Entering the 2015 playoffs, it looked like Nene would once again play a crucial role for the Washington Wizards.

Forget how he ended the regular season; these are the playoffs, and the playoffs are where Nene has excelled for years. Flash back to last postseason, where the hulking Brazilian brutalized the Chicago Bulls with his furious, physical play. The hope was for more of the same, another postseason of solid all-around play fueled by anger and aggression.

Unfortunately, 2015 playoff Nene is a shell of his former shelf.

In six postseason games, Nene is averaging a measly 6 points and 5.8 rebounds while shooting a putrid 37% from the field. Those numbers are a bit skewed too, as about two thirds of those rebounds came in Games 1 and 2 against Toronto.

Nene has been even more abysmal against the Hawks, with his averages dipping to 1 point and 3.5 rebounds, with a field goal percentage of … 0.00. Yes, through two games, he’s made as many field goals as you and I have; zero.

This is a far cry from 2014 Playoff Nene, the motivated beast who played angry and dominated the Bulls.

The last two games may have been two of the very worst games of his career. It actually looks like he’s forgotten how to play basketball.

At this stage in his career, Nene isn’t know for posting monster box-scores; in the regular season, he averaged a modest 11 points and 5 rebounds per game.

His value is more subtle, as he excels at doing the little things that often get overlooked. But he’s not even doing that well, as his typically sharp passing has been sloppy, his turnovers have increased, and his defense has been uninspiring, to put it nicely.

Nene looks slow and lumbering, and he’s really struggling to stay in front of his man. He’s also been dominated on the glass, and while rebounding has never been his strong suit, he shouldn’t be be letting the smaller Paul Millsap and Al Horford grab so many offensive boards.

The fact that nearly everyone else on the team is stepping up makes Nene’s poor play look even worse. Bradley Beal has taken on a much bigger role on both ends, chasing Kyle Korver around the perimeter and taking over more playmaking duties. Paul Pierce has been shooting daggers all postseason. Otto Porter Jr. looks like a completely different player.

Backups Ramon Sessions and Drew Gooden Jr. have for the most part excelled in their limited roles.

Everyone is trending upwards, while Nene is rapidly trending downwards.

The Hawks are a challenging matchup for Nene, especially defensively. Millsap and Horford are smaller and more active, and they’re good enough shooters to drag Nene to the perimeter, where he becomes much less effective. A more mobile defender, notably Pierce or Porter, might be a much better option, especially since neither will sacrifice a great deal of size to the 6’8″ Millsap.

Frankly, the less the Wizards play Nene against the Hawks, the better.

They simply have better options; Pierce and Gooden can stretch the floor much better, and Gortat is an infinitely stronger option as the starting center. Slotting Nene as the backup center might be the way to go; in theory, Nene’s playmaking ability would make him an asset on the second unit, and Wall/Beal/Porter/Pierce/Gortat and Wall/Beal/Pierce/Gooden/Gortat both look like more effective starting lineups.

This postseason has raised some legitimate questions about Nene’s future with the Wizards. Thanks to a league wide shift to smaller, shooting-oriented lineups, the duo of Nene and Gortat is no longer viable.

Having two bodies in the post isn’t optimal for spacing, and it clogs the lane for Wall. For Nene to continue to be effective, he may need to either shift to backup center or commit to reinventing himself.

Losing weight, putting in some serious work on his outside shot and attempting to reinvent himself as a stretch 4 or 5 might be an option.

The postseason has shown that the Wizards function better with a stretch 4, such as Pierce or Gooden. This doesn’t mean that it’s time to give up on the big man. Nene still has the game to be an effective player. But if this proves to be more than a slump, it may be time to think about reducing his role even more.