Here are a few guys that have the talent and should have the opportunity to have a breakout year.
POINT GUARD
Mo Williams will start at point for the Bucks and should soon make people forget about T.J. Ford (though Ford is a sleeper in his own right leading the up-tempo Raptors offense). In 12 games as a starter last season, Williams averaged 16.9 points, 5.8 assists and 1.3 steals. Those numbers are definitely within reach…Deron Williams played in the immense shadow of Chris Paul last season – the entire state of Utah was thinking about how good the Jazz would be if Paul were leading them. But Williams settled down after the All-Star break, averaging 13.2 points and 5.5 assists while shooting 52.6% from long range…Shaun Livingston is reportedly the most improved player in Clippers camp and should start to take the reins from Sam Cassell this season. He may get the start tonight since Cassell is recovering from an injury. In eight starts (as a guard) last season, Livingston averaged 7.1 points, 8.3 assists and 4.5 rebounds.
SHOOTING GUARD
Brandon Roy was considered one of the most NBA-ready players in this year’s draft and he should get tons of minutes for a Blazers team lacking in talent. This preseason, he averaged 14.8 points, 3.6 assists and 3.4 rebounds while shooting a respectable 45.8% from the field. He’s the front runner for the Rookie of the Year…Someone needs to start at shooting guard for the Raptors, and since they want to run, they’ll probably go small with Anthony Parker or Fred Jones. Parker played overseas last season, and started all of the team’s preseason games. But Jones outscored him on an average of 14.5 to 7.5 in those eight games. It will be interesting to see how this shakes out…John Salmons should start at point guard while Mike Bibby is out, but he will be a valuable bench player and could eventually challenge Kevin Martin for the starting off guard slot in Sacramento.
SMALL FORWARD
The Josh Smith hype is in full swing, and for good reason. The kid was sick after the All-Star break, averaging 15.0 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 3.1 blocks in 32 games. He’s going to be a full-time starter this year, so those numbers, while optimistic, are a possibility…The Pacers brought in Al Harrington, but it looks like they want to run Jermaine O’Neal at center and Harrington at power forward, allowing Danny Granger to start at small forward. In 17 games as a starter last season, he averaged 10.3 points, 6.7 rebounds and shot 47.4% from the floor. His rebounds in the preseason are down, but he’s not playing that many minutes yet. Look for a 12/7-type season from him.
POWER FORWARD
Channing Frye was selected to the All-Rookie team last season, but he averaged just 24.2 minutes per game playing for the hard-to-please Larry Brown. In 14 starts last season, he averaged 15.6 points and 7.9 rebounds in 32.1 minutes. A 15/8 season is well within reach…Ryan Gomes has started seven of the Celtics’ eight preseason games, and has averaged 10.5 points and 5.4 rebounds in 25.5 minutes. The Celtics have a crowded rotation in the frontcourt, but Gomes has outplayed Al Jefferson thus far and might have a good year.
CENTER
Check out Nazr Mohammed’s preseason stats: 12.0 points, 5.0 rebounds, 54.2% FG%. Mohammed will try to fill the Pistons’ gaping hole left after Ben Wallace bolted for greener pastures. With an increase in minutes, 13/7 seems like a reasonable expectation…If Darko Milicic gets the minutes, he can be productive. He’s in a contract year, so the team may limit him some to keep his value down, but it won’t do much good. There have been rumblings that the team plans to start Tony Battie at center, but this could just be motivation for Milicic to practice harder…It’s not clear if Andrew Bynum will get as many minutes when Kwame Brown and Chris Mihm return, but until then, look for the big fella to shine. In his first game, he tallied 18 points, nine rebounds and five assists. With numbers like that, Phil Jackson has no choice but to play him.
