Some of 2021's breakout players like Christian Wood and Jerami Grant were predictable, and others like Julius Randle and Chris Boucher were less so. So looking forward to next year, who are some under-the-radar players that you could see having similar breakout seasons?
Does Jaren Jackson count? Also, I don't think Jerami Grant scoring 22 a game was very predictable. Gary Trent Jr. is another one.
they may have already broken out pretty far, but, off the top of my head, from the playoffs: Michael Porter Mikal Bridges Dorian Finney-Smith Jaren Jackson (if he can stay healthy) Jordan Poole Jame Wiseman (again, if healthy) eastern conference I haven't seen enough Blazers: I guess maybe Little (as long as Melo isn't re-signed) Simons already broke out as a 3pt shooter; not sure he has enough going for him in any other skill Zach fans are always expecting him to break out, but Zach and 'break' should never be used in the same sentence. I guess a player can still break out when they are 24, like Zach will be. A little late though
DFS is 27. And why are Blazer fans much higher on him than Mavs fans? DFS is legit garbage. He isn’t good. Period. Mavs fans literally comment, “any team with DFS can’t expect to win.” I don’t even care to look at his stats. He’s bad. Edit: Also, originally meant to say, if Zach Collins is healthy by the time we can trade him he needs to go. Period. Don’t wait to figure out if he’s broken or not. Let some other team fuck around with that and get assets while we can.
Simons I see break out and if Zach can stay healthy he should have a good year. Little maybe still to many questions marks to me right now. Now saying he can't but still hot away to go.
I’m inclined to believe the Mavs fans who watched him the entire season more than you. also the stats don’t back up the claim he’s a “really good defender” He’s a poor mans Covington, which admittedly, I wouldn’t mind off the bench as they’re fairly comparable except Covington is way better on D according to the stats. And DFS was extra shîtty in the playoffs; possibly a reason Mavs fans are giving him the CJ treatment. Also with most advanced metrics I saw, he has a 0 or negative rating as a net overall player. Congrats on getting me to look up his stats though; better than I thought but still not good. And I highly doubt that’s worthy of “breaking out.”
So I guess the stats are a conspiracy. Made up. Non-existant. He is a poor-mans RoCo. He's a great bench piece. The type of guy that we need off the bench. Fans are probably giving him shit for struggling in the playoffs. Also because they don't have a #2 or #3 scorer so that responsibility falls on DFS' shoulders at times and he isn't that type of guy. He's also not a creator so he doesn't function well in their stagnant offense.
Agreed. His 3 point shooting is pretty good too. Rebound decently. A versatile forward. A great guy to have off of the bench