Itâ€s become a sports cliché to say “pressure is a privilege.â€
By that logic, there are a lot of players — the five that follow in particular — who have a lot of privilege this season. There is always pressure in the NBA — pressure to win, but for most players itâ€s more about pressure to keep their job and the paydays coming beyond this season. That pressure hits some players harder than others.
These five players are facing the most pressure in the league this season.
Trae Young
Itâ€s not just that Trae Young is playing for his next contract, although itâ€s that, too. Atlanta could have offered Young up to a four-year, $229 million max extension this past summer if it wanted to. Instead, Atlantaâ€s new front office built a roster that, on paper, is the best Young has ever had around him. Kristaps Porzingis is a pick-and-pop big who can also defend the paint, a perfect partner for Young. Nickeil Alexander-Walker to provide more wing defense and shooting. Luke Kennard to space the floor. A healthy Jalen Johnson and an improving Zaccharie Risacher can take some shot creation load off Young. This is a team with top-four finish and deep playoff run potential.
Atlanta is testing the biggest question facing the franchise: Can you build a contender around Trae Young? There are plenty of skeptics around the league, and if this goes sideways, the Hawks can pivot away from Young. If that happens, the market for the four-time All-Star may not be what he hopes. In Youngâ€s hands hangs the future direction of the Hawks organization and his next contract.
Thatâ€s pressure, although on media day he seemed unfazed by it all.
“My focus is on the team. Whatever happens will happen,†Young said. “If it doesnâ€t happen, Iâ€m still young and who knows what the future has in store for me.â€
Kristaps Porzingis
Letâ€s stay in Atlanta with someone else playing for his next contract…
How much money is Kristaps Porzingis worth on the market? When he plays, heâ€s a force — 19.5 points a game, shooting 41.2% from 3-point range last season, while adding 1.5 blocks a night. When Boston won the title two seasons ago, he was key to that run and averaged 20.1 points and 1.9 blocks a night — the Hawks brought him in and put him next to Young to be that guy for a new team.
However, he has played in 60+ games only once in the past seven seasons, and three times in his 10-year NBA career. Can he prove he can stay healthy enough this season and help lift the Hawks to the top four in the East, followed by a deep playoff run? Can he help make the Hawks more than the play-in team they have been in recent years?
Porzingis, 30, also is playing for his next contract. Heâ€s making $30.7 million this season and, no doubt, would like a new contract in the range Myles Turner just received from Milwaukee (four years, $109 million). Is he worth it? Heâ€s going to have to stay on the court and prove it this season, or next offseason, the offers may be smaller than he imagined.
DeAndre Ayton
DeAndre Ayton understands the pressure on him this season.
“Some people say itâ€s my last leg, some people say itâ€s my last chance,†Ayton said at Lakers media day. “This is an opportunity I can say Iâ€m truly not going to take for granted. Itâ€s almost like a wounded animal. I feel all the tension, and I know where Iâ€m at. Iâ€ve been in the gym every day.â€
Ayton has talent — even last season, in what was perceived as a down year in Portland, he averaged 14.4 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, and he is a plus defender in the paint. The questions have been focus — itâ€s not there night-to-night, he can drift through games — and health, he has played 65+ games once in the past four seasons. Aytonâ€s best seasons were in Phoenix, when Chris Paul was pushing him hard but also setting him up for easy buckets in the pick-and-roll. The Lakers are betting LeBron James and Luka Doncic can do that same thing this season and push Ayton to new heights.
The center position has become a mercenary role in the NBA. Unless youâ€re a Jokic/Wembanyama/Towns kind of impact big, teams think they can get 85% of the production for close to the minimum and lean that way.
Ayton is a free agent next summer and heâ€s not going to find a contract close to the $35.5 million he is making this season, but if he wants to be paid in the range of Ivica Zubac/Naz Reid/Nic Claxton — around $20 million a season or more — he has to prove he is worth it. Coach J.J. Redick praised Aytonâ€s play and work ethic at media day, but praise from a coach before the practices start is cheap. Ayton must take advantage of this opportunity in Los Angeles, or he will be playing for the veteranâ€s minimum in future years.
Donovan Mitchell (and entire Cavaliers team)
Last season, it seemed like Kenny Atkinson had turned the Cavaliers into a contender: 64 wins, No. 1 seed in the East, best offense in the NBA and a top-10 defense. Donovan Mitchell was on MVP ballots and was named First Team All-NBA.
Then came the playoffs, and they were run out of the second round by the Pacers in five games. There were reasons for that loss — Darius Garlandâ€s turf toe limiting him is at the top of the list, but Evan Mobley and Deâ€Andre Hunter also had postseason injuries — that does not change the fact that it was an ugly and embarrassing playoff exit for a team with title aspirations.
Cleveland is running it back (but with the upgrade of Lonzo Ball in for Isaac Okoro). Cleveland has the most expensive roster in the league and a championship-or-bust mentality. That is pressure.
Cleveland is built to run it back one more season after this one, but if things go sideways for the Cavaliers, at what point does ownership balk at being in the second apron and paying all this to fall short?
Zion Williamson
It feels like Zion Williams is perpetually on this list.
Tell me if youâ€ve heard this one before: Zion is more focused on his health than ever before and is in the best shape of his career entering the season. He says he is focused. He is still putting on a show in warm-ups.
New head of basketball operations in New Orleans, Joe Dumars, said all the right things about keeping Zion in the Big Easy, and talking to him about the accountability and responsibility that comes with his prodigious talent. Dumars is right. Heâ€s also not the first person to have that conversation with Zion. Did it sink in this time?
On one level, there is only so much pressure on Zion. He is just 25 and entering only his seventh NBA season. He will make $126.5 million over the next three seasons, guaranteed.
The pressure is centered on his place in the league, his ability to lead, and, ultimately, his legacy. Dumars didnâ€t seriously try to trade Zion this past offseason because what little he heard showed him all the offers would be lowball — plenty of teams are willing to take a chance on Zion, but the return to the Pelicans was not going to help really jumpstart a rebuild like Dumars might wish.
His talent is not in question. Zion looks every bit the franchise cornerstone when healthy — 24.6 points, 7.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists a game last season — but he played in just 30 games last season due to a hamstring issue. In his six NBA seasons in New Orleans, he has played 214 games and missed 258.
Zion doesnâ€t just need to be on the court, he needs to lead this team by example. He needs to demonstrate a level of maturity and show that the lessons of the first six years have truly taken hold. Or the rest of the league will start to move on, leaving Zion to the teams willing to take a long shot chance.
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