With less than a month remaining in the NBA season, it has become painfully clear that some of the league's biggest flops and disappointments aren't going to turn it around anytime soon. While many point to teams that have fallen short of expectations (looking at you, Houston), there are a number of players who have also seen a dip in their play, causing their teams to suffer. Here are the four NBA players that have been the most disappointing so far this season:
James Harden, Houston Rockets
Harden's numbers haven't dipped at all this year - he's still averaging 28.6 points, 7.2 assists, and 6.3 rebounds per game - but it's his defense and lack of effort that has been very disappointing. To give you some idea of how bad he's been, the Rockets held a players-only meeting early just so everyone on the team could air out their grievances with Harden, mostly centered around his lack of leadership and terrible effort on defense. Unfortunately, his lack of leadership and general aloofness is the biggest reason why the Rockets have had major struggles this season.
Derrick Rose, Chicago Bulls
Rose is having the worst statistical season of his career, averaging just 16.7 points and 4.9 assists per game. It's become abundantly clear that the Bulls are no longer his team (rather Jimmy Butler's), and his regression has kept the Bulls from reaching their full offensive potential under new head coach Fred Hoiberg. Even though he has been relatively healthy this year, Rose is nowhere near the player we're used to seeing - even the version we saw last year.
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
Davis has already been shut down for the season with knee and shoulder injuries, ending a year that didn't quite live up to the hype. He's still one of the league's best players statistically, averaging 24.3 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game, but he wasn't able to have the same impact on the Pelicans that he had after a historically good season last year. New Orleans was expected to make a return trip to the postseason, but have instead dropped to having one of the worst records in the NBA.
Ty Lawson, Indiana Pacers
Lawson came into the year expecting to be the missing piece for the Rockets to help them compete with the Warriors at the top of the Western Conference, but ended up being a complete dud both on and off the court. On top of averaging career lows with 5.7 points and 3.3 assists per game, he was suspended twice during the season for DUI offenses that occured while he was a member of the Rockets and was never able to fit in with the Rockets, playing a big role in their struggles this year.
In fact, he was such a problem that the Rockets bought out his contract after the trade deadline just to get him off the team. He's now a backup for a Pacers team hoping to hang onto one of the bottom playoff seeds in the Eastern Conference.
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