Athletes love to buck the “pressure is a privilege” cliché — except it might not feel like it for these seven.
Pressure in the NBA generally comes in two forms: Pressure to win and pressure to be paid. There are some of both of those on this list of the seven players facing the most pressure in the NBA this season, plus some career legacy thrown in for some cases (the bottom two on this list are more legacy, more “pressure is”. privilege”, while the top five it is more immediate).
Here’s our list of seven men, kicking off a month of NBA season preview stories.
Through Young
Is Trae Young the guy to lead the Atlanta Hawks to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021? Or is he the guy who had considerably less trade interest this summer than Dejonte Murray? More importantly, which of those perceptions will decide Young’s salary going forward?
Young is eligible for an extension after this season, which puts pressure on him to prove that teams underestimated him. Young needs to show front offices that he can be one of the two best players on a contending team, that he can lift the team around him, and isn’t simply a statistic and a defensive liability. Or, at least he needs to re-establish enough value to pay for himself as he expects next summer.
Atlanta has to decide for themselves before next summer what role Young plays in their future, and they will evaluate him this season as well. Are the Falcons still building around Young or are they moving on and doing a more traditional rebuild? If they want to move on, how much of a trade market is there? (Some corners of the Internet love to try to push Young to San Antonio, but league sources told NBC Sports that the Spurs don’t share that interest and don’t think pairing him with Victor Wembanyama would lead to a contender. Which speaks directly to why Young is in this list.)
LaMelo Ball
LaMelo Ball may be one of the funniest players in the NBA, he’s a social media personality, but can he win in the NBA? Can he lead a team? Or are his statistics empty calories?
The pressure is on Ball this season to prove he can stay healthy — he’s played in just 58 games over the past two seasons — and that he can lead the Hornets to the postseason. To be fair, Charlotte is rebuilding and won’t win many games this season, but if Ball, Brandon Miller, Miles Bridges and the rest of the roster can click under new coach Charles Lee, the game is in place. not out of the question. Any hope of that starts with Ball, who must not only put up numbers — 23.9 points and 8 assists per game last season — but show he can be effective while doing it. Ball’s 56.1 true shooting percentage was at the league average last season and his turnover rate of 15% needs to come down (for comparison, Jalen Brunson had a 9.1% turnover rate last season and the high-speed Tyrese Haliburton was 12.2%). Ball has his contract, but we will learn a lot this season about what kind of player he is.
Jamal Murray
If the Denver Nuggets are to return to the NBA Finals, Jamal Murray must return to his 2023 Finals form. It’s that simple. He got paid this summer — a max extension of $208 million — now he has to live up to it. With Kentavious Caldwell-Pope gone (following in the footsteps of Bruce Brown and Jeff Green a year earlier) and the Nuggets leaning into a youth movement for role players, Murray being elite matters more than ever for the Nuggets.
He wasn’t elite in the playoffs last season, averaging 20.6 points and 5.8 assists a game but shooting 31.5% from 3 with a terrible 47.4 true shooting percentage – although he did hit some clutch winners against the Lakers.
Or, look at it this way, his PER was 12.2, which is below the league average and suggests a bench player. It was worse in the Paris Olympics, where he averaged six points per game and shot 14.3% from 3.
Nuggets president Josh Kroenke defended Murray and said he was not 100% healthy in the playoffs or in Paris. That may be true, but if he’s not healthy and returns to his 2023 form this season the Nuggets will be home much sooner than they’d like.
Paul George
Paul George was the only All-Star to switch teams this summer, bolting from Southern California to head to Philadelphia and play with Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey. The arrival of George made the 76ers immediate contenders …
On paper.
Now PG13 needs to stay healthy, play like he did as an All-Star last season in Los Angeles – 22.6 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, plus quality defense – and bring it in the playoffs. None of that is a given, and not in the way that any player stays healthy. George played in 74 games last season but never topped 56 in the previous four seasons (two of those seasons had reduced games due to the pandemic, but he missed considerable time those years). “Playoff P” has also had his share of playoff struggles, including in Game 6 against Dallas last year and going back to the Clippers’ collapse in the bubble. George also had some amazing playoff performances, but he wasn’t consistent in the way the 76ers trust him to be.
If George and Embiid are healthy and playing at or near their peak, Philly is definitely a threat to Boston and could win it all. Their moves this offseason were perhaps the best in the league. However, George has landed his hefty new contract and now has to prove he’s worth it on the biggest of stages.
Yes Morant
Indeed, Morant wants a fresh start. That’s what this season feels like, a chance for Morant to have a redemptive arc, both on the court and off, and for the Grizzlies to be a sleeping giant in the West (or, at least, a dangerous playoff team).
Now the pressure is on him to do something with that opportunity. The question isn’t the quality of his play, even in the nine games he played last season between his suspension and shoulder injury, Morant averaged 25.1 points and 8.1 assists a game, and the Grizzlies overwhelmed opponents with him on the court. . However, he has not played in 65 games or more (the qualifying line for postseason awards) since his rookie season. Morant needs to stay healthy. Off the court, he has to be a good teammate, be mature and not do the stupid things that get you kicked out of the league.
I’m high on the Grizzlies having a big rebound season and making the top six, but that’s a bet on Morant returning to form.
Anthony Edwards
It might seem a little strange to see one of the fastest rising stars in the league on this list, but hear me out:
If Minnesota takes a step forward and reaches the NBA Finals, it will be because Anthony Edwards makes the jump to the player who can carry a contender in the biggest moments. The pressure is on him to prove he can do it. Let’s use the Paris Olympics as an example: Through the group games, Edwards was America’s leading scorer, but when it came time for the medals it was the guys with championship experience — Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant, LeBron James — who stepped up. their games. Now, Edwards has to be that guy.
The pressure is also there because no one is sure how long the Timberwolves’ window will last, at least in this iteration. Rudy Gobert is an extension and will cost more after this season, this entire roster is radically expensive, Mike Conley is 37 years old, and this team is in the middle of an ownership battle that could lead to changes. The pressure is on the Timberwolves to win now, and that puts pressure on Edwards.
I think he is ready to deal with it, but he has to do it on the court.
Jayson Tatum
Why is he on this list? Jayson Tatum was the best player on a championship team, then won a Gold Medal this summer, doesn’t that mean the pressure is off him? Not after Tatum struggled through the playoffs (by his standards) then got benched by Steve Kerr for parts of the Paris Olympics.
Tatum has been an All-NBA, MVP ballot-level player in recent seasons, but his reputation and legacy need some polishing after his June and summer. Plus, he plays in Boston, where a franchise cornerstone is expected to win more than one ring.
It’s “good pressure” and Tatum will welcome it, but he faces pressure nonetheless.
