The playoffs master at revealing what a player is actually capable of far more than the regular season.
In this story, let's look at the 2021 playoff letdowns and playoffs from whom we expected the world but received a fiasco.
Tyler Herro was the unexpected savior of the Miami Heat last season and the baby rookie played like a veteran that led the Heat to the NBA Finals. While we expected even better this year, it was the opposite. His numbers from the previous season remained static and his shooting efficiency only dropped.
For a while, Kuzma seemed like the biggest steal of the 2017 NBA Draft. He was efficient and everybody thought he would be an All-Star in no time but he has barely improved from his rookie season. In some games, he looks great but that's scarce. He let the Lakers down in scoring, especially when AD and LeBron were out due to injuries. And that has put his future with the franchise in jeaopardy.
Yes, Julius made it to the All-Star game, improved on every number statically, carried the Knicks to their first playoff appearance since 2014 but was unable to put those numbers up in the playoffs, when it actually mattered., crushing the Knicks chance to go deeper into the postseaosn.
Both offensively and defensively, KP was just out of place. He failed to give Luka Doncic enough support and had to bear the blame for the Dallas Mavericks' loss in the first round of the playoffs. he kept fluctuating from mediocre to bad and then to invisible, unable to make any vital contribution.
Simmons was flat-out awful in the 2021 playoffs, visible by the naked eye and through stats. His inability to make any kind of scoring contribution for the 76ers was exposed. He is the worst shooter in the NBA and that has been the case for years now. Looks like there is no hope for improvement, isn't it?