daring to fight. This season, he took the Knicks to the edge of the playoffs and made the All-Star game himself.

To be honest, this actually made the Knicks management very upset.

Westbrook is also 34 years old this year. Although there is still a strong fighting ability at this age, there is nothing wrong with the Knicks considering their future, right?

There is really no problem with this, you can't bear such a season for Westbrook?

But for Westbrook, he really doesn't want to endure it. He has reached his age. He still wants a championship. Although the hope is slim, he still wants to try. At the same time, he doesn't want to accompany Kobe Bryant from the bottom of his heart. Continue to grow up. After this season, I will be 35 years old. How can I grow up with Kobe Bryant?

In this case, Westbrook will of course attack the team directly.

In this regard, the Knicks are also very uncomfortable. Because of his age and style of play, Westbrook's transaction value is almost equal to zero. In addition, he has a large contract, and no one wants it without a first-round pick.

However, his historical status in the Knicks is still very high. If the team really wants to trade him, the fans will definitely fight with the management.

Even the fans support Westbrook's daring choice.

The entire NBA says Kobe Bryant is good, but the Knicks will definitely be able to get Kobe Bryant?

You don't even think about how many teams have been rotten this season.

Can you play the Knicks to win the other team?

It can only be said that there are too many bad teams this season.

There are also many teams like the Knicks that are not resolute.

For example, another unbeatable team in the East, the Pacers.

With the Pacers of Beasley and Love, the team's management this season is actually rotten.

But Beasley and Love were reluctant, because both wanted to be an All-Star, and neither of them had ever made an All-Star in their careers.

In this case, the age of the two is 34 and the other is 34 and a half years old. Although the two are in good shape for the All-Stars, plus their professionalism is very good, the state of the two is no matter how good they are. , in fact, the peak of his career is just a year or two.

In this case, how can you be willing to waste a year with the team.

After missing the All-Star Game again this time, the two Pacers stars almost gave up completely, and at the same time, a huge conflict broke out with the team.

Like Westbrook's relationship with the Knicks, Beasley and Love have had similar conflicts and conflicts with the Pacers.

Both felt the Pacers were holding them back.

As for the Pacers, they feel that considering that the two have been in the Pacers in their careers and are two of the greatest players in the history of the Pacers, they are willing to give them most of the season to hit the All-Star, you hit All-star failure is your own problem, how can you blame the team for not supporting you?

For the Pacers, the team has fallen far behind the rest of the team to support you.

Therefore, because of Kobe Bryant, because of the rotten reasons, the entire NBA is now like a powder keg in the trading market.

In fact, these rotten teams really don't necessarily want Kobe Bryant.

Let’s just put it this way, the boss of Kobe said when Kobe Bryant entered, the Lakers can pay any price for Kobe Bryant.

The reason why Kobe is willing to be a head coach in the NBA is that he wants to coach Kobe in his career.

In this case, these teams can directly rob the Lakers if they get the No. 1 pick.

The Lakers have a lot of high-quality assets.

Not to mention Leonard and Paul George, the two older superstars.

Let’s just say Jokic and Siakam, two superstars in their prime.

The team also has Lowe, a player who has shown great potential.

It can be said that the Lakers have a lot of resources that can be robbed.

A lot of teams actually have this idea.

For the idea of ​​Kobe Jr. and these teams, the Nets don't have so many ideas.

Because the Nets can't get Kobe Bryant, although Chen Xiao knows how strong Bryant is.

This second-generation star that he and Kobe cultivated requires talent, skill, and fighting spirit. There is no problem in saying that he is the son of choice like James, Oden, and Durant.

If possible, it would be absolutely perfect to get him and Xiao Xiao Chen in the backcourt.

But, you can't get it.

So, the Nets are now focusing on the trade market after the All-Star break.

After the All-Star Weekend this year, the trading market closed immediately.

The Nets are finally over for the discussion. What are they talking about?

Of course there is only one question left between Joe Harris and Bruce Brown.

In the end, under the decision of Chen Xiao and Kidd, Bruce Brown was chosen to stay.

It can only be said that Bruce Brown has improved too much this season.

Joe Harris has better three-pointer ability, better shooting, and poor defense. It seems that the offensive end is a good match for Chen Xiao.

And Bruce Brown used to shoot very badly. This season, it suddenly exploded. It seems that it is easy to suddenly wilt again, but his defense is very good, and his offense and defense are also good. If he can maintain his offensive ability, he must be better than Johari. A more suitable player.

The key is whether Bruce Brown can maintain this level, and can play at this level in the playoffs.

Many people in the Nets management believe that Joe Harris can be stable in the playoffs, and Bruce Brown is very mysterious.

Therefore, most of the Nets management hope to choose Joe Harris to stay in the team.

