2023 NBA Playoff — Performance and Salary

2023 Playoff — click to look up each point's information closely.

The playoffs are always an important stage for players. Some players get their next big deal as a result of their outstanding playoff performance, while others lose the support of their fans during these crucial games. To see which players hold on to their “one shot,” I show their stats and salaries for the 2022 and 2023 playoffs. First, I filtered out players who played fewer than five minutes each game, and then I developed models using the players’ salary and average points, rebounds, and minutes. According to the chart and link above, three data sets are linear regression models. The distribution was then depicted using three colors: light blue dots represent data within one standard deviation, blue dots represent data between one and two standard deviations, and green dots represent data greater than two standard deviations. In this essay, I’d want to concentrate on the green dots players, who may have the best or worst numbers based on their salary.

1. Salary over 20M: Nikola Jokic in Phoenix Suns series, Jimmy Bulter in Milwaukee Bucks series, Devin Booker in Los Angeles Clippers series, Jamal Murray in Los Angeles Lakers series, and Jalen Brunson in Miami Heat series.
   Except for Brunson, others bring their teams to the next round, and it is not hard to recall their performance in those series.
2. Salary below 20M: Anthony Edwards in Denver Nuggets series, Ja Morant in Los Angeles Lakers Series, Desmond Bane in Los Angeles Lakers Series, Tyrese Maxey in Brooklyn Nets and Boston Celtics series, Austin Reaves in Denver Nuggets series, and Russell Westbrook in Phoenix Suns series.
   Except for Ja, who has already signed a significant contract, and Russell, who just lost a large sum of money as a result of the trade, the rest of the players are on their way to extending their rookie contracts. This summer, Reaves, in particular, may request a deal worth more than $12 million.
3. Under expectation: D’Angelo Russell in Denver Nuggets series and Joe Harris in Philadelphia Sixers series.
   Though Russell helped the Lakers get the playoff ticket, he was struggling with his shooting and was finally removed from the starting lineups in Game 4. The unexpected performance may let him lose the advantage in the contract negotiation this summer.

Since scoring isn’t the only method to assess a player’s performance, I also created rebound and minutes charts. I feel rebound statistics can provide a different perspective on a player’s performance. Some players may no longer need to score in order to stay on the court. Like Kevon Looney and Ivica Zubac, they can demonstrate their rebounding abilities to gain the coaches’ faith. Also, while Anthony Davis did not dominate on the offensive end, he did contribute significantly to the Lakers’ rebounding. The minute plot explains why some players with salaries under $20 million had good stats. We can see that such players have a lot of playtime to demonstrate their abilities. The green points, in particular, are concentrated below 10M. That is, the teams are taking advantage of their “rookie benefits” to win the game.