Who has the most to prove on your team?

[HornetJail]

For the Celtics, Rondo is the easy choice. But we know what he is, if he's healthy. So, he only needs to prove he is healthy. Which, of course, he isn't to start the season.

I am split 50-50 on Jared Sullinger and Marcus Smart. Sullinger needs to prove he is a piece worth keeping as the Celtics rebuild. Is he able to step up his game and enter that group of really good PFs? Or is he destined to be a guy whose best fit is a backup big off the bench on a good team? For Smart, he needs to prove he was the right pick. With Rondo out to start the season, Smart should see plenty of minutes to start off with. I know many don't believe he's a PG, so he needs to prove that he is. Or is he a combo guard? Starter or best fit off the bench?

I'll give Smart the benefit of the doubt as a rookie, and I'll pick Sullinger.

I would say Rondo for the Celtics but for a different reason.

I don't really know what he is right now. Yes, he's a very gifted playmaker- one of the best in the league, but the question for him now is this: Once he's healthy, what kind of player is he on the average team with no Hall of Fame teammates, no Hall of Fame coach, and a bunch of average talent to pass to? How much has he worked on that jumper? Has he improved his three point shooting enough to open up the rest of his game so that he can be a respectable scorer? Is he really an elite playmaker, or was that product of the system? There are lots of questions he's going to have to answer.

He is probably the most polarizing PG in the game right now, because there are people who think he will be a top 5 point guard when he gets healthy, and there are others who think he may be a below average starter, and both of them have strong cases. I honestly have no clue where to rank him.

[witnessraps]

hard to choose for the raptors.

DeMar - Has to prove that last year wasn't a fluke and he's a legit star

Lowry - has to prove that he can repeat his stellar campaign last year

Lou Will - Prove he can be a 6moy candidate like he was in Philly.

Jonas - Prove he can be a consistent double double guy


I'd go with Jonas.

[penbeast0]

WIZARDS

1. Easily Otto Porter . . . the #3 choice in the draft needs to play like a future star, not get DNPs and tiny minutes like a 12th man.

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2. Glen Rice Jr. played well in summer ball and needs to actually do something in the real NBA to become a rotation player but that's not nearly as key unless Porter fails.

3. Paul Pierce needs to show that he isn't washed up.

4. Nene and Webster need to stay healthy.

5. Coach needs to show he can actually match up with the real coaches of the league on Xs and Os and roster management; he has gotten the players to buy in which is the most important thing.

Beal needs to continue the same learning curve as he moves into his prime. Wall, Gortat and the bench just need to maintain their established level of play (though with Miller aging and Blair's knees it might be tricky).

And of course, no serious injuries.

[campybatman]

Avery Bradley

In my opinion, a four-year $32M contract is overpaying Bradley. He's an undersized and injury prone player. Why not allow the market to dictate his value? His annual salary will go from $2.5M to $7M+ to $8M+ a year. Wow. Hence, you don't overvalue role players unless they're that important to your team's long-term success. But I'm hesitant to say that that notion applies to Bradley. Will he finally remain healthy for an entire regular season? I doubt it.

Thornton, Turner and Young will provide the depth at shooting guard. However, Thornton and Turner won't offer a lot on defense, and Young probably won't get an opportunity to play until the final month of the season.

Ainge regretted losing defensive specialist Tony Allen to free agency, so he wasn't going to lose Bradley. Nonetheless, I predict that the Bradley signing will be another misfire by Ainge. Although Ainge won't admit it, I think he regrets the Bass and Green contracts.

If Bradley improves on his overall statistics from last season, will it even matter if Boston doesn't qualify for the playoffs next season? That is, Boston lost more games than they'd won in the sixty games that Bradley played last season. Not to mention, his plus/minus (-2.1, Rondo's was -5.7) was unimpressive for a player who'd came off his best season as a Celtic. Nevertheless, a player's impact on the wins versus losses is more important. Yes, Boston improved defensively with Bradley but the team still lost more games than they'd won with him.


Bradley (started fifty-eight of sixty games)

Wins - 19
Losses - 41

Regular Season Standings

Wins - 25
Losses - 57


So Boston won six games and lost sixteen games without Bradley. If you don't argue against him being worth the four-year $32M contract, then you've to question whether he impacts their odds of winning games. Therefore, with Rondo on the shelf indefinitely, the pressure's more on Bradley than Smart to have an impact on the outcome of their games next season. If Boston sinks in November, a lot of criticism needs to fall on Bradley's shoulders.

Tanking aside, a four-year $32M contract's still a four-year $32M contract.

[Narf]

Take your pick for Minnesota.

Rubio? Pekovic? Martin? Young? I kind of think Martin has more to prove for the online message boards then he does for GMs/casual fans. I think Rubio has already proven more than people seem to think, and like Jason Kidd doesn't need a high TS% to be an all star caliber player. He does need to improve to be an all star, but meh.

My pick is Flip Saunders. Is he a genius GM who will pull off the 8th seed (or at least come close)? Will the pieces fit? Should he have rebuilt fully instead of picking up quality veterans?

Does Minnesota finally have a GM that actually knows what he's doing?

[bondom34]

Agree w/ DJ, its Lambo. He's gonna see more time, and will need to have a big role for the team to succeed. I'd add in Jackson, just because he's playing to see what his next contract is.

