10 NBA Players Who Need to Step Up Right Now
Whether within a playoff series that's slipping away or during a full season that isn't going to plan, the best strategic adjustment any team can make is to simply play better.
It's reductive, and it's tongue-in-cheek. But also, it's usually true. Forget mixing up pick-and-roll coverages or tweaking rotations. Sometimes, the fix is uncomplicated: Players need to step up.
We're highlighting 10 such players, all of whom need to rise in the face of a challenge. We're not picking on end-of-bench role-fillers here. Everyone we'll cover has either demonstrated a previous level of play above what he's showing now or has displayed enough flashes to justify our belief in his upside.
We're asking for more from these guys because we believe they can provide it. In that sense, landing on this list isn't a condemnation. It's a compliment.
These players can change the fate of their teams by either hitting a new level or stretching to reach one they occupied in the past.
Jordan Poole, Golden State Warriors
1 of 10
It's easiest to start with the efficiency numbers, which show Golden State Warriors guard Jordan Poole's season-long struggle to put the ball in the basket. Sure, the dynamic 23-year-old is posting a career-high 21.2 points per game. But he's doing it on shooting percentages that lag way behind last season's, particularly from long range. Poole's 32.1 percent hit rate from deep is the worst such figure among all players who've attempted at least 300 long balls.
When he's not missing shots, Poole is coughing up the rock far more often than he did during his breakout 2021-22 campaign, posting a turnover rate that ranks in the 7th percentile at his position. His timing on those giveaways has been particularly damaging; many of them have come in critical late-game situations.
The combination of his poor shooting and worse decision-making has caused massive damage in the one area Poole where was expected to make a positive impact. The Warriors' offensive rating plummets by 9.4 points per 100 possessions with Poole on the floor.
Poole has proved himself on big postseason stages, and his electrifying shot-making still punctuates his less impressive stretches. But his defense has been disastrous all year—marked by bizarre failures to compete and inexplicable lapses in attention.
That stuff is ugly, but it isn't shocking. Poole has been a poor defender his whole career. It's nonetheless disappointing, though, because within the same game, he showed flashes of what he could do on D with consistent focus and effort.
For a Warriors team that has to turn the corner soon if it wants to make a credible defense of last year's title, Poole must at least reach 2021-22's levels on both ends of the floor. He has a higher gear in him. We've seen it, and the Dubs desperately need him to find it.
Fred VanVleet, Toronto Raptors
2 of 10
It's ironic that if the Toronto Raptors' experiment with like-sized, forward-heavy lineups fails, it won't be because of the shortcomings of all those 6'9" guys. That part of the experiment works pretty well. The fact is, if Fred VanVleet were playing like he did last year, we wouldn't be spending nearly as much time fretting over if or how the disappointing Raps should blow up their roster at the Feb. 9 trade deadline.
VanVleet has played hurt so many times that we should assume he's fighting through a variety of strains, sprains and tweaks all year. That might explain why he's posting the worst shooting percentages since he became a rotation player in 2017-18. Whatever the cause, FVV isn't giving Toronto the floor-stretching and playmaking threat it needs to make its weird lineups work. The Raptors won 48 games a season ago using roughly the same approach. The most significant difference between that team and this year's (hopefully) play-in-bound version was that 2021-22 saw VanVleet make the All-Star team.
He finished last year with averages of 20.3 points and 6.7 assists with a 55.2 true shooting percentage. He's not far off his scoring number from last year at 19.1 points per game, but FVV's hit rates of 38.8 percent from the field and 34.4 percent from deep aren't cutting it. He's down to 54.0 percent true shooting.
It's a positive sign that most of VanVleet's issues arise on catch-and-shoot looks. He's hitting 34.8 percent of his standstill threes, way down from last year's 43.3 percent clip. Knock down a few more easy ones, and it could go a long way toward keeping defenses honest and opening up space for everyone else. His pull-up numbers and pick-and-roll efficiency stats are fine. There'd be much more cause for panic about another small guard losing a half-step and becoming a shell of his former self if those were the problem.
VanVleet has been an emotional tone-setter and highly regarded competitor in Toronto for several years. That means his return to form could count for a little extra, possibly galvanizing a roster that was merely waiting for a leader to follow.
