Read More

Which NBA players are on the verge of a breakout season?

Last year, it was third-year point guard Ja Morant, who increased his scoring to average to 27.4 points per game from 19.1 during his sophomore season and led the upstart Memphis Grizzlies to the league’s second-best record.

Morant set the breakout bar pretty high, but there are plenty of young candidates throughout the league who are ready for the leap.

Could second-year players, such as Cade Cunningham, Jalen Green and Josh Giddey, build off impressive rookie campaigns to take the next step? What about Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton, who enters the 2022-23 season as their No. 1 option after a midseason trade from the Sacramento Kings?

And could EuroBasket 2022 standout Franz Wagner become a star next to Orlando Magic rookie Paolo Banchero?

Our NBA Insiders are making their picks for which breakout players should be on the watch list.

Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Claxton is the only center on the Nets’ roster who was in Steve Nash’s rotation last season. (Second-year big man Day’Ron Sharpe is expected to get a chance for more minutes, and Nash said early in training camp that Markieff Morris will get time at the 5 for the Nets as well.) Aside from Ben Simmons getting some run at center in various situations, it will be Claxton with the largest opportunity to succeed.

The 23-year-old had several solid stretches during the regular season while fighting for minutes alongside veterans Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge and Andre Drummond, but his most important stretch was during the playoffs. In four games against the Boston Celtics in the opening round, Nash went mostly with Claxton — who responded with an average of 10.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 2.3 blocks in 24.5 minutes per game. Claxton’s biggest flaw: He went 4-for-22 from the free throw line during the series. Claxton said last week that he has reworked his shooting form over the summer, but his confidence at the line could help determine whether he’ll be on the court in clutch-time minutes.

— Nick Friedell

Brian Sevald/NBAE via Getty Images

The Pistons are excited about their complement of young players, but their optimism begins with their second-year point guard, whose progression each year will be the key to whether they can pull off a successful rebuild. Cunningham, who turned 21 last week, split time this summer working out in Detroit and Los Angeles and says he tacked on about 15 pounds of muscle. The extra weight should help both with his durability and his finishing around the basket.

Cunningham still averaged 17-5-5 as a rookie despite a mix of injuries and adjusting to life in the pros. By the second half of 2021-22, the Pistons started to see glimpses of the future star they took with the No. 1 overall pick. Take a look at Cunningham’s performance in March: 22.9 points, 7.0 assists and 5.9 rebounds per game while shooting 48% from the field. If he can continue to improve his outside shooting and limit his turnovers, Cunningham could be ready to make a star turn.

— Jamal Collier

Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

After receiving praise from Kevin Durant and LeBron James last season, Duarte has the potential to attain “your favorite player’s favorite player” status in the league. With Malcolm Brogdon, the Pacers’ leading scorer from a year ago, joining the Boston Celtics in the offseason, touches should open up for Duarte as a target for point guard Tyrese Haliburton. Duarte — a sinewy 6-foot-5, 190 pounds with a smooth jumper — should certainly be fed more left-corner 3s (43.5% from that spot last season) and cuts to the basket (59.4%) as an ultra-young Indy team builds its identity.

Duarte was money from the very start of his NBA career, exploding for 27 points on 9-for-15 shooting (6-for-9 from 3) in his debut as a 24-year-old rookie. It was a promising sign of things to come, as the Pacers had a 6-7 record when Duarte scored 18 points or more, which is impressive considering the team went just 25-57 overall on the season. While a left toe injury cost him the last 12 games of the season, Duarte told reporters on media day, “I’m doing better,” as he looks ahead to his sophomore season.

— Dave McMenamin

Josh Giddey of Oklahoma City Thunder tries to block Sekou Doumbouya of Detroit Pistons. Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images

During the summer-league matchup between No. 2 overall pick Chet Holmgren and No. 3 overall pick Jabari Smith Jr., it was Giddey who might have impressed the most. Giddey didn’t seem to be playing particularly hard or trying to impress, it just appeared that the game had slowed down for him. This often happens with sophomores who are ready to break out.

ESPN’s countdown of the league’s best players returns for its 12th season. See which stars made the cut, which vaulted to the top and which are sliding down the list.

o NBArank 1-5: International stars on the riseo NBArank 6-10: How far LeBron and KD fello NBArank 11-25: L.A. duo and rising Wolveso NBArank 26-100: Russ, Ben and a host of Qso Debate! LeBron’s ranking and top-10 tweaks

Giddey’s summer league performance, in which he flirted with a triple-double average, continued what we saw from him last season before a hip injury ended his campaign in February. During his last 24 games of 2021-22, he averaged 14.5 points, 8.6 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.2 3s and 1.0 steals in 33.3 minutes per game. He notched four triple-doubles during that stretch, including three in his last four games. Giddey seems poised to build on those performances, taking higher usage while letting Shai Gilgeous-Alexander play more off the ball in one of the most exciting young backcourts in the NBA.

