5 players having breakout seasons
Each NBA season brings with it a crop of breakout players, and 2014-15 is no different. Here are five players who have taken the next step.
Jimmy Butler
Jimmy's going to get paid.
Butler's headed for restricted free agency, and all signs point to a max contract extension. Based on the 25-year-old's play, he's worth it. The All-Star looks like the steal of the 2011 draft, when he was taken with the last pick of the first round by the Chicago Bulls.
He averaged 12.2 points per-36 minutes in 67 starts last season, but exploded this season. As Butler's usage has risen from 16.8 percent to 21.5 percent, he's responded, averaging 18.6 points and three assists per-36 minutes - both career highs. His 21.3 PER and 58 true shooting percentage are career bests too.
Butler put in the work during the offseason and it's paid off: his 123 Offensive Rating is fifth among players who've started at least 45 games.
Nikola Vucevic
Vucevic is "the best player nobody knows about."
At 24, the big man is the main piece of the Orlando Magic's rebuild. He's improved each season and has taken massive strides in recent months, averaging 20.6 per-36 minutes on 53.6 percent shooting.
Only one center has a higher PER than Vucevic's 22.1: Marc Gasol.
Tobias Harris
It's hard to believe the Magic are 17-39 when they boast Vucevic and Tobias Harris, who's become a reliable scorer at only 22. Harris is averaging a career-high 18.1 points per-36 minutes, shooting 46.5 percent from the floor.
He's a versatile asset with his ability to stretch the floor, having split his career as a small forward and power forward. He does all the little things well, and has made strides this year from deep, shooting 37.5 percent.
Harris is a restricted free agent at the end of the season. With money set to be tossed around in most drunken fashion this offseason and next, his future should be a hotly contested topic this summer.
Draymond Green
Draymond Green, 24, is having the best season of his career, helping the Golden State Warriors to the league's top winning percentage at the All-Star break.
Green's averaging 12.5 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 4.1 assists in his first season as a full-time starter - all career highs. More importantly, he's been a beast defensively, his 96 Defensive Rating also a career best.
He's taking and making more threes while making a concerted effort to go inside, converting on 66 percent of shots taken from 0-to-3 feet from the basket.
We'll let Grantland's Kirk Goldsberry take it from here:
You could argue that Green is the “most improved” player in the NBA this year, but that overlooks a bigger truth: Green is always improving, and the only constant in his game has been its perpetual evolution.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr called Green "the heart and soul" of Golden State. That's about all you need to know.
Marreese Speights
We thought hard about going with Markieff Morris here, but Marreese Speights's contributions off the bench for the Warriors demand recognition.
A candidate for Sixth Man of the Year, Speights is playing 18.1 minutes a game for the league's best team, averaging a career-high 12 points a season after only averaging 6.4 in 12.4 minutes.
He's shooting a career-best 50.3 percent and hitting 64.6 percent of shots from 0-to-3 feet from the basket. His 23.9 points per-36 minutes are huge for the Warriors' thin bench. While his defense leaves a lot to be desired, we can't ignore the 27-year-old's offensive contributions.