[skywalker33]

For the Nuggets, it's a long list

1. JaVale McGee - Obvious here
2. Kenneth Faried - Big contract awaits but his play will determine HOW big.
3. Gallinari - How will he return and how soon will he be producing
4. Brian Shaw - Need to see what he can do with a healthy squad.
5, AA - If he plans to opt out, give us a reason to pay him.
6. Tim Connelly - He has tradeable assets, what does he do to take that next step ?

[Eeavers57]

Milwaukee Bucks:

Easy pick for this one also...Larry Sanders.

He has to show that he is capable of his 12/13 form, and not of his 13/14 form, where he gets into fights and gets injured.

[Prospect Dong]

For the Griz, you could make an argument that it's Gasol, since he's our best player and in a contract year to boot, but I think Gasol probably is what he is: all-star but not superstar, great defender who'll never put up astounding counting stats but will easily command a max deal from someone in free agency.

I think this is Mike Conley's year, just because he's been consistently underestimated back to when people thought he was Greg Oden's caddy. He made a leap offensively last season with Gasol out, but let it impact his defence. If he can put both parts of his game together he can jump from not-quite-all-star to legit all-star. He's young enough that a further slight improvement wouldn't be a huge shock, but old enough that if it doesn't happen this year it's probably not going to happen, and he'll be in that above-average starter tier for the remainder of his prime.

[Texas Chuck]

In addition, Shabazz Muhammad has a lot to prove. People will be shocked at what he brings to the table this year, he is possibly the best offensive rebounder since Barkley.

Wouldn't this statement be better not made? I mean, he was outside the top 100 in the league in offensive rebounds per possession or offensive rebound rate just last year.

I guess I just don;t think the word possibly means what you think.

so you're saying there's a chance.....

Of all the things I expected to read today I gotta admit Shabazz Muhammad being compared to Chuck as a rebounder was not one of them.

[Village Idiot]

For Portland it is one of the recent lottery picks.

CJ McCollum showed flashes but got off to a late start due to his foot injury. With Mo Williams gone and Steve Blake clearly not the future, he has a golden opportunity to show that he is a dynamic combo guard and not a tweener

Thomas Robinson sometimes looks like a high lotto pick and at other times like a scrub. He certainly improved over the course of the season and got more consistent. His improved jumper and defensive awareness were the main areas of improvement. There is no reason he can't have the impact of Kenneth Faried even if he is backing up arguably the best PF in the NBA.

Myers Leonard got demoted to 4th string at both C and PF. No one expected much the first two years but that is not an excuse any more. Now he needs to prove that he belongs in the NBA. If not, good luck in Europe.

[The59Sound]

It's hard for me to choose from Utah's perspective.

Hayward is the most obvious choice in light of his large contract. But then again, I think we already know he's not a first option based on last season... so it's naive to imagine him "proving" he's worth a max deal.

Kanter must prove he's capable of consistently playing defense. His rookie year, he showed a lot of promise defending pick-and-rolls, but he's regressed on that side of the court every year since.

Trey Burke needs to prove he's capable of being a starting point guard. He showed me nothing most of last season (after a pretty decent start). It's really hard watching him pound the ball into the floor for 20 seconds, then take a bad shot.

[Domejandro]

In addition, Shabazz Muhammad has a lot to prove. People will be shocked at what he brings to the table this year, he is possibly the best offensive rebounder since Barkley.

Wouldn't this statement be better not made? I mean, he was outside the top 100 in the league in offensive rebounds per possession or offensive rebound rate just last year.

I guess I just don;t think the word possibly means what you think.

Under 6'5"*

I typed it out, and forgot about the most important detail, haha. Apologies, the way I phrased it was incredibly bad.

That said, his rebounding is his only dimension to his game other than scoring. He is a very weird player.

[Domejandro]

In addition, Shabazz Muhammad has a lot to prove. People will be shocked at what he brings to the table this year, he is possibly the best offensive rebounder since Barkley.

Wouldn't this statement be better not made? I mean, he was outside the top 100 in the league in offensive rebounds per possession or offensive rebound rate just last year.

I guess I just don;t think the word possibly means what you think.

so you're saying there's a chance.....

Of all the things I expected to read today I gotta admit Shabazz Muhammad being compared to Chuck as a rebounder was not one of them.

Only his size (6'5") and offensive rebounding is like Barkley. As stated above, I apologize for that, that is the only comparison I was making as I am not (completely) (Please Use More Appropriate Word), haha. He dives the glass on offensive glass at an insane rate, but in turn his defensive rebounding sucks. He truly tries to score as much as possible, and do nothing else.

[Domejandro]

In addition, Shabazz Muhammad has a lot to prove. People will be shocked at what he brings to the table this year, he is possibly the best offensive rebounder since Barkley.

Wouldn't this statement be better not made? I mean, he was outside the top 100 in the league in offensive rebounds per possession or offensive rebound rate just last year.

I guess I just don;t think the word possibly means what you think.

so you're saying there's a chance.....

Of all the things I expected to read today I gotta admit Shabazz Muhammad being compared to Chuck as a rebounder was not one of them.

Only his size (6'5") and offensive rebounding is like Barkley. As stated above, I apologize for that, that is the only comparison I was making as I am not (completely) stupid, haha. He dives the glass on offensive glass at an insane rate, but in turn his defensive rebounding sucks. He truly tries to score as much as possible, and do nothing else.