— Andr? Snellings

Logan Riely/NBAE via Getty Images

It’s not exactly going out on a limb to predict a significant leap for Green. The No. 2 overall pick struggled as a teenager when thrown into the deep end before a strong finish to his rookie season. Green was Houston strength and conditioning coach Willie Cruz’s prized pupil. Green added 10 to 12 pounds of muscle to his slender frame, which should help the pure scorer get to his favorite spots and finish in traffic.

Green’s finish last season left Rockets fans salivating, as he averaged an efficient 29.3 points in the last seven games. That included a stretch of five straight 30-point performances, which no rookie had accomplished since Allen Iverson in 1997, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. Green’s 41-point finale was the highest-scoring game by any rookie last season — and by any Rockets rookie since Hakeem Olajuwon in 1984. Green averaged 20.7 points per game with an effective field goal percentage of 56.7 from February through the end of 2021-22.

— Tim MacMahon

Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports

Haliburton has all the ingredients for a breakout. A talented and versatile third-year guard, he has become the focal point on a rebuilding Pacers team with plenty of opportunity to shine, as three of the top five Pacers in shot attempts per game last season — Caris LeVert, Malcolm Brogdon and Domantas Sabonis — are on different teams this season. Buddy Hield is the only returning Pacer to average more shot attempts per game (15.6) than Haliburton (12.4).

In his 26 games with Indiana after a trade from the Sacramento Kings in the Sabonis deal, Haliburton increased his scoring and assists average from 14.3 points and 7.4 assists to 17.5 points and 9.6 assists while raising his field goal percentage from 45.7 to 50.2. In his last 10 games of the season, Haliburton collected five double-doubles, averaging 17.5 points and 10.3 assists over that span. During a five-game stretch from March 26 to April 3, Haliburton dished out 56 assists, including 17 dimes against Detroit. He will have plenty of chances to rack up monster nights like that this season.

— Ohm Youngmisuk

Sean Gardner/Getty Images

A bigger Murphy — perhaps the less heralded of last season’s Pelicans rookie trio that also included Herbert Jones and Jose Alvarado — is better. Murphy said at the end of last season he weighed 201 pounds. When he reported to New Orleans this fall, he was up to 214. And Murphy said he’s closer to 6-foot-10 now as well (he admitted he’s 6-foot-9 1/2 but, as he put it, who isn’t going to stretch that to 6-foot-10?). Murphy earned a larger role late in 2021-22 and was pivotal during the Pelicans’ playoff push. Don’t be surprised to see Murphy force his way into the Pelicans’ closing lineups sooner rather than later.

Over the final 16 games of the regular season, Murphy averaged 10.1 points while shooting 45.1% from deep. He was huge for the Pelicans in their No. 8-seed clinching play-in victory over the LA Clippers, hitting three of his four 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as New Orleans came from behind to win. With Zion Williamson back, Murphy’s shooting will be even more valuable.

— Andrew Lopez

Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images

Through his first two seasons in Atlanta, Okongwu has shown flashes of what led the Hawks to pick him No. 6 overall in the 2020 draft. And, between the combination of Danilo Gallinari departing this summer, the uncertainty surrounding the future of John Collins and Clint Capela entering his ninth NBA season, the opportunity is there for the 6-foot-8 big man to stake his claim to a far bigger long-term role.

1 Related

Okongwu has played just 98 out of a possible 154 games over the course of his first two NBA seasons. But the basketball world saw what he is capable of during Atlanta’s run to the Eastern Conference finals in 2021, including when he was arguably Atlanta’s best option against Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo in that series. Okongwu’s combination of defensive prowess and efficient inside scoring is a recipe for success, and his growth could be the key to Atlanta exceeding expectations in 2021-22.

— Tim Bontemps

Ned Dishman/NBAE via Getty Images

Sengun, 20, has been buzzing in the analytics community since the lead-up to the 2021 draft. As an 18-year-old, he averaged 19.2 points (64.6% shooting, 81.2% at the free throw line), 9.4 rebounds, 1.7 blocks and 1.3 steals in 28.3 minutes per game to claim MVP of the Turkish Super League. Sengun again flashed those skills in the 2021 summer league, dominating with 15 points and 15 rebounds against Rookie of the Year runner-up Evan Mobley.

