Breakout Players
In the 2013 season, it was mainly one player that had a breakout year being Indiana Pacers (now superstar) guard Paul George; but there’s a crop of players and some rookies ready to make their claim as all-stars this year. Detroit Piston’s center Andre Drummond will be our pick for most improved player this year. Although the team has upgraded this year bringing in Josh Smith, Chauncey Billups, and Brandon Jennings; Drummond will be the center piece of the new Pistons team. Standing over 7 feet tall, Andre’s going to fill a big void in the league being a complete big man (last seen with SHAQ). From having a strong arsenal of post moves to even better defense, Drummond does it all and will be a scary sight for teams in the future once they acquire better pieces.
Philadelphia 76ers shooting guard Evan Turner will also have a good year in our eyes. While Philly won’t win that many games now that Nerlens Noel is out, Evan should have freedom in his fourth year of NBA action turning 25. The 76ers are now without a big man for the 2nd year in a row and are being viewed by us as the worst team in the league. Evan shouldn’t get discouraged by the rough season ahead, but prepare for Noel and the possibility of landing Andrew Wiggins.
Kawhi Leonard of the San Antonio Spurs may be the blame for the Spurs game 6 loss missing key free throws down the stretch under intense pressure; but with an aging Tim Duncan and injury-prone former star Manu Ginobili, he’ll be looked at by many as the next star to rise in their farm system. Leonard’s only 22 years of age and saw his career numbers increase due to Gregg Popovich trusting the young slashing shooter. With an outside shot already established and now being a lock for their third option (behind Duncan and Parker), we see Kawhi to have an all-star like season.
We’re expecting Anthony Davis to have a semi-breakout year this year, but not like the others listed above; which is why rookie Victor Oladipo is last on our list. Victor is the perfect personification of a combo guard and like we said earlier and is our pick for winning rookie of the year. This is something the Magic wished they had surrounding Dwight Howard with before they traded him last summer, but Oladipo will be a franchise replacement player and immediate star in the league. If you remember the young Dwyane Wade before the injury, Victor has a similar game but with an extremely better shot. His upside is good for a young Magic franchise to build on for years to come.