10 NBA Players Who Will Emerge onto National Stage During 2014-15 Season
Every year, certain NBA players burst into the national consciousness with electric performances teasing at some yet-to-be-realized potential. Given the depth of stud young talent around the league, the 2014-15 season should be no different.
In recent years, we've seen stars like Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, James Harden and Blake Griffin take center stage. Given their lofty pre-NBA expectations—all five were top-five picks in their respective draft classes—greatness wasn't exactly a surprise coming from them.
The success of others—such as DeMar DeRozan, DeAndre Jordan and Chandler Parsons—came as a much greater shock. That's the beautiful thing about the NBA: With the right scheme change, teammates or coach, an unheralded star can rise out of nowhere seemingly overnight.
How can we identify candidates to emerge onto the national stage this coming season? First, these players cannot have finished within the top 10 of their respective positions' voting for the 2014 All-Star Game. Guys who received more than 100,000 votes aren't exactly unknown to most NBA fans, after all.
From there, it's a matter of looking at which players' stock should rise this year, either due to a shift in role, internal improvement or the addition of talented teammates. Some featured here will enjoy the perfect confluence of all three.
If you're looking to fill out your League Pass teams, the 10 players featured here merit keeping an eye on. They all appear destined for greatness, despite what their lack of national television appearances might otherwise suggest.
Note: Players are organized in alphabetical order.
Honorable Mentions
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These players all finished outside the top five but within the top 10 of their respective positions' 2014 All-Star Game voting. This coming season, they're all near-locks to garner significantly more votes.
Andre Drummond, Detroit Pistons
If new head coach Stan Van Gundy has his way, Andre Drummond will emerge as the NBA's next elite center in 2014-15. While Van Gundy juggles between Greg Monroe and Josh Smith as the Detroit Pistons' starting 4, he's shown little interest in restricting Drummond's playing time.
The UConn product is leading all Pistons with 31.0 minutes per game through six preseason contests, averaging 15.7 points, 11.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks in that span. Those aren't a far cry from his 2013-14 regular-season averages—13.5 points, 13.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 32.3 minutes per game—which signals big things for Drummond this coming season.
His free-throw shooting remains an eyesore—he's shooting just 38.1 percent from the charity stripe on 7.0 attempts per game this preseason—but that's about the only major weakness for opponents to exploit. This season, Drummond will put to rest the idea that true back-to-the-basket centers are dying out in the NBA.
Anthony Davis, New Orleans Pelicans
In many ways, Davis has already broken out as the NBA's next big thing. As a sophomore last season, the New Orleans Pelicans big man averaged 20.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.8 blocks per game, the latter of which led the entire league.
Once Kevin Durant withdrew from Team USA this summer, Davis became the program's clear fulcrum, helping the squad secure its fourth consecutive gold medal in international play. Despite playing just 19.7 minutes per game, he finished third on the team in scoring (12.3) and second in rebounding (6.6) and was the only USA player to average at least one rejection per game (2.1, in fact).
Somehow, although Davis is already garnering dark-horse MVP buzz, the Pelicans only have 10 national TV appearances this season. Despite the NBA schedule-makers' faux pas, Davis will remain a mainstay of SportsCenter Top 10 highlights and Twitter this season, as 25-15 nights will soon become routine for the Brow.
DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento Kings
Like Drummond and Davis, DeMarcus Cousins will seek to parlay his successful experience with Team USA this summer into a career year during the 2014-15 season. From the sound of things, he's ready to accept the mantle of leading the Sacramento Kings.
"I know I'm not perfect and I probably never will be, but I'm aiming to be the best leader I can be for this team," Cousins told The Sacramento Bee's Jason Jones during the preseason. He also declared his intention to become "a defensive anchor" for the squad and stressed the importance of cutting down on his technical fouls, which he's racked up in spades over the past few seasons.
Cousins' newfound confidence in his defensive abilities should spell trouble for the Kings' opponents this season, as he already finished with career highs in rebounds (11.7) and blocks (1.3) per game in 2013-14. Boogie is primed to jump from troubled-but-talented head case to one of the league's best big men, which should help him earn his first All-Star berth.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
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Among diehard NBA devotees, Giannis Antetokounmpo is teetering dangerously close to becoming overrated after just one year in the league. There's no denying the overwhelming potential the Milwaukee Bucks swingman possesses, but he's still years away from putting it all together to become a truly dominant force.
In 24.6 minutes per game as a rookie, Antetokounmpo averaged 6.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, 1.9 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.8 blocks. Even if he makes a major sophomore leap this coming season, expecting much more than 13 points, six boards, three dimes, a steal and a swat per game would be overly optimistic at best.
