NBA: 10 relative unknowns entering defining seasons in 2017-18

6 of 11

Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images /

6. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has been in the league longer than anyone on this list, but since his 2015-16 season was only seven games, we’ve really only gotten four “full” seasons to see what he can do with the Charlotte Hornets.

In that seven-game season, it appeared as though MKG was ready to break out, averaging a career-high 12.7 points and 6.4 rebounds per game, shooting 3-for-7 from 3-point range (42.9 percent) and flaunting a new and improved jump shot. Unfortunately, his season was ended by two shoulder injuries and a torn labrum.

Last year he played in 81 games, but that same offensive progress wasn’t there. Kidd-Gilchrist averaged just 9.2 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, and though he shot 47.7 percent from the field overall, he attempted only nine 3-pointers for the entire year.

That’s unacceptable for a wing player, even one who rebounds and defends as well as MKG does. People forget he’s only turning 24 this week despite having been in the league for five years, so his game is not set in stone just yet. But it’s probably time this former No. 2 overall pick starts looking like one, even with a contract that runs through at least the 2018-19 campaign.