Which NBA players saw their stock fall during these playoffs

A player’s worth is most accurately weighed in the playoffs. Just refer to last season’s Julius Randle debacle. Randle averaged 24 ppg, 10 rpg, and 6 apg on scorching shooting splits of 46%/41%/81%. Every metric but his FG% was a career-best. Then came the playoffs. In that first-round series vs. the Atlanta Hawks, Randle shat the bed, shooting 30%/33%/85%. That kind of dropout perfectly indicates why the playoffs are the great equalizer to separate the contenders from the pretenders. This year’s postseason was no different.

As each playoff round ended, there were a few players, some superstars, some stars, others household role-players who exposed themselves as frauds. When this happens, it puts into context the radical contracts paid out in today’s market. Role players with specialized skills but without broad skillsets get bags over $15 million per year. Then, when the pressure of the playoffs begins to chokehold those who can’t stomach the pressure, we see what teams rolled the dice on the wrong bums.

Here’s a look at the players who came into this postseason with their reputations intact and statistical cache, only to see it plummet under pressure.

When the Mavericks finally unloaded 7-foot-3 Latvian loser, Kristaps Porziņģis, to the Washington Wizards, it was for far less than delusional Maverick fans thought he would net in return. Disgruntled crypto bro Spencer Dinwiddie was having the worst season of his career with the Wizards and needed a change of scenery as bad as Porziņģis did. In Washington, Dinwiddie started 44 games and averaged a paltry 12.6 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 5.8 assists. But, once he arrived, Mavs fans were happy to get back someone who wanted to be there. And boy did Dinwiddie start off hot. In Dallas, he averaged 15.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists in 27 regular-season games.

In March, he drained game-winners against the Celtics and another former team, the Nets. Dinwiddie entered the playoffs a man on fire. But his performance through three rounds was as inconsistent as you can get. Against the Suns, he scored four points in Game 2, 10 in Game 3, two in Game 4, then 15 in Game 5, and a clutch 30 points in the pivotal Game 7. While he came through in elimination time, every game matters in the playoffs, and single-digit outputs are pathetic. Against the Warriors in the WCF, Dinwiddie had another four-point dud in Game 2 and a 10-point outing in Game 4. His horrid consistency made it brutally clear the Mavs must do everything possible to re-sign Jalen Brunson. Dinwiddie cannot be the starting point guard on the Mavs. He’s proven he can barely suffice as the positional backup. Yes, the Mavs were right to trade K.P., no matter the worthless return they received back. The knee-jerk reactions to Dinwiddie’s inconsistent hot games prove we can’t forget just how low the bar was when he arrived.

Things started off so well. After spending three quiet years in mediocrity with the Spurs, DeRozan had a renaissance like no other in Chicago. It wasn’t as if he had become a scrub in San Antonio. Quite the opposite. He was still averaging over 20 ppg when he left. It’s just that no one cared. Which is what made it so shocking when he averaged a career-high in his first season with the Bulls, at 27.9 ppg, while shooting a career-high from three at 35 percent. He was unstoppable. Even NBA diehards struggled to recall a player who went from fading into obscurity to a MVP candidate just by changing teams. It’s not like the Spurs are dysfunctional. Not at all. But they were in rebuild mode, and far from contending. By joining the Bulls, and fellow All-Stars Nicola Vucevic and Zach Lavine, DeRozen had a shot at returning to the glory of his Toronto Raptors days.

So when the playoffs came and the Bulls entered as the 6-seed, many thought they would at least give the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks a run for their money. Instead it was over with a whimper in five games. It was even worse for DeRozan, who crashed back to reality with the third-worst playoff scoring average of his career at 20.8, a far cry form his regular-season performance. With it his 3-point shooting, something he had worked so hard to improve during the season, plummeted to 21 percent.His FG% went from 50 percent in the regular season to 41 percent in the first round. At 32 years old, we’ve probably witnessed the greatest late-career MVP campaign, as well as DeRozan’s last shot at glory. Even if Lavine, a free agent this summer, re-signs with the Bulls, it’s unlikely he’ll is able to duplicate that magic next season. But who knows, this season proved strange things can happen.

Contrary to what many pundits pontificate, Mitchell did not lose his place in the superstar category. He is still an unstoppable force on offense, even if his defense was exposed in a first-round loss to the Mavericks to be incapable of stopping Davis Bertans on switches. However, the most shocking thing about Mitchell’s playoff performance was his lack of heart. In many moments throughout the series, it appeared Mitchell gave up. He was as disinterested as ever in passing to teammate Rudy Gobert, but he also seemed equally unenthused about playing defense or putting his team on his back. Even with Dončić out for three games, Mitchell couldn’t put forth the type of superstar effort needed to close out the series while the Mavs were ailing.

