Bottom line Underwood had 1 (hawk) who was familiar with the system and at probably too many times deferred to the Alpha Portals.
Truth is TSJ I think bought in to Underwood, but also knew he HAD to carry this team at times....reality was/is he won't ever be the Alpha dog leader on this past years team or any other one moving forward. He is just too one dimensional (bull in a china shop), and his jumper as good as it has been is simply not good enough to get buckets at all times.
Mayer is a whole other story.....the kid was supposed to be a HUGE pickup, rankings/media/fans all said so....never seemed to mesh, maybe his fault/others/who knows, but by year end one of our portal king was diminshed to a tarnished knight. Mayer will have a career, but I would bet $$$ it isn't in the NBA at all, and it will not be without future issues at some point.
Underwood, dug that hole, and he laid in it all year....live by the sword so to speak. Reality is he gave the superstars too much leeway in game planning/follow through and some of the younger ones got butt hurt imo. Neither good nor bad, a 20 win season is still good, just not good enough for us rabid fans....that said, every year will be like the last moving forward with the portal/NIL here to stay.