5 NBA Players Rebuilding Their Reputation This Postseason
Ahh…I think I speak for a lot of people when I say these playoffs have been a breath of fresh air. Yes, I’ll gladly welcome LeBron James back to the fold next year, if that’s even possible, but for these playoffs, it’s been nice to have him at home (or in “the shop”).
Most series have been supremely entertaining and with Bron out of the picture, the spotlight is touching players we might have overlooked with him around. That includes players who are contributing during these playoffs that were mostly written off, like as recently as a few months ago. There are five players, specifically, that epitomize what I’m talking about…and they’re listed below. Have a look!
5 Players Rebuilding Their Reputations During the 2018-19 NBA Playoffs
(in no particular order)
Enes Kanter, Portland Trail Blazers
This guy has gone from his coach in Oklahoma City saying he “can’t play” during the playoffs to being waived by the woeful Knicks to one of the biggest keys to Portland’s best postseason run in recent memory.
Kanter has started all 10 games for Portland so far, the first postseason starts of his career, with career-highs in basically every major category. The important ones: 13.7 points and 10 rebounds per game.
Iman Shumpert, Houston Rockets
Like Kanter, Iman Shumpert was pretty much written off post-Cleveland. And if he wasn’t entirely written off, he was certainly forgotten about. Now, againt Golden State, he’s part of Mike D’Antoni‘s ultra-small rotation, playing serious playoff minutes alongside James Harden and company.
His numbers aren’t crazy, but he’s playing 16-plus hard-nosed minutes per game against Golden State; they don’t need him to score, they just need him to knock down open shots and bother Klay Thompson (or whoever else he’s tasked with guarding).
Rodney Hood, Portland Trail Blazers
Hood was actually part of the trade that took Shumpert off the map and essentially took his place on the Cavs roster. Then in last year’s postseason, he played poorly in the early rounds, leading to a heavy dose of DNP’s as the stakes rose. But the Blazers actually need him, like bad. He’s one of the few scoring options off the bench Portland has, and he’s responded by averaging 14.4 points per game in their series against Denver.
Austin Rivers, Houston Rockets
Rivers has had quite the ride since entering the NBA. He was relevant playing for his dad in LA but then his dad traded him to the sadsack Wizards. It probably helped him mentally, yet Washington swiftly traded him to Phoenix after a few months. The Suns waived him, however, and since then, he’s been reborn in D’Antoni’s system, much like Shumpert has. Now, he and Shump are basically the only two reserve guards that D’Antoni is using at the moment.
In eight postseason games this year, Rivers is shooting 50 percent from three (14-for-28). He’s a really, really effective player in this system — sort of like Quentin Richardson was in the D’Antoni-Phoenix years.
Eric Bledsoe, Milwaukee Bucks
Bledsoe, like Kyle Lowry in Toronto, has a he-shrinks-in-the-postseason stigma attached to him. Yes, it’s definitely earned, but this year, with Giannis flourishing, he’s been able to be a steady hand for the Milwaukee Bucks. Bledsoe is proving he can be the third-best player on an NBA Finals team, averaging career-highs in points per game (15.8), assists per game (4.6) and steals per game (1.4).