Eric Bledsoe (Phoenix Suns)
33mpg, 48% fg, 36% 3pt, 5rpg, 6apg, 18ppg, 19.6 per
Bledsoe got his chance to be a starter this season after getting traded to Phoenix. He had the best season of his career.
DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings)
32mpg, 50% fg, 12rpg, 3apg, 23ppg, 26.1 per
I feel for Cousins. He's on a bad team and he has a bad reputation. Still his numbers are incredible and he's gotten better every year in the league. If you can average 23 and 12 in the NBA you are a very good player.
Anthony Davis (New Orleans Pelicans)
35mpg, 52% fg, 10rpg, 2apg, 21ppg, 26.5 per
How good is Anthony Davis, he's very good. He struggled a bit last season, but this year was solid from beginning to end as he has gotten stronger and stayed healthy.
Archie Goodwin (Phoenix Suns)
10mpg, 46% fg, 2rpg, 4ppg, 10.3 per
In some ways Goodwin got lucky. He ended up on a young team who put together a very good season, just missing the playoffs. It gave him a chance to play and he did quite well ending the season on a high note with a 29 point game against the Kings shooting 11/13 from the field in 31 minutes. Anytime a guard can shoot 46% on the season that's a good start to an NBA career.
Josh Harrellson (Detroit Pistons)
10mpg, 46% fg, 39% 3pt, 2rpg, 1apg, 3ppg, 13.4 per
When Harrellson left the NBA last year I figured he was done, but he made it back and put together a good season. It would be nice if he could settle in somewhere.
Chuck Hayes (Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors)
12mpg, 43% fg, 3rpg, 1apg, 2ppg, 10.0 per
I'm happy for Chuck Hayes that he landed on a playoff team and maybe they can make a good run. He's put together a long NBA career as a journeyman.
Terrence Jones (Houston Rockets)
27mpg, 54% fg, 31% 3pt, 7rpg, 1apg, 12ppg, 19.1 per
A breakout season for Jones who was a starter on a top tier team. I don't think anyone anticipated that after only playing in 19 games last season.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (Charlotte Bobcats)
24mpg, 47% fg, 5rpg, 1apg, 7ppg, 12 per
For starting on a team which greatly improved this year, Kidd-Gilchrist actually seemed to slide, at least looking at his numbers.
Brandon Knight (Milwaukee Bucks)
33mpg, 42% fg, 33% 3pt, 4rpg, 5apg, 18ppg, 16.5 per
Since coming in to the NBA Knight has been a starter and he's been on bad teams. This year he was on the worst team in the League. I'm not sure what this means for Knight who seems pretty consistent.
Doron Lamb (Orlando Magic)
13mpg, 39% fg, 40% 3pt, 1rpg, 1apg, 4ppg, 7.5 per
Lamb continued to improve his offense this year which is a good thing, but next year he will need to ramp up his numbers if he hopes to stay in the League.
Jodie Meeks (Los Angeles Lakers)
33mpg, 46% fg, 40% 3pt, 3rpg, 2apg, 16ppg, 14.7 per
With Kobe Bryant out Meeks got to step in as a starting shooting guard for the Lakers. Normally this would be a good thing to be a starting guard for the Lakers, but they had a horrible season. I always wonder how that feels to a player. Still he showed an offense this year that helped people notice him. I'll be interested to see where he lands next season.
Darius Miller (New Orleans Pelicans)
16mpg, 44% fg, 32% 3pt, 1rpg, 1apg, 4ppg, 9 per
Miller showed solid improvement this year and a completely different body, he really bulked up. Hopefully he's finding a spot in the NBA and can put together as long a career as he wants.
Patrick Patterson (Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors)
24mpg, 46% fg, 36% 3pt, 5rpg, 1apg, 9ppg, 15 per
I feel for Patterson. At the start of the 2012 season he was a starter for Houston. By the end of the season, after an injury sidelined him, he was traded to Sacramento. Luckily for him he got moved again this year, but to a better team and so now a chance in the playoffs. He has the best defensive rating of his career and has hopefully found a home.
Tayshaun Prince (Memphis Grizzlies)
26mpg, 41% fg, 2rpg, 2apg, 6ppg, 8.2 per
Prince has struggled ever since coming over the Memphis last season and he's having career low numbers in offensive efficiency. He's been in the NBA now for 11 seasons, so one has to wonder if his time is running out.
Rajon Rondo (Boston Celtics)
33mpg, 40% fg, 29% 3pt, 6rpg, 10apg, 12ppg, 15.3 per
Rondo had a solid return from a major injury. He made the new this year though mostly for sounding disgruntled. Something he's becoming famous for. If they could get Rondo and Cousins on one team that would be an interesting mix.
Marquis Teague (Chicago Bulls, Brooklyn Nets)
11mpg, 32% fg, 28% 3pt, 1rpt, 1apg, 3ppg, 3.8 per
I was a bit surprised when Chicago dealt Teague. They had talked last season like they had real hopes for him, but he has really struggled offensively. He's still very young, but will need to show some real improvement next season.
John Wall (Washington Wizards)
36mpg, 43% fg, 35% 3pt, 4rpg, 9apg, 19ppg, 19.5 per
A big year for wall. He just got a max contract and was coming in healthy with some players around him. Everyone expected the Wizards to make the playoffs and they did. A good solid year for Wall.
That's a very helpful rundown. I had no idea how a lot of those guys were doing. I share your thoughts on Cousins. To me, he should be a huge and popular star -- he was beloved at UK. And he's REALLY good.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I'm really happy for Terrence Jones, who is one of my favorite UK players ever.
I also found this very helpful. Whoever lays out NBA.com (and WNBA.com for that matter) is really good at designing compelling web pages, but I'm not sure he or she is much of a sports fan.
ReplyDeleteI know the NBA site has way too much video for me.
DeleteAlso, one of the things that happens when you cut all the copy editing from the budget is you end up with a bunch of NFL draft stories in which the dates of the NFL draft never appear.
ReplyDelete