How a change of scenery could help these five players
It's one of the biggest cliches in sports--teams taking a gamble on a player who's maxed out his potential or worn out his welcome on his old team, hoping that the change of scenery is going to miraculously re-invigorate his career and return results far greater than that of his last few seasons. It sounds like a pipe dream, and a lot of the time that's exactly what it is, but sometimes--especially in basketball, where team fit and style and coach-mandated playing time and role can have such a pronounced effect on a player's ability to produce--it actually works out.
We've seen it this year with Monta Ellis in Dallas, Michael Beasley back in Miami, Andrea Bargnani in New York, Derrick Williams (so far) in Sacramento--even Andre Iguodala to a certain extent in Golden State, as Jonathan Abrams' recent profile of 'Dre on Grantland does an excellent job of pointing out how he's been miscast pretty much his entire career, before getting to finally getting to go full-on Pippen on the Warriors. Iguodala aside, these guys were all on the cusp of being written off entirely on their old teams, but have found roles on their new teams more complementary to their skill set, and who have all experienced a large uptick in production in result.
So who else is out there that could be one of these guys next season--or possibly by this year's trade deadline? Here's a handful of guys who have languished in relative obscurity on mediocre teams, or have struggled to find a consistent role on an actually good team, who could be the next to validate the "change of scenery" cliche by finding their place in the sun on their next NBA team.
O.J. MAYO, MILWAUKEE BUCKS
The third-overall pick in the 2008 NBA draft, Ovinton J'Anthony Mayo's career has largely been one of general dissatisfaction. For someone who appears to have all the signifiers of a good basketball player--shooting stroke, passing ability, athleticism, all that good stuff--it's never really shown in the numbers, where Mayo has consistently rated as mediocre, or in team results, where Mayo has never played a particularly large part on a consistent winner, increasingly falling out of favor in Memphis the more successful the team got. He's never posted a PER over the league-average of 15, and his stats have only gotten further depressed in the playoffs.
I hoped over the summer that O.J. would finally tire of NBA irrelevance, and find his way onto a contender with an established veteran roster hierarchy and a respected coach who would demand accountability and results from Mayo. Instead, he signed with the Bucks, who are none and have none of those things, and have started the season 5-17, with Mayo's numbers the worst of his career so far. It seems that Mayo's about as likely to reach his potential in Milwaukee as the Packers are of making the Super Bowl with Matt Flynn as their quarterback.
Where should he go next? I had always envisioned Mayo sharing a backcourt with Derrick Rose on the Chicago Bulls. He'd be the best outside shooter they've had at the position since Rose has been there (38% career from three), he'd give Rose the secondary playmaker they need to take some pressure off him, and under coach Tom Thibodeau, he'd be forced to actually give a damn, especially on defense. If Mayo had another level to reach in his career, that would be the team to do it on, and I believe--or maybe just hope, since I still have a weird affinity for O.J. for some reason--that he still has the potential to do it.
Could he get there? Well, not anytime soon, at least on his own volition. The Bucks have Mayo under contract for another two seasons after this one, so for him to get to the Bulls or some other contending team wanting a young, athletic playmaker at the two-guard, they're going to need to trade for him. But were I such a team, I'd think about rolling the dice on a deal for O.J., in the hopes that maybe he just needs to be challenged a little. If it can happen with Beasley, it can happen with anyone.
RODNEY STUCKEY, DETROIT PISTONS
A first-rounder for Detroit in 2007, Rodney Stuckey was unofficially dubbed the future of the Pistons franchise when the team decided to deal franchise point guard Chauncey Billups at the beginning of the '08-'09 season, in part to make room for the emerging Stuckey. That didn't work out so great, and since then, Stuckey has failed to find a consistent role in Detroit, shuffling between point guard, shooting guard and sixth man duties while seeing his production oscillate wildly, and not seeing a whole lot of the playoffs.
Still, unlike Mayo, Stuckey has had some solidly above-average statistical seasons--he's having one this year, in fact, scoring 15 points a game on the best shooting numbers of his career. His assist numbers are down, but that's because Mo Cheeks appears to have correctly deduced that Stuckey was always miscast as a point guard, and is actually much better-suited to be a scorer off the bench. He still gets a little lost in the shuffle on the mismatched roster, and it's somewhat impossible to tell how good the Pistons actually are yet, but at the very least, we finally have an idea of who Stuckey is as a player, as does any other team who might want to take him on.
Where should he go next? Well, scoring off the bench is something just about every team needs, though perhaps none more than the Washington Wizards, who have pretty dismal backcourt depth behind John Wall and Bradley Beal at the moment. Stuckey would be the perfect third guard for the team and anchor to the second unit, and he could even be a pretty good fill-in in the starting lineup when Wall and/or Beal inevitably get hurt for a month or two at a time.
Could he get there? Potentially--Stuckey's contract is up with the Pistons after this season, and they've got a messy and expensive frontcourt situation to sort out before they can worry about taking care of their tease of a young guard. I'd bet he goes elsewhere, I just hope it's to a team that knows what to do with him right away.
