One Player on Every NBA Team That Has to Improve Next Season

The NBA is as volatile as any league in sports. One minute, a player is on top of the world and the next it seems like they could easily be out of the league. And the only way to avoid this is for a player to keep working on his game throughout the offseason.

There are teams out there who are stuffed with players who need to play better next season for their team to do anything of worth in terms of making it to the playoffs; then there are teams who just need a player or two to improve before they're championship contenders.

Of course, it's a lot easier to sit here and say this player needs to play better and that player needs to stop goofing around, but there is plenty of time for it now, so why not at least take a look?

So, in a quick preparation for the offseason, we have a player from each team who needs to improve from this season to next more than any other, whether it be because he struggled this year or because his team desperately needs his improvement.

Atlanta Hawks: Jeff Teague

The roller coaster ride that Jeff Teague has been on over the past year or so has been an interesting one indeed.

It seems like everyone expected that he was making a bit of a leap in the 2011 playoffs as he was taking care of the ball more and just making better decisions in general, but last season we saw the same old Jeff Teague, slightly more efficient offensively, more prone to chuck up a three, but the same player nonetheless.

There's nobody on the Hawks who you could call a real point guard, as Teague led the team with a measly 4.9 assists per game last season. The Hawks need someone to run the offense through, and Teague needs to do more to become that person.

Boston Celtics: Avery Bradley

A lot of people have been early to credit Avery Bradley for his all-world defense, his decent three-point shooting and his game in general, but this is no time to get complacent.

The young guard was a big part of the reason that the Celtics were able to turn their season around, and this is by no means meant to be a knock against the fellow, but he needs to continue to improve, as it looks like he'll be a big part of their future.

Brooklyn Nets: Brook Lopez

It always hurts my brain whenever people talk about Brook Lopez like he's on the verge of becoming one of the best big men in the game—it just doesn't make sense.

Really? The seven-footer who can't grab more than four rebounds a game and can't shoot 50 percent from the field is going to be one of the league's best big men? Well then the league must be struggling.

Now sure, Lopez only played in five games last season, so there's no blame to place on him for the Nets' stinker last season, but there's plenty of blame for him if he doesn't toughen up this season.

Charlotte Bobcats: Kemba Walker

This is basically a pick that says the Bobcats have nobody besides Walker who looks like they'll improve enough to help the team do better than their historically bad season.

The Bobcats are loaded with cast-offs and guys whose names I'd never thought I'd realistically hear in a starting lineup, so you're left with the young Kemba Walker.

Charlotte is in desperate need of a player who can run their offense, and if Kemba Walker can't show that he can do that sooner rather than later, they're going to need to start looking elsewhere.

Chicago Bulls: Carlos Boozer

Does Carlos Boozer know how disappointed the entire state of Illinois is in him? This guy got a huge contract two years ago and has done nothing but fall apart in the two years since.

He's shooting poorly, playing defense as bad as he ever has, and his rebounding is getting worse and worse. Let's not even mention his hairline.

Boozer is going to have to have a bounce-back season or we're going to start hearing the word "amnesty" associated with his name far more often.

Cleveland Cavaliers: Tristan Thompson

Watching Tristan Thompson on offense is a struggle to say the very least. If he's not taking too many dribbles while in the paint he's getting the ball stripped from his uncertain hands or getting out-muscled in the paint, forcing him to put up an ugly shot.

All that has made Thompson's development frustrating to Cavs fans, and the defense he plays is not quite good enough at this point to make up for his offensive struggles.

He needs to produce more next season to get Cavs fans off his back.

Dallas Mavericks: Ian Mahinmi

I'm not sure if I ever believed that Ian Mahinmi could be a starting center, or if he still should be, but the fact is that the Mavericks look to be committed to him for the time being.

So, with that in mind, Mahinmi is going to have to go to the Tyson Chandler school of big men. He needs to learn to be better on his help defense, put back every shot that comes near him and just do the things that he should be able to do.

Denver Nuggets: JaVale McGee

Odds are if they went out of their way to trade for him last season, the Nuggets are going to go out of their way to make sure he's in blue next season as well.

Anyway, JaVale McGee proved in the playoffs that he is better than Timofey Mozgov and he's sure as hell better than Kosta Koufos, yet he spent the playoffs coming off the bench.

He needs to continue to improve his decision making into next season and limit the silly mistakes that he continuously makes and he'll be this team's starting center sooner rather than later.

Detroit Pistons: Austin Daye

Going from his first year to his second year, things were looking up for Austin Daye. From the second to third was a different story.

His shooting percentage fell through the floor, his defense continued to be a struggle and his playing time evaporated as a result, leading to Detroit playing Jason Maxiell and Jonas Jerebko as undersized power forwards. 

Earn some playing time back, big man, and toughen up a bit.