Trae Young, Atlanta Hawks
3 of 10
All season, we've gotten reports that Trae Young might not be the best teammate or the easiest guy to coach. Maybe it's not too late to unring the bell on those accounts. And you have to wonder if having Young simply play like himself might turn the volume down on one of the noisiest teams in the league.
Young's counting stats glisten. He's putting up 27.0 points and 9.9 assists per game. The two-time All-Star's shooting percentages dull the shine considerably, as Young is posting his worst shooting percentages since he was a rookie in 2018-19. A 31.4 percent clip from beyond the arc is particularly troubling after last year's climb to 38.2 percent.
Along with Young's shooting accuracy, the Atlanta Hawks are nosediving in offensive efficiency, falling from last year's No. 2 ranking to a dispiriting 21st. Maybe it's not fair to pin that decline on Young. His presence on the floor coincides with a boost in Atlanta's offensive rating that ranks in the 98th percentile, right in line with his impact of a year ago. But as Charles Barkley notes so often on Inside the NBA, responsibility comes with being a great player. Young is a fully maxed-out, face-of-the-franchise figure in Atlanta. If the Hawks are going to get their house in order, he has to be the one to organize the cleanup.
That means acting in a way that changes what can only be described as an increasingly negative perception of his leadership. The shooting numbers also need to improve, and Young must put forth a modicum of effort on D. Those aren't big asks.
Young is "the guy" here, and the survival of this version of the Hawks depends on him to deliver on the floor and in the locker room.
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
4 of 10
Karl-Anthony Towns remains sidelined by the calf strain he suffered Nov. 28, and Rudy Gobert is just getting back into action following a groin strain. In other words, the runway is clear for an Anthony Edwards takeoff.
Edwards' taking over from a volume perspective probably won't be the best thing for the Minnesota Timberwolves in the short or long term. The most dangerous version of this team features all three of its key figures performing at a high level together—at least that was the theory when Minnesota paid a king's ransom to acquire Gobert. If the Wolves had wanted to force Edwards into a more ball-dominant, high-usage role, they could have held off on the deal, dealt D'Angelo Russell and used this season to see what the 2020 No. 1 overall pick could do if so empowered.
That said, the Timberwolves' ceiling—perhaps this year and definitely over the next half-decade—is more closely tied to Edwards than anyone else. He might as well get used to taking over.
As was the case last season, Edwards' marginal progress somehow feels disappointing. Little steps forward tend to underwhelm if everyone anticipates a leap. Perspective is important here. When a 21-year-old is averaging 24.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 4.4 assists on 56.9 percent true shooting (all career highs) and it doesn't have NBA fans dancing in the streets, it suggests our expectations are unfair. It's a testament to the belief Edwards' supreme physical tools inspire.
And yet, here we are asking for Edwards to level up.
He's got the game, he's got more of an opportunity than ever (especially if Minnesota trades Russell, a free-agent-to-be) and he's got the propulsive power of collective expectations behind him.
Minnesota has been a disappointment this season, and it's hard to feel great about whether Gobert will make the kind of difference necessary to justify his cost. But if Edwards busts loose, it could reframe the 2022-23 campaign and brighten the Wolves' long-term outlook.
Dorian Finney-Smith, Dallas Mavericks
5 of 10
The Dallas Mavericks and their No. 25 defense must have been ecstatic to get Dorian Finney-Smith back from a 14-game absence Jan. 18. Though he's not on the level of singular disruptive forces like Draymond Green, a healthy Anthony Davis or Jaren Jackson Jr., Finney-Smith remains integral to Dallas' defensive viability.
Just look at the players he's spent the most time matched up against this season. In order: Kevin Durant, Paul George, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Damian Lillard, Michael Porter Jr., Giannis Antetokounmpo and Devin Booker. Basically, when the Mavs face a top-level threat at any position between point guard and power forward, DFS is the man tasked with checking him.
Now, though, Dallas will need more than four-position shutdown D from Finney-Smith.
Christian Wood's fractured thumb could reduce the Mavs' limited depth in the frontcourt. Signed as a starter, JaVale McGee lost his rotation role almost immediately. Old favorite Dwight Powell brings comically low usage and doesn't secure defensive rebounds. Maxi Kleber is talking about a shockingly quick return from a torn hamstring that seemed likely to end his season, but he can't be expected to come back in peak form. Dāvis Bertāns barely plays.
