6 High-volume NBA stars who are holding their teams back from greater success

After the first month of the NBA season, there are six high-volume stars who could be holding their teams back from success.

It's generally difficult to determine what level of impact certain stars have on their team. Even for the most productive of players, the league has moved past the simple traditional counting stats. So while a certain player may be posting huge numbers, that doesn't necessarily mean they are automatically having a positive impact. In some cases, players can be posting big numbers without having the huge impact that you'd assume.

That's what we're going to tackle in this article. We're going to try to look beyond the traditional stat sheet to give some context to a few high-volume stars who may be holding their teams back from even greater success. of note, instead of "honorable mentions," we're going to use the phrase "the footnotes" for this article as players who nearly made this list.

The footnotes

Miles Bridges, Charlotte Hornets - There's a belief that Miles Bridges is considered to be a foundational piece for the Charlotte Hornets, especially after the contract he signed this past offseason with the team. However, through the first month of the season, Bridges has been a pretty negative asset for the team. Overall this season, the Hornets have a -8.3 net rating when he's on the floor. That's not ideal considering he's the team's second-leading scorer.

Cam Thomas, Brooklyn Nets - For many across the league, Cam Thomas does appear to be passing the eye test as the leading scorer for the Brooklyn Nets. However, when digging through the stats a bit deeper, the argument could be made that his impact on the Nets could be a bit more complicated. The Nets have a better net rating when he's off the floor and have a much better defense. If nothing else, it's something the Nets will have to think long and hard about before giving him a huge deal during the offseason.

Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks - While much was talked about the possibility of him being traded during the offseason, all of that has quieted down. What is Trae Young's future with the team? Who knows. However, at least through the first month of the season, it's fair to debate what level of impact he's had on the team. The team has a negative net rating when he's on the floor and a much worse defense. Could that be attributed to their under-.500 record? I suppose. But it does lean back into the question of whether the Hawks should trade him or not.