On October 19, the new season of NBA is about to begin. If you use a few keywords to summarize the expectations brought to fans by this season, then one of the most interesting keywords must be "return" .
Every offseason, stars will recover from injuries, and this season, there are many "familiar faces" that have made a comeback -
Leonard with broken knee ligament and returned to Clippers , and at the same time, there are John Wall who has been "snow" by the Rockets for a year.
Leonard (left) and George both remain healthy.
Zion returned to the Pelicans. Although he suffered an ankle sprain in the preseason, it should not affect his debut in the new season.
Nuggets 's "second leader" Jamal Murray was reborn from a serious injury to a torn cruciate ligament. His return will undoubtedly help Jokic share a lot of pressure.
and Nets Simmons and TJ Warren, as well as Lakers guards Kendrick Nunn ...
In the words of Durant , "It feels so good to see all the injured players return to the court to play."
healthy Leonard finally returns.
Leonard, Wall Return
Clippers directly become popular to win the championship?
"Leonard is in a really good state at the moment, he works very hard and looks as healthy, strong and agile as before he gets injured." This is the evaluation of Clippers center Zubac when talking about Leonard in the preseason.
It is not difficult to feel from Zubac's interview that Leonard's return has brought enough confidence and motivation to the entire Clippers on and off the court.
"Leonard has always been a player who leads by example. He is always the first to go to the stadium and then the last to leave, but now he has begun to motivate his teammates and calls on his teammates more in training. Once everyone is not very serious in training, Leonard pulled the whole team together to make everyone focus. He would not have been like this two or three years ago."
Clippers coach Tyron Lu said in an interview that Leonard also wanted to play in all preseason games at one point.
Leonard missed a season due to a partial tear of the knee ligament, and before he fell, the Clippers had the chance to reach the Western Conference Finals and even go further. This may be why Leonard is so eager to play now.
The Clippers finally got a complete lineup.
preseason, Leonard finally played two games, averaging 9.5 points, 2 rebounds and 2 assists in 16.5 minutes - , the positive and negative efficiency value needs to be paid attention to. In the game where he won the Trail Blazers , his efficiency value reached +10, and in the game where he lost to the Timberwolves , his efficiency value was still +7.
In other words, with Leonard present, the Clippers are still the advantage.
Leonard's strong return alone is enough to allow the Clippers to return to the top of the strong team based on last season. This season, they joined Wall, who was "hidden" by the Rockets for a year.
The 32-year-old "No. 1 pick" is even more eager to prove himself on the court than Leonard - playing in three preseason games, Wall averaged 11 points in 14.3 minutes per game and sent 3.3 assists.
Wall (right) joins the Clippers.
The return of Leonard and Wall has undoubtedly given the Clippers a lineup depth to compete with the other 29 teams. Even though their core players are not young, the luxurious configuration of rotation personnel is enough to directly occupy the forefront of the "popular list of championships".
According to US media reports, as of early October, the Clippers have tied for fourth place with the Nets in the odds of winning the new season.
"I missed a whole year of basketball, fell down in the worst way, fell in the playoffs . But I'm still very young, and I don't feel like I'm done."
Leonard is ready to stir up the situation in the West and has even looked at the championship, "I just missed it, do you know what I mean?"
Zion has lost a lot of weight in the new season.
Zion returns
How big surprise can he bring after losing weight?
Not long ago, the NBA officially gave the most anticipated star returning from injury in the new season. The Clippers' Leonard ranked first, followed by the Pelicans' inside core Zion.
Compared with Leonard to the Clippers, Zion's return cannot bring the Pelicans to the level of favorites to win the championship, but as an iconic player of the new generation of " violent aesthetics ", if Zion can stay healthy, he and the Pelicans can become "scramblers".
In the 2020-2021 season before Zion was injured, he could already score 27 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 33.2 minutes per game, with a shooting percentage of up to 61%, and his three-point shooting can still be around 30%.
But the injury made Zion miss all the games last season, and an important reason for him to stay away from the field was his weight.
When Zion entered the NBA league as the "No. 1 pick", his weight had reached 129 kilograms. The only one who could compete with this data in the league at that time was the "First Giant" Boban , but Boban's height reached 224 cm, but Zion was only 198 cm.
Zion’s problem is that he is too big.
It is precisely because of his amazing weight that he puts his knees and ankles under tremendous pressure during every game.
As NBA senior commentator A. Smith analyzed, "Zion doesn't know how to land safely, so his ankle is often injured."
And in the preseason game against Heat , Zion, who had just returned, sprained his ankle again... At that time, just after Zion left the court, the NBA's TV broadcast immediately played Zion's appearance data for joining the league:
24 appearances in the 2019-2020 season, averaging 22.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game; 61 games in the 2020-2021 season, averaging 27 points and 7.2 rebounds per game; 2021-2022 season, without playing, and foot injury; only played in 85 games in his NBA career, but missed 141 games.
"I think I'm healthy, I can't control what others say. The doctor put me on the daily watch list, so I do that, these are all preventive measures."
After the preseason, when Zion was asked about his injury, he revealed that he felt very good, and in the last few training days before the Pelicans' new season, Zion was already able to conduct restricted training.
Zion knocked "Manniu" Stewart away directly in the air.
Zion revealed himself that he had controlled his weight.
According to US media reports, Zion once weighed 150 kilograms during his recovery period, and this offseason, he had lost nearly 14 kilograms. Although the weight of
has decreased, Zion's confrontation has not decreased at all. In the preseason against Pistons , the video of him knocking "Bao Bull" Stewart directly away in the air once became a hot search.