That all adds up to suggest the Mavs have no choice but to put an outsized burden on DFS. He's long been a hugely positive contributor as a power forward, and Finney-Smith shone as a small-ball center in limited looks last year, helping Dallas to a plus-14.1 net rating in such configurations. But he'll be asked to do more than ever, all while trying to get his wayward shooting stroke (40.6 percent from the field and 34.8 percent from deep) back in line.
Deandre Ayton, Phoenix Suns
6 of 10
You can't have a discussion about Deandre Ayton's performance without referencing his recent history, starting with last postseason's Game 7 flop against the Dallas Mavericks, the awkward restricted free agency in which the Phoenix Suns let him sign an offer sheet elsewhere before agreeing to bring him back, and the preseason signs that relations between him and the Suns may have been strained.
All of that could explain why Ayton has looked less than fully engaged at times this season. Statistically, he's posting the lowest player efficiency rating and block rates of his career, and it's never a great sign when a head coach has to harp on a $133 million player for a failure to play with consistent force. Maybe the injury-related absences of Chris Paul, Devin Booker and Cameron Johnson were also to blame. Ayton is a better player when he has more space inside and defenses have to pay attention to perimeter threats.
Still, it's hard to shake the feeling that the fifth-year center's struggles stem more from a misfiring motor than outside circumstances. It wasn't long ago that Ayton was a critical piece of a great Suns team, playing at an exceptionally high level during their 2021 run to the Finals. He averaged 17.8 points and 13.7 rebounds in the Western Conference Finals against the Clippers, shooting 69.3 percent. Then he put up 14.7 points and 12.0 boards against the Milwaukee Bucks in the Finals, the league's biggest stage.
Ayton still has that level in him. Considering he's only 24 and has that top-pick pedigree, it's reasonable to believe he has an even higher one.
Injuries and Jae Crowder's decision to abandon the team while under contract may have dug the Suns into too deep of a hole. But the West is tightly packed beneath the Nuggets and Grizzlies up top, and a surge from Ayton could turn Phoenix's season around. Considering what the Suns are paying him, where they drafted him and how talented Ayton has shown himself to be in the past, it's fair to ask that he step up and do it.
Isaac Okoro, Cleveland Cavaliers
7 of 10
The Cleveland Cavaliers have the guard-big bookends in place with Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland starring in the backcourt and Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley handling things up front. All they need to complete a championship-level first unit is a small forward to fill that little gap in between.
You'd better believe the Cavs are rooting for Isaac Okoro to seize that opportunity. The man they picked fifth in the 2020 draft has had some recent games that looked a lot like what the Cavs need from that spot. He scored 17 points and hit all four of his threes Jan. 18 against the Memphis Grizzlies and is 17-of-31 from long distance for the month. Okoro is 6'5" and a hair smaller than would be ideal for a true three-and-D wing, but he competes on that end and is posting career highs in block (90th percentile) and steal rate (81st) for his position.
That said, Okoro is a 32.1 percent career shooter from deep who, now in his third year, essentially lost the starting job he had as a rookie and sophomore. That's not a promising trajectory, but the flashes he has shown lately kindle hope that he can reverse it and fill one of the most glaring positional voids any contending squad has.
The Cavaliers have few avenues to address the 3 via trade. They owe their 2023 first-rounder to the Indiana Pacers, can't trade their 2024 pick until their 2023 conveys and gave control of their firsts through 2029 to the Utah Jazz in the Donovan Mitchell deal. It'd be ideal if Okoro could take control of the situation. Dean Wade hasn't stayed healthy, Lamar Stevens is too limited offensively and Caris LeVert is better as a lead ball-handler on second units.
The best possible outcome for both Okoro and the Cavs would be for him to validate his draft slot, sustain this January level of play and solve the positional conundrum without forcing Cleveland to surrender what few assets it has in a trade.
Bradley Beal, Washington Wizards
8 of 10
If you haven't been paying attention, or even if you only caught a stretch of the Washington Wizards' season that coincided with one of Bradley Beal's four separate multigame absences, you might not have realized the quarter-billion-dollar man has looked good for a player who's coming off three straight seasons marred by injury.
