When the lockout more than three months of the NBA is still for whether the resumption of a wave of waves, the world's second league Champions League basket as early as the end of May will be canceled, the free agent market is more bustling, never pressed the pause button. Many of the big names in European basketball have chosen to switch sides, and there is no shortage of players who have generated gossip with the NBA.
But a realistic problem is that those in the European Championships stars who have made a name for themselves based on salary and development prospects and other factors to consider, there are few people are willing to gamble again, so they will be to the NBA team to mention some additional conditions, and Sean Larkin is afraid to be one of the most interesting examples.
He, who once sought to stay in the NBA by all means, said in a recent interview that he wouldn't return to the league unless an NBA team could promise him 18-25 minutes of playing time and at least a second point guard role. Then again, is the confident Larkin really qualified to make such demands?
The "Champions League version of Curry" of the era.About five or six years ago, Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors, the emergence of many people believe that the small-ball storm swept the league as a sign of the full-scale, three-point shooting gradually become the lifeline to determine the upper limit of the team's offense, compared to the style of the beginning of the century is a world of difference.
It's no coincidence that this kind of disruptive change is also happening in the Champions League. In the 28 rounds of the regular season has been played, 18 teams to shoot an average of 24.8 three-point shots, accounting for more than 40% of the total proportion of shots, two data double the history of the Champions League, we must know, this season, the NBA teams average three-point proportion is only 37.3%. Holding the ball to throw the god become the inevitable product of today's era, in turn, leading the era forward, to the NBA may be Curry Harden Lillard, for the Champions League for the benchmark figure is inevitably Sean Larkin.
Larkin's Champions League career can be traced back to the summer of 2016, claiming that "the primary goal is to stay in the NBA", he was slow to wait for any team to throw the olive branch, and so was Spain's powerhouse Vasconia with a 1 + 1 contract "to stay! ". Larkin's career in Europe is not a mediocre start, he is not bad performance to let the Celtics noticed him again, but compared with Larkin's own unprecedented 2019-20 season, but I'm afraid that even the taillights can not be seen.
In the 25 regular season rounds in which he participated, Larkin averaged less than 30 minutes per game and delivered 22.2 points, 4.1 assists, and 1.32 steals, which topped the Champions League in scoring and ranked seventh in steals. Larkin's main attack efficiency is extremely horrible, 72.9% true shooting rate in the eyes of the whole of Europe no one can be out of its right, a lateral comparison of the NBA, counting a bunch of pie-eating warriors, but also only played a game of Eric Mika can be overwhelmed by the former. And even if you expand the sample size to last season, Larkin's true shooting percentage in the last two years still climbed up to 70%, it is not an exaggeration to say that his offensive level in the Champions League to the unfathomable realm.
Larkin's outside report card is impeccable, the premise of 8.33 three-pointers per 36 minutes of shooting rate of more than fifty percent. November 29, 2019, Larkin played for the Istanbul Efes hosted Bayern Munich, he was in just 30 minutes three three-pointers 12 shot 10 soared down 49 points, a move to break the dust of nearly seven years of the Champions League single-game scoring record; the beginning of the March lockout On the eve of the lockout in early March, Larkin gave another 40-point offensive feast, hitting 10 of 15 3-pointers, making him the first player ever to score 10 3-pointers in a single game, just a few months apart.
Breaking down Larkin's offensive outbursts, his individual one-and-dones aren't exactly impressive, neither being the primary scoring outlet, and his 0.88 points per possession is only middle-of-the-road. The truly amazing place is that Larkin has 40.7% of the round through the block with the ball out of the shot, and can get 1.11 points per round, the third largest proportion of the offense of the pick-and-roll is even as high as 1.73 points, the slightest carelessness of the defense, Larkin can be a fatal blow to the opponent.
The 2020 MVP trophy would have been Larkin's for the taking if not for the league lockout. The Ephs, who have never won a European title, turned dark horse last year, relying on Larkin's superb performance in the knockout rounds to reach the finals for the first time, and are now well on their way to complete dominance, both with a 24-4 record and a 13.5 100-round net rating.
Larkin thus became the darling of the Turkish basketball world, the national team willingly replaced the World Cup hero Wilbekin, the naturalization quota used in Larkin, Efes with the legendary two-year after-tax $7.7 million in lucrative offers with its contract extension. It is worth mentioning that Larkin's new contract is also 1 +1, next summer is back to the NBA or stay in Europe is not yet determined.
Oceanside, "no fixed place" of the vagabond.
Sean Larkin, 27, is a small guard of only 1 meter 80, his father is the famous Hall of Famer Barry Larkin, as a native American, the NBA was once regarded as his only home. 2013, by virtue of the University of Miami's highlights, the sophomore Larkin managed to kill the first round of the draft, followed by Schroeder, in the 18th place by the Atlanta Hawks, picked up, and then sent to the only one of the NBA. pick and then sent to the Maverick.
But Larkin's career has been overshadowed by a serious ankle injury suffered in the summer league, and he has played less than 500 minutes in his rookie season, behind Calderon and Harris, and has been described as "non-existent".
Larkin was soon treated as a commodity by the Mavericks, but of course he was an insignificant addition, and in the summer of 2014, in a six-player blockbuster trade, Larkin was packaged up and sent to the New York Knicks, a team that had begun its unrelenting swing for the fences.
Demanding a relaxed environment for Larkin is undoubtedly a piece of fertile ground to cash in on his potential, but he still failed to seize the opportunity, the Knicks gave him the identity of the top backup point guard, but Larkin's offense is low level, the data is lackluster. That offseason, the management did not execute the team option, restore free agency Larkin and the same city of the Bucks signed a cheap short contract, the same fish weak, this time moving the nest always have some color.
2015-16 season, Larkin in the regular season, 78 appearances, averaging 22.4 minutes to contribute 7.3 points, 4.4 assists and 1.2 steals, his breakthrough and passing is particularly bright, the defensive end of the attitude of the positive, in general did not live up to the coaching staff's trust in him. However, the newly appointed Sean Marks has begun a drastic reform, he did not choose to keep Larkin, so that the latter in the free market suffered a dilemma of no one asked for, and had no choice but to go overseas to look for gold. By the time Larkin came back again, his identity turned into a member of that 2018 Eastern Conference Green Army.
Looking at Larkin's brief and ill-fated NBA career, it's a far cry from what it is now. For example, Larkin has never been known for his shooting in the NBA, and his three-point accuracy and production are not worth mentioning, and he's more of a hard-working backcourt workhorse, which is why we have reason to think that Larkin has long been incomparable. After all, with his current style of offense and tendency to make shots, he could at least be on a more competitive path if he returns to the league someday, endings aside.