On a normal basis, the medical status of an NBA player could affect his career as the player will be out of the court, whether he is still recovering from an operation in a hospital or being sidelined due to a minor injury. These mentioned grounds are not their only escape in the court right now as the current pandemic and social injustice experienced in the United States prompted the league to revised their players' excuses in opting out to the games prior to the resumption in Orlando, starting still from health down to the new social justice excuse.
With the players currently having every right to make their own decision, it left teams to scramble looking for replacements that will perfectly match the player who opted out in terms of his attributes and role in the court.
And because of the drastic changes in the line up due to players that are opting out. CBS Sports has listed which of those players can be easily replaced to the hardest to replace in terms of statistics on and off the court that includes their box plus-minus (BPM), real plus-minus (RPM), value over replacement player (VORP), player efficiency rating (PER), and win shares per 48 minutes (WS/48).
LA LAKERS
This is a battle of offense and defense but in the end, stats do not matter, the majority of fans certainly agree that the loss of Bradley who is a good defender and a decent scorer has a huge impact on the Lakers.
But with the loss of Avery Bradley, the Lakers signed JR Smith who can drill the ball in all parts of the floor and a former teammate of LeBron James in the legendary 2016 Cavaliers championship team, the purple and gold management certainly aims to spark an old flame to set Orlando on fire, Lakers Nation reported.
INDIANA PACERS
The biggest name to opt-out this season is the 'black panther' of the Indiana Pacers, Victor Oladipo. Despite his all-star numbers he is still questioned if he is one, as the statistics show that his team becomes worse if he is on the court and becomes better if he is off the court.
HOUSTON ROCKETS
Some claim that the replacement of Thabo Sefolosha to Luc Mbah a Moute is actually an upgrade for Houston, but certainly, they forgot something as Rockets current stars James Harden and Russell Westbrook are former teammates in Oklahoma City Thunder years ago and if you can remember one of their key defenders during that time is Sefolosha which means they already built chemistry even before joining the rockets, and that is what they are missing in this opt-out.
PORTLAND TRAIL BLAZERS
The loss of Ariza is definitely going to hurt the Trailblazers as they will not only miss a reliable shooter but also the absence of a playoff-experienced teammate. According to ESPN, Ariza has decided to opt-out of the season and prioritize his time with his son.
DALLAS MAVERICKS
With Cauley-stein sitting out for Dallas in the center position, the minutes will be heavy for the Kristaps Porzingis but it is an advantage for the Mavericks as the unicorn has been effective all season long.
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