NBA Players Who Drastically Changed Their Playstyles

Andy Hoops

These are some of the most drastic playstyle changes in the NBA. Hope you enjoy!  contact@tablerock.com  I make all kinds of long-form NBA content which include player stories, analysis, breakdowns, and historical topics. Make sure to leave a like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video! ► X: https://www.x.com/@andyhoopsyt ► TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andyhoopsyt ► Music:  Black Vortex by Kevin MacLeod Movement Proposition by Kevin MacLeod Pure Attitude by Kevin MacLeod Lightless Dawn by Kevin MacLeod Inspired by Kevin MacLeod Basic Implosion by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 (incompetech.com) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ► Sources: Stats and box-scores from Basketball-Reference.com, NBA.com, Statmuse.com, PBPstats.com #nba

Transcript

00:00Many years ago, I made a video about NBA players who greatly changed their play styles.

00:05I had that idea solely because of Brook Lopez, who at that time just joined the Bucs.

00:10He went from primarily a post-up player with questionable defense to a three-point sniper with elite defense in

00:17Milwaukee.

00:17In his first season there, his entire game changed, and he became the poster boy for play style transformations.

00:25In this video, let's revisit this topic once again.

00:28Let's take a detailed look at seven more players since then who've drastically changed their play styles to the point

00:33where

00:33they look completely different than how they did before.

00:41So what exactly caused them to change this much?

00:44Did they do it out of necessity?

00:46Anyway, let's get started.

00:53Andre Drummond.

00:55When you hear the name Andre Drummond, you can't help but think of him in two specific ways.

01:00One, a dominant rebounder, who to this day holds the record for highest career rebound rate in NBA history,

01:07snatching 25% of all boards when he's on the court.

01:10Andre way up for the rebound, like that's mine.

01:13Some would say his rebounds were inflated due to the sheer number of me-bounds he'd get.

01:18But it was still his strongest aspect back in Detroit.

01:22And two, his poor free throw shooting.

01:25With the third worst career free throw percentage ever.

01:27At one point, he had a couple seasons in a row shooting in the 30s early in his career.

01:32However, what if I told you that not only has his free throws gotten way better,

01:37but Drummond's role in the offense is almost unrecognizable now.

01:40He went from a center who's incapable of shooting from anywhere on the court

01:44to taking over one-fourth of his shots from three.

01:47In his 14th NBA season, at the spry age of 32, he made 32 three-pointers.

01:54That was more in a single season than his previous 13 seasons combined, where he only made 18.

02:07So, this begs the question, how did Drummond get the green light to shoot to begin with?

02:13Well, apparently there was a long-winded discussion between him and Coach Nick Nurse

02:17on whether or not he should be shooting threes.

02:19A reporter even asked Nurse about it, to which he admitted,

02:38That was the belief before that even if a center is good at shooting threes,

02:42that doesn't mean it's going to translate to an actual game.

02:45But still, it's crazy to hear anyone call Drummond a good shooter,

02:48but I guess it was something he'd been working on for years now.

02:52So, the Sixers' coaching staff had enough confidence to let him shoot.

02:56Plus, it's not like his rebounding suffered much either.

02:59Drummond still spent the majority of his time in the paint to get boards,

03:02because that's still his biggest strength.

03:04It's just, the three-point shot added a new dimension to his game,

03:08and made him a threat outside the paint for the first time of his career.

03:11Something that I don't think anyone expected him to ever do.

03:20At least with Brook Lopez, he was already a great free-throw shooter

03:24and a decent mid-range shooter before he extended to the three-point line.

03:28Drummond, on the other hand, did not have any semblance of a shooting touch before.

03:32It's like one day he woke up and randomly started hitting threes.

03:36It's an even crazier development than even Lopez himself.

03:40But it's also something Drummond needed to do to maintain a place in the league for a longer time.

03:46Before his three-point evolution and his improved free-throws,

03:49he was pretty much dead in the water.

03:51And there was a chance he'd be out of the league much sooner had he not adapted.

03:57Julius Randle

03:59Here's a fun fact.

04:00Did you know that Julius Randle led his team in assists in four different seasons?

04:04Two seasons with the Knicks and two seasons with the Wolves.

04:07That seems kind of crazy, no?

04:10When he first came into the NBA, he was always a decent passer,

04:14but it was never something the offense should revolve around.

04:18In fact, he was more known for having extreme tunnel vision,

04:21being turnover prone with a very shaky handle.

04:24Yeah, even today, that's still his reputation.

04:26So to have somebody like Randle lead your team in assists and be the primary playmaker,

04:30it seems absurd.

