10 NBA Players Who Need a Monster Training Camp Performance

Not every NBA player has the job security of LeBron James or Kevin Durant. Those two superstars, among others of their ilk, don't need to do much in training camp to solidify their roles for the upcoming NBA season. They've done more than enough to coast through October practices.

Most players, though, need to perform well in training camp to prove to watchful coaches and owners that they've either improved enough to earn an increased role, or warded off Father Time's ponderous advance long enough to cling to the spot they occupied last year.

But come training camp in October, there will be a handful of players who'll really need to send a message in order to earn, or keep, a major role for their teams.

Here are 10 NBA players who need a monster training camp performance in 2012.

Harrison Barnes

The Golden State Warriors traded Monta Ellis for Andrew Bogut last year, knowing that Bogut would spend the balance of the season in street clothes. That decision was just a part of a team-wide tank job that ultimately resulted in enough losses for the Warriors to hang onto their No. 7 pick in the 2012 NBA draft—the Utah Jazz would have gotten it if it had been any lower.

That pick became Harrison Barnes, who now must do his part to justify the depths to which Golden State plunged last year to get him.

Journeyman Richard Jefferson stands between Barnes and the starting small forward job in Golden State, and you can bet that management desperately wants Barnes to put a stranglehold on the position in training camp.

Barnes showed during Summer League play that he could get to the hole, make an open jumper and use his length to be disruptive on defense. If he brings all that to training camp in October, coach Mark Jackson will gladly hand him the starting slot at small forward.

Barnes is definitely the future at the 3 for the Warriors, but why wait? With a monster training camp performance, he can win the position right now.

Jeff Green

It's been a rough couple of years for Jeff Green. After being traded from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Boston Celtics halfway through the 2010-11 season, Green struggled mightily to fit in with his new teammates. Across the board, Green's numbers in Boston were his worst since his rookie year. Green averaged just 9.8 points and 3.3 rebounds in 26 games for the Celtics.

Then things got worse. A heart condition forced Green to undergo surgery for an aortic aneurysm in January, costing him the entire 2011-12 season.

Now, though, Green is reportedly healthy and much happier. The new four-year, $36 million contract he signed with Boston on August 23 probably helps in that department.

The Celtics expect Green to support the soon-to-be 35-year-old Paul Pierce at the small forward spot, as well as spell power forward Brandon Bass up front.

Coming off a terrible debut season with the Celtics two years ago, newly paid and still yet to prove he can be an effective bench player, Green's under a ton of pressure to perform once training camp begins. If he shows the same defensive prowess he did during his post-trade cameo with the Celtics, and looks healthy enough to justify his new deal, he can solidify his role as the first frontcourt player off Boston's bench.

Green's happy just to be playing basketball again, but he's got some serious expectations to satisfy this year. A great training camp performance could get him off on the right foot.

Michael Beasley

Michael Beasley, the Phoenix Suns' big free-agent acquisition during the offseason, is in a pretty unique position—relative to the rest of the players on this list.

He can take over his team with a big training camp performance.

The former No. 2 overall pick is coming off the worst season of his career and is apparently treating his signing with Phoenix as a rebirth. According to reports, Beasley has been in the gym all summer, and is out to prove that he's ready to assume a major role with his new team.

Beasley's offseason preparation represents what the Suns hope is a new maturity. After all, Beasley has said all the right things before. Now, though, it looks like he's talking less and working out more—certainly a welcome step in the right direction.

The Suns are going nowhere fast after the departure of franchise icon Steve Nash, so Beasley has a prime opportunity to redefine his career by becoming the primary scoring option in Phoenix. Other than the newly-acquired Luis Scola, the Suns don't have much in the way of proven scorers. So Beasley will have ample opportunities to shine this year.

If he comes into camp fit and focused, his considerable talent could shine brighter than it ever has this season.

It's not often an alpha-dog role is up for grabs in training camp, but that's exactly the case for Michael Beasley.

O.J. Mayo

O.J. Mayo has a new team and a new role as the Dallas Mavericks' starting shooting guard this season. But his name is only lightly penciled into that slot on the depth chart.

