Alex Caruso said something similar in 2020:

“A big reason guys get stuck in the G-League is because they don’t realize the position they’re trying out for. It’s like going to a job interview thinking you’re going to be the CFO of the company, and they’re looking for someone to clean the bathrooms.”

The faster guys realize where they fit on the team - and what they’re really paid to do - the more likely they’ll stick. The league is getting smarter and more efficient, and the players that don’t have those qualities tend to disappear.

Dang, respect to Hart. Shows why he’s still in the league despite bouncing between a lot of teams.

Yeah, it was an episode of his podcast with Brunson, they were talking about how his scoring was way up during his stint with Portland, but a team with him trying to be a scorer was going to be trash, lol

Different sport but Bobby Holik signed a huge contract with the NY Rangers in the NHL twenty years ago and said “if I’m your third line centre we win the Stanley Cup, but if I’m your first line centre we don’t come close”

It’s always good when a guy in the pros has self awareness

“Know your role and shut your mouth” type of mentality can get you paid

As a Villanova fan I have a few stray VU haters in my life, I had to defend Hart back in the day. They told me he wouldn’t be a star in the NBA. I said maybe not but he’ll at the very least be around the league a long time as a Danny Green type. Which he kind of has become. There’s nothing wrong with carving out a career like that.

Definitely seems like the players who figure this out are the ones who last in the league and the ones who don’t are gone pretty quick

Sadly, to McBride’s point, the NBA is full of players who don’t figure that out, seemingly don’t care, and get paid handsomely regardless.

I bet with a few minutes of thought, this sub could put together a list of a dozen or so names very easily of guys who are the 1st or 2nd best guy on their team and get paid accordingly, but their team is trash and that player is better suited for a role closer to Hart’s. And we could probably list off a few dozen guys who have had relatively long careers where they’re either trying too hard to be their team’s star or just kinda hung around on the bench to get paid (so they did half of what Hart’s talking about—realized they weren’t a star—but put no real effort into being a 3rd or 4th best guy, even if they had the potential to be that).

And Kuminga

He kind of stopped getting paid

Last year Ayton complained about touches and minutes, but in the beginning of the season when Ayton was getting those touches and scoring, the Lakers were winning.  Ayton needs to be fed the ball for those touches so the complaining honestly made sense at the time

Underwhelming big men have been getting paid since forever in the NBA. You can’t teach size, and in the NBA it has some value even if you’re a flawed player.

OG straight up provides more impact and more value judging by advanced metrics than what most people consider “stars” of the league. He is outright a better player than say Brandon Ingram, he just doesn’t look as smooth with the ball in his hands nor does he have the middy but that doesn’t really matter when it comes to making winning plays. There’s never going to be highlights of OG consistently making high level impact plays on both ends for 6 minutes straight extending his teams lead in that span. But there will be highlights of BI making a tough turnaround middy with shot clock running out after several lapses on both ends before that. And that is what the fans see and what shapes their beliefs in who is a star or not.

OG is an All-Defense caliber 3nD player lol. Deuce is referring to players like himself and Jordan Clarkson who aren’t going to be racking up huge stats or accolades, but who can continue to maintain a presence in the league by being great at their role.

OG is the perfect example of this. He’s generally worth the money.

Also meaningful is the person delivering this quote. There’s plenty of guys who talk a big game but aren’t willing to do what it takes to help a winning team. Deuce came to the Knicks as an energy/defense guy, but his 3P% has gone up in a meaningful way, from 25% on under two attempts per game to over 41% on over six last season. He’s been one of the best contracts in the league, and even with not a great Finals he played a big role in the team’s success this year.

It’s a bummer the Knicks likely can’t pay him next season, but I hope he gets his deserved bag from someone, and I’ll always be a fan.

Felt this as a Clippers fan. Especially in the Kawhi/PG/Harden era, super talented guys but they were mentally checked out. Harden was the most engaged but only wanted to play his style. And Kawhi got treated like royalty which definitely hurt the locker room. Now they’re gone, we’ll see what Ty Lue’s schemes really look like. DG and Ingram won’t have the same pull. Part of drafting Wagler was his willingness to play off-ball in a bigger system. If he buys in and thrives it could be a huge turning point in the team’s culture.

Teague and others have said that they came into the league beating themselves up after each game and stopped after a season or two because they noticed that the vets didn’t do that and realized that there are simply way too many games compared to where they played previously (NCAA or an overseas league) to get in their feelings after the game. A lot of guys do in fact try during regular season games, but learn not to get bogged down by the results in order to be ready to play the next game.

I only watch regular season games besides the Knicks which feature marquee matchups. Surviving the regular season is so difficult now and guys are playing for money.

That’s why I knew the Nets were doomed when they did the KD/Kyrie/Harden trio. All are fantastic players but none have that leadership quality. #1 players with no real leadership or direction does not get your team far.

He’s been on a bargain contract for so long, if Knicks can’t pay him I still want him to get a bag. I can see him getting a Shamet contract somewhere. Hopefully to stay in NYC.

Teams have become a lot smarter recently. I don’t think this is as true as it used to be

Also only 1 team can win the chip each year. You can be an incredibly impactful player and not have much team success if you have unfavorable circumstances

About d*mn time somebody said something!

Deuce grinded it out in the G-League for years until Thibs gave him a role

Come on. He played 15 career games in the G-League across three seasons, including 10 his rookie year. He played 40 games for the Knicks as a rookie and has almost always been active on the NBA roster.

Looking at Shamet’s contract, losing Deuce is basically a guarantee atp unfortunately.

Knicks have been ripping him off for years with the contract they got him to sign right before he got big minutes.

3 months ago I wouldve expected a , “/s” after this statement!

These are the good times

I still remember the dark years

It’s 30 teams they can’t all be good and they gotta spend money somewhere

Name the players.

Why do we care what they’re getting paid at all?

What’s the minimum players are worth paying then? Hourly wage?

Maybe just consistently good teams? Harden proved if he’s your best scorer your team can be pretty good. On the flip side someone like Bradley Beal proved he can average 30 and his team will still lose 50 games, he’s more of (was) a complimentary piece

Don’t think it has to be one definition of winning - just winning more than you otherwise would have because guys lean into the role that most benefits the team vs playing a style that most benefits the individual.

players like Harden who media and a lot of casual folks keep shitting on despite actually having a positive impact on teams until they gas out or fumble.

Problem is he gasses out every postseason.

Harden deserves plenty of blame for his teams losing. He’s a turnover machine, playmaking numbers take a hit in the postseason, is regularly below league average scoring efficiency, and is constantly exposed on defense.

He has a positive impact for ³⁄₄ of a series, but his elimination game stats show how bad he had been in important games.

The real issue is Harden glazers just completely ignore his consistent playoff shortcomings and act like he’s not been the problem more often than not. He’s a regular season player who puts a hard cap on a team’s potential.

yeah. but then you got Reaves getting \(45 million per year. **Mitchell** inking \)68 million per year (though I believe all top 20 players should get max contracts). Trae netting $51 million a year.

 

There’s still enough ludicrous contracts out there.

it’s a third option, he’s saying the NBA culture rewards selfish play/none winning basketball because those are the players that get the big contracts,

KAT is being used as an example because he could have been that kind of guy, but he played his new role and now he’s a champion

Considering the part about guys buying in and understanding their role, I’m inclined to read it as the former.

Its now other “advanced stats like DARKO, BPM etc

I think the nba has gotten a lot better at this. That’s the reason a lot of guys aren’t getting paid anymore. 

It didn’t help that your previous FO sucked at building around him though. He seemed to lock in more when there was a serious team around him.