04:33Randle had a steam.

04:34Nice find inside and Peyton backs it home.

04:37And there's the different Julius Randle.

04:39However, in the seasons where Randle led his team in assists,

04:42it was not a feature of the offense, but a necessity.

04:46For example, before Jalen Brunson arrived to New York,

04:49Randle averaged 24-10-6,

04:52while leading the Knicks to their first playoff appearance since the Carmelo Anthony era.

04:55But the Knicks also finished with just the 23rd ranked offense in the league,

05:00a clear indicator that forcing Randle as the offensive engine was not a long-term solution.

05:06He was the entire offense because he had to be.

05:09They had zero competent point guards who could sustain a high level of playmaking,

05:13so they turned to Randle.

05:15It was basically the exact same scenario in Minnesota.

05:18In both seasons he was there, they had no sufficient point guards on the roster,

05:22and aging Mike Conley was not cutting it,

05:25and the team saw moderate success with the offense running through Randle.

05:29Over time, he developed a much better sense of court vision

05:32and finding his flow in the offense.

05:35This, however, was never the kind of player we envisioned Julius Randle becoming,

05:39because even going as far back as college,

05:41he averaged just one assist a game.

05:43And his projection was a dominant bully ball player and a rebounder,

05:48but nothing more than that.

05:49In the NBA, that's what he started as, but he slowly moved away from the rim,

05:54instead focusing on starting plays from the top of the key or even as far as the three-point line.

05:59In his first four seasons in Los Angeles, he took roughly half his shots at the basket,

06:04but a decade into his career, that got cut in half.

06:11Also, Randle came in as a non-existent three-point shooter,

06:14and while he didn't become a spectacular one,

06:17his volume got significantly higher over time.

06:19He even had a season in New York where he shot over eight threes a game,

06:23which, looking back, that was a crazy year, even for him.

06:27It was totally unexpected, but hey, he's always been trigger happy.

06:30The evolution of Randle's game, while it hasn't always been pretty, it's quite impressive.

06:36He essentially transitioned from being Zach Randolph light to a poor man's LeBron.

06:44In a way, Markkanen's development was essentially the opposite of Brook Lopez.

06:49From primarily a stretch-four role player to an all-star in Utah

06:53signified a massive offensive expansion of his game like few others have ever experienced.

06:57His pre-draft comparison was Nikola Muratich, or Ryan Anderson,

07:02basically two power forwards who specialized in three-point shooting,

07:05and did very little outside of that.

07:07His first few years in Chicago were a heavy indicator that this was the path

07:11Markkanen was destined to follow.

07:13The path of any other floor-spacing big man.

07:16Except, he was unique in a way that was hard to quantify.

07:20The dude isn't 6'9 or 6'10, he's a legit 7-footer,

07:24with a level of fluidity seldomly seen from a guy of his size.

07:28His handles and dribbling skills,

07:29his ability to pull up from anywhere on the court,

07:32and being in complete control of his body and rarely ever off-balance.

07:36Markkanen with two on the shot clock.

07:38Drives, hangs, and scores.

07:41Absolutely world class.

07:43Markkanen had shown flashes of being much more than just your stereotypical stretch-four.

07:49Unfortunately, in his first five years in Chicago and Cleveland,

07:52he played with such high-usage teammates that he didn't have the opportunity to fully expand his game.

07:57His coaches still wanted him to play within his role and not do too much.

08:01In particular, his relationship with former Bulls coach Jim Boylan was atrocious.

08:07At one point, when Markkanen went up to him and discussed a way to get more touches in the offense,

08:12Boylan simply told him to kick rocks and focus on getting rebounds instead.

08:17Of course, most players had an issue with Jim Boylan.

08:20He represented an old-school mindset,

08:23of wanting his big men to do what traditional bigs should be doing.

08:26Markkanen was not your traditional big.

08:29You could say he was held back by his teams, his coaches,

08:32but more so, there was no chance for him to flourish there.

08:35So by the time he arrived in Utah as part of a trade that sent Donovan Mitchell to Cleveland,

08:40it was the first time of his career where he had all the opportunity in the world

08:44to show he wasn't just a catch-and-shoot player,

08:46but an all-around offensive beast who excelled in a high-usage role.

08:51This newfound opportunity was given to him through the sheer fact that Utah had nobody else to turn to.

08:56And Markkanen won the NBA's most improved player.

08:59It was a blessing in disguise to be traded to a team in the early stages of rebuilding,

09:04but also a curse.

