Kyrie Irving and 8 Rising NBA Stars You Must See Next Season

Right now, the NBA playoffs are churning out some of the best basketball we could ask for. But that does not mean it is too soon to look forward to what we have in store for next season.

It does not take a rocket scientist to say LeBron James and Kevin Durant will have a big impact on the league next year. Some other guys, however, showed some serious potential this season and will be ready to make an impact next November.

Whether it was a knack for efficient scoring or an athletic explosiveness that caught the league by surprise, these guys are just beginning to come into their own. The conference finals are in full swing, but being able to watch these players break out in the fall is something to look forward to.

Here are the eight fledgling stars who will make their mark on the 2012-2013 season.

James Harden

James Harden is a fitting guy to start with, as he is using the playoffs to announce to the world how dangerous he can be.

The shooting guard picked up the 2012 Sixth Man of the Year Award for his work as a bench scorer for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Harden's 49.7 field goal percentage placed him behind only Steve Nash and Dwyane Wade amongst guards in the NBA en route to averaging 16.8 points per game.

After another season of Durant and Russell Westbrook spearheading the Thunder's success, it seemed Harden was a luxury as a third scorer for this squad. Once the playoffs started, Harden made it known just how indispensable he is.

There was the deciding Game 4 of the opening round, when Harden put up 29 points on 16 shots in a 103-97 win.

Then came the 30 points on 10-of-13 from the field that kept Oklahoma City in Game 2 against the San Antonio Spurs.

With what Harden has done with the ball in his hands this postseason, he has earned more touches in the season to come. Just ask Kawhi Leonard and the San Antonio Spurs what he is capable of after how Harden nailed down a Game 5 victory.

It won't matter if Harden continues to come off the bench next season. He will play All-Star caliber ball regardless.

Avery Bradley

Ray Allen has started to look like his old self again in recent games. Until then, it did not look like the Boston Celtics would survive in the playoffs without Avery Bradley.

As the season began, Bradley did not get much of a run, relegated to the bench behind the future Hall of Famer Allen. But even in limited time, Bradley was able to show Greg Payne of ESPNBoston.com what his swarming defensive style could do.

When Allen went down with an ankle injury, Bradley stepped into the starting lineup and gave the sluggish Celtics a spark. The former benchwarmer shot 52.0 percent from the field and averaged 15.1 points per game in April to end the regular season. With Bradley starting, the Celtics had a 14-5 record.

Due to a shoulder injury of his own, Bradley has been out since Game 5 of the series against the Sixers. But with Allen likely leaving Boston in free agency, Bradley should get the chance next year to show the league what he can accomplish as a full-time starter.

JaVale McGee

Sometimes the old adage that all someone needs is a change of scenery really is true. It appears that is the case for JaVale McGee with the Denver Nuggets.

With the Washington Wizards at the beginning of the year, McGee was a laughingstock as he fell short of his potential to be a difference-maker with his athleticism at both ends of the court. Eventually, the Wizards shipped him off to Denver, where he began to show flashes of the player he can be.

In the opening round of the playoffs, McGee was sometimes the best big man on a court with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. In the Nuggets' Game 3 win over the Los Angeles Lakers, McGee exploded for 16 points and 15 rebounds in 28 minutes, then scored 21 and pulled in 14 boards in a 102-99 Game 5 win that staved off elimination.

McGee is a restricted free agent this coming offseason. Wherever he ends up playing, that team has to know that if they nurture McGee and get him involved, he can be more than just a head case.

He can be one of the most dominant big men in the league.

Goran Dragic

With both the Phoneix Suns and Houston Rockets, Goran Dragic had never averaged more than 8.0 points per game, and he had only started a total of eight games in three career seasons.

That all changed when Kyle Lowry went down with a sports hernia on March 8th. Dragic was called on to run the point for the Rockets, even though he was shooting just 42.0 percent in his 19.2 minutes per game off the bench.

Houston started Dragic for the remaining 28 games of the regular season, and he rewarded the Rockets with 18.0 points per game and 8.1 assists per game. At that rate over a full season, he would have been sixth among point guards in scoring and seventh in assists.

As Dragic prepares to hit the free agent market, the league has likely taken notice. He will surely get more of a chance to play next season, and with the right team, he could get the chance to play in the All-Star Game as well.

Greg Monroe

In the 2011 NBA Draft, Greg Monroe was as quiet a selection as the seventh overall pick can be. The future Detroit Piston did not have the athleticism of DeMarcus Cousins or the ranginess of Ekpe Udoh, but he is making a name for himself with his fundamentals.

Though his 15.4 points per game and 9.7 rebounds per game are not altogether impressive numbers, keep in mind that this was only his second NBA season and that the team surrounding him is the Pistons.

Rodney Stuckey is a fine player and Brandon Knight has potential, but they cannot be the second- and third-best players on a playoff team, and they cannot stop opponents from double-teaming Monroe inside.

Detroit holds the ninth pick in the upcoming NBA Draft. If the Pistons can pair Monroe with another forward to keep teams honest in the post, he can be a special player even with his quiet game.

Ersan Ilyasova

It was not the scoring that proved Ersan Ilyasova's 2011-2012 campaign revelatory, it was how he was doing it.

The 6'10" forward from Turkey had never shot better than 36.5 percent from three-point range for the Milwaukee Bucks. In his 60 games this season, Ilyasova improved from beyond the arc as the season progressed, shooting 36.0 percent from three in January before topping 50.0 percent in both March and April

When all was said and done, Ilyasova ranked second in the NBA in three point field goal percentage at 45.5 percent, trailing only Steve Novak. The next closest starting big man on the list was Ryan Anderson in 28th with 39.3 percent.

His 13.0 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game were both career highs, but the difference for Ilyasova in free agency will be the added dimension on offense he will provide to his next team. If he gets more than 27.6 minutes per game at his next stop, those numbers should go up considerably.

Nikola Pekovic

Kevin Love warrants all the attention he is getting in Minnesota, but the Timberwolves have a talented center developing alongside him in Nikola Pekovic.

Perhaps it is easier to score 13.9 points per game and 7.4 rebounds per game while playing next to the league's best power forward, but what is really remarkable is how efficient the 6'11", 290-pound Pekovic is. Only Tyson Chandler and Dwight Howard scored on a higher percentage of shots than Pekovic did at 56.4 percent from the field.

But Pekovic was bitten by the same injury bug that afflicted teammates Love and Ricky Rubio this season. Hampered by ankle injuries, he was only able to play in 47 of his team's games.

In a full season with a full squad, the table would be set for Pekovic to break out. When he does, few players in the league will be able to handle the Timberwolves "other" big man.

Kyrie Irving

We may all be fawning over how great Kyrie Irving is off the court, but imagine what he'll be able to do on it with some experience and some reinforcements.

While he romped to the 2012 NBA Rookie of the Year Award, Irving's 18.5 points per game looked a lot better than his 5.4 assists per game, a paltry mark for a point guard.

Keep in mind, however, that the most capable scorers alongside Irving last season were an aging Antawn Jamison and an offensively-limited Anderson Varejao.

Fortunately for him, the Cleveland Cavaliers hold the fourth pick in the 2012 NBA Draft and will likely draft a scorer like Bradley Beal or Harrison Barnes, according to Mike Peticca of the Plain Dealer.

Additionally, Cleveland is loaded with cap space to pursue help through free agency. If Sam Amico of Fox Sports Ohio is correct, the Cavaliers will look to pair Irving with Ilyasova next year.

Irving can bank on having a stronger team as he enters his sophomore campaign. It may only be June, but it is never too soon to get excited about seeing that.