With the February trade deadline rapidly approaching, which players around the league would benefit most from leaving their current situation?
Situation is everything in the NBA. The team a player initially joins in the draft for example, almost invariably impacts how he develops and whether or not he can reach his full potential. If a guy is drafted by the wrong team, or a team doesn’t utilize his skill set properly, his game can atrophy.
Jahlil Okafor is perhaps the most notable and recent example of what happens to a player that is in the worst possible situation. This might as well be the Jahlil Okafor memorial post because he got his long awaited change of scenery earlier this year. He hasn’t actually played much better in Brooklyn, but leaving Philly was a start! Without further delay, here are the top ten guys that could benefit from a change of scenery before the February trade deadline.
10. Justise Winslow
Remember when the Celtics tried to trade four first-round picks to Michael Jordan and the Hornets during the 2015 Draft to move up and select Justise Winslow? Making that kind of deal for anyone that’s not a surefire star would be pure insanity, and so far it seems like the Celtics dodged a major bullet in light of Charlotte’s rebuff. That’s not to suggest that Winslow is bad player of course. After an immensely promising rookie season though, he simply hasn’t grown all that much as a player.
Winslow came into the league as an awesome defender that could essentially guard every position. He played freaking center for the Heat in the 2016 playoffs once Hassan Whiteside got injured! After the Heat’s hard-fought playoff exit to the Raptors, Winslow seemed poised to become a low-end star that would be a key component of the Heat’s future moving forward.
Matters haven’t exactly worked out that way though. On the offensive end of the floor, Winslow’s game has barely progressed. That’s alarming given the egalitarian nature of Miami’s offense. He simply hasn’t been effective, and his erratic shooting touch seems like it might haunt his entire career. Winslow is way below the league average true shooting percentage this season. He’s a below average finisher at the rim, and he’s shooting an incomprehensible 7 percent (!!!!!) on shots between 16 feet and the 3-point line . Those shots account for 10 percent of his total shot diet, not an insignificant portion.
Although Winslow is shooting above 40 percent from 3-point range, he only gets up 1.5 attempts per game; he’s hesitant to let loose from beyond the arc. Remarkably, Winslow has taken almost all of his attempts from 3-point land without any defenders in sight. Teams simply leave him open and dare him to shoot.
If the front office and coaching staff don’t believe that Winslow has star potential anymore, now might be the time to sell on him for Miami. The fact that the Heat have the fifth highest payroll in the NBA is also important to note here. With Winslow approaching restricted free agency in the summer of 2019, they’ll have to dish out some cash to keep him. Miami has already committed a boatload of long-term salary to guys that are ahead of him in the rotation though. At this point, a move to a team with a more open rotation could definitely suit Winslow. A team like the Sacramento Kings… gulp… has need of versatile guys that can defend the wing. Perhaps Miami could deal some bad salary to them as well