Your team's Breakthrough Player

[Takingbaconback]

Lakers- D'angelo Russell

I hope so

He looked fantastic in preseason, reached for him and Booker in all my fantasy leagues lol

[dautjazz]

Gobert will make major strides as an offensive player, much more aggressive, but he's already considered a top center in the game, so I would say he already broke through.

The breakthrough guy: Trey Lyles, he was already good last year, but he got better month by month, and I think the Jazz while play him a lot at PF and alternate Gobert and Favors a lot at C. I could definitely see Lyles getting around 30mpg and putting up solid stats..

Come to think about it, it could definitely be Dante, he looks much more aggressive, I could see him get 10+ ppg this year. Definitely will put up much better numbers than his rookie year.

I know they let Booker go but do you really see Lyles getting all of those minutes? They did bring Diaw in, Withey was a pretty solid backup C last year, and I'm sure Ingles and Joe Johnson will also be getting some minutes there.

I'd imagine if Lyles were getting 30+ minutes per game that Favors/Gobert got injured/traded, you obviously have a better pulse of the Jazz so you'd know better, but I'm honestly just curious how you imagine those minutes playing out...

I really like Lyles, but I agree with this. Lyles won't be getting minutes like that unless Favors or Gobert goes, and with the depth we have, it might actually take both. A part of our fan base is already convinced Lyles should replace Favors, simply because he can shoot the 3. IMO, that is jumping the gun, and kind of an insult to Favors, who is a solid 2-way player.

For Utah, I'm going with Rodney Hood as most likely to break out, with Dante Exum as my 2nd choice.

I feel like Hood broke out already though, I mean he'll get better, but I don't see his jump as big as Lyles or Exum, but I can't say that I would mind.

[cyclix]

Josh Richardson. He has superstar potential.

[Magic_Johnny12]

Josh Richardson. He has superstar potential.

[Mr. E]

For me it's between Clint Capela, Sam Dekker, and 'trez Harrell.

Capela's PER36 stats were already pretty close to Dwight last season (13/12/2.3 vs 15/13/1.8), Dekker is essentially a rookie without a platform to compare with from last year, so I ma go with the guy with the wingspan.

Spoiler:

For those guys I think that Capela is going to solidify himself as a legit starting center. Dekker, like you said, is basically a rookie. Harrell is a guy I see having spurts of excellence, but as long as everyone is healthy he may not get enough minutes this season to be considered a break-out star.

I do think that McDaniels is going to establish himself as a solid bench player/spot starter as well.

[Matches Malone]

Jabari Parker

[Nowitness]

Justin Anderson and Seth Curry are gonna be saving the Mavs on some nights

[Dadouv47]

Enes Kanter (weird I know, but he showed during the playoffs that he's able to improve on defense and he has great chemistry with Westbrook).

[Winsome Gerbil]

According to one completely out of touch GM it'll be Kevin Durant.

who?

[babyjax13]

Alec Burks. Hopefully he will finally be healthy, and he is one of the more reliable three point threats in the NBA now. Add that to his driving ability, and that makes him a prime candidate for a tremendous year on offense.

[Scalabrine]

Gobert will make major strides as an offensive player, much more aggressive, but he's already considered a top center in the game, so I would say he already broke through.

The breakthrough guy: Trey Lyles, he was already good last year, but he got better month by month, and I think the Jazz while play him a lot at PF and alternate Gobert and Favors a lot at C. I could definitely see Lyles getting around 30mpg and putting up solid stats..

Come to think about it, it could definitely be Dante, he looks much more aggressive, I could see him get 10+ ppg this year. Definitely will put up much better numbers than his rookie year.

I know they let Booker go but do you really see Lyles getting all of those minutes? They did bring Diaw in, Withey was a pretty solid backup C last year, and I'm sure Ingles and Joe Johnson will also be getting some minutes there.

I'd imagine if Lyles were getting 30+ minutes per game that Favors/Gobert got injured/traded, you obviously have a better pulse of the Jazz so you'd know better, but I'm honestly just curious how you imagine those minutes playing out...

OK so you have 96 minutes between the center and PF position, Gobert played just under 32mpg last season, and Favors played 32mpg. That leaves another 32 minutes. Take into mind, injuries, yeah I could see Lyles getting over 25mpg pretty easily, and approaching 30mpg depending on how many games missed between other bigs.

Well lets assume all these guys are healthy (which has been tough to visualize for Jazz fans recently), probably more in the low 20's right?

[SactoKingsFan]

Kings - WCS

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

[ken6199]

For me it's between Clint Capela, Sam Dekker, and 'trez Harrell.

Capela's PER36 stats were already pretty close to Dwight last season (13/12/2.3 vs 15/13/1.8), Dekker is essentially a rookie without a platform to compare with from last year, so I ma go with the guy with the wingspan.

