The NBA's 'put up or shut up' starting five

The NBA graveyard is full of franchise players whose stars shone bright one minute and burned out the next. 

Whether it's an injury, off-court problems or a failure to come through when it counts, star players, due to the size of their contracts, can go from having a team built around their skill set to being viewed as toxic assets really quickly. 

Bradley Beal was averaging 31.3 PPG one year and then had the worst contract in the NBA two seasons later. Ben Simmons was a Defensive Player of the Year runner-up at 24, an albatross contract at 26 and unemployable at 28. Kemba Walker was an All-Star and core member of the rising Celtics at 29 and out of the NBA 89 games later. 

The list goes on, but the story remains the same: NBA teams will break up with a star player well before he is ready for a split. 

All those examples were before the apron era of the collective bargaining agreement, too! That's why these five former All-Stars had better produce this season or face irrelevancy much sooner than expected.

Backcourt: Trae Young, Washington Wizards

Atlanta spent a full year refusing to extend Ice Trae, then shipped him to Washington in January for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. That's it! A four-time All-Star coming off an assist title essentially salary-dumped because the Hawks had no interest in paying him big money for his prime years.

In true Wizards fashion, Washington inexplicably handed him a max contract of four years and $212.8M. Now, the pressure is really on Young to do something he struggled to do in Atlanta: make his young teammates better — particularly No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa. 

Fail to accomplish that feat, and it will all but confirm that his deep playoff run in 2021 was a COVID-laced aberration and that his destiny in this league is to be a "good stats, bad team" player. 

Backcourt: Ja Morant, Portland Trail Blazers

In 2021-22, a 22-year-old Morant won the Most Improved Player award and finished seventh in MVP voting after averaging 27.4 PPG, 6.7 APG and 5.7 RPG and leading the Grizzlies to a second-place finish in the Western Conference. This summer, he was dealt for Jerami Grant, Kris Murray and cash. 

Four years ago, most people thought Morant was poised to take the "Face of the League" mantle from LeBron James and Stephen Curry; today, most people expect his career to fizzle out as Shawn Kemp's and Vin Baker's did due to off-the-court demons.

Morant was putrid last season, averaging only 19.5 PPG on 41 percent shooting from the field and 23.5 percent shooting from three. He's only appeared in 79 games over the past three seasons. Out of all of these guys on this list, he's the closest to finding himself unemployed. 

Another off-the-court incident would almost certainly end his NBA career. And if his on-the-court efficiency doesn't improve drastically from last season, he'll probably be learning about a new CBA when his contract expires in 2027-28 — the Chinese Basketball Association.

Frontcourt: Zion Williamson, New Orleans Pelicans

There's still a glimmer of hope that Williamson reaches his true Charles Barkley-esque potential that he displayed during his first three seasons (when he was actually on the court). However, he's got an unappealing cap hit ($42M this year and $44M next year) and is stuck on a terrible organization that no longer views him as a franchise player. 

Going from being labeled a "can't miss generational prospect" to this is a brutal fall from grace. He should be doing whatever he can to stay on the court this season and get out of New Orleans — crush it the first three months of the year and demand a trade. Williamson needs to be part of a winning culture.

Unfortunately, if he succumbs to another injury or has another invisible season, his career will start to resemble another wide-bodied college superstar and No. 1 overall draft pick whose star shined brightest in his teens and early 20s: Larry Johnson. 

While Johnson's NBA career had some good moments, he certainly never reached the lofty heights people expected after a legendary college run and strong start to his NBA career. Williamson should also take note that LJ was out of the league at age 31. The NBA has never had time for out-of-shape has-beens.

Frontcourt: Anthony Davis, Washington Wizards

I still find it hard to believe that this is all Davis' career is ever going to amount to. When he finished third in MVP voting in 2018 and went scorched-earth in the playoffs, averaging 30.1 PPG, 13.4 RPG and 2.3 BPG, it seemed like anything was on the table. 

When he and LeBron James tore through the league and dominated the Bubble in 2020, it looked as if Hakeem Olajuwon had been dropped into the modern NBA. It's wild to think that those two seasons — at ages 25 and 27 — were by far his apex.  

Today, he can't get the Wizards — a team wild enough to give Trae Young a max deal — to give him an extension. And why would they? He's 33 years old and has played in fewer than 60 percent of his games since the Bubble. 

If he stays on the court this season, he'll be in line for another nice contract with a contender; but if he cannot stay healthy, he'll be looking at the mid-level exception or less for the rest of his career.

Frontcourt: Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers

Last season appeared to be the season that pushed Embiid over the edge with Philly. Though still productive, he only played 38 games, looked very gimpy and had another postseason medical issue (appendicitis). It just seemed like time for the Sixers to put The Process to pasture and move on to the Tyrese Maxey-VJ Edgecombe era. 

Then, new GM Mike Gansey heisted Jaylen Brown from Boston, and LeBron James decided to play out his remaining NBA days in Philly on a veteran-minimum contract. Suddenly, Embiid is the biggest X factor in the entire league, and the stakes couldn't be higher.

Embiid won't be expected to carry much of a load in the regular season, but the Larry O'Brien Trophy may very well turn on his health and ability to dominate one-on-one matchups in the post on offense and protect the rim at a high level on defense. 

It wasn't the way he envisioned it when The Process began, but Embiid's NBA legacy and standing as a legendary sports figure in Philly are on the line this season.