8. Lou Williams, Los Angeles Clippers
Career seasons at age 31 are pretty rare in NBA history, and it’s even rarer to follow up a year like that with another career season at age 32. That’s the task at hand for Lou Williams, who narrowly missed out on an All-Star spot in the crowded Western Conference and now has even more company in the backcourt.
Lou Will is the Los Angeles Clippers‘ most established scorer by far, and will still be their go-to scorer after winning his third Sixth Man of the Year. He may even come close to matching the career-high 22.6 points and 5.3 assists per game he averaged last year.
Still, the smart money is on Williams coming back down to earth a little bit. Rookies Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jerome Robinson needs minutes as the Clippers’ future backcourt, while a healthy Avery Bradley and a still-improving Tobias Harris will cut into his minutes and scoring load, respectively. And, of course, all that is without mentioning Patrick Beverley or Milos Teodosic.