Which young player is most likely to have a breakout season?

[Joest2003]

The way I see it now we are probably looking at a 40-45 win team. If we want to get over that hump and push for the eastern conference finals were going to need one of the young guys to step up in a big way. We got a good amount of young guys who are enterting the time of their careers where they either take it to the next level or stay the same. Mainly Zeller, MKG, and Lamb but I will throw Frank in there too because he got good minutes last year and I can see him really improving this summer. Can MKG stay healthy and cement his name as one of the best 2 way players in the league like Butler or Khawi? Will Lamb put on some muscle and improve his 3pt fg%? He is already a talented scorer and that could put him over the top. Will Zeller come back from sumer stronger and with a chip on his shoulders? Now that Big Al is gone Zeller is now the top dog in the paint. Will he step up and average 15/10? I know he is capable of it. If we can get the same peformances out of Marvin, Walker, and Batum along with one of these young guys having a breakout season we have a good shot to make the ECF.

My vote is MKG as long as he can stay healhy. I really think we would have finished the Heat in 6 games if MKG was playing. We missed his toughness.

[HornetJail]

It's MKG. He was poised for it last season, it's a damn shame he got hurt twice and missed all but 7 games.

But I've rarely ever enjoyed games more than I did in those 7 games. He's going for 14/9 and will shoot roughly 30-100 from three next season if he stays healthy and plays more than 60 games. Write that one down. MKG's got the entire offseason to work on his game, and has been working with the coaches to improve his mental game all year. He's going to come back a completely different animal.

[Braggins]

Spencer Hawes

[HornetJail]

Spencer Hawes

He'd be a breakout player on the Swarm for sure

[Mystical Apples]

Harrison because I'll look brilliant if it happens.

[JDR720]

christian wood.





but on a more series note its MKG if he can be healthy, i think he can average 14/8/2. he might be our #3 scoring option.

[antique0o0]

Cody.
I'm sure he's working on his jumper shot. If he could make more, he'll be great. Cause Clifford will give him bigger role next season.

[bravor]

I hope it's Kaminsky. He is the piece the Hornets need to improve significantly to improve the roster during next season.
MKG and Kemba are long term options, so the Hornets need to get the best return from other prospects.

[Eoghan]

Frank really struck me last year as being some rookie jitters and not quite up to NBA speed away from putting up some nice numbers. Just a couple more made threes a game and he'd be making some noise. I hope the game slows down for him this season but he is a 4-year college guy and not blessed athletically so I'm not holding my breath.

[HornetJail]

Frank really struck me last year as being some rookie jitters and not quite up to NBA speed away from putting up some nice numbers. Just a couple more made threes a game and he'd be making some noise. I hope the game slows down for him this season but he is a 4-year college guy and not blessed athletically so I'm not holding my breath.

The big thing for him is the physicality of the NBA. If Roy Hibbert waved his arms near Kaminsky early last season, the wind generated would throw off Frank's move to the rim. He's got to get stronger, get used to playing with a significant amount of extra weight, learn how to finish through contact with said extra weight, and then continue to improve his all-around game like all players do after a couple years in the league. 4-year college player or not, most "NBA-ready" players improve on their rookie season and after their sophomore season.

Frank's 6 months older than MKG who is far, far away from a finished product. He's 6 months younger than Cody. We'll squeeze plenty more out of all of those guys.

[Bassman]

I picked Frank due to his hard work offseason. Reportedly he's gained muscle and up close to 250. The tank is probably not a PF in the purest sense, in that his athleticism is limited out on the perimeter. He and Cody are natural centers, but Frank has a better outside shot.

I think MKG is probably the closest in reality, and I hope he explodes to the top as a player. He must stay healthy to lock in his improvement.

[TinmanZBoy]

i have to pick Frank and Lamb... MKG has been a very impactful player already and his contributions don't usually show on the stats sheet, it is hard to define what is a breakout season for him, I guess making NBA-all defensive first team should count, but it does not say much... IMHO, if he were healthy, he would have made it already...
Frank has a lot skills on offense, he just did not have the strength and has not been fully used to the physicality of NBA... I expect him to get better and better, could break out as early as this season... he is a confident, a bit cocky dude, that's a plus for him
Lamb has similar problems as Frank, you just have to hope he will not shy away from body contacts, be a better all around player cause he has the tools...

[Kembastockton]

Frank. I know that no one else believes this, but I believe that Frank could be huge for us. His shot and driving ability can be unstoppable once his strength comes around.

[Mystical Apples]

Projection models for 2015's 1st rounders are tracking fairly close thus far. The consensus model has Frank 4th with a career projection of 3.3 WS (after Towns, Porzingas, WCS) and fivethirtyeight projects a WARP of 5th this year (1.6) and top 10 career. Fivethirtyeight's is interesting because Frank's projection is based solely on defense, if/when his offense catches up his WARP would be closer to 5 or 6.

It also provides an annual range within 80% of possible outcomes. Below are 2016-17's average and (80%) WARP's for every Hornet. I haven't verified how many teams have 8 players > 1.0 but I doubt many...half the regular season battle is to avoid trotting out rotation players under replacement level. For example, Boston is deep but they only have 7 players > 1.

Kemba: 7.2 (10.2). The 7.2 is All-Star worthy but a drop from last year's 9.6.
Batum: 5.6 (10), slight increase from last year.
Marvin: 3.8 (7.5). A drop is inevitable (healthy last year, injuries elsewhere), though 3.8 would be a steep drop from 6.1
Cody: 2.9 (6). A slight increase vs. 2015-16
Frank: 1.6 (5), .8 higher
Jeremy: 1.5 (4.5), .5 higher
* MKG: 1.4 (4). Obviously, if healthy 1.4 to 4 is low. Two years ago the model gave MKG a 4.2 (9.5) for 2016-17.
Spencer: 1 (2.5)
Hibbert: .5 (2.25)
Sessions: -.2 (1)
Marco: -.3 (1)

Courtney: 1 (3.5). Last year he gave CHA around 0.7
Jefferson: .7 (2), 0.5 in 2015-16
Lin: .9 (3.75). Lin's WARP with the Hornets was 1

http://www.tothemean.com/tools/draft-models/#/2015/dv2/all

http://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/carmelo/frank-kaminsky/

https://thecauldron.si.com/a-deep-deep-draft-19b5cb207bb8#.xeo0m13qh

[Braggins]

When I saw MA was the last post in this thread i assumed there were going to be like seven charts showing why it was going to be Frank. Close enough. Ill take it.

[Mystical Apples]

When I saw MA was the last post in this thread i assumed there were going to be like seven charts showing why it was going to be Frank. Close enough. Ill take it.

Funny but IMO MKG wins that hands down. MKG gets repped though, Frank doesn't so there you have it. In order of greatest potential to add wins vs last year.

MKG
Frank
Lamb
Zeller

[Liver_Pooty]

MKG
Zeller
Frank

I don't like Lamb at all.

[amcoolio]

Frank. He becomes a poor man's Dirk Nowitzki in the next 3 years.

[Snidely FC]

I think by the end of this season you'll hear the national media liken MKG to a young Jimmy Butler

[euphorbus]

Troy Daniels. But I voted for Kidd-Gilchrist.