New Faces in Big Places Have Immediate Pressure to Thrive in Today's NBA
Kristaps Porzingis' introduction to the NBA left a little something to be desired in the fan enthusiasm department. The 7-foot project drew a chorus of boos from New York Knicks fans packing the Barclays Center on draft night, an unfortunate first impression that probably said more about the fans and their eternal impatience than Porzingis himself.
One young Knicks fan even had a minor breakdown, exemplifying the comically stark juxtaposition between Porzingis' satisfaction and the audience's total lack thereof.
"I knew there were going to be boos if the Knicks drafted me," Porzingis told Bleacher Report's Jared Zwerling in July. "That's how New York fans are. I know if I play hard and show that I want to be a Knick, I know the fans will accept me. I really wanted to get drafted by the Knicks, and it was a dream come true.
"I wasn't even hearing the boos that night. I was just having a special moment with my family, hugging them."
There could well be many more special moments to come for the 20-year-old, but one suspects New Yorkers are in no mood to wait. This is the unrelenting and sometimes-riotous nature of expectations, particularly when they emanate from the masses via Twitter, comments sections, podcasts and, yes, some good old-fashioned booing. Media outlets play a part as well, sometimes laying down the most explicit of expectations and subsequently assessing whether the Porzingises of the world measure up in the end.
Players find pressure in all directions, not least from the front offices and coaching staffs responsible for putting them in positions to succeed. That pressure is uniquely acute when said players are new to a situation, whether via draft, free agency or trade. After the celebratory pomp and introductory news conferences, the real work of proving oneself begins.
Kristaps certainly isn't the only new face with rather obvious weight on his shoulders, and New York isn't the only place with a penchant for bright lights and the scrutiny they represent.
Can D'Angelo Russell Fly High in the City of Angels?
The next chapter of the Los Angeles Lakers' story will be written in large part by rookie guard D'Angelo Russell. The Ohio State product was selected with the second overall draft pick in June, beating out low-post whiz Jahlil Okafor in the estimation of general manager Mitch Kupchak and the Lakers' suddenly desperate front office. In a league now dominated by perimeter play, the organization elected to pass on what might have been the next in a long lineage of star big men.
The Lakers instead opted for the guard, who otherwise might have fallen to the Philadelphia 76ers at No. 3—a low-pressure situation by comparison. Now Russell is seen as an answer, the prospect who was worth taking a chance on over Okafor. That, in and of itself, creates no shortage of anticipation.
Whereas the Knicks may be willing to take their time with Porzingis, Russell's time is now—or, at the very least, in the not-too-distant future. One suspects he'll learn plenty from the iconic Kobe Bryant, but there's also hope that the two of them can succeed together from the outset. Russell is a strong perimeter shooter with advanced playmaking skills, and those proficiencies could yield dividends from day one.
For what it's worth, Russell's contributions were uneven during his outing at the NBA Las Vegas Summer League, a fact he too acknowledged to ESPN.com's Kevin Arnovitz, after just one appearance:
"Personally, I had a lot of mental mistakes—not paying attention to my guy, sleeping a little bit on defense, the little things you can do in college that you can't do in the pros. One caught me throwing the ball in the backcourt. I didn't know you couldn't do that.
At the end of the game, those plays add up. Ball-watching on defense. Guys go back door at this level, so it was just mental mistakes.
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After five games, Russell finished his summer-league play averaging a modest 11.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.2 assists. The more worrisome mark was his 11.8 percent success rate from three-point range, perhaps an early indication that Russell's long ball could use a little tweaking. That's perfectly understandable for most reasonable observers. One could even imagine the 19-year-old coming along somewhat slowly while second-year guard Jordan Clarkson takes on floor-general duties in the interim.
Unfortunately, Russell's draft position implies big things immediately, and few Angelinos are in any mood to wait for this team to turn things around. There's all the more urgency in light of Bryant's imminent departure. Kupchak suggested in December in an interview with NBA.com's David Aldridge (h/t ESPN.com) and then again in May on SiriusXM NBA Radio (h/t the New York Post's Jonathan Lehman) that this would likely be the superstar's final season. Bryant himself hasn't confirmed the end, but he made it sound entirely plausible in an interview with Yahoo Sports' Marc J. Spears.
It's not fair to expect Russell to put the Lakers over the top as Kobe rides off into the sunset. For fans who've watched this team buckle under the weight of injury and ineptitude over the last two seasons, however, there may well be a different set of expectations. We are, after all, talking about a guy who's openly compared himself to 2015 league MVP Stephen Curry.
Russell was careful to temper similar comments in May, noting that he has a ways to go before replicating Curry-like output.
