How did the five players with the highest annual salary this year perform? Jokic was questioned and Curry was ruined by injury

With the playoffs in full swing, 12 of the 16 teams have been eliminated, including teams like the Celtics, Cavaliers, Lakers, and other teams that were very optimistic before the start of the playoffs. The reason why these teams were eliminated was that in addition to their own lineups, their performance was not ideal. For example, the Lakers, this team seems to have the Big Three, but in fact, both Doncic, James and Reeves have their flaws. Doncic and Reeves are not good at defending, and James is due to physical problems, which leads to him being unable to take over the game at the last moment with the highest salary.

However, from a general perspective, considering James' performance on both offense and defense, he averaged 25.4 points, 9 rebounds, 5.6 assists, 2 steals and 1.8 blocks in the entire series, so he is worthy of his value. Next, we also took a look at the five highest annual salary players in this year's playoffs. Let's take a look at their personal performance. It is worth mentioning that only Towns is left among these five people and has not been eliminated.

5.Leonard (49.2 million)

Average 25 points, 7.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.1 steals in the playoffs. Last season, the Clippers signed a three-year, 149 million contract extension with Leonard in advance. As a result, he still failed to play in the playoffs healthy last year, and the team was eliminated in the first round. This season, the Clippers gave Leonard plenty of time to recover. He didn't return until the middle of the regular season, and was strictly controlled at the beginning.

With the careful use of the Clippers, Leonard finally made the playoffs with his healthiest physical condition since 2021, and this is also his first complete round of the series since 2021. Unfortunately, due to the damage of injuries, Leonard's current strength is completely incomparable to that year. Strictly speaking, he only broke out in one game in this round of series, that is, G2 made 15 of 19 shots in the game and scored 39 points, except that he did not score 30+ once.

In the tiebreak, Leonard scored 22 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. His personal performance was not impressive, but since Harden only scored 7 points in the game, no one still cared about Leonard's performance. Considering that Leonard is already 33 years old, it is obvious that he will not be able to return to the peak in the future, so it has become unrealistic for the Clippers to expect him to lead the team to win the championship.

4. Towns (49.2 million)

Average of 19.8 points, 11.3 rebounds and 1.1 assists in the playoffs

In last year's playoffs, Towns successfully helped the Timberwolves reach the Western Conference Finals. Although his personal performance still has obvious ups and downs, as the second in command of the team, no one outside could have thought that the Timberwolves would actually trade him in the offseason. After being sent to the Knicks, Towns returned to the No. 5 position, and he and Brunson also had a good chemistry. He averaged 24.4 points, 12.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1 steal per game in the regular season. Therefore, he was not only selected as the All-Star, but also highly likely he will be selected as the All-Series later.

Downs did have the problem of downshifting again in the playoffs. Until now, his data has declined significantly compared to the regular season, but considering his offense, he is still an indispensable part of the Knicks system, especially his second offense and projection have greatly guaranteed the team's lower limit. With the help of Towns, the Knicks defeated the Celtics and entered the Eastern Conference Finals. Such a result has obviously exceeded the expectations of the outside world.

Judging from the situation in this year's playoffs, the Knicks still have hopes of competing for the championship. After all, none of the other three teams have shown their unique combat power in the playoffs. However, if the Knicks want to go further, Towns's condition needs to be improved a little further, otherwise when other teams find a way to target Miro, the Knicks will be in a big deal.

3. Brown (49.2 million)

Average 22.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1 steal in the playoffs. In 2023, Brown and the Celtics signed the largest contract in history at that time. At that time, the outside world was full of doubts, but then Brown led the Celtics to win the championship, and he also won the MVP and FMVP of the Eastern Conference Finals, so the voice of saying he was a premium contract was minus more than half. However, as the new season begins, Brown's ups and downs once again made him the target of public criticism, especially in the playoffs, even the Celtics' own fans are unwilling to continue to believe him.

Now that the Celtics have been eliminated, Brown's performance in the playoffs this year is undoubtedly disappointing. After playing 11 games, he only got 30+ once, and his shortcomings are still very obvious. However, after the season, the media revealed that Brown has been playing with a meniscus-torn injury this year, so that he can understand why his performance is so struggling.

Although Brown's injury is not as serious as Tatum, the worst result will also affect his future career. Considering that it is basically impossible for Brown to practice pass control, if his physical fitness declines, he will not be able to play in his previous state again. If the Celtics want to avoid taxes, Brown may become the first to be traded, but the premise is that the Celtics can find the next one who is willing to take over.

2. Jokic (51.41 million)

Average 26.2 points, 12.7 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals in the playoffs, since winning the championship in 2023, everyone has seen the relegation of the Nuggets, and they almost fell to the playoffs this season.. In the playoffs, the Nuggets still played very badly. Although they stubbornly eliminated the Clippers, Jokic was also questioned in this round of series because they could not crush their opponents in terms of strength. Jokic could only do everything to win, so his fake falls and foul actions were fully visible to fans.

Fans who don't like Jokic naturally don't like him, but fans who like him will think that Jokic once again proves that his competitive spirit is no worse than anything else. He has never been a player with a Buddhist attitude towards basketball. Now that the Nuggets' season is over, both Jokic and the team have exposed more shortcomings, but the good news is that they still have the opportunity to adjust, especially Jokic. Although he is 30 years old, MVP stars like James and Curry have also made obvious progress after they have passed this age. If Jokic wants to win the championship, he must do what these predecessors have done.

1. Curry (55.76 million)

Average of 22.6 points, 5.3 rebounds, 5.1 assists and 1 steal in the playoffs

As he gets older, Curry's decline is visible to the naked eye, but he is a historical super giant after all. Even if he is 37 years old, his condition is still not comparable to that of an ordinary All-Star. Under Curry's leadership this year's playoffs, the Warriors successfully scored below the bottom in the first round. He was able to score 22 points, 10 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks in the tiebreak. Curry once again proved that in addition to shooting, he can also provide great help to the team in other aspects.

However, when the outside world thought that the Warriors could continue to eliminate the Timberwolves in the second round, Curry suffered a serious injury in G1 in this round of the series, and the Warriors who lost him did not expect to lose to their opponents. Considering the age of Curry, Butler and Green, the Warriors' failure this year is undoubtedly a pity. After all, this year's championship prospects do not appear every season. Maybe which team will form a super lineup again next season, but the Warriors have also expressed their attitude. They will seize the final peak of the core players. When they get the opportunity to strengthen the lineup this summer, the team will spare no effort to operate, which is obviously very good news for Curry.