NBA: 10 candidates for breakout seasons in 2017-18
These 10 notable NBA youngsters could be heading for breakout seasons in 2017-18 as they prepare to blossom into butterflies from their cocoons.
The NBA is one of the few leagues that’s interesting for fans from top to bottom thanks to its current draft lottery process, which rewards terrible teams with the highest odds at bringing in future elite talent.
In other words, even if your favorite NBA team is nowhere near being a contender in the present, keeping an eye on the league’s crop of youngsters and dreaming about the future is always entertaining.
Everyone knows LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James and Stephen Curry run the league now, and most people already know Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo are up next, but part of the fun for non-competitive teams is speculating who else could be on the rise.
In that frame of mind, it’s worth examining which 10 NBA players are approaching potential breakout seasons in 2017-18.
For our purposes, we’re not counting KAT, Kristaps Porzingis, Nikola Jokic, Rudy Gobert or Bradley Beal, because even though they have zero combined All-Star appearances at this point in their careers, most people already acknowledge them as stars or players who will to get there next season.
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We’re also going to avoid established rotation players on competitive playoff teams like Patrick McCaw, Norman Powell and Otto Porter Jr., because as much as they’ll probably improve this season, it’s hard to predict them making “the leap” given their limited roles.
That goes double for young, unproven talents like Brandon Ingram, Kris Dunn, Stanley Johnson and Willie Cauley-Stein, because at this early point in their careers, there’s really nowhere to go but up as they cook some of that rawness away. Rising players like T.J. Warren and Cody Zeller are also limited to the honorable mentions section given the competition they’ll face at their respective positions.
As far as this list is concerned, we’re looking at 10 guys who are clearly on the rise, but have somewhat proven themselves as competent NBA players and could make a substantial leap in 2017-18, perhaps even establishing themselves as certified stars. Let’s meet our cocoons before they turn into butterflies.