Sengun averaged 16.7 points, 9.5 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.6 blocks on a per-36-minute basis during the regular season, but he played only 20.7 minutes per game behind starting Rockets big man Christian Wood. The Rockets traded Wood this offseason, in large part to open up playing time for Sengun, whose productivity has translated to every level of competition thus far.

— Snellings

Franz Wagner has scored at least 20 points in three of the past four games. AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack

After a strong rookie campaign that earned the No. 8 overall pick All-Rookie First Team honors, Wagner showcased even more potential during this summer’s EuroBasket tournament, averaging 15.2 points per game on 53% shooting to help host Germany to the bronze medal. Wagner’s broad skill set and feel for the game makes him an ideal complement in the Orlando frontcourt alongside 2022 No. 1 overall pick Paolo Banchero. Banchero and Wagner are the building blocks as the Magic look to develop a team capable of winning a playoff series for the first time since 2010.

In the context of FIBA’s shorter games, Wagner averaging as many PPG as he did during his rookie season was all the more impressive. Wagner put up 20.6 points per 36 minutes, 16% better than his NBA mark. And he did it in part by hitting 46% of his 3s (19-for-41). More consistent 3-point shooting is the next step for Wagner, who hit 35% last season but showed above-average form at the free throw line (86%) — which can be an indicator of future 3-point success.

— Kevin Pelton

Read More

Over the past few weeks, it’s becoming obvious that not all of MAGA actually believes the poison they’ve been peddling.

Not that it makes that poison any less toxic, or harder to clean up. 

Plenty of examples—with new ones popping up every day as we get closer to the midterms—but let’s start with a case closer to home, featuring our old friend Governor Blago.

Rod Blagojevich is, of course, our former governor who went to federal prison on corruption charges, including, though not limited to, trying to shake down the CEO of a children’s hospital for campaign contributions.

As part of its investigation, the feds tapped Blago’s phone, where they captured this immortal quote, which, I’m sure, will go down in history as his greatest single contribution to humanity.

“I’ve got this thing and it’s fucking golden. I’m just not giving it up for fucking nothing.”

That “thing” he had was his authority to fill the Senate vacancy created when Barack Obama was elected president. Which Blago seemed determined to give to the highest bidder.

Eventually, Blago was sentenced to 14 years in prison (too long, in my opinion). He did about eight years, before President Trump commuted his sentence in 2020.

Blago returned to Chicago and became an enthusiastic MAGA man, railing against Democratic causes, including the SAFE-T Act, which, among other things, eliminates cash bail.

Now you’d think a felon who feels he was unfairly investigated, arrested, indicted, convicted, and sentenced would not sign on to MAGA policies that would give authorities even more authority to arrest people and throw them into jail—where they remain, guilty or not, cause they can’t post bail.

But apparently, Blago, like his hero Trump, is more of a do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do kind of guy.

As such he took to Twitter to blast the SAFE-T act. And that’s where “Bob Peters” comes into the story. He read Blago’s tweet and got upset because . . .

“Bob Peters” is actually state Senator Robert Peters, a Democrat out of Hyde Park, who co-authored the SAFE-T bill, along with the so-called PFA provision that eliminates cash bail.

Unless the judge of course decides bail is warranted. So it really doesn’t eliminate cash bail. Despite what you might hear from everyone from Darren Bailey to Blago to Joe Rogan.

Noting that Blago had a Cameo account, which enables anyone to buy his services for about $200, Peters wrote a script and asked Blago to read it. He asked that Blago email the message to “Bob Peters.”

The message was addressed to “Dare Bear,” aka Darren Bailey, the Republican candidate for governor against J.B. Pritzker, who temporarily rented an apartment in the John Hancock building, so he can report what it’s like to live in what he calls the “inner city.” Here’s the script that Peters wrote.

“Hey Dare Bear, I know you just moved and it hasn’t been the easiest transition. I have really good news though. You are about to see an exciting new development at work. It is called the PFA [pretrial fairness act]. Everyone is so excited for when the PFA project goes live. The PFA will drastically improve the lives of your friends and family. This thing is ‘fucking golden!’ The PFA was worked on by a broad coalition at work. Dare Bear, I hope when you move back home that you don’t look at this journey as a failure but as an important learning opportunity about life. As the Rolling Stones say, [you] can’t always get what you want, but you get what you need.”

Blago read the script—quite convincingly, I might add—just as “Bob Peters” wrote it. Right on down to the “fucking golden” part.

Now, I can’t be surprised that Blago, a grifter from long ago, would contradict himself on the issue of pretrial bail in exchange for a few bucks. But he’s by no means the only MAGA man doing flip-flops these days.  

