I don't think it's fatigue and more about injuries. Also explains why he straight up looks like a complete different (and worse) player in many games. He is again questionable against the Lakers with a back injury. Hope this isn't becoming something chronic.
Yeah, he certainly wouldn't be the first player feeling the effects of leading a Euro team and struggling with finishing out the long NBA season on top of it. He needs a little mini break before the playoffs but it's hard to ask a 37yr old to do more carrying of the team and the West is so tight, we can't afford to really drop many games if we dont want to tumble into the playin tourney. Honestly being forced to play in the playin tourney would be a HUGE detriment to our team who is already limping into the end of the season. At this point - Houston's best advice is to selectively minutes load guys likes Alpi and Durant down the stretch - give them lighter minutes when the game appears in hand or when we are certainly going to lose. The problem is - I think rotations are Ime's achilles heal anyway so asking him to be super strategic about how and when he uses KD and Alpi is likely not going to end well. In hindsight, trading for KD was a good move but given Alpi had already committed to leading his European team, it had the unintended consequence of spreading Alpi too thin this season. I want to trade Alpi for the strategic benefit of putting together a stronger team around a more uptempo style of play with Amen, Reed, Tari, and Bari but I have sympathy for Sengun too - his play these days is most certainly not an accurate reflection of how good he really is....just a long season and he has been grinding for many months now.
