Sports
The NBA's 7 Most Confusing Players – Bleacher Report
Part of the reason NBA rookies are so inherently exciting is their element of the unknown.
Most veterans, on the other hand, have established strengths and weaknesses, which makes their place on the overall hoops hierarchy pretty well, er, established.
However, that isn’t universally true of veterans. The following seven players still confound outside observers despite being knee-deep (or further) into their pro careers.
What makes them confusing, exactly? Well, trying to provide a blanket answer would be a bit confusing, so we’ll explain what makes each player so tricky to pin down as we go.
In a league where nothing beats the combination of size and skill, you might think Bol Bol would have the inside track on superstardom and the many spoils that come with it. After all, he’s a 7’2″, 220-pounder with legitimate perimeter talents. His highlight reels are basically powered by unicorn fuel.
Catch him on the right night, during the right sequence, and you’ll see some of the same jumbo-sized creation and seemingly impenetrable paint protection that the San Antonio Spurs expect to receive from Victor Wembanyama.
Indeed, if given the choice, Hall of Famer Tim Hardaway Sr. told The Carton Show (h/t Cody Taylor of The Rookie Wire) he’d take Bol over this year’s No. 1 pick.
Now, that’s a volcanic eruption of a (nonsensical) hot take, but it speaks to how intriguing the idea of Bol really is. He is, in theory, someone who can protect the basket and clean the glass on defense, then grab-and-go with the rebound and push the ball down floor. On offense, he can finish by the basket, beat defenders off the bounce and is confident (though not always capable) of shooting from the perimeter.
The 23-year-old sounds unstoppable, but his stat sheet tells a different story. He has only been a rotation player in one of his four seasons and owns a below-average 13.9 career player efficiency rating. There’s a reason he found only minimum money in free agency. He isn’t a playmaker (more turnovers than assists), has trouble defending in space and lacks the bulk to bang inside.
While it feels too early to give up on Bol’s development, there aren’t a lot of players with four NBA seasons under their belt who are still labeled as a project. He’s hard to quit, but even harder to figure out.
Draymond Green probably lands on the unique side of confusing, but it’s still improbable to think how he’s carved his one-of-one niche.
The 33-year-old doesn’t have dizzying dribble moves, poses no major scoring threat and lacks burst off the bounce, yet he has successfully quarterbacked a championship offense as the primary playmaker of the Dubs’ dynasty.
Green also isn’t the biggest, longest or strongest stopper around, yet he’s a generational talent on defense who basically provided the blueprint for the switch-everything schemes that have become so prominent.
He is a future Hall of Famer, yet many—himself included—have wondered aloud whether he’d have been so successful without getting to Golden State and playing with this system and these teammates.
There probably hasn’t been enough said about whether the Warriors could’ve been this successful without Green (they couldn’t), but it’s still confusing to think of a four-time champion, four-time All-Star and two-time All-NBA honoree being viewed as something of a “system player.”
Perhaps most perplexing, though, is how he has served as the emotional leader of an NBA powerhouse while so often losing control of his emotions. His temper may have cost Golden State a championship. It played a part in Kevin Durant being done with the Dubs. He punched Jordan Poole and almost immediately transformed the scoring guard from a building block to a salary burden.
Green’s career is truly one of a kind, and if we hadn’t witnessed it, we might not believe it ever happened.
James Harden doesn’t feel like he should qualify for this exercise. In a lot of ways, you know what you’re getting from the bearded baller: a ton of triples (many of the step-back variety), a lot of isolations and pick-and-rolls, a bunch of assists and some good-to-gaudy scoring numbers.
Yet, even after 14 years of his Hall of Fame-bound career, it’s still fair to wonder whether he’s worth it. His defensive issues have been documented. His ball control often leads to teammates standing in the corner and doing little else on offense. Most damning, though, is a playoff resume almost totally devoid of stepping up in major moments.
If he’s a (mostly) dominant player for 82 games but a disappearing one in the postseason, then what exactly is he?
His playoff missteps are most notable in the biggest spots (close-out games, elimination contests), but even his per-game averages are lacking come postseason time. For his career, he’s averaged 24.7 points on 60.9 percent true shooting in the regular season.
Push to the playoffs, though, and those numbers dip to 22.7 and 58.5, respectively. He goes from giving 0.218 win shares per 48 minutes to only 0.172—that’s a 21.1 percent drop.
Oh, and if his wish gets granted, he’ll force his way off of his third different team in as many years.
His numbers look great, and his ability to consistently stay a step ahead of the defense—while often utilizing the same moves—is a marvel to watch. But do his many positives outweigh his substantial negatives? That’s a confusing question to answer.
Kyrie Irving is an offensive weapon for the ages. In addition to possessing perhaps the slickest handles in NBA history, he’s almost always pairing a mid-to-high-20s scoring average with a shooting slash near the vaunted 50/40/90 territory.
At 31 years old, he is still in the prime of his career, yet the free-agent market wanted almost nothing to do with him this summer. It was no minor miracle that he still scored a three-year, $120 million deal from the Dallas Mavericks, but that pact was more about their desperation (having previously lost Jalen Brunson for nothing) than it was Irving’s market worth.