JAVALE MCGEE, DENVER NUGGETS
For the last half-decade, McGee has rated as one of the most tantalizing young big men in the league, whose potential would seem to be as high as any center currently in the NBA, if he could get his head on straight and play consistently within a team system and within himself. The Nuggets were hoping that blossoming would occur in Denver, trading their own prized big man Nene to Washington for him, and then even trading their starting center of last year, Kosta Koufos, largely in order to ensure McGee would receive adequate playing time this season.
So far, the results have been discouraging--McGee got off to a lousy start to the season, averaging just seven points and under four rebounds a game on career-low shooting, as the Nuggets went 1-4 in the five games he played before going down with a stress fracture, with the team's play improving dramatically in his absence. McGee has long been theorized to be an awkward fit on both sides of the ball alongside starting power forward Kenneth Faried, and it's possible that there just isn't space in Denver for ol' Pierre to really spread his wings.
Where should he go next? How about Dallas? They've got a gaping hole at the starting center position, a reputation for taking on what owner Mark Cuban calls "fallen angel" players, and a power forward in Dirk Nowitzki who both likes to play far away from the basket, opening plenty of room for McGee on rolls, and who needs serious assistance in the shot-blocking, help-defending department. If McGee was ever to become a dominant center on both sides--either side, really--of the ball, Big D would probably be the place for him.
Could he get there? Well, McGee has two more years after this one on his Denver contract, but his eight-figure deal is a big expense for a small-market team, and if they decide it's just not working out, JaVale might be on the trading block before the season's even up. He'd be a cap-clogging, high-risk gamble for any team that takes him on, but the Mavs have deep pockets, lingering cap flexibility and a need to make a big move to prop their contention window back open. It's an interesting thought, anyway.
TYREKE EVANS, NEW ORLEANS PELICANS
After years of struggling to find his place in the starting lineup in Sacramento, Tyreke Evans has finally found his lot in life as an instant-offense type off the bench in New Orleans. Unfortunately, he's found it on a team that really just doesn't need him all that much. New Orleans already has two primary ball-handlers in their starting lineup with Jrue Holdiay and Eric Gordon, and when their roster is at full health, they already have one of the league's premiere offensive threats coming off the bench in sharpshooting forward Ryan Anderson. He's not good enough an outside shooter to play off the ball, and he doesn't do enough else to be a particularly valuable contributor if he's not scoring.
However, Evans remains one of the league's most talented scorers at the basket--ask the Knicks, Sixers, or any other team with inadequate rim protection that Evans has torched this year--and if you need an anchor to your second-unit offense, you could still do a whole lot worse than Tyreke. He just needs to be on a team that can allow him to do his thing for 15 minutes or so a game, and then slide him into the starting unit for another 10-15 without totally offsetting the team balance.
Where should he go next? Well, if they were handing out tough, aggressive, super-athletic lead guards for free at the NBA store, the Knicks would undoubtedly be first in line to pick one up, but unfortunately their player-acquisition budget is tapped out for the next half-decade or so. Instead, the Hawks might make an interesting fit. They're in need of some bench playmaking until Dennis Schroeder can properly be of service, and he could slot in alongside Jeff Teague and Kyle Korver at the end of halves as well.
Could he get there? Depends on how patient New Orleans is in seeing their current Pelican core come along with all parts healthy--which might be a pretty long while, considering the injury history of some of the parts contained therein. If the Hawks are willing to take on Tyreke's sizeable salary, however, it might not be long before the Pelicans decide to cut bait with their expensive extraneous piece.
DION WAITERS, CLEVELAND CAVALIERS
A little early to be declaring Dion Waiters in need of a change of scenery, given he's been in the league for just a year and change, and only just turned 22 years old, with still plenty of time ahead of him to grow his game and learn how to fit into an NBA roster. But the early indications on Dion are that he's had a hard time finding his way on the Cavaliers' roster, possibly feuding with star point guard Kyrie Irving and at least struggling to fit into the flow of the Cavaliers' offense as their starting two-guard, serving as something of a ball-stopper and scoring largely inefficiently.
The talent is there with Waiters, but he might need to either play alongside a less ball-dominant point than Kyrie--who isn't getting the ball taken out of his hands anytime soon--or, like some of the other players on this list, come off the bench as a third guard. So early into his career, though, it'd be nice to exhaust the possibility of him being an impact starter before we permanently relegate him to the bench, though.
Where should he go next? Tough to say, since the number of Derek Fisher-type point guards in the league, who don't necessarily need to dominate the ball to be effective, is rapidly dwindling. If the Bucks aren't going to keep O.J. Mayo around, however, they could maybe kick the tires on Waiters, who could play alongside Brandon Knight, an effective spot-up shooter, and get a fair bit of opportunity to handle the ball himself. The Jazz might be an interesting landing spot as well, depending on how much the Jazz really want to invest in Trey Burke.
Could he get there? Well, if you believe the trade rumors that started swirling around Thanksgiving, Waiters' short stay in Cleveland might already be coming to something of a head. The Cavs' players and ownership have since come out in support of Dion, so perhaps that's all on hold for now, but if the Cavs continue to struggle with Waiters in the starting lineup, a change might be unavoidable, and the team has so many other high draft picks on their roster from the last few years that it's hard to imagine there would be too many garments torn over the loss of Waiters. It's hard to imagine he'll be a large part of the sales pitch to LeBron, anyway.