AbeVigodaLive wrote: ↑Wed Apr 29, 2026 9:14 am
Q-is-here wrote: ↑Tue Apr 28, 2026 9:43 pm
AussieWolf3 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 28, 2026 8:58 pm
Didn't he basically seal them a win pit pocketing Brunsen and basically had the clamps on him most of that game?
Just saying, it seems like he's still doing NAW stuff, but is also probably wearing too big of britches as their starting PG.
Although Jalen Johnson is a pretty good paring for NAW as a PG
His scoring and shooting efficiency is way down from the regular season and Atlanta is struggling to generate offense. Yes, he still defends his ass off, but to your point, he is paid to do more now and it appears he's struggling to replicate his regular season success against playoff-caliber defense.
While I agree that NAW is overextended as a lead guard, especially in the playoffs... I don't think he's facing too many extra expectations because of his salary.
He's paid "only" $15M, and that will go down in subsequent years. Meanwhile...
Kuminga gets paid nearly $9M more. Kispert gets paid $1M less. Risacher gets paid $2M less. Even Gabe Vincent gets paid $11.5M.
It's still a bargain contract compared to dozens of others around the NBA.
My mistake. For some reason I thought his contract was in the $25M range.
But my original point is that he hasn't been doing all that great in the playoffs relative to his regular season, which earned him the MIP award.
14.2 PPG, 37% FG, 44% 3pt%, 2.6 reb, 2.8 asst, 2.4 TOs, 1.2 stl, and a Net Rating of -12.8, which is near the bottom of Hawks players.
Bottom line....Feels like Finch had it right with NAW. His best role on a legit contender is bench 3&D guard. Had Clark and/or Shannon stepped up more, we wouldn't have missed him so much! And similar to his situation with the Hawks, he was better in the regular season for the Wolves than the playoffs.