09:06Even as he blossomed into an all-star, Markkanen had a history of injuries.

09:10The most major one being tank-itis.

09:13They were losing on purpose a lot, so he had to sit out a lot.

09:16And despite his individual excellence, history won't be kind to Markkanen.

09:21When you spend a decade in the NBA and play for losing teams year after year

09:25without a single appearance in the playoffs, the numbers don't really matter,

09:29even if it's not his fault.

09:32Andrew Wiggins

09:33You know I've mentioned the Wiggins trade recently in a video about trades that were initially seen as bad

09:38but quickly became much better than anticipated.

09:41For Wiggins, the reason for this is due to a complete shift in playstyle.

09:45More specifically, going from a primary isolation scorer who took way too many tough shots

09:50to a third or fourth string player who focused on the intangibles that he'd never cared about before.

09:56In particular, his defense saw a massive improvement

09:59to the point where he was suffocating Jason Tatum in the NBA Finals.

10:06His defensive reputation was never good prior to joining the Warriors,

10:10but all the credit goes to him for working to fulfill a niche that he obviously has the tools to

10:15excel in,

10:16especially with how quick he is at moving his feet.

10:19This wasn't seen in Minnesota because he had such a huge role on offense.

10:23Not just that, but it's his three-point shot that came out of nowhere,

10:27mostly due to him being not guarded as heavily as he used to be.

10:31And in the year the Warriors won the championship,

10:33he shot a ridiculous 44% on his corner threes.

10:37Nobody could foresee Wiggins starting his career as a poor man's Kobe,

10:40but a single trade to Golden State saw him immediately turn into an elite 3 and D player.

10:46There are very few players who had as much hype as Wiggins did when he came into the NBA.

10:50All the comparisons to Kobe, LeBron, Tracy McGrady.

10:55He struggled so much trying to live up to being that superstar he'd always dreamed of,

11:00but the Wolves realized he wasn't built like that.

11:03The only way to reach his full potential was to change up his priorities

11:06and refocus his energy into being the perfect supporting player.

11:09That defensive tenacity, that hustle and energy that exemplified his time on the Warriors.

11:15He continued to carry that with him even after his departure from the team.

11:21Al Horford

11:22There are very few players, especially centers, drafted in the 2000s

11:27who became valuable pieces in the twilight years of their careers.

11:30And I mentioned Brooke Lopez was one of them,

11:32but Al Horford deserves just as much praise for his ability to adapt

11:36through several changes of the modern NBA landscape.

11:39From the moment he joined the Atlanta Hawks in 2007

11:42up until his departure in 2016,

11:44he looked like a completely different player.

11:47Similar to Lopez, he used to play so much closer to the basket.

11:50He looked much more like a traditional center than he did in the latter part of his career.

11:55Because back then, that's what teams wanted from him.

11:58Horford is listed at 6'8", so he's quite undersized for a center.

12:02And was always matched up against bigger centers.

12:05Their reliance on Horford as an interior presence was mandatory for how they constructed their roster.

12:10The thing is, this was never his strong suit.

12:14So many times, he'd get demolished on the boards in the playoffs because boxing out wasn't his forte.

12:19Remember when they entered the playoffs as the number one seed but got swept by the Cavs?

12:23In that series, Horford averaged just 4.8 rebounds a game,

12:27while Tristan Thompson and the entire Cavs roster ran circles around him.

12:34And that happened again the year after when they got swept again,

12:37with Horford recording just 3 rebounds a game.

12:41This got him the reputation of being one of the softest centers in the league.

12:45It was, frankly, an abysmal showing in the playoffs,

12:48but it represented a more complex issue.

12:51That issue was, Horford simply lacked the skills and size of a traditional center,

12:56but his actual strengths were never utilized until he signed with the Boston Celtics in the summer of 2016.

13:03He wasn't necessarily a better player in Boston, but a different player.

13:07On a team that heavily valued versatility, switchability, and team defense as opposed to individual,

13:13Horford became the perfect fit for which the foundation of their team was built upon.

13:18They had plenty of scorers in Boston.

13:20Along with a dedicated team effort to crash the glass,

13:23Horford didn't have the pressure to be a primary scorer anymore,

13:26or have the burden of holding down the glass all by himself.

13:29The Celtics allowed him to utilize his passing skills to its maximum potential.

13:39And they gave him the opportunity to defend different positions to great effect.

13:48And most importantly, his newly developed three-point shot became a critical addition.

13:53He was a great fit for a team that prioritizes the three-point shot,

13:57sometimes a little too much.

13:59For seven years in Boston, Horford became the perfect glue guy.

