Big-Name NBA Players Due for Comebacks in 2014-15
Hoop heads couldn't help but notice the constellations missing from last season's NBA galaxy.
Whether due to injury, individual inconsistency, team turmoil or any combination of the three, some of the league's biggest and brightest stars struggled to find their typical shine.
That lost luster is sure to return in 2014-15 for the seven players listed here.
Some found the spray needed to keep the injury bugs at bay. Others positioned themselves for more offensive chances or discovered systems and/or supporting casts better suited for their skills.
All set themselves up to come back in a big way during the upcoming campaign.
All promised to help return the full splendor to the basketball skies.
Carlos Boozer, PF, Los Angeles Lakers
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Some players will enter the 2014-15 season with a giant chip on their shoulder. Amnesty casualty Carlos Boozer will carry an entire potato farm on his.
Despite playing a sizable role for the resilient Chicago Bulls, the big man was always seen as more of a hindrance than a helper. Never the strongest defender, his declining returns at the opposite end (13.7 points on 45.6 percent shooting last season) relegated him to a cheerleader role during crunch time in 2013-14.
His scoring has sagged below his career average each of the last three seasons, and he hasn't been an All-Star since 2008. However, the pressure to perform this year won't be tied to an overinflated contract or a restless fanbase anxious to make good on its win-now potential.
He will be his own driving force, and Boozer's motivation is high to re-establish his value.
"I'm working my butt off and excited for this new challenge ahead of me," he told reporters at his introductory press conference for the Los Angeles Lakers this summer. "I have a lot to prove."
With Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash and new head coach Byron Scott all looking to lead the Lakers back to relevance, a proven commodity like Boozer should get every opportunity to make his mark.
Kobe Bryant, SG, Los Angeles Lakers
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Speaking of the Purple and Gold, is anyone more eagerly awaiting the start of this season than the Mamba?
He knows his biological shot clock is ticking down. He can read the mileage on his NBA odometer (1,245 career regular-season games, another 220 playoff outings) and how little he was able to add to it during an injury-riddled 2013-14 season.
"I'm 70 in basketball years," he told Sports Illustrated's Chris Ballard.
Yet, that isn't a sign he's ready to give up the fight. Far from it, in fact.
What it is, though, is an acceptance of his changing reality. He knows that even if he can still be great, he won't dominate the same way he did before.
"I can say I want to be able to jump as high as I used to. I want to be as fast as I used to. But no; I don’t jump as high as I used to," Bryant said during an interview in China. "That’s OK. I’m not as fast as I used to be. That’s OK, too. I’ll figure out another way to do it."
Bryant will figure out a way to bottle up everything around him—the frustrations of essentially losing a season to injury, the limitations of his aging body, the low bar set for his team by ESPN's forecast panel—and use that as fuel for his 19th season in the league.
A motivated Mamba can be a force at any age.
Pau Gasol, PF, Chicago Bulls
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Pau Gasol looks like a player who's been granted a second life by the basketball gods.
In some respects, maybe he has.
Any change may have felt good after serving as the square peg in former Lakers coach Mike D'Antoni's round-hole offense. Or perennially filling the scapegoat spot as the Lakers plummeted from being in championship contention to weighing draft-lottery odds.
But Gasol didn't make just any move. He threw himself back into the title race with the loaded Chicago Bulls, a team replete with selfless, skilled, perpetually spirited stars. A team not unlike the Spanish squad Gasol guided to a 6-0 start at the FIBA World Cup this summer before Wednesday's loss to France.
The big man was unstoppable, averaging 20 points on 63.5 percent shooting and 5.9 rebounds in only 27 minutes per game.
He is opening eyes all across the basketball landscape, including one of the most prominent pairs in the Windy City.
"Man, he's playing good right now," Derrick Rose said, via K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune. "I think he's proving a lot of people wrong. His touch around the rim is crazy. He should be able to get eight to 10 points from me just driving and dishing him the ball."
Gasol might lose some of last season's quantity (17.4 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists), but look for his efficiency to soar. He has been a difference-maker for a championship team before, and he just might reprise that role this season.
Roy Hibbert, C, Indiana Pacers
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Roy Hibbert's complete collapse over the latter part of last season was almost comically preposterous. Only, the drop was so dramatic it was impossible to laugh.
When he left for the second All-Star trip of his career, he packed per-game marks of 11.8 points and 7.7 rebounds, a 46.4 field-goal percentage and a net efficiency rating of plus-nine points per 100 possessions.