"I don't want to sound like I'm overdoing it since he's the MVP of the league," Russell said from the NBA predraft combine, per the Los Angeles Daily News' Mark Medina. "But when I watch his game, I see myself. The plays he makes, the shots he takes and passes he makes, I see it before it even happens. I feel like that's what separates me from a lot."
Caveats aside, the notion that Russell is on his way to stardom has already been etched into an NBA narrative. Ideally, onlookers will afford him a schedule that includes ample time for development. In reality, the pressure to perform for a storied franchise isn't especially forgiving.
Functionally, Russell won't be the only rookie. He'll be joined by second-year power forward Julius Randle, who broke his leg during his 2014-15 season debut. In both cases, there will be accelerated demands from ticket buyers. As the Washington Post's Michael Lee recently put it:
"Russell and Randle won't have to recreate the now-infamous Sports Illustrated cover featuring Nash and Dwight Howard to make it known that next season will be about their development as much as an opportunity to appreciate Bryant one last time. The duo represents half of the franchise's four lottery selections in the past 30 years. Though neither is legally able to drink, Russell and Randle are fully aware that the standard is doubled for a high lottery pick playing for the Lakers.
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Los Angeles is a team in transition and won't win a ton of games, but those high standards remain—even for the guys born in the mid-'90s, just a couple years before Bryant was drafted.
The Other L.A. Story
The Los Angeles Clippers may still feel like the city's other team, but they're much closer to a championship than the regrouping Lake Show. The franchise is surrounded by expectations—particularly after convincing free-agent center DeAndre Jordan to change his mind about signing with the Dallas Mavericks.
But two of the organization's new faces heighten those expectations all the more. L.A. obtained free agent Paul Pierce and traded for the once up-and-coming Lance Stephenson, now something of a project mired in all kinds of uncertainty.
While it's understood that Pierce is nearing the end of his career (he'll be 38 at season's start), he's still the roster's best small forward by a wide margin. A reunion with head coach Doc Rivers should bring out the best from the former Celtic, but any step back or injury would be problematic. Pierce averaged a career-low 11.9 points per contest with the Washington Wizards last season.
| Min | Pts | FG% | Reb | Ast | PER | |
| Pierce | 26.2 | 11.9 | .447 | 4.0 | 2.0 | 15.2 |
| Stephenson | 25.8 | 8.2 | .376 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 8.8 |
Stephenson, meanwhile, could develop into a highly productive seventh man alongside Jamal Crawford in a potentially electric second unit. The 24-year-old struggled with the Hornets last season, but there's reason to believe he'll rediscover some of his potential in L.A.
Hornets head coach Steve Clifford spoke to SI.com's Chris Mannix about Stephenson in June:
"I think he's a terrific pick-and-roll player with good size and a good competitor, and there were whatever, I guess, rumors or whatever about him here.
He was very good here, very coachable, we asked him to come off the bench because our starting unit wasn't playing well together. Really because of a lack of range shooting. And obviously, he didn't love it, but we never had any issues. He's a good teammate, he's a good guy, and I think he'll play well there.
"
Stephenson only made 37.6 percent of his field-goal attempts last season, but he was one of the Indiana Pacers' top performers in 2013-14, converting on a career-high 49.1 percent of his shots. L.A.'s fate may hinge heavily on which Stephenson shows up this time and whether Rivers' guidance can make the difference.
There won't be much margin for error with Pierce and Stephenson.
The San Antonio Spurs and Houston Rockets made serious strides of their own this summer; the Oklahoma City Thunder will be healthy; and the defending champion Golden State Warriors remain the team to beat. L.A.'s rotation already boasted star power and shooting, but additional depth—which has been lacking of late—could be transformational in a tight Western Conference title race.
Getting to the Point
Ty Lawson averaged a career-high 9.6 assists last season, and the Houston Rockets acquired him at a bargain rate from the Denver Nuggets this summer. The 27-year-old was arrested for a second time for suspicion of driving under the influence and entered a treatment program in July.
There's hope that an opportunity with a winning franchise will help Lawson address his off-court issues and focus on elevating the Rockets to another level after they appeared in the Western Conference Finals last season. ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported that Lawson could turn to former coach John Lucas, a valuable off-court resource who just so happens to live in Houston.
"He's close with James [Harden], tight with Corey [Brewer], knows Trevor [Ariza] and Dwight [Howard] and is real excited," Happy Walters, Lawson's agent, told KRIV-TV, via ESPN.com.
The familiarity helps, but so too will a sense of championship purpose.
"It's an opportunity for him," Walters added. "He's been deep in the playoffs before, but this is something he feels really good about."
