10 Budding NBA Stars Every Fan Must Watch During 2014 Training Camp
With the gaze of the basketball world focused squarely on Spain and the 2014 FIBA World Cup, it’s easy to forget the NBA is a mere three weeks away from the start of training camp.
From power rankings to prospective starting lineups and just about everything in between, expect the predictions and prognostications to begin in earnest—as if they haven’t already.
Every year, one of the more interesting talking points involves who within the league’s younger ranks appears most poised to posit himself as a legitimate NBA up-and-comer.
Anthony Davis, DeMarcus Cousins, Andre Drummond: We know about them. We’re talking about guys flying a bit deeper below the radar—the ones only a leap or two away from bona fide All-Star status.
We’ve come up with 10 players we feel stand the best chance of using their respective training camp performances to propel them to the forefront of the NBA discourse.
To qualify, all players must be 25 years old or younger, have yet to earn their All-Star stripes and—perhaps most crucial of all—have at least a year of NBA experience under their belts.
Sorry, Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker. Maybe next year.
Ricky Rubio: PG, Minnesota Timberwolves
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With Kevin Love now officially a relic of the past, the Minnesota Timberwolves face the unenviable task of figuring out who exactly will be their cornerstone of the future.
Andrew Wiggins might seem the obvious bet, but if the Wolves have any chance of exceeding expectations in the seasons ahead—something they seldom did during Love’s tenure—they'll need support from Ricky Rubio and his wizardry.
A full five years after Rubio was taken with the fifth overall pick in the 2009 draft, it’s easy to forget the Spanish floor general is only 23 years old. That fact, combined with his steady statistical progression and yet another summer spent playing with the Spanish national team, is reason enough to expect a big leap for Rubio this season.
Michael Carter-Williams: PG, Philadelphia 76ers
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I know, I know: The winner of the Rookie of the Year Award a potential star? Really going out on a limb with that one, huh?
What such sniping ignores, however, is just how close Carter-Williams actually is to full-blown stardom—even if the Philadelphia 76ers themselves are still a year or two away from escaping their self-inflicted lottery misery.
In an era where the point guard position has become inarguably the most important on the floor, anyone who mans that post is destined for a bit of extra pressure. And Carter-Williams is no exception.
But that also means enjoying an outsized opportunity to forge your team in your own image. For Carter-Williams and the Sixers, that means three things: length, athleticism and a raw offensive skill set poised for perpetual growth and development.
It won’t be long before Philly is officially Carter-Williams’ team. It just might happen far sooner than anyone thought possible.
Kawhi Leonard: SF, San Antonio Spurs
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Another player who seems beyond his years.
With three seasons and one NBA title to his career credit, Kawhi Leonard finally appears poised to achieve what many have been expecting for years: his emergence as the San Antonio Spurs’ best, most important player.
“[Leonard] is starting to feel his oats,” Spurs head coach Gregg Popovich—in quintessential Pop fashion—told Sports Illustrated’s Ben Golliver back in May. “He’s the future of the Spurs, partially because everyone else is older than dirt.”
With the futures of both Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili uncertain beyond this season, it’s now or never for Leonard to stake his claim as the Spurs’ next franchise bulwark. Even if next season arrives to find Tony Parker intact as the team’s elder statesman, it’ll be through Leonard—a player near unrivaled in his two-way skill set—that the team’s future fortunes will be made.
Bradley Beal: SG, Washington Wizards
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You’d be hard-pressed to find a duo with bigger chips about their shoulders heading into training camp than the ballistic backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal, both of whom were left off Team USA’s final roster this summer.
But while Wall has already asserted himself as one of the league’s best young playmakers, Beal—who turned 21 on June 28—might have the bigger leap ahead of him.
Which, when you’ve logged career per-36 clips of 17.1 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists on 40 percent shooting from distance, isn’t exactly surprising.
In an age when the shooting guard position has seldom been weaker, Beal has a chance to carve quite the niche for himself. And with the signing of Paul Pierce indicating Washington is no longer in rebuilding mode, that ascendance stands to happen sooner than later.
Gordon Hayward: SG/SF, Utah Jazz
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Like Beal and Wall, Gordon Hayward was on the outside looking in when Team USA head coach Mike Krzyzewski winnowed down his roster down to 12 ahead of the FIBA World Cup.
Unlike Beal and Wall, however, Hayward doesn’t exactly boast a bona fide sidekick—at least not yet.
Fresh off signing a four-year, $63 million deal to stay with the Utah Jazz, Hayward has become the undisputed face of the franchise and pretty much the only player who first-year head coach Quin Snyder can consistently rely on.
There were many who expected last season to be the stage of Hayward’s breakout. Instead, the versatile small forward hit a bit of a statistical snag—the product, at least in part, of being targeted by opposing defenses as Utah’s only real multipurpose threat.
Expect a serious bounce-back year for Hayward under Snyder’s more free-flowing, space-dependent offense. Possible All-Star selection and all.
Klay Thompson: SG, Golden State Warriors
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History is rife with examples of players who’ve parlayed summer stints with their respective countries into big-time production in the NBA the following season. Needless to say, it’s a track record the Golden State Warriors’ Klay Thompson hopes to strengthen.
Indeed, Thompson has emerged as one of Team USA’s most reliable two-way players—the quintessential 3-and-D player, only better at both.