“I don’t think he had anywhere else to go—not unless he wanted to give up a lot of money,” a league source told Heavy Sports’ Steve Bulpett.
That should be a staggering statement given Irving’s age and ability, yet nothing about it is remotely surprising. There are just way too many questions with his intangibles to put a ton of faith into his tangibles translating to team success.
His availability is consistently inconsistent. Injuries have hampered him in the past, but so too have personal decisions, suspensions and a midseason sabbatical. He also has a history of seeking out scenery changes, even if that means splitting up a championship pairing with LeBron James or leaving behind his “best friend” Kevin Durant.
Despite Irving having cornerstone-type talent, he isn’t reliable enough to be an actual cornerstone. Even though he puts up major numbers when he plays, his career arc is among the most confusing of this generation.
While the NBA typically travels at warp speeds, it was still staggering to see just how quickly Ben Simmons fell from grace. It felt like a single playoff run saw him switch from a rising star to a fading one, and at this point, his place in the NBA seems completely unsettled.
There were long concerns with his jump shot and overall assertiveness as a scorer, but those were typically glossed over to admire his defensive versatility, playmaking ability (especially for a 6’10”, 240-pounder) and transition attacking.
But those concerns hit a fever pitch during the 2021 playoffs—when he essentially refused to even look at the basket—and his career has been off-track ever since.
The 27-year-old didn’t play at all in 2021-22, waiting for a trade out of Philly and recovering from a back injury, and only made 42 appearances this past season. Even when he suited up, he was a shadow of his former self—among his many career lows was his first-ever below-average PER (13.4)—and the Nets never quite knew what to do with him.
“You put another big next to Ben, then you got to figure out what the spacing is around him,” Nets coach Jacque Vaughn told reporters. “Then if you put another playmaker next to him, then you got to figure out what Ben looks like without the basketball. Then if you go small with Ben, then you have to figure out can you rebound enough with him?”
When Simmons first requested a trade out of Philadelphia, it was exciting to imagine some long-term rebuilder snatching him and tailoring its roster around him. Now, the idea sounds preposterous.
While Simmons’ size and versatility should make him an easy fit in today’s NBA, the truth is his place within it feels entirely up in the air.
Five players have averaged at least 18 points, eight rebounds, one three-pointer and one block over the past three seasons. Four will collect salaries north of $36 million next season (Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Karl-Anthony Towns and Kristaps Porziņģis).
The fifth, Christian Wood, has yet to find an interested suitor in free agency.
So, what’s the issue? Is he over the hill? Not at all. His 28th birthday is slated for September, so he should be in the heart of his prime. OK, he must be coming off a disastrous season, right? Nope, his 2022-23 campaign was among the most productive of his career, as he put up 16.6 points per game on 51.5/37.6/77.2 shooting, plus 7.3 rebounds, 1.6 triples and 1.1 blocks.
Wood’s problem is…well, hard to pin down, despite being incredibly persistent. The versatile big man has played for seven different teams in seven NBA seasons, and his most recent employer, the Dallas Mavericks, decided they were done with him before free agency even opened.
For all of his positives, his negatives clearly have the league’s full attention.
“Sources around the league point to two major deficiencies,” Dan Woike wrote for the Los Angeles Times. “One, despite the blocked shots, Wood’s contributions on defense are lacking, frustrating former coaches and teammates. And two, there seems to be a disconnect between what Wood thinks of his place in the league and how the league as a whole views him. There are related concerns about his professionalism.”
It’s tough to say too much about Wood’s personality without ever sharing a locker room with him, but it’s fair to note that a lot of skilled offensive players have defensive shortcomings, and teams still roster them anyway—sometimes for a huge amount of cash.
The fact that no one has taken a flier on Wood this late into free agency is a giant red flag, and the latest evidence yet that he’s among this sport’s most confounding players.
Trae Young isn’t at all confusing from a play-style standpoint. He’s going to dominate the basketball, run a boatload of pick-and-rolls, pull-up from anywhere, prop up an offense and torpedo a defense.
Where the confusion kicks in is calculating his worth as a franchise focal point. Can you follow the lead of someone who almost locks you into a bottom-10 defense? Can you afford to let go of someone who nearly guarantees you a top-10 attack? Over the past three seasons, the Hawks haven’t ranked lower than ninth on offense or higher than 18th on defense.
Young strikes a brilliant blend between scoring and playmaking in a way few ever have. He’s one of only two players—Hall of Famer Oscar Robertson is the other—to average at least 25 points and nine assists in four different seasons. He is 24 years old and only five seasons into his NBA career. His stats could look downright silly by the time he calls it quits.
Yet, despite filling the floor-general role, his leadership skills have been questioned and criticized.
“It’s no secret there’s a serious disconnect between Young, the team’s star player, and many—though some say nearly all—of his teammates,” CBS Sports’ Bill Reiter reported in March. “He is not beloved, sources say, and there’s a strong view that Young fails to lead, to understand or care to understand what is required of him, and that as a result the team will never achieve what it should until that reality is fixed.”
Does Young’s offensive prowess outweigh the rest? That’s probably a question yet to be completely answered. He could be a polarizing player for years to come unless he seriously spikes his offensive efficiency and figures how not be a glaring negative on defense.