Somehow, he left all of that production behind in the Big Easy. When he returned, he was an 8.9-point scorer and a 39 percent shooter from the field. His efficiency took a 27-point swing, nosediving to a minus-18 points per 100 possessions.
There's a chance he never fully recovers. Whatever bothered him down the stretch continued pestering him in the postseason, and his 19 playoff runs included four scoreless outings.
So, why should anyone buy his 2014-15 stock?
"At 7’2”, Hibbert possesses a skill set unique to players of his imposing size," wrote Bleacher Report's Jim Cavan. "And at just 27 years old, the former Georgetown University standout still has some room left to grow."
With Paul George on the shelf and Lance Stephenson down in Charlotte, the Pacers will need someone to carry the offense. Hibbert's production has seemed tethered to his confidence, and his confidence appears to come from his involvement.
As more offensive opportunities start coming his way again, he could have another violent swing on the stat sheet—this time in the right direction.
Al Horford, C, Atlanta Hawks
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After seven NBA seasons, the book is pretty well out on versatile Atlanta Hawks big man Al Horford.
Nothing can stop the guy other than some problematic pectoral muscles.
He tore his right one last December, less than two years removed from tearing the left. He has missed 116 games over the past three seasons, which is kind of a big deal considering the Hawks were 3.7 points per 100 possessions better with Horford than without him in 2013-14.
Before the most recent tear, he was scoring (18.6) and shooting (56.7 field-goal percentage) at career rates. With Jeff Teague, Paul Millsap and Kyle Korver all helping him carry the offensive load, Horford's efficiency should keep trending upward.
The Hawks, under the leadership of head coach Mike Budenholzer, predictably struggled without Horford. However, having so much slack to pick up forced them to grow as players, and Budenholzer got a better feel for their strengths.
Horford isn't coming back to the same Atlanta team he propped up before his injury. This one can stand on its own and better support his skill set.
The Hawks have more than enough shooters to spread defenses thin. Whether Horford takes advantage of the vacant real estate by the basket or flashes his own soft touch, he's in line for another monstrous season if he can keep his health problems behind him.
Rajon Rondo, PG, Boston Celtics
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There aren't a lot of certainties in the stories of Rajon Rondo and his role in the rebuilding of the Boston Celtics.
Rondo might have asked them for a trade, or he might not have; Celtics president Rich Gotham, when speaking to The Boston Globe, refuted ESPN writer Jackie MacMullan’s claim that the point guard wants out. The Celtics could decide to move him or let him play out his contract, then decide whether he's worth re-signing.
So much of this tale is yet to be told. There is one common theme, though, and that's the importance of Rondo getting back to his peak performance level.
He stumbled through a 30-game return last season from the ACL tear he suffered in January 2013. While he still flirted with a nightly double-double (11.7 points, 9.8 assists), he connected on a career-worst 40.3 percent of his field-goal attempts.
The Celtics have no reason to act on his future until they get a better feel for what that might entail. They need to see if he can still be a building block, and other clubs must figure out how much he should be worth on the trade market.
"The Celtics don’t feel pressed to deal Rondo because they are still trying to determine if he’s part of the future and they are intrigued to see him in action a full 18 months following ACL surgery," wrote The Boston Globe's Gary Washburn.
If Rondo wants the red-carpet treatment in free agency next summer, he must show teams that he deserves it.
Both he and the franchise need him to produce. Throw in the increasing distance between him and his knee surgery, and all signs point to a major comeback campaign.
Derrick Rose, PG, Chicago Bulls
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Some might be worried about Derrick Rose's run at the FIBA World Cup, but others could be encouraged by it.
Yes, even though his field-goal percentage had been trending dangerously close toward the Mendoza Line: .216.
This isn't simply about knocking off the rust, although that is an important part of the process for anyone who has essentially been away from the game for two full seasons.
This is about Rose learning to play different styles. It's understanding when to slow things down and when to put the pedal to the floor. It's maximizing the weapons around him and not forcing anything on his own.
"Everybody is getting mad because I'm not shooting the ball more. That's strange," Rose told reporters in Spain. "I'm not going to change my game just because people want me to shoot more. I'm going to do exactly what the game tells me to do."
The Bulls team he will rejoin is nothing like the one he suited up with before a pair of knee injuries limited him to 10 total games these last two years. This group is deeper, more explosive and potentially very potent at the offensive end.
Rose will still be Chicago's focal point, but he should have more help than ever. And he has never been better prepared to take advantage of the weapons around him.
Unless otherwise noted, statistics used courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com.