In what's increasingly becoming a point guard's league, Lawson was just one floor general hoping to benefit from a change of scenery. Rajon Rondo took his talents to the Sacramento Kings via free agency while Deron Williams returned home to Dallas after the Brooklyn Nets bought him out in July. Both organizations needed a playmaker-in-chief, each acquiring a veteran who's looking to bounce back from a less than ideal situation.
Rondo himself manned the point in Dallas after the Mavs acquired him from the Boston Celtics in December. It didn't go well. He never found his groove in head coach Rick Carlisle's offense and finished the season with what the team called a back injury that kept him out of the clubs's last three playoff games, when he was effectively barred from rejoining the team. Now the four-time All-Star and 2008 champion is looking to turn the corner in Sacramento, a franchise that's in some flux of its own.
"I've been basically challenged my whole life," Rondo said in July, per ESPN.com. "It is what it is. A lot of people didn't expect me to come this far in the NBA. I have no doubts about what my talents can do. ... Life is about handling adversity, and I've dealt with a little bit of adversity this past season."
Meanwhile, Williams only averaged 13 points last season, the lowest mark since his rookie campaign. He also made just 38.7 percent of his field-goal attempts, headlining Brooklyn's regression in all the wrong ways, despite being the franchise's purported savior. He was almost certainly Dallas' best available option, however, and there's a chance he could salvage things in short order.
| Min | Pts | Reb | Ast | Ast% | TS% | PER | |
| Lawson | 35.5 | 15.2 | 3.1 | 9.6 | 43.0 | .526 | 18.5 |
| Rondo | 29.7 | 8.9 | 5.5 | 7.9 | 39.3 | .448 | 13.5 |
| Williams | 31.1 | 13.0 | 3.5 | 6.6 | 33.7 | .504 | 15.7 |
Rondo is 29, and Williams is 31, so both should have plenty in the tank. For whatever reason, however, they're also both on the wrong side of their superstardom. It's too soon to proclaim any demises, but it's also too soon to get particularly excited.
Lawson, Rondo and Williams all inherit starting gigs in the Western Conference, so their work is cut out for them. They'll regularly be opposing the likes of Curry, Chris Paul, Russell Westbrook, Tony Parker and Mike Conley, all elite floor generals anchoring contenders of their own. The Mavericks may join that group if Williams and new shooting guard Wes Matthews work out. The Kings might be destined for another year or two of building, though Rondo will look to facilitate an immediate turnaround.
The Rockets, who already featured the defensively minded Patrick Beverley at the 1, may have taken the biggest step forward at the position. That's a scary thought considering how well Houston performed in the postseason while Beverley was recovering from season-ending wrist surgery. Now the Rockets own a dangerous one-two punch that could compete with the league's very best at the position.
Three quality point guards are at critical junctures of their respective careers, and setting appropriate expectations isn't easy. Rest assured, though, that hopes among each of these fanbases are high—and the pressure on Lawson, Rondo and Williams will be correspondingly significant.
The Playoff Difference
The Indiana Pacers and Charlotte Hornets fell from the playoff picture a season ago, but they’re both hoping key additions can help reverse course. The former signed shooting guard Monta Ellis and his scoring pedigree, while the latter acquired swingman Nicolas Batum via trade from the now-rebuilding Portland Trail Blazers.
Neither Ellis nor Batum is a silver bullet, but both do fill important needs. Indiana's offense was particularly impotent without star swingman Paul George last season, but it needed help either way after Stephenson's departure in 2014. The Pacers ranked 23rd in offensive efficiency last season, scoring just 100.8 points per 100 possessions, according to Hollinger Team Stats. To again qualify for the postseason, Indiana needed an immediate injection of offensive talent.
According to the Indianapolis Star's Gregg Doyel, Ellis is certainly that:
"The guy's a pure scorer, the likes of which the Pacers haven't had—outside of pre-injury Paul George—since Danny Granger, and then Reggie Miller before that. Now, listen. Ellis isn't as good, isn't nearly as good, as those three guys. But as far as natural-born scorers go, he's better than anyone else the Pacers have had in years.
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That's no hype. Ellis has averaged 19.3 points per game for his career, and he's done it off the dribble, from range, with a nasty in-between game and right at the rim. He looks for buckets assertively, and that's not a bad thing for a team whose offense sometimes stagnates. Indeed, Ellis could be precisely the sidekick George needs.
He's the core addition amid the team's move to play a smaller, more uptempo style—the transition that paved the way for Hibbert's exit this summer. Given that trajectory, there's all the more pressure on Ellis to do his part in a new-look offense.