Up in New Hampshire, there’s senate candidate Don Bolduc. For the last year, Bolduc’s been a ferocious election denier, insisting the presidential election was stolen and Trump actually won.

Even though we all know that’s a lie and Joe Biden beat Trump.

At an August debate of Republican candidates, Bolduc refused a chance to back off on election denial, declaring: “damn it, I stand by [it].” 

On September 13 he won the primary. And two days later he flip-flopped, telling an interviewer, “I’ve done a lot of research on this, and I’ve spent the past couple weeks talking to Granite Staters all over the state from every party, and I have come to the conclusion—and I want to be definitive on this—the election was not stolen.”

Not sure what evidence he uncovered to change his mind, but I hope he shares it with other election deniers, including Trump, so they might also see the light.

My guess is Bolduc’s advisers told him he has no chance of unseating Democratic senator Maggie Hassan unless he backs off on the idiocy. So back off it he did.

Just as Blake Masters, a MAGA man running for senator in Arizona,recently “erased from his website some of his more emphatically right-wing stances on immigration, abortion, and the lie that the 2020 election was stolen,” as the New York Times put it.

In short, Masters canceled his own culture. Quick, call Joe Rogan!

Really, I don’t know how MAGA can stomach these flip-floppers. 

One day they say they’re against the SAFE-T act and the next day they’re for it. One day they say every fertilized egg is sacred and the next day they say it’s not. And one day they say we gotta stop the steal! And the next day they say there was no steal to stop.

Not sure which is worse—believing the bullshit they spout or spouting it just to win over MAGA. Either way they’re leaving tons of toxicity in their wake.

The Latest from the Ben Joravsky Show

Read More

Over the past few weeks, it’s becoming obvious that not all of MAGA actually believes the poison they’ve been peddling.

Not that it makes that poison any less toxic, or harder to clean up. 

Plenty of examples—with new ones popping up every day as we get closer to the midterms—but let’s start with a case closer to home, featuring our old friend Governor Blago.

Rod Blagojevich is, of course, our former governor who went to federal prison on corruption charges, including, though not limited to, trying to shake down the CEO of a children’s hospital for campaign contributions.

As part of its investigation, the feds tapped Blago’s phone, where they captured this immortal quote, which, I’m sure, will go down in history as his greatest single contribution to humanity.

“I’ve got this thing and it’s fucking golden. I’m just not giving it up for fucking nothing.”

That “thing” he had was his authority to fill the Senate vacancy created when Barack Obama was elected president. Which Blago seemed determined to give to the highest bidder.

Eventually, Blago was sentenced to 14 years in prison (too long, in my opinion). He did about eight years, before President Trump commuted his sentence in 2020.

Blago returned to Chicago and became an enthusiastic MAGA man, railing against Democratic causes, including the SAFE-T Act, which, among other things, eliminates cash bail.

Now you’d think a felon who feels he was unfairly investigated, arrested, indicted, convicted, and sentenced would not sign on to MAGA policies that would give authorities even more authority to arrest people and throw them into jail—where they remain, guilty or not, cause they can’t post bail.

But apparently, Blago, like his hero Trump, is more of a do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do kind of guy.

As such he took to Twitter to blast the SAFE-T act. And that’s where “Bob Peters” comes into the story. He read Blago’s tweet and got upset because . . .

“Bob Peters” is actually state Senator Robert Peters, a Democrat out of Hyde Park, who co-authored the SAFE-T bill, along with the so-called PFA provision that eliminates cash bail.

Unless the judge of course decides bail is warranted. So it really doesn’t eliminate cash bail. Despite what you might hear from everyone from Darren Bailey to Blago to Joe Rogan.

Noting that Blago had a Cameo account, which enables anyone to buy his services for about $200, Peters wrote a script and asked Blago to read it. He asked that Blago email the message to “Bob Peters.”

The message was addressed to “Dare Bear,” aka Darren Bailey, the Republican candidate for governor against J.B. Pritzker, who temporarily rented an apartment in the John Hancock building, so he can report what it’s like to live in what he calls the “inner city.” Here’s the script that Peters wrote.

“Hey Dare Bear, I know you just moved and it hasn’t been the easiest transition. I have really good news though. You are about to see an exciting new development at work. It is called the PFA [pretrial fairness act]. Everyone is so excited for when the PFA project goes live. The PFA will drastically improve the lives of your friends and family. This thing is ‘fucking golden!’ The PFA was worked on by a broad coalition at work. Dare Bear, I hope when you move back home that you don’t look at this journey as a failure but as an important learning opportunity about life. As the Rolling Stones say, [you] can’t always get what you want, but you get what you need.”