Fair or not, "good" isn't good enough.
The Wizards and their 17th-ranked offense need more from Beal. His exorbitant contract (five years, $251 million) may not reflect his value, but Washington gave it to him anyway, marking him as someone from whom they expected greatness. Supermax salaries come with elevated expectations.
Beal is averaging 22.4 points and 5.2 assists with a 61.5 true shooting percentage that, if sustained, would be an easy career high. He grades out negatively in defensive box plus/minus but has been better on that end than he was in any of the three seasons prior to this one. Yet Beal isn't performing like a true-blue superstar. Three other Wizards have both played more minutes and produced superior per-possession on/off net rating swings: Kristaps Porziņģis, Kyle Kuzma and Monte Morris.
More than halfway through another mediocrity-treadmill season, Washington needs more than it's getting from Beal. He's been a positive contributor, but for the Wizards to do anything of consequence—now and over the next four years of Beal's contract—he has to ascend to the All-NBA level he reached in 2020-21. The "bus driver" conversation is reductive, but some version of it applies to Beal: He has to be the unquestioned leader and top producer if things are ever going to fall in line in Washington.
Gary Payton II, Portland Trail Blazers
9 of 10
Gary Payton II has been hurt for most of the season, may not start a game unless there's an emergency and has played up to expectations since returning Jan 2. Those factors make his situation different than most of the ones we've hit. It's not like he's some superstar who needs to snap out of it or quit coasting.
That doesn't change the fact that GP2 needs to stay available and effective and perhaps even stretch his niche game in order for the Portland Trail Blazers to get where they want to go.
Payton's skill as a defensive disruptor is vital to Portland, a team that has little trouble scoring but rarely makes life uncomfortable for opposing offenses. The Blazers rank in the bottom 10 in opponent turnover percentage and defensive efficiency.
Look back at what Payton did for the 2021-22 Warriors defense. With that group, he established himself as an NBA keeper for the first time (at 29 years old) by blowing up plays on and off the ball, being the first on the floor whenever the rock sprung loose and sharpening the edge of the league's No. 2 defense. Payton ranked second in the league in deflections per 36 minutes among players who logged at least 1,000 minutes of court time, and his presence on the floor boosted the Dubs' defensive efficiency by 2.2 points per 100 possessions. Most strikingly, his minutes lined up with a massive spike in opponent turnovers, a 3.7 percent increase that ranked in the 97th percentile.
The Blazers' best lineups will feature two small, defensively suspect guards in Damian Lillard and Anfernee Simons, plus limited mobility in center Jusuf Nurkić. Jerami Grant is an adept defender, but he can't cover the entire floor. Payton is a role player, but in some ways the Blazers need him as much as any of their stars. He's the only guy who can effect the kind of change Portland needs if it'll accomplish anything of consequence this season.
Kawhi Leonard, Los Angeles Clippers
10 of 10
Kawhi Leonard turned in the best five-game stretch of his season from Jan. 8 to Jan. 17, appearing in all five contests and scoring at least 24 points in all of them. Only once in that span did he shoot under 50.0 percent.
Problem: That is also his only uninterrupted run of five games this year.
To say Leonard must be available more often feels like asking him to compromise his health. Very smart people with a lot at stake have decided back-to-backs aren't on the table for him anymore. At the same time, it's impossible to ignore the way Leonard's approach mirrors that of his team. It defines it, actually.
We assume Leonard and the Clippers will be ready when the lights get bright, that they'll know how to string together consistent performances and play at the level they've mostly hidden from us for the last several months. No one watching Leonard or the Clips could credibly argue they're focused on using the regular season to build habits, an identity or consistency. They're just trying to survive it, to get it over with.
Long-term and immediate concerns are obvious. Maybe a year of coasting and minimizing the importance of every game will make it too hard for the Clippers to summon the attitude and in-the-moment commitment necessary to succeed in the playoffs. And maybe their treatment of the regular season will result in a record and playoff seed that will present too difficult of a path to their postseason goals. The Athletic's John Hollinger noted that no team seeded lower than third has won a title since 1995.
We're past the halfway point of the season. It's time for Leonard and the Clippers to ramp things up. If they wait much longer, it might be too late.
Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Accurate through Jan. 25. Salary info via Spotrac.
Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.