Spoiler:

For those guys I think that Capela is going to solidify himself as a legit starting center. Dekker, like you said, is basically a rookie. Harrell is a guy I see having spurts of excellence, but as long as everyone is healthy he may not get enough minutes this season to be considered a break-out star.

I do think that McDaniels is going to establish himself as a solid bench player/spot starter as well.

Ha, I finally found something we can disagree on. Love it.

I don't buy the KJ hype just yet. Maybe I have had high expectation on him and refuse to think he is your Tony Allen/PJ Tucker guy, but man his shooting never improved or what?! With Beverly out for weeks, I fully support the idea of starting Gordon and Harden, just put your best guys out there and let Ariza defend 4 guys (as opposed to 3).

Harrell's PT depends on Anderson's health that I agree, and there is a small chance DMo says eff that 4.4m QO Moray is a jerk and I am heading back to Europe, in that case... Like the other guy said, player like Harrell will find a place in MDA's system with his motor, and I think he has as big of an upper side as KJ.

[Cappy_Smurf]

Enes Kanter (weird I know, but he showed during the playoffs that he's able to improve on defense and he has great chemistry with Westbrook).

Lol. This guy could be 35 and somebody, somewhere will still be expecting him to breakout at any moment.

How many minutes did he average last year? He has always been good/decent at man to man defense. As for defending the P/R and switching on screens/help defense, I wouldn't hold my breath. He just doesn't have the bball IQ to be good enough defensively. His minutes will always be limited due to his defensive shortcomings IMO, and if the Thunder find themselves in a position that they have to rely on Enes for 30+ MPG, he will be on the trade block sooner than later.

[HotelVitale]

Mario Hezonja, sure the starting spots are given to Aaron Gordon and EP but he's in a decent role and will have the confidence to make plays going from the detail watcher in Skiles to open flow simple structure in Vogel. If there is anybody on the team guaranteed to play their current role in the future it's him.

He seems like an unlikely candidate given his PS play (6/3/1.5 in a healthy 23mpg, 28% from the field and 2.3 TOs per game).

What do you see changing from his past play?

[tmorgan]

Mario Hezonja, sure the starting spots are given to Aaron Gordon and EP but he's in a decent role and will have the confidence to make plays going from the detail watcher in Skiles to open flow simple structure in Vogel. If there is anybody on the team guaranteed to play their current role in the future it's him.

He seems like an unlikely candidate given his PS play (6/3/1.5 in a healthy 23mpg, 28% from the field and 2.3 TOs per game).

What do you see changing from his past play?

Seconded. Until I see real evidence otherwise, Hezonja is an athlete with a pretty *looking* jumper that can't actually play basketball with NBA physicality. Confidence was his calling card, and he looks intimidated. He'll eventually improve from his current level, of course, but there are scores of great athletes that never actually amount to anything. He could easily be one of them.

(he could also figure it out and become a dynamic scorer... but I'm starting to wonder if it will happen, because he isn't playing the way I thought he would)

[Statlanta]

He seems like an unlikely candidate given his PS play (6/3/1.5 in a healthy 23mpg, 28% from the field and 2.3 TOs per game).

What do you see changing from his past play?

Seconded. Until I see real evidence otherwise, Hezonja is an athlete with a pretty *looking* jumper that can't actually play basketball with NBA physicality. Confidence was his calling card, and he looks intimidated. He'll eventually improve from his current level, of course, but there are scores of great athletes that never actually amount to anything. He could easily be one of them.

(he could also figure it out and become a dynamic scorer... but I'm starting to wonder if it will happen, because he isn't playing the way I thought he would)

I know he looks bad now but I think the fact that he had a coach with a quick trigger finger on mistakes broke the swagger and confidence that you saw he had pre-draft or even last pre-season. I don't want to put all the blame on Skiles as he has played lackadaisical defense at times but when he has a rhythm he looks as good as his counterparts when playing similar roles. If the Aaron Gordon SF experiment doesn't work he could have some good run at the 3 which could improve the drop in confidence I saw last year. He might not break-out early like some of the other candidates but I could see him coming strong at the end of the season if Vogel vibes with him.

[lars_rosenberg]

I think Kevon Looney can surprise everyone.
He's a great rebounder and shot blocker. He can also stretch the floor even if his shot is too slow and easy to block (I hope he's working on it).
I think if he stays healthy he will earn more and more minutes.

Patrick McCaw has looked really good in preseason, but he's a rookie, so we can't talk about breaking out, but expectations are high.

[Based Mike Ross]

Willie Reed. He should play beside whiteside instead of being his back up.

[PerkinsFor3]

Willie Reed. He should play beside whiteside instead of being his back up.

With Winslow at SF? Gotta love the spacing.