15 NBA Players Who Will Become Stars This Season

The NBA is set to kick off this Sunday with an extravaganza of five basketball games all poised to entertain us in between opening up presents and dealing with an uncle going on a political rant.

With us so close to an NBA season after nearly not having one, I've begun to think seriously about the future of this season and how the league is going to come together over the next few months.

One of the things that I find most intriguing is how many players there are hanging around the league this year that are poised to be a notch or two better than last year. In other words, there are tons of players set to make "the leap."

Last year, Russell Westbrook was the guy that made the biggest leap that people recognized as he went from a promising young player to an All-Star, but Derrick Rose also made the leap from All-Star to superstar. Kevin Love is another guy that made that leap into all-stardom.

There are quite a few players out there who are poised to potentially break into All-Star level, or just make a large improvement compared to last season.

Here I have 15 guys who should be looking at improving the most over the course of the next five months.

15. Danilo Gallinari

Danilo Gallinari has made some obvious improvement over the past three seasons, but the skill that made him desirable in the first place has been very up-and-down.

He was drafted as a big man that could stretch the floor and drain some threes. He's been able to make his fair share of threes, but his three-point percentage dropped to just 35 percent last season after shooting 38 percent the year before.

This very well could be the year when Gallinari starts draining threes more efficiently, making him more valuable to his team.

14. Derrick Favors

Derrick Favors seems like a player that is going to have gradual improvement season by season more than having a breakout one year and just being great, suddenly.

However, he should get a lot more playing time this season, which will give his stats a good kick in the pants, potentially raising him up to a double-double average.

13. Brandon Jennings

One thing that has bothered people about Brandon Jennings has been his terrible inconsistency. He'll be great for a month and then just fall apart for a few weeks and completely lose his shot.

Now it seems that there will be much less pressure on him to control the offense as Stephen Jackson is a bit of an improvement over John Salmons and Andrew Bogut seems to have a bit of a mid-range shot these days.

Jennings should be able to concentrate on building his point guard skills, which will be beneficial to himself and his team.

12. Jrue Holiday

I like the 76ers as a team that has a good amount of improvement this season, mostly because they have a wealth of young talent.

Two seasons ago, he was battling a bit with Lou Williams, but he quickly nabbed the starting point guard spot from day one last season. 

He should be able to take control of the offense yet again and improve not only his dipping three-point percentage, but also his pure point guard skills, leading to an uptick in assists.

11. Greg Monroe

There are a few young big men in the East that are looking like they could either be very good or they could go the way of so many bigs that are just there to fill up space. Greg Monroe should be one of the former.

Last season, once he earned the starting center spot, his production obviously went up, nearly averaging a double-double with 12 points and nine boards.

The real challenge is going to be on offense, where he was mostly an around-the-rim scorer with few low-post moves, but on defense and on the glass he should continue to improve and turn some heads.

10. Evan Turner

Another one of those young 76ers that I see improving this season is Evan Turner.

The do-it-all guard was obviously more comfortable as the season went along, as he shot nearly seven percent better from the field after the All-Star break and started taking smarter shots.

Turner should transform into an effective sixth man for the Sixers, giving them great production off the bench so long as he keeps his confidence, which I think he will.

9. DeMarcus Cousins

Now that DeMarcus Cousins officially has the greatest media photos of all-time, I guess it's time to get down to the business of basketball with the big enigma.

DeMarcus was constantly hot-headed and fouling his way out of games last season, which will be a problem if it continues.

However, I think that he'll start to rein in his anger problems this season, leading to more playing time and a lot more recognition.

He should end up being the best big man to come out of the 2010 draft so long as he grows up and plays like a man.

8. James Harden

For some reason, everyone out there seems to love James Harden in all his meta-hipster glory with his faux-fauxhawk (that thing on his head isn't a straight up mohawk) and his big, bushy beard.

However, people love him for more than just his character. This dude can play ball.

We already saw one Thunder player make the leap a season ago, which leaves the door open for one to make the leap this year. We could have a potential Sixth Man of the Year candidate right here.

7. Paul George

What's not to like about Paul George.

He's got great athleticism which allows him to make some highlight-reel dunks quite often, he plays very good defense, and he has two first names.

The mid-west hasn't seen a player that meets that description since Michael Jordan (totally joking on the comparison there, folks).

It seems like he'll end up with the starting shooting guard role which will obviously give him more minutes, and therefore an increase in statistical output.

6. DeAndre Jordon

Chris Paul's presence alone is going to do wonders for DeAndre Jordan's offense.

I would have had him on this list regardless, because he should continue to improve on defense this season, and potentially challenge for the most blocks per game this season.

However, with Paul now on the Clippers, and DeAndre Jordan getting the majority of his points on put-backs and balls dumped down to him right around the rim (not to mention alley-oops), he should find points easier to come by this year.

5. Eric Gordon

There's no surprise Eric Gordon is on this list, but some of you may be surprised to see I don't have him in the top three.

Well, I've got confidence that he'll improve, but I think it would have been a bigger leap had he stayed on the Clippers this season.

He's going to have to adjust to new teammates and adjust to basically becoming the face of the franchise, which could put a lot of pressure on the guy.

4. DeMar DeRozan

The people of Toronto love DeMar DeRozan, as they very well should. He gives out visions of Tracy McGrady when he's on the floor, and he's taking a similar path of improvement.

DeRozan is an amazing athlete (although he's not quite McGrady in that sense) and knows how to both control his body while he's mid-air, and control his team as a young man.

As a rookie, DeRozan was an on-and-off starter and averaged in the single digits, but he jumped to 17 points a game last year as a full-time starter.

McGrady went from averaging single-digits to averaging 15 points a game in his first season as a full-time starter. Then he went on to put up 26 a game in his second year starting full-time.

Do I think DeRozan is going to do that this season? Not necessarily. Do I think he's capable? Absolutely.

3. Tyreke Evans

Technically speaking, Tyreke Evans has yet to make the leap to All-Star level, as he's yet to make an All-Star game. However, with a Rookie of the Year Award under his belt from 2010 and two seasons of averaging over 17 points a game, I think it's safe to say he's at least a good NBAer.

Where I think he's going to take the leap isn't in a statistical category, rather, I think he'll become a hell of a leader this season.

Tyreke is the best offensive player they have and is the oldest player they have in the starting lineup that isn't a newcomer to the team.

2. John Wall

John Wall as good as any rookie could be without winning the Rookie of the Year Award when he led the Wizards last season. Unfortunately, he had to go up against Blake Griffin, who was an absolute monster last season.

Wall averaged an impressive 16 points and eight assists a season ago, which was impressive enough, but he should do much better this season.

I'm thinking he could go as high as 20 points and 10 assists this seasons, which isn't a huge improvement statistically, but 20 and 10 from a point guard is more than good, it's great.

1. Blake Griffin

Sure, Blake Griffin made the All-Star team last season in the Western Conference, but I'm looking at a different kind of leap for him compared to all the other guys on this list.

While the other guys are trying to make the leap to be All-Star-caliber players, I think Blake Griffin will already make his leap into superstardom in only his second season.

With Chris Paul tossing lobs to him all day and then Chauncey Billups doing it when Paul is taking a breather, Griffin should see an offensive improvement. Also, playing alongside DeAndre Jordan should help him defensively learn the intricacies of defending the rim.

If you are one of those twitterers, you can follow me at @JDorsey33.