Mayo was selected with the No. 3 pick in 2008 and started at the 2 for the Memphis Grizzlies during the first two seasons of his career. But Mayo's inability to score efficiently—he's a career 43 percent shooter—and his inconsistent defensive effort relegated him to the bench during his last two years in Memphis.

Mayo's skills (and limitations) have him on thin ice as a starter in Dallas, and the guys behind him all bring something to the table. According to ESPN's John Hollinger, the aging Vince Carter is a better passer and shooter than Mayo, while Dahntay Jones is a tougher defender. If Delonte West is healthy (which would be a first), he can push Mayo for minutes, too.

In short, Mayo needs to use training camp to solidify his role as a starter. He's lost the job before, so he should be especially motivated to fend off his competitors this time around.

Jason Kidd

Jason Kidd's no longer a starter, but if he wants to hold onto his job as the New York Knicks' backup point guard, he'll have to perform in training camp.

It sounds crazy to say that Kidd, the NBA's active leader in games played, minutes, assists and steals, has something to prove during training camp this year. But a handful of factors have put his role in jeopardy.

First, there's Kidd's obviously declining skills. Last season was the worst of the 39-year-old's career. Kidd averaged just 6.2 points and 5.5 assists (both career-lows) in 48 starts for the Dallas Mavericks. Despite that, the Knicks shelled out $9.5 million to keep Kidd around for three years. If he repeats last year's career-low PER of 13.11, he'll be out of a job before long.

While Kidd's certainly old enough to deserve the benefit of the doubt on the court, he's also old enough to know better off of it. If his highly-publicized DUI arrest in July is any indication, he's got a ways to go. He'll have to show solid focus and a maturity befitting his age in training camp for the Knicks to fully trust him with a major role.

Finally, there's an Argentine wild card threatening Kidd's minutes at the point. Pablo Prigioni, a young buck at 35 (compared to Kidd, anyway) will be in a Knicks uniform this year after a career spent in Europe. He comported himself nicely as Argentina's floor general during the London Olympics and while he doesn't have Kidd's legendary court vision, he's definitely a better scorer and athlete than Kidd at this stage of his career.

The end of Jason Kidd's NBA relevance is fast approaching, but an impressive training camp performance might be enough to postpone the inevitable for one more season.

Metta World Peace

Like Jason Kidd, purported Los Angeles Lakers starter Metta World Peace is a veteran coming off the worst campaign of his career. Following an offseason in which the Lakers hauled in Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, there'll be no room for World Peace's fly-off-the-handle antics—especially if he doesn't regain his on-court effectiveness.

Supposedly, World Peace is the Lakers' defensive presence on the perimeter, but as he's aged, his ability to handle quicker players has dissipated. In fact, he was a better defender against bigger frontcourt opponents last year than he was against wings—allowing a PER of 11.8 to small forwards and just 8.3 to power forwards.

Both of those figures are good, but when measured against his offensive ineptitude, they're just not enough to justify a starting role.

With Antawn Jamison capable of playing the 3, and Devin Ebanks the younger, more athletic option, World Peace will have to show improved quickness and a cool head in training camp. If he can't do that, his job as a starter is in real danger.

Mike Miller

Mike Miller gave the Miami Heat what they needed for one game during their 2011-12 NBA title run. In Game 5 against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Miller caught fire, nailing 7-of-8 threes en route to 23 points in the championship-clinching contest.

To that point, Miller's postseason was marked most prominently by an increasingly familiar sight: a painful grimace. Miller appeared to be in agony during much of the Heat's playoff run, as he fought through the discomfort of an ailing back.

Despite talk of surgery, Miller opted for rest and rehab during the offseason, and will return to the Miami Heat in 2012-13—where he'll suddenly find a bevy of able competitors gunning for his minutes.

Miami brought in sharpshooting Ray Allen from the rival Boston Celtics and signed seasoned marksman Rashard Lewis to the veteran's minimum. And while Miller (amazingly) has a higher career three-point shooting mark than either Allen or Lewis, the Heat's new additions both have cleaner medical records.

Miller will have to arrive in camp in excellent health. Otherwise, he'll have to deal with Allen and Lewis gunning for his minutes. And those guys have proven they can hit what they're aiming at.