Golden State Warriors: Klay Thompson

Klay Thompson had a great rookie season, but his team is going to need him to have an even better sophomore season. For better or worse, Thompson is stepping into the starting lineup from day one next year, and he's going to have to try to fill Monta Ellis' shoes.

The Golden State Warriors have rolled the dice with their Ellis-for-Bogut swap in March, and they're going to need everybody to step up, but Klay Thompson more so than others.

Houston Rockets: Kevin Martin

Kevin Martin seems to have grown complacent on a team that has struggled to break free from the middle of the pack, and that's something his team is going to need him to shake off. 

Martin was never a great shooter, but he had his worst year last season shooting the ball since he came to Houston a few years back and he's just making more bad decisions on the court, something his team could go without.

Indiana Pacers: Darren Collison

As a team with no real superstar, the Indiana Pacers would be better off with a point guard who is more apt at distributing the ball, rather than scoring with it.

Indiana finished 29th in the league in assists last year with Collison, the team's starting point guard, leading the way with just 4.8 dimes a game. 

The team struggled at times to get into an offensive flow, mostly because they never really had a player who was overly capable of getting them into that flow.

Los Angeles Clippers: Vinny Del Negro

Okay, so Vinny Del Negro is coming back for another season in Los Angeles. We're not sure why, but that's just the way it is, there's no changing that at this point.

The Clippers may need their big men to start making free throws and they may need their wings to make better decisions at times, but the biggest hole in their lineup is still the hole between this man's eyes.

So, whether he watches a few tapes of Greg Popovich or reads a book or two, Vinny needs to step up his game, lest he want to make this his last season as a head coach of anything.

Los Angeles Lakers: Metta World Peace

Sure, Pau Gasol had a terrible season last year by his standards, but he seems to be more likely gone than not, so we might as well focus on someone else.

Anyway, the biggest problem that the Lakers had during the season is that their role players were dreadfully streaky, none more so than Metta World Peace, who had a ridiculous season. One day he looked like he should have been out of the league more than a decade ago, the next he looked like the same old dude who the Lakers have watched for the past few years.

Either way, consistency is what the Lakers need from this man.

Memphis Grizzlies: Zach Randolph

It was pretty obvious that Zach Randolph was hampered pretty hard by the injury that took him a while to recover from last season, but he's going to need to become the Randolph of old for the Grizzlies to get back to their old game.

Sure, there's a weird situation between him and Rudy Gay in terms of who touches the ball how many times, but that's something he should put aside until he gets his old game back. He's not as quick as he was before the injury (wait, he was quick before the injury?), he's not as strong and he's not as sure of himself with the ball.

Get that all back and then we'll talk about who the real offensive top dog is on the Grizz.

Miami Heat: Udonis Haslem

Udonis Haslem did what he's always done for the Heat on the defensive end of the floor. He's taken his time, banged into guys and just frustrated opponents in general.

However, when he gets the ball on the other end of the floor he's absolutely dreadful. He's never been anything special in the past, but this year he shot just 42 percent after shooting no worse than 46 percent for his entire career.

Milwaukee Bucks: Brandon Jennings

My ultimate fear for this team is that Brandon Jennings and Monta Ellis look at each other and realize how good they both are before the next season turns into a chuck-fest between the two of them.

Sure, Jennings made some improvement last season, but it wasn't nearly enough. He's still shooting just 41 percent and he's not doing much point guard work in terms of creating an offense.

If he can become more of a point guard while still keeping opponents afraid of him with the ball in his hands, then this is one damn fine team.

Minnesota Timberwolves: Ricky Rubio

Ricky Rubio was surely what made the Minnesota Timberwolves a fun team last season, but that's nothing to hang your hat on.

He deserves credit for the offense he created, averaging over eight assists a game as a rookie and looking like it was nothing, but he still shot just 35 percent from the floor, which is just an atrocious number. There's that, plus his defense was nothing short of embarrassing at times.

If he continues to improve then this team is going to make the playoffs next year, there's no doubt about that.

New Orleans Hornets: Marco Belinelli

Marco Belinelli does a few things good at this point, but there isn't much he does great. The big Italian could end up being a big part of this New Orleans team as it rebuilds, but he's going to have to improve.

Belinelli has a good shot, but he just uses it too often and really seems to have no regard for when he takes a shot or in what situation. It's not that he needs to work on his shot, just that he needs to work on his decision-making ability. 

New York Knicks: Jeremy Lin

Alright, let's talk seriously like Jeremy Lin is going to be the starting point guard for the New York Knicks in October (which seems like an insane sentence to be writing).

First, the issue needs to be addressed that Lin is entirely too turnover-prone. He's reckless with the ball at times and just doesn't make good decisions when he gets double-teamed.

Otherwise, he's going to have to learn to be more of a facilitator and less of a shooter, which is something that he sort of got caught up in last season. 

