I was just thinking of making this thread. Very interesting question that could go a lot of different ways. I'm gonna go with Marcus Williams. Maybe I'm still too attached to how good he was at UConn but this guy just seems too damn talented not to be a good player under Nellie. Hes got great vision but also seems to be a good perimeter shooter and lord knows Nellie is gonna chew him out if he passes up any semi-open 3 point shots. Plus he seems to be in great shape, healthy, and he ought to have plenty of motivation. This is his golden opportunity (pun intended) to prove he can make it in the league as well as earn a big fat contract. How many crappy PGs has Nellie produced? This guy is in an absolutely perfect situation and I think he'll make the most of it. If/when he starts while Monta is out I'll predict stats of 14.6 ppg and 7.7 apg to go along with solid rebounding and maybe a few steals a game. I think Wright is gonna have a really good year too though. I think he'll end up starting a lot of games and just playing well in general.
I voted for Marcus Williams before reading Run BJM's post. I was thinking the exact same things. Exact same things.
Kelenna Azuibuke. I think he'll build upon what he did last season. He's a great player, and great to watch. IMO he could end up being a starter if he consistently plays the way he did at times last season.
I'm with pegs on this one, Kelenna has shown flashes of brilliance and I think with minutes he can duplicate that and even build upon it
Biedrins is the best player of these by a mile, he's worth far more games in the standings than any of these players. Not only are they are far behind him in their development, I don't think any of them will ever catch up because his ceiling is the highest.
I agree he is the best player of the one's polled, but I didn't pick him because he was way too obvious. Didn't think he should have been on the list of breakout players
If he's not in this poll, I like Brandan Wright the best, but Azubuike will probably get more of an opportunity to "break out" this season.
+1 But more so Brandon Wright. If BWright does not take over the starting PF position and significantly increase his contributions, I'm going to call him a bust and the J-Rich move a bad one (in hindsight of course). In my opinion, he has the most to prove. He plays the position that the Warriors have been most poor in. The Warriors attempted to get Elton Brand because they did not know what to expect out of Brandon Wright and they were willing to forego any sort of expectations by getting Brand. I'd say he's due for a breakout year.
What about Biedrins? He was playing well in the ending of last season, and without Ellis, I think they will look to him some more to score.
Biedrins has already had a "breakout" season though. We know what we'll get from him. Its certainly possible he raises his averages to 11-13 ppg, and 11-12 rpg if he gets the minutes and touches. I don't think thats really breakout though considering hes averaged a double double both of the last two years. He is for sure the best of the bunch right now but it wouldn't be that much of a surprise if he increases his averages.
I think Randolph will be the best player out of this bunch and I think he'll defy the odds by earning PT from Nellie at some point during the season. When he does earn his spot in the rotation, he'll break out.
I don't know about Biedrins. With Monta injured his scoring may actually go down because he needs that pick and roll for a good chunk of his shots. I'm just hoping he nudges his FT% up towards 70%, that would be huge for him and the Warriors. Also, I hope you guys picked up Maggette for your fantasy leagues. He looked to increase his scoring from last year because of the system and with Monta out he'll be shouldering the lion's share of the scoring load IMO. It wouldn't surprise me if he averages 25 ppg or more for the first few months of the season. At this point, with the playoffs looking VERY unlikely, I think it's even more critical to get Wright more time. My worry is that Nelson with see a possibility of again sneaking into #8 and play Harrington big minutes out of fear. I'd at least like to come out of this year knowing what we have in all these young guys.
Biedrins put up 30 pts/22 reb today against Macedonia. Highlights here. As for Mags, here's an interesting article on his scoring I read earlier today: http://nba.fanhouse.com/2008/09/02/nba-top-50-corey-maggette-no-41/
Mags will probably be my favorite player, but for break out season... I'll go with... Brandan Wright. I would have gone with Marco Belinelli, but I think Nelly is doing a Patrick O'Bryant with that guy. Plus, we have more need of a power forward than we do with guards since CJ Watson/that summer league guy/and Kelenna Azubuike/Corey Maggette/Marcus Williams could all play the basic shooting guard. So Wright it is. I think he'll help us on the glass and on some scoring. He'll be the poor man's all-star era Shareef Abdur Rahim. I also think maybe with CJ Watson/Marcus Williams at the helm, it will give guys like Wright more touches to be able to score inside. Wright is also a pretty fast guy so maybe Nelson will use him to work the other guy's power froward in transition offense, and then on defense he can alter a lot of shots just by playing weakside D. We also got Beans, Mags, Watson who can rebound. Actually, I kind of want to change my vote, but then again... I'm not sure. Since Nelson favors guards the most, Marcus Williams could be a very important player in place of an injured Monta Ellis. Marcus Williams could be putting up a good level of assists, some 3 pointers, and maybe some decent all-around scoring. The thing is I don't think he'll break out defensively, whereas Wright could be a player for both ends of the floor with the way he could change shots and hook shot over people. Wright also seems to have more potential/basic skill than any of our rookies aside from Anthony Randolph at SF.
One of Maggette's goals was to average 25+ a game. He'll have a chance to reach this goal with the Warriors open offense, but the problem with Maggette has always been putting stats ahead of team success. I'm worried he falls in love with the 3 point line because he'll have the green light to shoot...shoot...shoot on offense. He's not getting any younger, and that physical style he plays is catching up to him. Last season with Brand out, I noticed Maggette settling for jumpers and less aggressive at driving to the rim. Perhaps he mailed it in last year since the Clippers had no chance at the post season and Maggette wanted to remain healthy to get a long, lucrative deal. At least the Warriors have a wing player capable of creating off the dribble and a change of scenery should revived CMaggs.