The playoffs are the highest stage for NBA basketball. Teams love star players who raise their game in the playoffs. Playing good playoff basketball can help players get a higher contract. On the flip side, players who do not perform well lose their value. The following players lost some of their value, and their teams cannot be happy about it.
Top 3 Star Players Who Tanked Their Trade Value in the Playoffs
Tyler Herro
Tyler Herro made the All-Star team this year for the first time in his career. He also won the three-point contest. For a while, every fake Heat trade involving a star player involved Herro going the other way.
But the way he has performed in the playoffs this year definitely makes that a bit unlikely. Looking at his numbers, fans might think he had a good series. He averaged 17.8 points per game on 41.5% shooting. Yet, the Heat were routed in three of the four matchups against the Cavaliers. And players on the Cavs confidently said their strategy was hunting Herro on defense.
Herro’s stats in the playoffs are skewed because of the second game, the only one that was remotely close. He scored 33 points on the road in Cleveland. Yet, coming back home with a hope to turn the series around, Herro scored 13 points in Game 3 and only four points in Game 4. He went 5-13 and 1-10 in those two games. Miami is hoping to chase a star in the summer, and Herro’s value is not as high as a month or two ago.
Desmond Bane
Speaking of star players that didn’t do well in this year’s playoffs, we have to talk about a pair of Grizzlies’ teammates. When you have a third-year player, and a first-timer in the playoffs, outplaying you, things are not looking good for you. Desmond Bane had an average series against the Oklahoma City Thunder. In the last two games, without Ja Morant, instead of taking over, Bane let Scotty Pippen Jr. cook. In total, Pippen scored 73 points to 61 by Bane. But stats tell only half of the story.
Anyone watching the Grizzlies play the Thunder could see that once Ja went down midway in Game 3, Scotty seized the opportunity. He scored 28 and 30 points in the last two games, trying his best to get the Grizzlies back in the series. In Game 3, he went 6-10 from the three-point line. In Game 4, he also dished 11 assists and grabbed seven rebounds. Bane, on the other hand, finished with 10 points in Game 3. In Game 4, he rebounded with 23 points but shot only 35% from the field.
The Grizzlies will look to shake things up in the summer. Bane is their second-highest-paid player for next season. With the way he is playing, his contract might look like an albatross in a year. Yes, he is still only 26 years old, but Bane didn’t have a good showing in the playoffs.
Jalen Green
This is the first time Jalen Green has made the playoffs. But after four games, it is evident that the Rockets made a good choice before the season started. They extended Alperen Sengun for five years, $185 million, and gave Jalen Green a three-year, $106 million extension. And in the first round against the Golden State Warriors, Sengun is playing like a franchise player, while Green is struggling.
Green averages 15.5 points through four games, but he scored in double digits only once. You cannot be a star player and have three games in a series with seven, eight, and nine points. Yes, he exploded in Game 2 with 38 points to get the Rockets a win. But in the other three games, he has been a non-factor. In Game 4, he didn’t even bother to shoot, finishing with only eight field goals.
The Rockets are widely regarded as favorites to land a star on the trade market in the offseason. Green’s contract was designed to make him a decent trade chip. But with how he is performing in the first round so far, it is hard to see a team wanting him as the centerpiece of a mega deal.
Photo credit: © Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
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