![]() ![]() The caveat for Powell will be in what 2K values more: his 42-game Toronto run, where he had career-high marks in field goal percentage, 3-point percentage and points per game, or his slightly-less-spectacular 27-game cameo in Portland. His pockets are now $90 million heavier, but it’s a reasonable assumption that it won’t hold him down. He entered last season with a 77 overall and ended it Kobe-style with an 81. The ascension for Powell has been steady and consistent. The latter did, the former didn’t, and that keeps McCollum in that boat as a top-30-ish player, with some give-or-take. Part of the trade-off of having a defensively deficient backcourt is that McCollum and Damian Lillard have to raise their games to astronomical levels - or at least something tangibly higher than in the regular season - come the NBA Playoffs. ![]() What holds him back is that he’s coming off one of his “weaker” postseason runs. We’ve already touched on a few ways McCollum can improve, regardless of his rating on a video game, and a substantial portion of that boils down to building upon last year’s shot diet. He also facilitated at a career rate, and, stagnated as it may be, rebounded at around the same frequency as usual. The 29-year-old is coming off of the highest-scoring season of his career, one that doubled as the second-most efficient in his NBA tenure. One could argue that McCollum put together an excellent case for an upgrade worth a point or two. Here, we’ll make our predictions on how they’re likely to be rated, as well as looking into what they can do going forward. Players such as Nassir Little and Anfernee Simons will be tasked with making seismic leaps, and mainstays such as CJ McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic need to find ways to ascend beyond their normal levels. That was exemplified in Lillard’s 2K22 rating, a 94, which placed him among the NBA’s 10 best players.įor the Trail Blazers to return to form as a team capable of making a push to the Western Conference Finals and beyond, the need for internal improvement will be pivotal. Over the last few seasons, Lillard has graduated from star to superstar to megastar, largely because his on-court success calibrates well with his off-court popularity. For others, such as Portland Trail Blazers guard Damian Lillard, it’s validation, as well as an opportunity to further introduce himself into the national spotlight. For some players - think Miles Bridges - it’s a cause for motivation to get better. They’ve mastered the art of strategy, knowing exactly which player rating releases are going to start the dialogue. It’s difficult to explain why, but each year, 2K Sports creates a social media firestorm with the release of NBA player rankings. ![]()
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