Top 5 New Additions Poised for Breakout Years
Chris Bosh
When an NBA player hits free agency or gets traded, he’s looking for a few things: money, playing time, an opportunity to win a championship, and a nice city to call home. Some guys are fortunate (and good) enough to have their pick of teams where all four will be handed to them; others are just lucky to have a job and maybe get one to work out in their favor. If you land in the right situation, though, you could have an All-Star or an all-time season ahead of you. With NBA rosters beginning to fill out as teams sign free agents and make trades, we take a look at which new additions have set themselves up for a big season:
1. David Lee (Warriors)
There’s a long list of guys who have gotten major paydays, then watched their production fall off or stay the same. Not the case in this scenario. David Lee will have a bigger contract and an even bigger year. How do I know? Well, simply because of Golden State’s system. Lee averaged 20.2 points, 11.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists last season with the Knicks, and I expect each of those averages to go up next year under Don Nelson’s tutelage in an even more wide-open system. And with the departure of Amar’e and Boozer from the Western Conference, expect Lee to be an All-Star.
2. Hedo Turkoglu (Suns)
It’s no secret that Hedo struggled last year in Toronto. In his previous stint in Orlando, Hedo and Jameer Nelson were the primary ball-handlers, but in Toronto Hedo had to play more off the ball as the Raptors had players like Jose Calderon, Jarrett Jack and DeMar DeRozan who held the ball-handling responsibility. Phoenix has a perfect system for a player with Hedo’s skill set. Couple that with a great playmaker in Steve Nash, and Hedo should be in line for a big year.
3. Al Jefferson (Jazz)
After enduring lots of losing and some serious injuries in Minnesota, Jefferson will be playing on the best team he has ever played for now in Utah. He has an All-Star point guard in Deron Williams and the Jazz run that flex style offense were Jefferson will get at least 20-plus touches on the block every game (like Boozer used to), whereas he wouldn’t get that many touches in the triangle-style offense that Kurt Rambis has implemented in Minnesota (like Pau Gasol is used to).
4. Raymond Felton (Knicks)
I have always been a huge Raymond Felton fan, so maybe I’m biased, but I firmly believe he will make a killing in Mike D’Antoni’s system. Felton averaged 13.3 points and 6.4 assists for his career in Charlotte, but in New York the system is designed to make point guards look good and he has a world-class finisher in Amar’e and at least one dead-eye shooter in Gallinari. I can definitely see Felton putting up about 17 and 8-9 dimes per night in the Big Apple.
5. Chris Bosh (Heat)
You could have put any of Miami’s “Super-Friends” on this list, but I think Bosh will be the guy who benefits most playing with D-Wade and LeBron. Last year he dropped 24 and 10 boards on 51 percent shooting in Toronto, but now he won’t be seeing nearly as many double-teams and probably zero triple-teams. Even if his scoring average drops, his percentages will be higher and he’ll be more dangerous in the post and with that 18-footer.
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July 16th, 2010 at 12:29 pm
Joe's Momma says:
Can’t hate on that list, except for maybe David Lee. He is gonna drop 20-10 because he is a real workman like player, love his game. But under Don Nelson, he will get under-utilized. Don Nelson won a ton of games, but he don’t really get the most out of his players, and has a tendancy to ride them for no apparent reason.
But Steph Curry will do his thing, I expect him to really turn it up a notch. He had a heck of a rookie year, but everyone outside of Monte Ellis knows this boy is the future of the Warriors and should get free reign all over the court.
Turk is a wildcard, I don’t see him handling the ball as much as you think he will. Nash and Dragic will really handle the pg duties, but Turk might see a little, but not enough for me to trust he will not pout. Watch out the J-Chill, lets hope he can learn some things from G.Hill, that boy went to my rival H.S., so I got to see him before his Stanford days, he still had that fro too. Go get em Josh!