However, in the end, Chen Xiao and Kidd made a decision to leave Bruce Brown. No way, the Nets' defense was too bad.

Players like Bruce Brown who are offensive and defensive and who can make three-pointers are hard to find in the entire league.

If the Nets can qualify for one, it really can't be sent away like this.

As for whether the future is suddenly unstable, that is the future.

At least, now he is really suitable for Chen Xiao and the Nets.

And more importantly, Joe Harris' contract is bigger, 4 years and 80 million. This big contract is really big. Of course, Joe Harris' performance is worth it.

Although the Nets did not make the playoffs in the first two seasons, Joe Harris' three-point shooting percentage was as high as 48 and 47.5%, and he averaged more than 3 three-pointers per game. In the first two seasons, he played for the team. In the case of the starter, the average shooting rate is about 48% and the average is 15 points per game. Even if it is you, you will give such a big contract.

If he can defend, he could even compete for a max salary.

As for the problem of not proving themselves in the playoffs, let's put it this way, a few of the top players in the Eastern Conference with the maximum salary have proved themselves in the playoffs.

Joe Harris' performance with the Nets in the first two seasons was almost identical to what the Warriors' former Michael Porter Jr. did with the Warriors.

And because Michael Porter Jr. has a defense, the Nuggets are willing to give him a max contract.

Therefore, although Joe Harris was given a 4-year 80 million contract, many Nets management think the team has made a profit.

And Joe Harris, who returned to the bench this season, is also doing very well at present, averaging 12 points per game, his three-point shooting rate is still 47%, and he can still hit 3 three-pointers per game.

So, Joe Harris has proven his ability and performance in the regular season for three consecutive seasons.

So, when the Nets decided to send Joe Harris instead of Bruce Brown, it drew even more attention.

It can only be said that the three-point shot in this era is really too important, and Joe Harris' performance at the three-point line in the past three seasons is also too good.

Although he can't be a star player because of his defense, he is a very good role player.

So much so that even the Bucks, Lakers, Heat, Warriors and other league super teams have come to ask for prices.

All in all, Drummond and Joe Harris are two very good assets for the Nets to trade this trade period.

Naturally, the two men received a lot of offers.

Westbrook of the Knicks.

The Blazers' Lillard and McCollum pick at random.

Pacers' Beasley and Love can pick whatever they want, or even pack everything.

The Spurs' Jimmy Butler, Dwight Howard, pick whatever you want, or even pack together.

and many more…

These are the teams that the league hasn't been as determined to put down this season.

Their thoughts are actually very easy to guess. The players they put on the shelves are a group of players with big contracts. If they can exchange for the perfect puzzle player and get Kobe Bryant, then the team can immediately Take off like the Mavericks get Doncic and the Thunder get Trae Young.

It's nice to be able to get out of a big contract and rebuild right away.

It is precisely because of this that the threshold of the Nets team has been broken.

But in the end, the Nets sent Joe Harris and Drummond from the Spurs for Jimmy Butler and Aldridge, who returned this season after announcing his retirement.

At the same time, the Nets reached an agreement with Beasley, who agreed to terminate the contract with the Pacers, and signed a half-season minimum salary contract.

So far, the Nets, who have been stepped on the threshold, have completed the final reinforcement of the season.

Although it may not be perfect, at least it is stronger than the random operation for reinforcement in summer.

As for the pursuit of perfection, this is really impossible. Although Drummond and Joe Harris are high-quality assets, the upper limit of the two is also very obvious. It is impossible to exchange for superstars under the age of 30. .

And Jimmy Butler was the best fit he could find.

After all, Jimmy Butler is a student of Chen Xiao, and Chen Xiao still knows him, although because of Popovich's retirement, the Spurs can't hold back this thorn in pursuit of success. There are many problems, but Jimmy Butler, who is a thorn in the Spurs, must be a different look when he is next to Chen Xiao.

Compared with Lillard and others, Jimmy Butler, who has excellent offensive and defensive mental attributes, is a good match for the Nets.

Coupled with Beasley, who peacefully terminated the contract with the Pacers, Chen Xiao can finally play center again in the Nets.

By the way, Beasley was also Chen Xiao's younger brother and student back then. Beasley always regarded Chen Xiao as the boss.

After breaking out with the Pacers and ending the contract, many teams approached him. In the end, Beasley chose Chen Xiao's Nets without any hesitation.

It can only be said that for Beasley, even if he fails to become an All-Star or win a championship after coming to the Nets, as long as he plays with Chen Xiao for a few seasons, his career can be considered complete.

Then interestingly, the third-generation Marquette Mitaka, in addition to Jr. Curry following his father Curry in the Bobcats, Jimmy Butler and Beasley, all gathered again in the Nets.