 Every year in the NBA, there's always something different. Players change, decline and evolve. And this year we're seeing a few players that have changed their play style in this year's 2020 NBA season. Just like we saw last year, with certain players like Justice Windsor becoming more of a point guard, Derek Rose changing his style from being more of a slashing point guard to a point guard who now has more of an outside and jump shot game. This season we're seeing a few players and we're going to get into six NBA players that have changed their play style this season. So with that said, if you enjoy these types of videos, please be sure to hit that like button to show your support. Let's aim for 2000 likes for the next video. Why not hit that subscribe button for more NBA content every single week and hit that notification button so you never miss an upload. And also, before I get started with the video, let me know which plays you believe have changed their play style in the 2020 season. I really want to hear, but without further ado, let's get into it. At number 6, Jimmy Bartler. Jimmy Bartler's decision to join the Miami Heat was a weird one. He was leaving a championship level team in the 76ers who had Joellen B, Ben Simmons, Tobias Harris, and he was joining the Miami Heat team who practically had no superstar players. He had Bam Adebayo, who was a young player that was just coming off the bench, but would start in a replacement for Hassan White side, but nobody could have expected Bam to have this good of a jump and turn into an all-star this quick. And then you had players like Gorin Dracic who was coming off an injury, Tyler Hero who was just drafted, and Kendrick Nunn who was undrafted and picked up by the Miami Heat. So the overall team didn't look like a championship level team, but this season with Jimmy Bartler, the Miami Heat have become one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference, and that is mainly due to getting Jimmy Bartler. He isn't a superstar player like LeBron James, Kevin Durant, James Harden, or James Hunter DeCumpo, but he is an all-star level talent. But the one thing that's impressed me and many Heat fans is that Jimmy Bartler has changed his playstyle dramatically this season. He's become more of a point forward for the Miami Heat, and he's the guy who controls the pace of the offense. We have Kendrick Nunn in the starting lineup alongside Duncan Robinson and Jimmy Bartler as the point guard, shooting guard, and small forwards. Jimmy Bartler plays more of a point forward, Kendrick Nunn plays more of a shooting guard, he's more of a shooter, and he doesn't average a lot of assists, as Kendrick Nunn only averages 3.5 assists in 30 minutes per game. And that's why Jimmy Bartler has taken the reign of the point guard low for the Miami Heat. He's basically the point guard with Kendrick Nunn at the 2, Duncan Robinson at the 3, alongside the Biggs and Bam Adebayo and Myers Leonard. This year with the Miami Heat, Jimmy Bartler is averaging 6 assists, which is the best of his career. And he's only averaging 13 field goal attempts per game, which for the player who's a star of a team, is definitely not a lot of field goal attempts for your star player. For example, when he started to emerge in Chicago, he averaged 14 field goal attempts, 15 field goal attempts, then 16 and a half field goal attempts. Then once he got traded to Minnesota, he still averaged 15.6 field goal attempts alongside Carl Lansney Towns and Andrew Wiggins. And then once he went to Philadelphia, he only averaged 13.6, but he was playing alongside Joelle Mb, Tobias Harris and Ben Simmons. And so it wasn't very unusual for him to only average 13.6 field goal attempts on a team that's so stacked. But with the Miami Heat, he used the star player, he used the main player, and still he only averaged 13.3 field goal attempts, which is the fourth least out of his entire career. And that's including his rookie season where he barely played and his sophomore season. So his overall playmaking for the Miami Heat has definitely been a surprise and it's been amazing to watch for the Miami Heat and of course for Jimmy Butler, who should have been an all-star starter in my opinion. At number five, Malcolm Brogdon. Malcolm Brogdon had previously played for the Bucks and he was a very big loss. Obviously, the Bucks haven't felt it too much as they're the best team in the NBA. And you've got Yarns and Chris Middleton still doing their thing. But a 15.6 point per game player who averaged 4.5 rebounds, three assists shooting 92% from the free throw line, 42% from three, part of the 40-50-90 club, it was still a pretty big loss to lose him. But for the Indiana Pacers, he's played very well and he isn't really playing much of a shooting guard role anymore. And he's changed his playstyle to become more of a point guard. This year, he's gone from 3.2 assists last season to 7.3 assists this season. That's an increase of four assists per game in only two extra minutes per game. He's currently top 10 in assist in the entire NBA, which is a massive jump from his assists per game last season. To go from being ranked 71 last season in assists per game to in the top 10 is a massive jump and it shows how much he's expanded on his game in terms of being able to facilitate the ball. He averages one more point, the same rebounds, the same steals, the same blocks, but he's been able to get his teammates involved and become a great facilitator for the Indiana Pacers, so shout out to Malcolm Brogdon. Number 4, Devon Booker. Devon Booker is surprising because you'd assume that Devon Booker is one of the greatest three-point shooters in the entire NBA, as that's what he was known as coming into the NBA, a great three-point shooter, a guy that could get his shot off from basically anywhere on the court. But surprisingly, Devon Booker has decreased on his field goal attempts for the last two seasons. In his opening season in the NBA, he averaged around four three-point attempts per game, then that increased to five, then to seven, but in the last two years, that's decreased down to 6.5, and now this season, he only averages five, which is exactly the same as what he averaged when he was 20 years old in his second season in the league. Shooting a worse percentage from three than he did two years ago when he averaged seven threes per game, now he averages five threes a game at 36%. In 2017-2018, he averaged seven three-point attempts per game at 38%. And in the last two seasons, he has become more of a facilitator, but we understood why Devon Booker was becoming a facilitator last season, averaging nearly seven assists per game. It was because they basically didn't have a point guard, but this season, the Phoenix fans went out of their way to get Ricky Rubio, who they thought would be a great facilitator for the team, and would help Devon Booker get more shots up for the team. Instead, he's