#201920BreakoutPlayerSeries

Alder Almo

Nov 8, 2019
4 min

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images It was a painful summer for Oklahoma Thunder. They parted ways with resident superstar Russell Westbrook in the wake of two blockbuster trades that featured Paul George going back to his California roots with the Los Angeles Clippers. Thunder general manager Sam Presti found himself on a one-way street; he had no choice but to gut the team, quickly setting in motion a wildly unexpected rebuild. He stockpiled young assets and draft picks

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Thomas Bryant

Alder Almo

Nov 5, 2019
4 min

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Thomas Bryant

Yahoo! Sports One man’s trash is another man’s treasure. That’s the case for the Washington Wizards’ rising big man Thomas Bryant. When Bryant entered the league in 2017, he was an intriguing prospect but still raw for the NBA game. The Lakers, who are always busy stargazing, never had the patience to polish rough diamonds. For a second round pick like Bryant to carve a niche in the star-driven league, it has to be a confluence of hard work and luck. Fortunately for him, the

Joshua Gamel

Oct 29, 2019
3 min

2019-20 Breakout Series: Kevin Huerter

Peachtree Hoops For anyone that pays devoted attentiveness to the NBA, John Collins and Trae Young are two names that fans are probably familiar with. Young, a point guard from the University of Oklahoma, was unbelievably sensational in the second half of last season. He finished second in Rookie of the Year voting and was a playmaking highlight reel. Last year, Collins was a second-year big man that elevated his game to a whole new level, nearly doubling his rebound and scor

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Pat Connaughton

Cody Kluge

Oct 28, 2019
3 min

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Pat Connaughton

Courtesy of CloseUp360.com Drafted 41st overall in the 2015 NBA Draft, not much was expected out of Pat Connaughton. He had a fine collegiate career at Notre Dame, but didn’t necessarily have any standout skills that would make him a star in the big leagues. In his first three years for the Portland Trail Blazers, Connaughton was a sparingly used bench player who finally showed some flashes of a potential role player in the 2017-18 season. That stint was all the proof the Mil

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Kyle Kuzma

Nikola Cuvalo

Oct 26, 2019
4 min

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Kyle Kuzma

New York Post Last season's Lakers were a curious mixture of playmaking and non-shooting; equal parts entertainment and utter tactical frustration. Finishing the year with a disappointing 37-45 record, the young roster around LeBron James was unable to perform at even a playoff-entry level in a gruelling Western Conference. Change was needed, and change indeed arrived in the form of a monster off-season trade for Anthony Davis that necessitated a major roster overhaul. As a r

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Larry Nance Jr.

Jeremy Freed

Oct 24, 2019
3 min

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Larry Nance Jr.

Silver Screen and Roll What are we going to learn about Larry Nance Jr. that we haven’t already after four years in the Association? A fair question. If it weren’t for his name, he might be just another mid-second round pick who overperformed his draft slot, but he’s the namesake of an underrated, ‘cult classic’ player in Larry Nance, and the one-in-a-million who gets traded from the Lakers to the Cavaliers and is genuinely excited about the prospect! Moreover, he’s good and

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: O.G. Anunoby

Khaleel Abdullah

Oct 23, 2019
2 min

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: O.G. Anunoby

Indiana University Athletics After a very promising rookie campaign with the Toronto Raptors, O.G. Anunoby’s second season left a lot to be desired. Kawhi Leonard did bump Anunoby in the depth chart, which certainly didn’t help. His sophomore slump was understandable. In 67 games, O.G. shot 45.3 percent from the field including 33.2 percent from three on 3.0 attempts per game. He averaged 7.0 points, 2.9 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 0.7 steals in 20.2 minutes per game. Born in L

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Robert Williams

Cameron Tabatabaie

Oct 23, 2019
2 min

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Robert Williams

Getty Images One of the most pressing issues for the Boston Celtics this upcoming season will be the team’s frontcourt rotation. Al Horford and Aron Baynes are gone, leaving two glaring holes upfront for the C’s. Newcomer Enes Kanter might very well get the starting job for the Celtics, at least to start the season. He’s an established veteran, and a potent offensive weapon. His defense, though, leaves much to be desired. Therein lies the biggest opportunity for second-year b

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Lauri Markkanen

Atticus O’Brien-Pappalardo

Oct 22, 2019
3 min

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Lauri Markkanen

Arizona Daily The 2018-19 Chicago Bulls sputtered to a 22-60 record, finished 13th in the Eastern Conference, fired their coach only a quarter of the way into the season, and faced significant locker room tension. The few bright spots came from their young stud Lauri Markkanen and the acquisition of Otto Porter from the Wizards. The addition of Porter proved to have an immediate impact, although he’ll need to stay healthy to have a more substantial presence. Markkanen showed

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Malik Beasley

Nick Fay

Oct 21, 2019
3 min

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Malik Beasley

USA Today As the Denver Nuggets look to build on last season’s second-place finish in the West, their depth will be a huge asset as they strive to rise to the top of a vicious Western Conference. Teams like the Clippers (Kawhi Leonard & Paul George), Lakers (Lebron James and Anthony Davis), and Rockets (James Harden and Russell Westbrook) may have more dynamic duos leading their teams than Denver’s impressive Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray one-two punch, but the top-to-bottom

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Tobias Harris

Marc Cantave

Oct 20, 2019
3 min

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Tobias Harris

NBC Sports Tobias Harris started last season with the Los Angeles Clippers, but was traded to the Philadelphia 76ers on February 6, 2019. In the 55 games he played with the Clippers, Harris averaged 20.9 points and 7.9 rebounds per game; with the remaining 27 games with the Sixers, he averaged 18.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. Overall, it was a pretty good season for Harris as he averaged 20 points per game for the first time in his career, and helped the Sixers finish a

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Terry Rozier

Cameron Tabatabaie

Oct 15, 2019
2 min

2019-20 Breakout Player Series: Terry Rozier

Draftkings Signing Terry Rozier to a three year, $58 million contract this summer was an odd move for the Charlotte Hornets. The team was at risk of losing All-Star point guard for nothing, but inking Rozier to such a lucrative deal could be detrimental in its own right. Rozier’s time with the Celtics was tumultuous. During the 2018 postseason, he filled in admirably for an injured Kyrie Irving. More recently, however, Rozier’s consistency and flexibility faltered during Bost

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