While he’s not liable to escape Stephen Curry’s shadow anytime soon, Thompson has all the makings of a legitimate second star on a championship-caliber team. And the Warriors—whose starting unit of Curry, Thompson, Andre Iguodala, David Lee and Andrew Bogut may well be the best in all the NBA—are nothing if not that.
At just 24 years old, Thompson still has plenty of potential left to meet. Whether Steve Kerr’s triangle-inspired offense can get him there will go a long way in determining whether Golden State’s 40-year championship drought has any chance of coming to an end.
Jonas Valanciunas: C, Toronto Raptors
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In keeping with the current FIBA theme, we feel it’s only appropriate to offer up one of the many international players posed for potential NBA stardom.
Jonas Valanciunas’ FIBA stat line—12.9 points and 8.6 rebounds—isn't exactly eye-popping. Until you see the part about 73 percent shooting from the floor. Which, last we checked, is a pretty good clip.
Indeed, even the Lithuanian big man’s raw numbers don’t do justice to how important he’s been to his country’s FIBA run, a slate culminating in a much-anticipated matchup with the heavily favored Team USA on Thursday.
Taken fifth overall by the Toronto Raptors in the 2011 NBA draft, Valanciunas has emerged as a double-double machine in the making, not to mention an increasingly stout defensive presence down low.
With Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan forming one of the league’s most dynamic backcourts, it’s unlikely Toronto’s offense will run through Valanciunas anytime soon. Still, the burly big’s bourgeoning versatility could hold the key to the Raptors’ near-future prospects, particularly in an Eastern Conference not exactly teeming with top-tier centers.
Victor Oladipo: G, Orlando Magic
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If anyone has a legitimate grip over last year’s Rookie of the Year honors, it’s the Orlando Magic’s Victor Oladipo, whose stellar second half of the season wasn’t quite enough to close the gap on Michael Carter-Williams.
We’re pretty sure Oladipo has some hardware coming his way.
Unlike many of his lottery-pick peers, Oladipo spent a three full years honing his game at the collegiate level before becoming the Magic's No. 2 overall pick in 2013. And not for nothing either: Oladipo’s work ethic and leadership are beyond his 22 years. That, coupled with straight-up freakish talent, is why we’re expecting big things from Orlando’s cagey combo guard this season.
Now that Arron Afflalo has officially flown the coop, Oladipo is certain to take on a more pronounced role in Jacque Vaughn’s offense—a savvy system inspired by the San Antonio Spurs and predicated on passes aplenty.
Plus, now that Elfrid Payton is in the fold, Oladipo can focus more on growing into his more natural position of shooting guard, where his lockdown defense and explosiveness have the potential to propel him to inclusion as one of the game’s elite young perimeter players.
Lance Stephenson: SG, Charlotte Hornets
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Cue the polarizing comment-thread debates.
True, Lance Stephenson wore out his welcome with the Indiana Pacers. True, his antics and short fuse have the potential to backfire spectacularly at any given moment. True, an argument can be made that, when it comes to this basketball wunderkind, the potential reward isn’t nearly worth the risk.
Also true: Stephenson is one of the most talented young guards anywhere in the league.
To the Charlotte Hornets’ credit, that last truism was enough to trump whatever concerns owner Michael Jordan might have had about the mercurial shooting guard, acquired for an eminently reasonable three years, $27 million back in July.
From a purely schematic perspective, Stephenson—a born playmaker and lockdown defender to boot—fits head coach Steve Clifford’s needs to a T. On a team where Al Jefferson remains the only consistent go-to threat, Stephenson will be asked to shoulder a much larger load than what the Pacers demanded.
If anyone can show Stephenson the error of his ways, it’s the greatest player ever to man Stephenson’s position. Now it’s time to see whether Born Ready has what it takes to make good on his lofty moniker.
Giannis Antetokounmpo: G/F/C, Milwaukee Bucks
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Hey, just because you have to copy and paste a guy’s name doesn’t mean he can’t become one of the household variety.
Ever since the Milwaukee Bucks selected him with the 15th overall pick in the 2013 draft, Giannis Antetokounmpo has assumed a kind of cult status among the NBA intelligentsia. Maybe it was the impossible wingspan and leaping ability. Maybe it was the fact that the Greek national once grew, like, five feet in a single year. Maybe it was his unique, hardscrabble backstory.
Maybe it was all of the above. Whatever the ultimate impetus, there’s something uniquely captivating about Antetokounmpo—“The Greek Freak," to the uninitiated—such that it’s impossible to take your eyes off him.
In fact, new head coach Jason Kidd is so enthralled with his lanky prospect that he's even considering trying him out at his old position, a development Bleacher Report's Adam Fromal says could pay some serious down-the-road dividends:
"Even if the experiment fails, the Greek Freak is learning a new set of skills, thus expanding his arsenal. There's literally no downside to this trial, especially during a season in which the Bucks aren't exactly hoping to compete at a particularly high level. Best-case scenario, Milwaukee has a truly unique commodity; worst-case scenario, Antetokounmpo learns a few things then goes back to a more natural position.
However, the scary thing is that it really could work.
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With a core that includes Jabari Parker, Brandon Knight, Larry Sanders and John Henson, the Bucks have the stuff of a legitimate conference spoiler, one that could rise to the level of legitimate playoff threat sooner than later.
Parker might be the one steeped in deeper accolades. But it’s Antetokounmpo—a player whose versatility has the potential to redefine how we understand positions in today’s NBA—who stands the better chance of forging some new ones of his own.