14:04The team needed him, but he needed them as well.

14:09Denny Avdia

14:11When Avdia went from a role player on the Wizards to an all-star in Portland,

14:15Avdia has always been a crafty yet physically imposing small forward.

14:19The biggest visible change has been a drastic increase in free-throw attempts,

14:23but the thing is, drawing fouls has been a strength of his in the past as well.

14:27But when he used to be in a lesser role, this wasn't seen as much.

14:31But it's the complete shift in his role that was so drastic.

14:35It's unfathomable he turned into a player like this,

14:37because back on the Wizards, he was considered a defense-first player.

14:41And coach Wes Unseld trusted him to guard even the most lethal superstars.

14:50His entire identity was closer to being a defensive specialist

14:54than the prolific scorer and playmaker he eventually grew into.

14:59Regardless, his role as a defensive player wasn't supposed to be his main role on the Wizards.

15:04It was a niche he had to fill when he was on a roster that employed high-usage players like

15:08Bradley Beal,

15:09Russell Westbrook, Kyle Kuzma, and Jordan Poole.

15:12There weren't enough possessions to go around for Abdiya to get his touches.

15:16So to see him have a breakout season was surprising,

15:19because even for players who showed the ability to have that potential,

15:22it's much harder to sustain it across an entire season like he did in Portland.

15:27I guess, for some who followed his basketball career before the NBA,

15:31it may not be a shock to you.

15:32He was once regarded by some as the next Luka Doncic.

15:36So when his offensive game exploded, perhaps this was the player he was always meant to be.

15:41And it was his time on the Wizards that was the anomaly.

15:46Aaron Gordon

15:48In the modern NBA, when I think of a player who gets traded to a team

15:51and seamlessly fit into their identity, Aaron Gordon is the first guy I think of.

16:00When he got drafted with the number 4 pick in the iconic 2014 class,

16:04his career in Orlando was, honestly, not going as well as people hoped.

16:09His time there was comparable to Wiggins in Minnesota,

16:12and by that, I mean, they were asked to do too much,

16:15well beyond what he was capable of doing.

16:18It stems from Gordon playing significantly further away from the basket than he should have.

16:22He had a shot diet that heavily relied on long mid-range jumpers,

16:26tough fadeaways,

16:27and plenty of isolation one-on-one possessions

16:29that sometimes looked super good,

16:31but oftentimes, he wasn't good at it.

16:34The team experimented so much with Gordon,

16:37where it seemed like not even he knew what his purpose on the team was anymore.

16:41Much like Wiggins,

16:42it also took a trade to the ideal team to release the best of his ability.

16:47For Gordon, that would be Denver.

16:50There's a term I like to use called role compression.

16:52That's when a player stops trying to do everything

16:54and narrows down his role to just a few things he's good at.

16:57So, when playing alongside a generational passer like Jokic,

17:01Gordon optimizes his game to play off of him,

17:04which means being in the right position to catch a pass to finish the play.

17:08That's what they need him for.

17:09Other things like moving off the ball to give his team space,

17:13but also not trying to do too much when he does have the ball.

17:16Gordon has unfortunately been injured a lot,

17:19but when he does play, you can tell how valuable his skill set is.

17:23For instance, there are times when Jamal Murray struggled

17:26to bring the ball up the court against the Timberwolves,

17:28so Gordon was tasked to do that occasionally to give him a break.

17:33Defensively, Jokic needs as much help as possible,

17:35so Gordon has the responsibility of being the last line of defense.

17:40These are skills that don't show up in the box score,

17:43but whenever the Nuggets need something,

17:44Gordon is almost always the answer.

17:47Overall, he's had one of the more intriguing career arcs

17:50and proved that he strongly contributes to winning,

17:53regardless of what he does.

17:54Every second he's on the court,

17:56everything he does, he plays winning basketball.

17:59And that wasn't always the case back in Orlando.

18:02Anyway, that's all, folks.

18:04Those were seven NBA players

18:06whose play styles drastically changed over time.

18:09What are your thoughts on these guys,

18:10and who do you think will be the next player

18:12to see a major shift in their game?

18:14I've heard Paolo Bancaro was a prime candidate for that,

18:17and some folks view him as a taller Aaron Gordon,

18:20so what do you think?

18:21Let me know in the comments.

18:22Thank you all so much for watching.

18:24I hope you all enjoyed the video,

18:25and of course, as always,

18:26I'll see you next time.

18:28Peace.

18:30Peace.

18:32Peace.

18:34Peace.

18:36Peace.

18:38Peace.

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