Aside from that, I've got total faith in the guy as a basketball player. Let's see the return of Linsanity.

Oklahoma City Thunder: James Harden

The reigning Sixth Man of the Year Award winner was amazing during the regular season, but he was a loaf in the playoffs, when the pressure was too much to bear.

Sure, the Thunder could use some better offensive output from their big men down the stretch, but the disappearance of James Harden in the Finals this year has been one of the big reasons for their huge hole at this point.

Harden needs to continue to be confident in his own abilities even in the face of a big deficit like the one they find themselves in now, otherwise he's never going to be more than he was this season. 

Orlando Magic: Jameer Nelson

If there was an award given out (and sponsored by KIA of course) every year to the player who had the most disappointing season, it's hard to argue that Jameer Nelson wouldn't have been the leader out of the gates for that one.

The Magic point guard seemed to get worse at everything this year, shooting just 42 percent and from the field and 37 percent from the three-point line, and dropping in every single statistical category except for free throw percentage and turnovers. 

He needs a bounce-back year as much as the Magic need to find a new home for Dwight Howard.

Philadelphia 76ers: Evan Turner

Slowly but surely Evan Turner is becoming a serviceable NBA player, and even starting to look worth the second pick in the NBA draft two years ago.

From his rookie year to this year Turner has started to make better decisions on what shots to take (although his three-point shooting is still a long way off), what pass to make and how hard to attack the glass.

If he continues on this steady improvement then he'll be a full-time starter before he knows it.

Phoenix Suns: Markieff Morris

There aren't many people on the Suns that are both part of the team's future plans and still young enough to make any kind of real improvement, but Markieff Morris seems to fit both of those categories.

Something strange happened to 'Kieff last season. Once the best three-point shooting rookie, Morris' percentage went down every single month, going from 57 percent in December to 47 in January, 32 in February, 30 in March and finally 22 in April.

He needs to find that stroke again so he proves he is worth something to the Suns, who don't have many players who are worth much at all at this point. 

Portland Trail Blazers: Wes Matthews

It seems safe to assume that the Portland Trail Blazers are going to go ahead and pass on resigning Raymond Felton after his dump of a season, so let's take a look at Wes Matthews instead.

Matthews has always looked like a player poised to break out, he has just not been strong enough to break through the chains at this point.

The guard from Marquette is taking far too many shots a game for his shooting percentage, especially from long distance. If he cuts down on his shots and improves his decision making, then he should end up having a better season next year.

Sacramento Kings: DeMarcus Cousins

The Sacramento Kings now belong to DeMarcus Cousins and that's the big development to come from last season. Now all he needs to do is play like he intends them to continue to be his team.

It seems scary that this team is going to go in whatever direction that DeMarcus takes them, but that's the way it seems, at least for the time being.

Anyway, Cousins shooting anything under 50 percent is inexcusable for a man his size, and 45 percent is downright atrocious. He needs to get his game to be more efficient and the team will follow. 

San Antonio Spurs: Kawhi Leonard

We could sit here and talk in length about how embarrassingly bad Tiago Splitter was in the playoffs, but let's focus on the positives instead.

Kawhi Leonard was the steal of the 2011 NBA Draft—that seems like something we can all agree on—and it also seems like something we all foresaw, especially since the Spurs traded to get him.

He had a great rookie year, but he's going to need to avoid that sophomore slump for the Spurs if they're to come back and be as competitive next year as they were this year.

Toronto Raptors: Andrea Bargnani

You almost had me, Andrea Bargnani. I was ready to believe that you'd changed and were ready to be a real NBA player, but then you went and got hurt and when you came back your game was exactly the same. How could I be such a fool?

What I'm referring to, of course, is the fact that Bargs was shooting nearly 50 percent and grabbing more than six rebounds a game before he got hurt, well on his way to an all-star selection. When he came back he was the same old Bargs who puts Brook Lopez to shame.

Go back to that early-season Bargs, man, for me?

Utah Jazz: Enes Kanter

Enes Kanter looked promising last season on the offensive end, and there's still a lot of work to be done, but the dude looks like he could at lest clean up around the rim in the future.

Where Kanter should be exciting Jazz fans is on the defensive end, especially after watching Al Jefferson defend the pick-and-roll for a few years now.

If Kanter improves into next season, the Jazz can then decide that it's time to move forward, possibly moving one of their older big men for a promising young point guard (that is if they don't pick one up in free agency).

Washington Wizards: John Wall

It can't be said enough how disappointing John Wall's sophomore season was. Sure, by the time the end of the year rolled around, he had similar numbers to last season, but his early season struggles overshadowed his late season recovery.

Wall is the leader of this Wizards team, as sad a job as that may sound, and he's going to have to find a way to mash these players together into a formidable team.

Otherwise he's going to end up wallowing away on a depressingly bad team for years to come.

If you are one of those twitterers, you can follow me @JDorsey33.