So, how big surprise can a healthy Zion bring to the new season?
In a "regular season MVP" vote by American media FanDual, Zion received the most votes from fans. According to the expectations of senior NBA commentator Mark Spears, "A player who gets 27+7+3 in the second grade can hit the MVP trophy at any time."
Murray (right) defends Raven, both of whom have suffered serious knee injuries.
Murray and Porter Jr. return
Can he help the Nuggets return to the Western Conference Finals?
Also returning to the arena from the entire season's truce and recuperating injuries are Nuggets' Jamal Murray and Porter Jr.
In the 2020-2021 season, when he suffered injuries, Murray played at least 35 minutes per game, averaging 21.2 points, 4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game, and was able to make 1.3 steals, with a shooting percentage of 47.7% and a three-point shooting percentage of 40.8%... A data score like
is enough to make Murray join the ranks of the All-Star guards.
However, the injury once again came to Murray, and it was the most "fatal" cruciate ligament tear. Murray spent the entire season thereafter while healing.
To make matters worse, Porter Jr. also had an old injury relapse on his back. He only played more than a dozen games last season and was reimbursed for the season... Murray could only witness Jokic, who was led by "single-core", "being both a father and a mother" in the playoffs, but he still had to play in one round.
Coach Malone encouraged Murray.
Nuggets have made many personnel strengthening in the past two seasons, but they have always been unable to achieve their ideal state on the back line. Whether it is the newcomer Hyland or the previous substitute Morris , it cannot make up for the shortcomings brought by Murray's truce on both offense and defense.
However, Murray and Zion's comeback path is somewhat similar. In the preseason, Murray encountered some discomfort on the court and left the court early. Although he revealed to a reporter from the Denver Post before leaving the court that his condition was ideal, but he was cramped and not a strain, this time the exit still put a question mark on his comeback.
Fortunately, Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after the preseason that some of the problems Murray encountered in the preseason will not affect his appearance in the regular season. "We have no long-term concerns about Murray's current hamstring injury. What we are now considering is how to get him back to the team's rotation lineup. This will be a long-term plan."
When Murray returns, Jokic finally has a helper.
Judging from Murray's preseason performance, he has indeed not returned to his former All-Star guard level and form - in two preseason games, he played for 14 minutes, scored 6 points, 1 rebound and 3.5 assists, and his shooting percentage was only 36.4%, but his three-point shooting percentage was still at 66.7%.
Murray himself also hopes to integrate into the team as soon as possible. Coach Malone revealed that Murray also apologized for his poor performance in the preseason - this attitude will also help Murray integrate into the team faster.
Just during the period when Murray was absent due to injury, the team's inside core Jokic had defended the regular season MVP, but due to the lack of a reliable outside helper, the Nuggets fell in the first round of the playoffs. Now, Murray's return will become the Nuggets' X factor.
The reason why Murray's return is still unknown to the Nuggets is because he has not been working with the Nuggets for too long. Judging from his performance in the preseason and the overall situation of the team, Coach Malone really needs to re-master Murray's "instruction manual".
But Murray himself couldn't wait, as he said, "539 days, it's time."
Simmons finally had the courage to stand on the court again.
Simmons returns
Will he become a "time bomb"?
Last season, Simmons, who had been entangled with the 76ers for a long time, finally left Philadelphia and went to Brooklyn to form the "big three" with Durant and Irving .
However, since the transaction was confirmed, there are too many uncertainties in this "big three" combination - on the one hand, it comes from the three's style of play, and on the other hand, it comes from Simmons' mental state, personal personality and professional attitude.
In the past preseason, Simmons started all four games, but during the 21.3 minutes per game, Simmons only contributed 4.8 points and 6 rebounds. Compared with scores and rebounds, 6.3 assists per game is one of the few "qualified performances", but the price is that he averaged 3 turnovers per game.
In the last preseason game against the Timberwolves, Simmons left the court with six fouls in less than 13 minutes, leaving behind 2 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, and a bleak data of 33.3% from the field.
"Can Simmons really be considered a giant?" After the game, Nets fans started to discuss fiercely on social networks.
Simmons (right)Defense Downs .
"No matter what, people will say what they should say. Even if I shoot the ball, what will they say? 'He still can't shoot'." Simmons seemed very unhappy when it comes to criticism and doubts about him.
"Go to them, I can't make everyone happy, you know?"
In fact, when Simmons returned to the field, his performance on and off the field was no longer just whether he could make those shots, but whether his performance on the field would affect the overall condition of the team, or whether the coach of Nash can control Simmons' chemistry well.
In other words, whether Simmons will become a "time bomb" is far more difficult than whether he can score goals.
Simmons pulled Owen down.
"Not everyone must follow the same principle. As a leader, I feel that I have the responsibility to protect him, but I also understand that he must learn to experience and deal with some things by himself."
This is the statement made by Irving in an interview. In Irving's opinion, he can help Simmons get out of the trough. "The ups and downs in life are a long battle, but at least I don't want to see him being repeatedly involved in similar rumors."
Irving's starting point is indeed good, but the problem is that Irving himself is also a player who is not very controlled...
Durant, Irving and Simmons, everyone in this "big three" combination, are facing their own problems now, and when they get together to fight side by side, how long can the harmonious state last?
The Nets in the new season are still the top three teams among the "champion favorite", but they can no longer withstand too much trouble.