Batum is a far less prolific scorer, but he may be equally important in terms of Charlotte's own playoff ambitions. Unlike Ellis, Batum is coming off a down season with the Trail Blazers, averaging just 9.4 points per contest after five straight seasons of double-figure scoring production. Even without making many buckets, Batum contributes as a playmaker and extra-long defensive presence. As a package, the Hornets figure to have upgraded their wing rotation at a palatable expense.
Neither Indiana nor Charlotte is a particularly massive media market, but both are plenty big in NBA terms. Indy's basketball history has been well chronicled, and Michael Jordan owns the Hornets. And now both teams seek resurgent campaigns after losing ground to the rest of the Eastern Conference a season ago.
Playoff returns may count as serious progress in these circumstances. In others, nothing short of a championship will suffice.
Title or Bust
The San Antonio Spurs weren't just planning for the future when they signed free-agent big man LaMarcus Aldridge. They were aiming to win a championship, offering Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili what may be one last shot at adding to what's become an unusually protracted dynasty.
This was about now, about reloading and surrounding the emergent Kawhi Leonard with better, hungrier weapons. While Aldridge will be joined by the bargain-priced David West, all eyes will be on the 30-year-old Dallas native and former University of Texas standout. He was the only 2014-15 All-Star to change teams this summer, and he now headlines a franchise that's come to define winning culture.
| Season | Min | Pts | FG% | Reb | Ast | Blk | PER |
| '06-07 | 22.1 | 9.0 | .503 | 5.0 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 17.1 |
| '07-08 | 34.9 | 17.8 | .484 | 7.6 | 1.6 | 1.2 | 18.5 |
| '08-09 | 37.1 | 18.1 | .484 | 7.5 | 1.9 | 1.0 | 19.1 |
| '09-10 | 37.5 | 17.9 | .495 | 8.0 | 2.1 | 0.6 | 18.2 |
| '10-11 | 39.6 | 21.8 | .500 | 8.8 | 2.1 | 1.2 | 21.5 |
| '11-12 | 36.3 | 21.7 | .512 | 8.0 | 2.4 | 0.8 | 22.7 |
| '12-13 | 37.7 | 21.1 | .484 | 9.1 | 2.6 | 1.2 | 20.4 |
| '13-14 | 36.2 | 23.2 | .458 | 11.1 | 2.6 | 1.0 | 21.8 |
| '14-15 | 35.4 | 23.4 | .466 | 10.2 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 22.8 |
The move was widely hailed as the summer's premier free-agent coup.
Grantland's Zach Lowe didn't hesitate to set otherworldly expectations for the new-look Spurs:
"I've seen some hand-wringing over how Aldridge's ball-stopping post-ups fit into the Spurs' beautiful game, and about the depth San Antonio sacrificed—Cory Joseph, Aron Baynes, Tiago Splitter, Marco Belinelli—to make way for Aldridge. It's fine to be cautious, but good god, Lemon, the Spurs' old starting five was one of the best lineups in the NBA, and they just replaced Splitter with an All-Star who can defend almost as well, space the floor with a silky jumper, hit 3s, and bail out the offense with late-clock post-ups. This team is going to be ridiculous.
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CBSSports.com's Matt Moore is one of those worrying about the depth the Spurs lost, but even he conceded that "they definitely still 'win' the offseason."
This is about as universal as basketball consensus gets. San Antonio hasn't traditionally built through free agency, but it appears to have taken one giant step for NBA-kind by adding Aldridge. This should prove a franchise-altering move, and any fan of the game (much less the Spurs themselves) is anticipating big things.
The Spurs weren't exactly suffering prior to Aldridge's arrival, but last season's first-round ousting to the Clippers was eye-opening. Even with Leonard shouldering an increasing share of the scoring burden, the Spurs were still one dynamic contributor away from a decipherable advantage over other Western Conference contenders. Now San Antonio joins the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers as favorites to claim the championship in 2016.
Though there will be heightened focus on Aldridge, he'll have plenty of help thanks to general manager R.C. Buford retaining the rotation's top talent. He reached multiyear agreements with Leonard and shooting guard Danny Green while keeping Duncan and Ginobili aboard with obscenely affordable deals.
Head coach Gregg Popovich's ensemble offensive approach means Aldridge may not dominate individually on a nightly basis. There will be times when Leonard or Tony Parker takes over, and others when Green or even Patty Mills gets hot. The Spurs look for the right shots regardless of the shooter.
But while Aldridge won't be judged by stat lines alone, this new power coupling will draw sustained public attention in the season ahead. The bottom line will be wins, particularly when they count the most. Aldridge will either be a champion in 2016 or—to at least some degree—a disappointment.
As is often the case with new faces, there's little in between.