July 16th, 2010 at 12:34 pm
rey jefferson says:
@Joe’s Momma
- D.Lee I believe that he wont be a focal point on there offense but because he work so hard as u eluted to he will get so many offense rebs and transition buckets.
-Turk I believe either needs the ball or needs someone who can get him the ball and Nash & Dragic can BOTH do that and do that very well. Plus again with PHX style of play I can see Hedo getting more shots in transition
July 16th, 2010 at 12:38 pm
Rizwan says:
@ Rey
The word is ‘eluded’ and eluted!
July 16th, 2010 at 12:53 pm
MattO says:
@Rizwan
its actually ‘alluded’
just sayin…
July 16th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
schoops says:
Lee’s points will remain consistent or maybe drop to the 18 range but I could see him averaging 14 boards in that system with such a short team.
Turk will thrive, especially when it comes to assists.
July 16th, 2010 at 12:58 pm
rey jefferson says:
@Rizwan n @MattO o0o snap my bad…good looks on the correction
July 16th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Rizwan says:
@ MattO
Shit! Correction fail. Sorry guys!
July 16th, 2010 at 1:26 pm
silky says:
yo rey did you even watch raps games this year?
turk handled plenty. derozan? cmon man he was off the ball exclusively. you think turk is gonna see more pat with nash/goran around? lol.
he better focus on finishing. arizona is gonna see more bust than salma hayek
July 16th, 2010 at 1:31 pm
s.bucketz says:
chris bosh???he gets whatever sloppy thirds are gunna b around…and hes too soft to get in the paint and board anyway…he better jus get that big container of talcum powder handy and let his pimps do they thing while he does his assistant pimpin thing
July 16th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
LMNOP says:
Bosh and Lee’s scoring will both go down. Big men need to be fed the ball and be a focal point on offence, big men dont create their own offense so much and so its hard for them to get buckets when there are more scoring guards/ball handlers on their team.
Also, if Beidrins is healthy him and lee will be fighting over rebounds, Unlike NY where he was the lone rebounder.
Big Al might go down too, williams is the no.1 guy there and they wont change their game to fit Als post up game in, hes gonna have to adjust to them.
Felton needs to improve his jumper. but his assist numbers should go up. Stat is a better finisher than he has ever played with and Gallo is a better shooter than he has ever played with.
Hakeem Warrik is the guy to watch, gonna get alot of opportunities to finish at the rim playing with nash, he could easily double both his points and rebounds totals, be a 15 and 8 guy if he works hard.
July 16th, 2010 at 1:50 pm
CTP says:
@LMNOP
The Jazz are going to need to change their game to fit Al’s post up game?
Have you not watched a Jazz game in… Oh, say.. the last 20 years?
July 16th, 2010 at 2:14 pm
rey jefferson says:
@CTP how many touches did Boozer get? enough said…with Okur stretching the floor Al can hold down the paint
Breaking News the Bulls sign Ronnie Brewer post coming soon
July 16th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
karizmatic says:
I really hope Felton has a breakout year this year, I really feel like he is a solid NBA point guard and he’s underrated, I actually forgot Gallinari is on the New York squad, they might make a little noise this year. Hedo is my favorite on this list, I think he has the potential to be a huge addition to the Suns. I wonder if they’ll play him at the four or play him at the 3 and have Grant Hill coming off the bench, in any case with the addition of Hedo, Phoenix probably has to look to make another move to get the whole thing to work right.
July 16th, 2010 at 2:32 pm
karizmatic says:
I don’t think the Jazz are going to change their system at all to fit Jefferson I think it’s going to be a matter of seeing whether Jefferson can adapt to Utah’s system.
July 16th, 2010 at 2:49 pm
rey jefferson says:
@karizmatic me 2 man I think Felton is a solid player.