It's hard not to be tantalized by what Antetokounmpo could eventually become, however. New Bucks head coach Jason Kidd has been openly flirting with the idea of handing the Greek Freak some minutes at the point guard spot this season, having started him at the 1 in a preseason game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Oct. 14.
The experiment didn't fare very well that night—Antetokounmpo finished 0-of-5 from the field with four points, four rebounds and zero assists in 23 minutes—but a 6'11" athletic freak playing point guard should pique some national interest. His per-game averages aren't likely to command major attention this season, but his athletic gifts should help him become a mainstay in SportsCenter's nightly Top 10.
Who knows? By the end of the 2014-15 season, perhaps casual NBA fans will even know how to spell "Antetokounmpo" without looking it up online.
Gordon Hayward, Utah Jazz
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Fresh off signing a four-year, $63 million max contract, Gordon Hayward will be seeking to prove that his dismal shooting percentages from 2013-14 were a one-year anomaly instead of a sign of things to come.
In his first season as the Utah Jazz's unquestioned No. 1 offensive option, Hayward averaged career highs across the board—16.2 points, 5.2 assists, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 steals in 36.4 minutes per game—but shot just 41.3 percent from the floor and 30.4 percent from three-point range. His struggles weren't a major surprise, as Utah lacked offensive flow in the absence of Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap, both of whom walked as free agents the previous offseason.
This preseason, Hayward appears much more comfortable in his role as Utah's top dog. Through seven games, he's averaging 13.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.9 steals and 1.4 three-pointers in just 27.8 minutes per game, shooting 48.3 percent from the floor and a stellar 50.0 percent from three-point range.
Hayward's preseason efficiency could be tied to his offseason workouts, which he described on his website in September. "I haven't been knocked off balance hardly at all," he wrote. "I'm just a lot stronger and when I drive to the hole, I'm able to kind of brush people off me and that makes me a lot better."
The Jazz swingman showed off that newfound aggression against the Portland Trail Blazers on Oct. 9, elevating for a massive two-handed dunk over Blazers center Joel Freeland. With new head coach Quin Snyder imploring Hayward to be more aggressive and efficient this season, the Butler product appears on the verge of recapturing America's heart for the first time since his college days.
Jared Sullinger, Boston Celtics
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On the night of the 2012 NBA draft, Ohio State forward Jared Sullinger plummeted down the board due to concerns about his back. According to ESPN.com's Chad Ford, "A number of NBA team doctors…have told their front office staff that Sullinger's back issues could shorten his NBA career, and some have advised their teams not to draft him in the first round."
Undeterred, the Boston Celtics snagged him with the 21st overall pick. Two years later, it appears as though Boston may have landed one of the draft's top steals.
This preseason, Sullinger is showing flashes of a well-rounded game that should give opponents legitimate pause when drawing up defensive game plans. Through seven preseason games, the third-year big man is averaging 14.9 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.9 assists and, most notably, 2.0 three-pointers per game.
Sullinger's three-point range isn't necessarily a huge surprise; after all, he fired 208 attempts from beyond the arc in 2013-14. It's the efficiency at which he's drilling those shots that should raise eyebrows.
After shooting just 26.9 on his three-point attempts last season, Sullinger has banged home a shocking 53.8 percent of his 3.7 tries from deep this preseason. That lethalness from downtown has helped him earn the team's highest preseason player efficiency rating (26.9) and second-highest effective field-goal percentage (.588).
Last December, Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert told CSNNE.com that Sullinger "could be like the Kevin Love of the East." If he keeps draining three-pointers at an above-40 percent clip once the season begins, that prediction will look more prescient than ever, which should draw some extra viewers to Boston games.
Kenneth Faried, Denver Nuggets
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Had more casual basketball fans paid attention to the FIBA World Cup this summer, Kenneth Faried wouldn't be a candidate for this list. The Denver Nuggets forward emerged as one of the key contributors for Team USA, averaging 12.2 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds in just 21.4 minutes per game.
Following his monster performance with the national squad, Faried signed a four-year extension with Denver that could be worth up to $52 million, per Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. That stability should only help the springy forward become more consistent this season, as he admitted to reporters during the World Cup that hearing his name in trade rumors affected his play last year.
One look at his season splits from 2013-14 speaks volumes. Before the All-Star break, Faried averaged just 10.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 1.0 assists in 24.7 minutes per game. After the break—which happened to coincide with the passing of the trade deadline—Faried's averages jumped up to 18.8 points, 10.1 rebounds and 1.6 assists in 31.2 minutes per contest.