Jason Richardson

You might not have noticed amidst all the hoopla of the Dwight Howard trade, but one of the less-discussed components of the deal was Jason Richardson. The 11-year veteran landed in Philadelphia and has a chance to nail down the starting job at shooting guard.

But J-Rich will have to fend off a worthy challenge from the youthful and trigger-happy Nick Young, whom the Sixers signed to a one-year, $6 million deal this offseason.

Young is a flat-out gunner, and he's only in Philly on a one-year deal, so he'll be especially motivated to produce. Expect him to play the role of the departed Lou Williams as primary bench scorer, at worst. At best (from Young's perspective), he'll force coach Doug Collins to give him Richardson's job.

If last year was any indication of how things could go for Richardson this season, things don't look so great for the former two-time dunk contest winner. The NBA lockout was unkind to Richardson, who came into Orlando looking noticeably pudgier. He never found his form, as the career 17.5 points-per-game scorer saw his average plummet to just 11.6 points per contest. Richardson's conditioning prevented him from getting to the line, defending or shooting efficiently—all of his numbers in those categories were career-worsts.

If Richardson shows up to training camp in shape and motivated to prove he's got something left in the tank, he could hang onto his starting role with the Sixers. But anything less than a knock-your-socks-off performance in October will almost certainly cost Richardson his job.

Kemba Walker

When the Charlotte Bobcats signed point guard Ramon Sessions to a two-year deal this summer, Kemba Walker's grip on a starting slot got a little more tenuous.

Sessions isn't exactly a world-beater, but he's frankly a better player than Walker right now. Sessions started 19 games for the Los Angeles Lakers last year after coming over from the Cleveland Cavaliers. In those games, he averaged 12.7 points and 6.2 assists on nearly 48 percent shooting.

To be fair to Walker, we'll look at the 25 games he started last season for the Bobcats when comparing him to Sessions. As a starter, Walker averaged 14.7 points and 4.9 assists per game. Those figures might look better than Sessions' on the surface, but when you take into account that Walker shot an atrocious 35 percent from the field, it becomes clear that Sessions is the better, more efficient option at the point.

The Bobcats won't be contending for a playoff spot anytime soon, and Walker's youth gives him a higher ceiling than the 26-year-old Sessions. But on such a young team, it's easy to see rookie coach Mike Dunlap opting for the steadier, savvier Sessions over Walker. Plus, Walker is really more of an undersized scoring guard; he doesn't involve his teammates as well as Sessions does.

In the interest of developing a cast of young players, Sessions is probably the better option—unless Walker outperforms him in training camp.

If Walker impresses in October, preferably by displaying an improved outside stroke and a more reserved unselfishness on offense, he can hang onto his job as the Bobcats' starter. If he doesn't show marked progress, though, he'll be contributing from the bench this year.

Dion Waiters

Dion Waiters, the No. 4 pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2012 NBA draft, will come to camp in October with the starting 2-guard job there for the taking.

Knowing that, it's hard to understand how he allowed himself to make such a poor first impression during the Cavs' summer league games. Waiters admitted to the Syracuse Post Standard that he wasn't at his best during summer league play and didn't deny that he might have been a little heavy during his first pseudo-NBA competition.

Weight and conditioning problems aren't new to Waiters—he showed up to Syracuse out of shape, as well. To his credit, Waiters has shown the ability to get himself into shape in a hurry, and his talent is unquestioned—Waiters has drawn numerous comparisons to Dwyane Wade already. Before the draft, ESPN"s John Hollinger said:

"

I have Waiters fourth for similar reasons. His size, 6-foot-4, is more of a concern, but whatever team made him a promise did a wise thing. Waiters projects as the best small wing since Dwyane Wade, and he'd be a steal if somebody got him in the Nos. 8-10 range currently being discussed.

"

So, Waiters clearly has the ability to snatch the starting job from Daniel Gibson and newly-signed C.J. Miles, but he'll have to show up to camp in top form to do so. If Waiters justifies the Cavs' decision to reach for him at No. 4 by securing a starting role with a monster training camp performance, everyone in Cleveland will be glad for it.

Well, everyone except Gibson and Miles.