Before the 1st, the league also announced the winners of the Eastern and Western Conference Monthly Players for the previous month.
The Player of the Month in the Eastern Conference was won by John Wall, the star player of the Equipment Team. In the past month, he led the Wizards to a record of 10 wins and 5 losses, leading the Wizards to the top four in the Eastern Conference, which is quite impressive.
At the same time, his personal performance is also quite impressive, averaging 24.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 10.7 assists, 2.6 steals and 0.4 blocks per game, with three shooting percentages of 49.5%, 30.4% and 81.4% respectively.
In the end, Wall defeated the Bulls' Davis, the Cavaliers' James, and the Celtics' Thomas Jr., and was named the conference player of the month for the second time in his career.
Here in the West, the competition for Player of the Month is fierce, it is quite fierce; but is there any suspense? There really is no suspense!
First, why is it intense?
First of all, the Thunder's Westbrook averaged a triple-double of 31+10+11 per game in a single month. Now in the eyes of countless fans and media, Westbrook is basically the embodiment of a triple-double.
In addition, James Harden of the Mosaic team also performed horrifically, averaging 29 points, 9.7 rebounds, 12 assists, 1.5 steals and 0.6 blocks per game.
When Big Beard met D'Antoni, it was like Liu Bei met Zhuge Liang, and he quickly entered the most glorious moment of his life. In the latest MVP rankings, Harden has already reached third place, and the three big players of low-pressure James, Ku, and Du The top super giant, second only to the triple-double maniac Westbrook and... a hot man.
What a hot man who is equal to a bug!
who?
Who else besides Wang Zelin!
In the past month, Wang Zhelin's performance was undoubtedly a historical scoring feast. Just his 84 points, 18 rebounds, 10 assists, 7 blocks and 3 steals in a single game against the Warriors in early December was enough for him to overpower his competitors and once again win the Western Conference Player of the Month.
However, it is quite embarrassing to be voted the best during the day and then lose the game at night...
After the trip to Jingzhou, Wang Zelin and his teammates returned to Portland overnight and are about to usher in two consecutive home games.
…
January is the peak season for layoffs in the NBA. After each team lays off unwanted players, they can find reinforcements in the free market until the trade deadline.
In the past two days, the NBA has launched a crazy wave of layoffs. When you open the news page of almost any team, you can see news such as "Team xx has laid off xx and several other people."
According to statistics, a total of 86 people were laid off in less than three days, which is a terrifying number.
However, fans who deal with NBA season rules should know that before the start of each regular season, such large-scale layoffs will inevitably occur before the official roster of 15 players is determined, because these players are basically unknown marginal players. The contract is a non-guaranteed contract, which is commonly known as "temporary worker".
Such players cannot perform well in training camps and preseason games, and the only result is to be laid off.
In addition, a large number of people who were laid off were veterans of various teams. Because these players are older, it is difficult to maintain the competitive level of the NBA.
Take the Trail Blazers as an example. On the 2nd, after repeated discussions between the coaching staff and management, the team decided to remove veterans Richard Jefferson and Anthony Morrow.
Jefferson, who was once known as the Nets' trident along with Kidd and Carter at the beginning of the century, was ultimately unable to withstand the erosion of time. At the age of 36 this season, he still had to usher in the last year of his career.
In his previous life, Jefferson, who entered the league in 2001, did not realize his championship dream with the Cleveland Cavaliers until the 2015-16 season. After playing for a year and a half, he officially announced his retirement.
In this time and space, he retired a season earlier than Wang Zelin remembered, and he took the initiative to apply for retirement from the management.
In the past few years, he has played at least 100 games for the Trail Blazers every season, which has brought the veteran to the day when he runs out of gas.
He was willing to give up and retire a season early, but what he got in exchange was two precious championship rings. I think even Jefferson in his previous life would have been more willing to say goodbye this way.
For Anthony Morrow, he is just 31 years old this season and theoretically still has a lot of gas in the tank.
But before that, one thing must be clear. Anthony Morrow entered the NBA as a non-draft player, which means that his physical talent is actually not as good as that of draft players.
After all, the draft is essentially about teams betting on player talent.
From the 2008-09 season to the present, as an undrafted player, Morrow has been playing in the NBA for nearly 10 years, and in the past two seasons, he has followed the Trail Blazers to realize his coveted championship dream.
Simply looking at the career development trajectory of a role player, his career is undoubtedly perfect.
His total career salary reached 24 million, and he also won two championship rings in the twilight years of his career.
As a role player, such a career is a complete success.
After learning that the Trail Blazers had included him on the layoff list, Morrow was depressed for a while before he came to his senses, but at the age of 31, he still had no plans to retire.
In the end, the Trail Blazers reached a deal with the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference, exchanging Anthony Morrow for a large amount of cash, thus releasing a certain amount of salary space for the team.
At this point, there are 13 players left on the Trail Blazers' roster. Considering that Aldridge is still recovering from injury, he may not be able to return until the end of the regular season, which means that they only have 12 players available to compete.
Without Morrow and Jefferson, the Trail Blazers' wing strength has declined. Although Carter and McCaw can also play the third position, one is too old and the other is too young, and each has its own shortcomings.
Next, the Blazers management turned their attention to the free agent market, trying to find high-quality championship puzzle pieces, targeting guards and forwards.
Of course, that's something the front office and coaching staff need to consider.
As a player, Wang Zelin and his teammates’ goal is to win the regular season in the first month of the new year.
Losing to the Warriors at the start of 2017 was like a bucket of ice water poured on the heads of the Blazers players, allowing them to return to a normal state of mind from an arrogant mentality.
If you have been number one in the league for too long, you will inevitably drift away!
Only by stopping appropriately and summarizing can you go further.
Two days later, on the night of the 4th, the Trail Blazers faced the challenge of the Los Angeles Lakers at home.
With the birth of various hot transactions in the trading market last summer, especially the emergence of the four-star Warriors, the entire league has completely entered an era of strong teams.
In this era, the Lakers' old three giants composed of Kobe + Paul + my sister-in-law seem less bright.
What's more, they led to the second round last year, further exacerbating the outside world's lack of optimism for the Lakers' championship.
Therefore, the Lakers have been labeled as a pseudo-strong team.
(End of chapter)
