NBA Scouts: 5 Players Expected To Have A Breakout Season
Jrue Holiday (photo. Nicky Woo)
Whether it’s fantasy basketball or real life, everyone’s always trying to figure out who the biggest sleepers are heading into a new season. And while every NBA writer/prognosticator has their own views, it’s oftentimes interesting to hear the thoughts of NBA scouts as well. With that said, Sean Deveney of the Sporting News got up with some scouts to identify five players expected to have a breakout season this year. Here they are:
1. Jrue Holiday, PG, 76ers
2. Darren Collison, PG, Pacers
3. Kevin Love, PF, Timberwolves
4. D.J. Augustin, PG, Bobcats
5. J.J. Hickson, PF, Cavaliers
Looking at this list, it’s hard to argue with any of these guys. Especially the three point guards on the list. Holiday finds himself in a situation in Philly where his backcourt instantly got better with the arrival of Evan Turner, and with a year under his belt, he should be ready to become a very productive point guard. Collison is in the same boat, but after filling in for Chris Paul last season, is now the PG of the future in Indiana. As for Augustin, he’ll have to prove that he can legitimately be the floor general for Charlotte. While many people had their doubts about Ray Felton, he did lead the Bobcats to the playoffs last year.
As for the two power forwards on this list – Love and Hickson – they find themselves on rebuilding teams and should have ample opportunity to dominate. For Love in Minnesota, he is only helped by the fact that All-Star quality big man Al Jefferson is now in Utah, while Hickson’s frontcourt got cleared out with the departure of Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Shaq.
What do you think? Who do you predict is going to have a breakout season this year?
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September 7th, 2010 at 9:48 am
Heckler says:
what is the actual definition of “breakout season”?
does it mean 1st time allstar? does it mean consideration for most improved player award? does it mean getting signed to a long term extension?
because, if its NOT defined, any player who didnt accomplish any of the above last season could be on the ‘breakout’ season list.
who was the breakout player last season?!!?
did zach randolph have a breakout season last year?
what about brendan haywood last year…did he breakout?
channing frye?…jamal crawford?…george hill?
what about these players for this year:
anthony randolph?
jj reddick?
brook lopez?
sebastian telfair?
corey brewer?
September 7th, 2010 at 9:50 am
Heckler says:
PS
please tell them scouts to take DJ Augustin off the list. i aint hating on him. in fact it aint even about him.
NO POINT GUARD IS EVER GOING TO HAVE A BREAKOUT SEASON UNDER LARRY BROWN
September 7th, 2010 at 9:53 am
Andrew Macaluso says:
@ Heckler
What about Allen Iverson?
A breakout season is basically when a player is poised to double their numbers from the year before. Basically, put up All-Star numbers.
September 7th, 2010 at 9:58 am
Poolpal44 says:
Iverson did pretty well under Larry Brown (regardless of what his Bio says, he was the point guard of those teams)
September 7th, 2010 at 10:04 am
Heckler says:
@ poolpal44
larry brown made allen iverson the shooting/scoring guard on those teams. eric snow was the point guard.
September 7th, 2010 at 10:05 am
Danny says:
Double their numbers? Yeah, “basically.”
September 7th, 2010 at 10:06 am
Heckler says:
@ Andrew Macaluso
hahaha. so in defense of the scouts list, you believe dj augustin, jrue holiday, darren collison, kevin love and jj hickson are ‘poised’ to put up allstar numbers?
ha.
Highly Unlikely.
September 7th, 2010 at 10:16 am
Andrew Macaluso says:
@ Heckler
You asked what the definition of a breakout season was, and I gave it. I never stated they were going to put up All-Star numbers.
September 7th, 2010 at 10:30 am
Man, I just don't care™ says:
Lopez -on the Suns
Beaubois -(spelling) on the Mavericks
Stephen Curry- as much as a “break out” as possible for him
Dejuan Blair-should challenge for a starting spot, get more minutes
Marcus Thornton-Hornets, will get a lot more playing time after showing what he could do last year. Posey is gone, Julian Wright is gone and Chris Paul will draw a lot of attention.
Darren Collison WON’T have a breakout season. The Hornets played almost exclusively pick and roll offense. Where as the pacers will have a lot more isolation for Granger.
September 7th, 2010 at 10:42 am
Danny says:
I definitely disagree with the definition of “Basically, put up All-star numbers.”
September 7th, 2010 at 10:44 am
JAY says:
Damn….. Jrue is darker than Seal.
September 7th, 2010 at 10:50 am
Aron Phillips says:
@ Heckler
I definitely believe the definition can vary, but we didn’t ask these scouts, so don’t know what their criteria was.
September 7th, 2010 at 10:50 am
nola says:
with any of the definitions, i’m pretty sure darren collison already had his break out season when chris paul was injured… he more than doubled his numbers
September 7th, 2010 at 11:03 am
life says:
Does Jrue have a nickname? If not, I vote for J-Rue the Damaja…(east coast rapper, circa 90s)
September 7th, 2010 at 11:06 am
Andrew Macaluso says:
@ Life
I heard him being called “The Jruth” a few times.
