TrueHoop projections: Players set to explode

And…surprise! Your favorite player will probably play a little worse this season.

BY HENRY ABBOTT

During last year’s playoffs, David Thorpe used a word that succinctly captured something for me. The Raptors had some players who, as he put it, “accelerated.” As in, Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam had careers on a certain trajectory and then kicked them into another gear. Accelerators are easy to find on title rosters and, I’d argue, a good reason to A) have multiple high-potential young players around and B) seek a coaching staff with a better-than-average history of finding the gas pedal.

So I asked David to use his keen eye to predict the NBA players who are most likely to accelerate this season. 

Thorpe’s top picks to improve in 2019-2020:

Honorable mentions:
Jaylen Brown, Bam Adebayo, Mitchell Robinson, Ben Simmons, Pascal Siakam, Collin Sexton, Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner, John Collins, Dwayne Bacon, Justise Winslow, Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Lonnie Walker IV, Kevon Looney, Willie Cauley-Stein, Ivica Zubac, Harry Giles III