Last year Nic Batum came out of nowhere and was one of the most important players. The time he was out there on the floor he was guarding the opposing teams best perimeter player. It was common to see Nate put Nicolas on a Chris Paul, Derick Rose, Tony Parker. His stats wont wow you but it's really hard to gauge a (defensive) role player by his stats. My breakout player for the 09/10 season: Nicolas Batum I think he's going to take another step forward. He showed improvement during this years Euro summer games by averaging 17 ppg and playing backup PG for stretches. He's going to be our Doug Christie. The reason why I didn't pick Bayless is I don't think he's going to get the playing time. He's a lot more effective when he looks to score but we already have Rudy Fernandez as that spark off the bench role. This could change if Blake is dealt and Rudy is played at backup PG more often, as Jason Quick thinks will happen. Cunningham is my darkhorse pick. I wanted to add Webster but he missed an entire year with that foot injury so I gotta see how he is physically.
It says I can't vote. Have I been singled out? But I agree with Stevenson. If he is healthy, Martell Webster will be the break out player.
FYI, there is a poster over at the RealGM Blazer board who claims sources within the organization are telling him that Jeff Pendergraph is needing hip surgery and will be out for awhile. I guess that makes the Howard and Swift auditions make a little more sense.
Martell ftw. On the poll, I'll take Batum. He showed A LOT of potential last year. Comparing him to Doug Christie is disrespectful. Batum is much more of an athlete. If all he turns out to be is our "Doug Christie", I'll be mad. Not saying he's Scottie Pippen II like some extreme homers, but the kid has some serious potential.
Oh, I would have voted for Oden in a heartbeat over anyone listed. As it was I voted for BATUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM-SHAKALAKA!
Batum. Rudy was better than Batum last season, but he is also older and much closer to his ceiling. He will (hopefully) improve, but not make the kind of leap I am expecting from Batum. In all seriousness....why are we even discussing Webster? He wasn't very good to begin with, and he just missed the entire season over what was supposed to be a 6-8 week injury. If he wasn't a former lotto pick, he would be begging for some team to sign him to a minimum wage, one year contract.
I think that makes him a good candidate for this list. After all, you need to go in with low expectations in order to be a breakout candidate. Roy isn't on the list... barfo
