3 younglings ready to become masters of the NBA
There's a wave of aging NBA stars preparing to pass the torch on to the next group of talented playmakers.
The Force is strong in these three younglings, who are ready to take their games to the next level and become masters in the league.
Kristaps Porzingis
When the Knicks selected a 7-foot-3, 19-year-old kid out of Lithuania with the fourth overall pick in this year's draft, not many of the team's fans gave the move a vote of confidence.
Viewed on draft day as a project, Porzingis has quickly shed that label and established himself as a go-to player on Derek Fisher's squad.
Supplementing a skill set rarely seen from a player his size with the kind of consistency and competitiveness that make him a threat on a nightly basis, Porzingis is on the fast track to superstardom. That he plays his home games at The Garden doesn't hurt, either.
Giannis Antetokounmpo
Despite already being in his third season in the league, Antetokounmpo is only 21 years old. The Greek Freak has off-the-charts potential with his combination of athleticism and unreal length.
Antetokounmpo can get to the hole in a way few players his size can, and he's expanded his shooting range after not being able to connect from outside five feet when he arrived in Milwaukee.
His ceiling at the defensive end is also extremely high, as his wingspan creates all sorts of problems for opposing teams. All told, the sky is the limit for Antetokounmpo if he continues to develop at his current pace.
C.J. McCollum
One of the benefits of the Trail Blazers' decision to jettison a large portion of their roster this past offseason is it freed up minutes for guys like McCollum to flourish.
The No. 10 overall pick in 2013, McCollum took the court in only 38 games as a rookie due to a broken foot. Two years later, he forms a lethal backcourt combo with Damian Lillard, starting at shooting guard and sharing ball-handling duties.
With the kid gloves coming off, the third-year pro has made the most of his increased opportunity. In the Blazers' season-opener, he single-handedly outscored the New Orleans Pelicans 22-18 in the first quarter, en route to a career-high 37 points.