September 7th, 2010 at 11:08 am
jm says:
A lot of UCLA love right there.
September 7th, 2010 at 11:56 am
LMNOP says:
Collison is going to get bitch slapped onto his ass when he has to be a full time starter and actually run a team.
Lets be honest …… Hickson sucks.
i think Leo Barbosa is going to re-break-out in toronto.
Gallo will in New York, im predicting a 20 ppg season for him.
Love i think will break out, a full healthy season without Al Jeff should do him good, he could get about 20 and 12 a night.
Eric Gordon, coming of a strong showing at the WC could take a huge leap, especially if he gets a good chemistry with Blake Griffin.
All of the Suns offseason pickups will break out playing next to Nash.
Yi Jianlian going into his 4th season, hell get to start until Blache comes back, he needs to make the most of it.
If James Harden breaks out and plays like a No.3 pick should then the Thunder could be a top 3 team in the west.
September 7th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Claw says:
@LMNOP – I agree with Barbosa in Toronto, he’ll be given the green light and is a scorer so he could be around 20 pts.
Collison I totally disagree, he was leading the hornets last year and while hit T/Os were a concern, he’s a rookie, and the rest of his stats were near CPs and he’ll do more offensively with Indiana.
Love will be a double double machine, all he needs is the minutes that sorry a** Rambis was giving to Darko for whatever reason.
Turk will put up solid stats across the board with the Suns, and could make it to the AS game. I also think Rudy Gay will step up his game, he looks very confident on Team USA and that will carry over to the regular season where he could put up AS numbers.
September 7th, 2010 at 12:16 pm
downtown_brownclown says:
break out season for Ray Felton, playing in a system that’s pointguard oriented… he’ll flourish. trevor ariza will have a breakout season playing with CP3. and ramon sessions too! hickson, not unless the guy develops a post move. he’ll be the stromile swift of the east. (wait, is stromile still in the east? or in the NBA for that matter.)
September 7th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
Jerry K. says:
TOP 3 UCLA guys..Oh ya!
September 7th, 2010 at 12:54 pm
bobby stew says:
With USA experience and the loss of Al jefferson I think Love will have the biggest breakout season. He can hit the stand still 3 pointer and is a monster in the paint. He also doesn’t have to rely on flair and athleticism just hard work
September 7th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
sh!tfaced says:
Andrew Bogut actually had a major breakout season last year… courtesy of Amare…
September 7th, 2010 at 1:56 pm
Shot In Your Face says:
Yeah! 3 UCLA players on the list!
September 7th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Peligro says:
JaVale McGee on the Wizards
September 7th, 2010 at 4:49 pm
Lefty says:
Serge Ibaka!
September 7th, 2010 at 9:27 pm
Isaac says:
Breakout season to me is players that improve themselves and show their talent level that they didn’t show previous years . Avgs higher then they usually do . And in my opinion Andrea barnagni from the Toronto raptors is a good candidate for that .
September 7th, 2010 at 9:59 pm
netstar says:
terrence williams
September 8th, 2010 at 10:37 pm
ay yo... says:
I could see Jrue Breaking out, mostly on defense tho. Having Turner will take some pressure off him on offense, and he can really give a fit to the opposing pg.
- I don’t see K-Love really doing much, mainly because that whole team is still finding it’s identity, spec with their #4 overall pick Wes J.
I like Bargnani, Eric Gordon & Mo Will (more like return to Milwaukee form) to breakout.
September 9th, 2010 at 10:38 am
north says:
you have to be hoping that James Harden gets himself on this list too. Since SG is the weak position in OKC, him rising to the top of his game would give the Thunder that much more bang.
Roy Hibbert, with another year under his belt should be killing it religiously this season.
As for vets making the move, I can see Hakim Warrick as a beast in the land of the sun.
September 9th, 2010 at 11:58 am
Solomon Richardson says:
What about Chauncey Billups? Didn’t he get and/or do much better under Larry Brown with the Pistons. He won the championship under the tutelage of Larry Brown. Since championships are the true measure of greatness by all standards in the NBA, certainly this counts in the criteria. Additionally, Billups game picked up with Brown and continued to escalate after long after Brown. They sort of picked up each others doubtful careers at that time.
September 10th, 2010 at 5:35 pm
Stupid article says:
DJ Augustine? are you serious? dude is WACK. You know whats gonna happen to DJ?
SHAUN LIVINGSTON WILL BE THE STARTING PG IN CHARLOTTE. The dude can BALL. He is much better than Augustine–who would really be one of the WORST starters in the league.
September 14th, 2010 at 5:43 pm
nba fan says:
A breakout year for a nba player is a season when a particular player who hasn’t previously realized his true potential reaches or comes close to realizing that potential with through either hard work our being put in the right situation to succeed. Players I think will most likely breakout:
Terrence Williams
J.J. Hickson
Anthony Randolph
Marcus Thornton
Amir Johnson
Andrea Bargnani
Michael Beasley
Kevin Love