Now, there's no longer a question of where Faried fits into Denver's long-term plans, as he's the only non-rookie aside from Ty Lawson to be signed past 2015-16. Despite the Nuggets' glut of wing players, it's clear that the Morehead State product will see plenty of playing time this coming season, which should help him attract some much-overdue national attention.
Denver could wind up being this year's Phoenix Suns—a Western Conference team that surprises its way toward a 45-plus-win season—and Faried will play a large part in that. Given his relentless motor, expect to see and hear a great deal of praise about the Nuggets forward this coming season.
Kyle Lowry, Toronto Raptors
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Kyle Lowry's not finishing among the top 10 vote-getters for Eastern Conference backcourt All-Star selections this past season is simply unconscionable. George freaking Hill finished above him, as did Deron Williams on two bum ankles.
In 2014-15, Lowry won't leave voters any choice but to put him among the top eight in All-Star voting. The diminutive point guard seemingly used his All-Star slight as motivation last year, jumping from pre-All-Star averages of 16.7 points, 7.6 assists and 4.5 rebounds to 20.4 points, 7.1 assists and 5.1 rebounds after the break.
There's always the potential for Lowry to regress following his career-best season—especially after he signed a four-year, $48 million extension this summer—but his play this preseason would seem to suggest otherwise. In an Oct. 7 tilt against the Sacramento Kings, the Villanova product erupted for 25 points, six assists, five three-pointers and three rebounds in just 24 minutes, then lit up the Boston Celtics for 18 points, six dimes, five steals and three boards three nights later.
Between Terrence Ross, DeMar DeRozan and Jonas Valanciunas, Lowry has a bevy of offensive threats surrounding him, which should help spare him from a constant swarm of double-teams. He'll have a real shot of exceeding the career-high 17.9 points and 7.4 assists he averaged last season, especially if he can bump his field-goal percentage toward the mid-40s.
With Toronto lurking as a potential dark-horse candidate in the East, Lowry should have little trouble working his way into the national conversation this year. At the very least, he won't finish behind Hill and Williams in All-Star voting again.
Markieff Morris, Phoenix Suns
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Markieff Morris might be the league's most obvious under-the-radar breakout candidate in 2014-15. With Channing Frye having signed with Orlando in free agency, the big man should be a lock for heavy minutes in the Phoenix Suns' uptempo, high-octane offensive attack.
Last season, Morris averaged a sizzling 13.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 0.8 steals and 0.6 blocks in just 26.6 minutes per game. Extrapolate those figures to per-36-minute averages, and he would have finished the year with roughly 19 points and eight boards per game, putting him in the echelon of top-tier big men.
With Morris fresh off a new four-year, $32 million contract extension, it's clear that Phoenix views him as a critical piece of its long-term plans. Head coach Jeff Hornacek is planning on using him at the 5 occasionally this season, Morris told reporters, and the big man has been working on expanding his three-point range, too.
Thus far, Morris appears ready to seize the opportunity in front of him. Through four preseason games, he's averaging 11.8 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.8 three-pointers in just 20.5 minutes per contest.
The stars are aligning for Morris to have a breakout campaign. So long as he doesn't fall apart under the burden of a heavy workload, the fourth-year big man will have much more of a national following after this year.
Nerlens Noel, Philadelphia 76ers
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Philadelphia 76ers fans don't have much to cheer for in the short term. Their team appears destined for another sub-20-win season, as both of the Sixers' top-12 picks from June, Joel Embiid and Dario Saric, are near-locks to miss the entire season.
While you may not be watching much of the Sixers in 2014-15—Grantland's Zach Lowe and Bill Simmons placed them dead last in their latest League Pass rankings—Nerlens Noel is the one major reason to tune in. The Kentucky product missed the entire 2013-14 season to recover from a torn ACL he suffered in college, heightening the anticipation for his eventual regular-season debut that much more.
If we've learned anything from the preseason, it's that Noel's de facto rookie season should prove to be very up and down. The big man struggled in his preseason debut against the Boston Celtics, finishing with four points on 2-of-9 shooting, six fouls and four turnovers in 27 minutes. He looked far more dominant a week later against New York, racking up 12 points, 11 boards, four steals, three assists and a block.
Offense will remain a work in progress for Noel, but he should have little trouble shining defensively from day one. Considering the Sixers finished the 2013-14 season with a bottom-five defensive rating, the Flat Top's game-changing play on that end of the court can't come a minute too soon.