In a series most expected to be at least competitive, Mitchell shot 40 precent from the field and an embarrassing 21 percent from 3. But what will be remembered most was the listless effort on offense. The over-dribbling. The terrible shots out of isolation. The nine-point, 4-for-15 Game 5 performance. The inability to stop Brunson from looking like an All-Star. While it was never more apparent Mitchell’s time in Utah has come to an end, his stock and questions around his will to win are the lowest they’ve been in his career.

Outside of Miami, Herro has been one of the more annoying players in the NBA. He’s the type of smug dude you love to hate. Whether it’s the Rick Owens and Fear of God outfits, or goofy rapper writing a song about him, Herro has always felt like his hype was unearned after just one breakout run in the NBA Bubble. Herro somehow won Sixth Man of the Year while leading the team in shot attempts, two-and-a-half more shots than Jimmy Butler a game. All while playing start-level minutes at 32.6 per game. For reference, the Heat’s leading scorer, Butler, played 33.9 mpg.

In the playoffs, Herro dealt with myriad nagging injuries, causing his production and efficiency to drop. Through the Heat’s run to the ECF, he scored over 20 points just twice. He scored 10 or less points five times. His durability and efficiency have come into question this playoffs. He’s up for a rookie-scale contract extension this summer. What’s his worth and what is his best role within the Heat’s pecking order. Can he be a better No. 2 option than Bam Adebayo? Doubtful. Will he remain content coming off the bench? He’s already hinted that he wants to start next season. His ceiling seems similar to Brunson’s, as a near 20 ppg scorer who is best served as a third- or fourth-scoring option.

Miami is in bad shape. It’s watching its overachieving roster dwindle with age, injury, and limitations. This projects to be the last time this core reaches the ECF, seeing that next year will be another year for declining vets like Kyle Lowry, P.J. Tucker, and Markieff Morris. Worse of all, their young All-Star, Adebayo, proved the doubters right once again this playoffs as he looked more like Antonio McDyess than prime Amar’e Stoudemire. Adebayo is extremely limited on offense. He developed a nice turn-around jumper 12-15 feet out, but he’s easily stifled in double-teams and still can’t shoot consistently from 3.

No one doubts his greatness on defense, but his 15 ppg and 8 rpg in the ECF don’t make sense in context to his $28 million salary this season. This contract only gets higher from here on out, peaking at $37 million in 2025 - 2026. Oof. That’s a lot of money for a bonafide roll-and-lob guy with a streaky jumper and minimal post moves. Bam is better suited as a second option, rather than the secondary scorer Miami intended him to be. This has never been more apparent than when he put up worse averages in the ECF, than he did in the regular season. If he’s not able to unlock different dimensions of his game in the elite culture of Miami, under the tutelage of Pat Riley and Eric Spolestra, it ain’t happening. Adebayo is the poster child for Miami’s recent accumulation of bloated contracts assigned to players with limited skillsets.

We’ve used this space to critique Towns’ game before. Not since the Kevin Garnett-led years was there this much optimism in Minnesota that the Timberwolves could advance out of the first round. Through their six-game series against the Memphis Grizzlies, they seemed evenly matched. Alas, the T-Wolves finished only their second playoff appearance in 18 years with another first-round exit. Towns looked hungrier than ever this season, putting up monster stats of 25 ppg, 10 rpg, and 4 apg, good enough to earn him All-NBA Third-Team honors. But just like in 2018 against the Houston Rockets, Towns performed worse in the playoffs than the regular season.

It’s obvious if the NBA did away with outdated positional recognition, Towns would not have made the All-NBA team, in lieu of Jimmy Butler or Donovan Mitchell. Towns’ playoff performance this year can be summarized in Game 3, where he scored eight points, took four shots, and only managed to corral five boards. This was an embarrassing performance at home, in front of a crowd that has stuck by him through truly terrible personal lows. Some players just aren’t made for the bright lights. Luckily, Towns’ teammate, Anthony Edwards seems more than ready.

Booker went from loveable underdog to overrated braggadocio in a single series. Against the Mavs, he shot his way out of the superstar status so many pundits bestowed upon him way too early. Unfortunately, Booker didn’t just come up short in crucial moments throughout the series, he was also arrogant, dickish, and flopped so flagrantly he became a meme.

During last year’s Finals run, Booker was the heart and soul of an underdog Suns team that lost to the Bucks. This season, after achieving the best record in the NBA, there was a certain air of arrogance around the Suns. It mostly emanated from Booker during his “Luka Special” jab and post-game interviews on Luka’s game. Most of all, there was the Game 7 performance — 11 points on 3-14 shooting in the Mavs’ 33-point blowout win. This was in an elimination game, mind you. It reminded some who have been paying attention to the 2019 off-season when Booker was caught on camera complaining over Joakim Noah’s penchant to double-team during an open gym run with current and former NBA players. Perhaps it would have done him some good to practice real-game scenarios, like the ones he faced against the Mavs’ stingy defense.