Blago read the script—quite convincingly, I might add—just as “Bob Peters” wrote it. Right on down to the “fucking golden” part.

Now, I can’t be surprised that Blago, a grifter from long ago, would contradict himself on the issue of pretrial bail in exchange for a few bucks. But he’s by no means the only MAGA man doing flip-flops these days.  

Up in New Hampshire, there’s senate candidate Don Bolduc. For the last year, Bolduc’s been a ferocious election denier, insisting the presidential election was stolen and Trump actually won.

Even though we all know that’s a lie and Joe Biden beat Trump.

At an August debate of Republican candidates, Bolduc refused a chance to back off on election denial, declaring: “damn it, I stand by [it].” 

On September 13 he won the primary. And two days later he flip-flopped, telling an interviewer, “I’ve done a lot of research on this, and I’ve spent the past couple weeks talking to Granite Staters all over the state from every party, and I have come to the conclusion—and I want to be definitive on this—the election was not stolen.”

Not sure what evidence he uncovered to change his mind, but I hope he shares it with other election deniers, including Trump, so they might also see the light.

My guess is Bolduc’s advisers told him he has no chance of unseating Democratic senator Maggie Hassan unless he backs off on the idiocy. So back off it he did.

Just as Blake Masters, a MAGA man running for senator in Arizona,recently “erased from his website some of his more emphatically right-wing stances on immigration, abortion, and the lie that the 2020 election was stolen,” as the New York Times put it.

In short, Masters canceled his own culture. Quick, call Joe Rogan!

Really, I don’t know how MAGA can stomach these flip-floppers. 

One day they say they’re against the SAFE-T act and the next day they’re for it. One day they say every fertilized egg is sacred and the next day they say it’s not. And one day they say we gotta stop the steal! And the next day they say there was no steal to stop.

Not sure which is worse—believing the bullshit they spout or spouting it just to win over MAGA. Either way they’re leaving tons of toxicity in their wake.

The Latest from the Ben Joravsky Show

Read More

There is no doubting that the Chicago Cubs are one of the worst teams in the National League. However, there is a lot of optimism surrounding this team and rightfully so. There is a lot of young talent in the organization that is developing very nicely. There is also some money to be spent.

They also had a very nice finish to the season. With just a few weeks left in the year, it was predictable that they could go on a nice little run as their schedule was incredibly soft to end the campaign. Most of it was made up of the few teams that are actually worse than them.

One of the only formidable foes that they played in mid-September or later was the Philadelphia Phillies who they swept. Those Phillies ended up ending their long playoff drought after that which should make the Cubs feel very good about themselves.

In the season finale, the Cubs smoked the Cincinnati Reds 15-2. That made it where they were 8-2 over their final ten games which is really good no matter who it is they are playing. They finished the season 74-88 which isn’t as bad of a record as anyone would have predicted at the All-Star break.

The Chicago Cubs are ending with a belief that they can be good again soon.

There are some things for the Cubs to figure out this off-season. Do they go for a huge free agent like Trea Turner, Carlos Rodon, or Carlos Correa (if he opts out)? Do they make a big trade for someone like Shohei Ohtani? What is Willson Contreras going to do?

All of these things are pressing questions that need to be figured out relatively quickly. All of those outcomes will determine how good the Cubs can be in 2023. If all of those things go well for them, they could absolutely fight for the top spot in a declining National League Central division.

There are also players on the current team (with all different contract situations) that have to prove that they can consistently be impact players. Guys like Ian Happ, Nico Hoerner, and Seiya Suzuki amongst others are hoping to have productive offseasons that help them get even better.

Again, finishing strong in a bunch of meaningless games against the nobody teams of the National League doesn’t mean they will be world beaters next year but there is clearly optimism that they can put together a solid team. No matter how you look at it, they need to have a smart off-season.

Read More

Read More

Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

Read More

Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky riffs on the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty, and interviews politicians, activists, journalists and other political know-it-alls. Presented by the Chicago Reader, the show is available by 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays at chicagoreader.com/joravsky—or wherever you get your podcasts. Don’t miss Oh, What a Week!–the Friday feature in which Ben & producer Dennis (aka, Dr. D.) review the week’s top stories. Also, bonus interviews drop on Saturdays, Sundays and Mondays. 

Chicago Reader podcasts are recorded on Shure microphones. Learn more at Shure.com.

Chicago Reader senior writer Ben Joravsky discusses the day’s stories with his celebrated humor, insight, and honesty on The Ben Joravsky Show.

Read More

Read More