If Jabari Parker doesn't win the 2015 Rookie of the Year Award, it'll be because Noel emerged as a true difference-maker defensively. The Sixers' sure-to-be dismal record could hurt Noel's candidacy, but his teammate Michael Carter-Williams seemingly had little trouble snagging the award last year despite Philly's blatant teardown.
Steven Adams, Oklahoma City Thunder
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If there's one silver lining to Kevin Durant's foot fracture for the Oklahoma City Thunder, it's this: Head coach Scott Brooks cannot conceivably start Kendrick Perkins over second-year center Steven Adams.
Perk has been an offensive black hole for years, relying upon easy putbacks as his main source of offense. With Durant sidelined for the first month (or more) of the season, the Thunder need more viable scoring threats in their starting lineup.
Enter Adams, who grew progressively more comfortable toward the end of last season. The big man raised some eyebrows after going toe-to-toe with Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan in the Thunder's Game 6 clincher against the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference semifinals, finishing the night with 10 points, 11 boards and a block in just under 40 minutes.
With Perkins sidelined by a quadriceps strain this preseason, Adams has been nothing short of a beast. Through six contests, he's averaging 13.4 points, 6.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.2 blocks in just 25.0 minutes per game, giving him the third-highest PER on the team (25.1) outside of Durant and Nick Collison.
Adams isn't likely to be a 20-10 guy during just his second year in the league, but his physical style of play—talk to Memphis' Zach Randolph about that one—should earn him many fans throughout the league. You'll tune into Thunder games to see Durant, Russell Westbrook and Co., but don't be surprised when Adams catches your eye on more than one occasion.
Terrence Jones, Houston Rockets
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The Houston Rockets had an offseason to forget, losing Chandler Parsons to the Dallas Mavericks in free agency and trading away Jeremy Lin and Omer Asik in a failed bid to sign Chris Bosh. Though the addition of Trevor Ariza will help partially offset the loss of Parsons, the Rockets appear far weaker now than they did in June.
Third-year power forward Terrence Jones could be the Rockets' ultimate saving grace this coming season. Last year, Jones stepped into the starting lineup alongside Dwight Howard and averaged roughly 12 points and seven rebounds in 27 minutes per game, shooting just over 54 percent from the field.
Without Lin and Parsons around to soak up offensive touches—the two averaged nearly 23 field-goal attempts per game for Houston last season—Jones appears to be a logical candidate for an increased offensive role. He's been somewhat up and down this preseason—lighting up Phoenix for 18 points on 8-of-15 shooting one night, then scoring five points on 2-of-6 shooting against New Orleans the next—but the sample size is small enough that it's dangerous to draw any major conclusions.
As RealGM.com's Jonathan Tjarks noted, "Jones has elite ball-handling ability for a player his size, a quick first step and the ability to finish at the rim or find the open man off the dribble." With Ariza emerging as a corner three-point specialist for the Washington Wizards last season, he and Jones could quickly learn to work in concert with one another to generate easy offensive looks.
If the Rockets don't implode as much as expected this coming season, Jones will likely have played a major role in keeping them afloat. Though he's flown under the radar alongside Howard and James Harden to date, the Rockets' personnel changes this offseason should help bring far more national attention his way in 2014-15.
Victor Oladipo, Orlando Magic
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The Rookie of the Year battle between Victor Oladipo and Michael Carter-Williams was much more divisive than the final vote total suggests. MCW received 104 of the possible 124 first-place votes, but Grantland's Zach Lowe was one of the few who sided with Oladipo, praising his defensive aptitude as a main tipping point.
As a rookie, the Orlando Magic combo guard averaged 13.8 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.6 steals in just 31.1 minutes per game. He turned the ball over an unsightly 3.2 times per game, but he also led all rookies in terms of defensive win shares (2.8), speaking to Lowe's point.
Now, thanks to the Magic's trading for rookie Elfrid Payton on draft night, Oladipo will be able to slide over to his more natural position at the 2 this season. He played nearly 60 percent of his minutes at the point last year—and that experience should only help him relieve some pressure from the rookie's shoulders at times—but moving to shooting guard should help him cut back on his giveaways.
Somewhat complicating matters: Oladipo sprained the MCL in his right knee during training camp, causing him to miss the entire preseason. He returned to practice Oct. 20, per Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel, but his status for the regular-season opener remains somewhat up in the air at the moment.
Even if Oladipo misses a game or two at the beginning of the year, he should have little trouble sliding back into the starting lineup and dominating upon his return. The Indiana product's ferocious two-way play will have casual NBA fans paying attention to him and the Magic in no time at all.
Unless otherwise noted, all statistics via Basketball-Reference.com or NBA.com/stats. All preseason advanced statistics via RealGM.com.
