Minnesota Sports Forum

As we look around the league, There are a lot of young players that are poised to take that next step this upcoming season.

Personally, Im intrigued by the utah guys, namely hayward,favors and kanter. Im expecting a breakout season for all 3. Hayward is a guy i always like, I expect him to be the top scorer for the jazz and he has always been an underrated defender. Kanter could be the closest thing to pek. Great size and a good inside scorer. Favors is more of a defender and role player but could be a tyson chandler with better scoring in a few years.

I also expect very good seasons from evan turner, brevin knight, iman shumpert, and tristan thompson.

I will lookout for big seasons from last years crop of rookies anthony davis, bradley beal and andre drummond.

For us, if Dw can take that next step and be a starting caliber forward, then that would be huge.

For Utah, a name I'd put above Kanter and probably Favors is Alec Burks. Loved him at Colorado and whenever he gets good minutes he produces. No more Mo Williams and Randy Foye means Burks will get more minutes. I expect him to take his game to the next level.

Turner's a solid player but what you see is what you get. I'm not sure there's another level for him to really reach. Knight could possibly breakout, but I wouldn't bet a paycheck on it. Shumpert is overrated to me to be honest. He's a top notch defender and plays with energy. His jumper still needs WORK and sometimes he tries play out of his element. Don't expect him to step up a whole lot either. Love Thompson's game. Hope he does take it to the next level.

Here's some name's I think are locks to step up their game for the upcoming season: Eric Bledsoe, Evan Fournier, Jeff Green, Jonas Valanciunas and Reggie Jackson.

Most are obvious choices, but if you look at changes in the off-season, they all make sense.

Cam, good call on jonas valanciunas, forgot about him. I try to name guys that are on their rookie deals that have not yet made the all star team or won awards. Which rule out the likes of jeff green( no longer on rookie deal) or lillard(roy last season and most minutes played i believe).

Yeah, I just see Green taking over a way bigger role in Boston now. He's sure to average more than the 13 PPG he did last year. Lillard was ROY, most MP, most 3Ps for a rookie in NBA history. He wasn't on my list, though! Lol he's already a stud.

rubio should be on this list. A full healthy season plus his new toys to dish the rock to should help rubio breakout this year