July 16th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
BeEqual says:
I think we’ll see Jefferson slowly incorporate more range into his game. Not necessarily shooting range, but the ability to run a pick & roll a good distance away from the basket, and have the agility to get there and finish. So in that way you’ll see him adjusting to the system. Likewise, I’m sure Deron wouldn’t mind tossing it into the post and letting Jefferson do his work. Especially against inferior defenders. Really excited to see how this revamped Jazz team plays out on the court.
July 16th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
BeEqual says:
I think we’ll see Jefferson slowly incorporate more range into his game. Not necessarily shooting range, but the ability to run a pick & roll a good distance away from the basket, and have the agility to get there and finish. So in that way you’ll see him adjusting to the system. Likewise, I’m sure Deron wouldn’t mind tossing it into the post and letting Jefferson do his work. Especially against inferior defenders. Really excited to see how this revamped Jazz team plays out on the court.
July 16th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Stunnaboy09 says:
Well did you just say DeRozan had ball handling responsibilities for the Raptors?
And if the Warriors actually get brains and trade Monta for a big 2, then I can see Curry dropping 21/9/4 and Lee 23/12. The W’s actually have a bright future for once. Can’t wait to see them f it up.
July 16th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
JAY says:
Gotta disagree on the Turkoglu paragraph. First, it’s obvious whoever wrote this article didn’t watch ANY Raptors game (I don’t blame you). Sonny Weems handled the rock more than Derozan did. The Toronto system is based off the Phoenix system. The players who thrive in the Phx system are spot-up shooters. Hedo is not a spot-up shooter. He was very uncomforatble playing that way and he even said it in interviews. He doesn’t know what to do when he’s playing off the ball. He’s lost. He’ll do a little better in Phx than in Toronto but not much better.
July 16th, 2010 at 3:17 pm
control says:
Suns might be the worst team in the league for Hedo…Hedo said it himself: “ball”. He NEEDS the ball, so he’s on a team with the best playmaker in the NBA…who holds the ball for 90% time and that’s suppose to make him better?
Steve Nash makes players better, but Hedo just doesn’t mesh well with Steve. Hedo needs to be on a team that has a shoot first point guard, something like Wiz w/ Gunning Gil on the point.
July 16th, 2010 at 3:40 pm
JAY says:
Agree 10000000% with control.
July 16th, 2010 at 4:08 pm
rey jefferson says:
You can’t sit here and say that playing with Steve Nash will hurt Hedo next year…C’Mon Son (Ed Lover Voice)
July 16th, 2010 at 4:26 pm
control says:
rey jefferson
I’m the biggest Steve Nash fan in the world…but I think Hedo is one of the only guys in the NBA who will probably not adjust his game to play with Nash and be successful. Hedo already proved what type of player he is in my eyes, seeing him on Toronto, and being a Toronto fan, he’s completely killed any positive opinion that A LOT of people had of him.
July 16th, 2010 at 7:15 pm
Guitar Hero says:
Anthony Randolph, obviously.
July 17th, 2010 at 12:13 am
jm says:
Not so sure about Felton. I never really liked his game and he got TORCHED by Jameer in the playoffs. I am sure he will end up with decent numbers in MY but not much better than what he had in Charlotte.
July 18th, 2010 at 2:48 pm
what_beef says:
what about Mike Beasley, he has had a reality check after being trade for nothing basically. He will have a huge season, im think could be in the running for most improved!
July 19th, 2010 at 4:06 pm
Joe's Momma says:
Al Jefferson is good, but I don’t think he will be an All-Star like he is predicting.
The guy is good for 2 things, scoring on the block and rebounding. Other than that, he plays no defense, can’t pass out of the double team, might block a few shots but not enough to defend the paint.
Beasley, he needs to become a Melo styp SF. He is 6’8″, and cant defend 4s. All that talk about his rebounding prowless in college, the guy get 5 a game in the NBA while averaging like 11 in college. So does rebounding ability still translate to the NBA??
I still don’t think Turk will play any better in PHX. They got lots of ball handlers and he was at his best when he was the primary playmaker.