shooting 18 field goal attempts per game, which is the second lowest of his career, even though he is getting to the line more, as he's averaging almost 27 points per game, which is the best of his career. Still, he's averaging six assists, which is surprising considering they do have Ricky Rubio, so now Devon Booker's changed his play style, but he also isn't shooting as many threes as he used to in the past, which is surprising considering he used one of the better three-point shooters in the league, and that's what he was known as coming into the league, too. I do understand that Devon Booker is more of a playmaker now, but his three-point decline is a little bit interesting to me. I'm not sure why he's declined this much, and why he's taking a lot less three-pointers per game. Maybe the opposition defense is adjusted to not let Booker take as many threes per game, but he isn't, and that's interesting to me, considering that it's the second lowest of his entire career. So he's changed his play style to become more of a facilitator and less of a three-point shooter. Number three, Russell Westbrook. Russell Westbrook is having an amazing season for the Houston Rockets. He's averaging 27 points per game, with seven assists, eight rebounds, 1.6 deals per game, shooting a pretty bad 23% from three, and 45% as a field goal percentage. So how has Russell Westbrook adjusted his game? He's always played like this. A pretty bad three-point shooter, but a guy that gets to the cup and finishes around contact and ones, hits a lot of mid-range jumpers. How has Westbrook changed his game? I don't believe he's stat-padding anymore, and I truly believe in the last couple of seasons with Oklahoma City Thunder, where he averaged a triple-double for three straight years. I really do believe at times he was stat-padding. I don't think it was every single game, and that's just personal opinion. And honestly, I just believe it. I really believed he was chasing after those triple-doubles in Oklahoma, but this season with the Houston Rockets, I can definitely say that after watching them, I really don't think he is. I think he's playing within the offense. I think he's playing within the defensive schemes, too. He is athletic, and he does go after rebounds, which is really fun to watch. But at least he's not going after every single rebound. But this season with the Houston Rockets, I feel like he's just getting the rebounds he needs to, same with assists. He's been able to find his open teammates, but in my opinion, he's not stat-padding, and he's not purposely going out there just trying to get heaps of assists. He's averaging what he needs to average at seven assists and eight rebounds, and that's exactly what I expect out of Russell Westbrook. He's averaging almost 27 points as well, and he's playing extremely well for the Houston Rockets as a blade, and they're one of the most interesting teams to watch, considering that they're running the small ball lineup, and Westbrook is a guy that they need to go after rebounds, considering that PJ Tucker is in a very tall player, and he's their starting center now. So, Russell Westbrook, I think, is playing within the offense, and I believe he's changed his playstyle this season for the Houston Rockets as well. Blake Griffin. Blake Griffin's been injured for majority of this season. He's only managed to play 18 games, but he was a very different player over these 18 games than when he first entered the league. You would assume that Blake Griffin would be one of the better rebounders in the league, considering that he's six foot 10 and ultra athletic. Well, he entered the league, averaging 12 rebounds, then 10 rebounds, and it then plateaued around eight to nine rebounds per game whilst he continued his career with the Los Angeles Clippers. Once he got traded to the Pistons, he definitely left open rebounds to Andre Drummond, but he still averaged around 7.5 rebounds per game and 24 and a half points per game, which is what you'd expect out of a power forward who's one of the top power forwards in the league. But what we saw out of Blake Griffin this season through 18 games and 28 minutes per game was that Blake Griffin was becoming a stretch four, and literally did not go after any rebounds. He was becoming a stereotypical 2020 NBA power forward as somebody who doesn't really stay in the paint and only stretches the floor, which is what the Detroit Pistons didn't really need, considering that he only shot 24% from three with six three pointer 10s per game. Have a guess at how many rebounds you suspected Blake Griffin averaged in 28 minutes per game. 4.7, Blake Griffin averages 4.7 rebounds. That is shocking to me as a player who entered the league as a power forward, a dominant guy, who got from 12 rebounds to 4.7, that is shocking to me. And this season in Detroit, even through only 18 games, you can tell they just changed his play style significantly and he's becoming a stretch four in the league when that in my opinion doesn't really suit his play style at all. And at number one, Bam Adebayo. It's weird to say that two players on the same team can be in the same list for players who have changed their play style, but Bam and Jimmy Butler have both definitely changed their play style. Bam entered the league as a backup center and he was a player who would go out there and show heart and hustle. He would average 8.9 points last season along with 7.3 rebounds as well as nearly one still and one block per game. He was playing back up to Hassan White side and once the Miami Heat traded Hassan White side we've seen Bam Adebayo take over for the Miami Heat starting power forward position and he's averaging 16 points with 10 rebounds per game, 1.2 steals, 1.2 blocks shooting 58% as a field goal percentage in 34 minutes per game and he's been named an all-star player for the Miami Heat. The one thing about Bam Adebayo is he's now one of those players who actually takes up the ball for the Miami Heat. He's actually a facilitator averaging around five assists per game which is pretty amazing for a guy who's a powerful center in the league today. Bam's ability to take the ball up the court, get by his defenders with his quick first step and ball handling is something I believe he's really changed this season and he's been able to show off this season what he's able to do with his ball handling on the court which is why his playstyle is so unique at a guy of his size. With that said, let me know what you think about these players and their playstyles in the comment section down below. If you have any other players that you believe have changed their playstyle I want to hear it down below as well. If you enjoyed the video please hit that like to show your support. Subscribe if you're new for more NBA content every single week. Hit that notification button so you never miss an upload. It's been your morning Smith, I'm out. Peace.