In some cases, expectations exist merely as frames to be shattered by defiant vandals. There's never a shortage of breakouts to transcend our preconceived notions, and '15-'16 has so far put forth a number of dudes who, well, look like they might be on some other s**t,
Whether they've spent the summer in the gym, taken up yoga, or are pumping that Lance Armstrong, here are the players who've opened eyes with their starts to this season - (in no particular order) the early MIP candidates:
Kent Bazemore
DeMarre Carroll's offseason departure was a bit of a blow to the Hawks, but Bazemore's surprise emergence has made a sufferable loss even more minute. Bazemore's brought an immediate defensive enthusiasm to his new starter's role; replacing Carroll's lockdown cog in Atlanta's phalanx.
Better yet, he's provided a scoring punch (12 ppg on .491 and .439 from deep), looking like a legitimate two-way sparkplug. Whether he's a long-term answer remains to be seen, but Bazemore in the hands of Mike Budenholzer should be a productive development. He's been better than anyone could've expected so far, and may not have reached his ceiling yet.
Otto Porter
Slightly akin to Bazemore in ATL, Porter's path to starter was cleared by an offseason departure; that of one Paul Pierce. The Wiz were banking on his growth upon last season's strong finish, which so far looks like a winner. Porter's a wiry menace who can disrupt perimeter attacks at several positions. Long enough to contest stretch fours, while still being able to check most guards, he's a valued breed of trendy defensive versatility.
His offensive numbers have seen a boost from Bradley Beal's early absence, but Porter's proven a capable scorer both slashing and even off the dribble. His 14 ppg come on .515 from the field, despite shooting a rancid .286 on 3.5 treys/game (see shot form above). He may just live up to 3rd-overall status yet.
(of course, as I'm writing the above paragraph, Paul George does this to him)
Evan Fournier
A somewhat unlikely candidate to rise to the top of Orlando's amorphous talent heap, Fournier's been on an early tear, dropping 19/game on blistering clips, while enjoying the overall stat bumps that come with demanding an increased role. He's gunning confidently and flashing a skill set that I admittedly never gave him credit for.
While his opening month was among the most impressive surprises, its results are also among the most volatile. Not only is Scott Skiles about to shake up the rotation due to shaky defense (as he's been known to do), but the Magic have plenty of versatile scorers (chiefly Nikola Vucevic, Tobias Harris and Vic Oladipo) all of whose output has suffered from Evan Almighty's early ascent. It's unclear how safe his go-to role is, but it even existing is something to remark.
Hassan Whiteside
The big questions with Whiteside this season were mostly of the skeptical nature: "can he sustain last season's play?", "will he be an attitude liability?", "will Kelly Olynyk need a restraining order?". Nobody was really asking themselves if Whiteside had yet another rung to climb, figuring his Lin-esque breakout season season to be a best-case scenario.
Well, don't look now, but Whiteside has upped his scoring and rebounding, and is blocking more shots than anyone has in 30 years. He's among the early favorites not only for MIP, but DPOY, and if he manages to keep his head on straight should be among the biggest rags-to-riches stories the NBA's seen.
CJ McCollum
So this hasn't exactly been a surprise. I had McCollum pegged as my preseason MIP, and he widely figured to be in line for a breakout year. The early returns though have exceeded expectations, with CJ not only confidently dictating offensive tempo, but putting up a (relatively) mammoth 20 ppg on a tidy 45/38/88 shooting spread.
More yet, he hasn't been soaking up meaningless buckets; the Blazers have competed with much better teams, and at 6-9 haven't been nearly as horrific as their preseason prognosis. McCollum's been a driving force behind their early season, um, "surge", and while he may not reek of upside like others on this list, he'll only get more comfortable in time (he's yet to start in 20 NBA games).
Stephen Curry
At first glance, it seems pretty strange to have the reigning MVP lumped in with a bunch of Most Improved candidates. But it would be far more ridiculous to write a list called 'PED Watch' without touching on what Curry's been doing to the NBA so far.
Chef's done what few thought possible and attained yet another level in the offensive stratosphere. Granted he's averaging fewer assists, largely because he's scoring nine more points every night, shooting a ridiculous 51% from the field while bombing eleven three pointers per game. Both his swag and his production are off the charts.
Just how badly Curry is crushing right now is perhaps best illustrated by his PER. The convoluted stat (which basically encapsulates statistical output and overall efficiency) doesn't lend itself well to point guards, who traditionally turn the ball over the most and shoot the worst among standard positions. Of the Top 50 all-time single season PERs, only three appearances are made by two point guards (Chris Paul & Russell Westbrook), with zero in the Top 15. Steph's current pace of 33.59 PER would be, by a very comfortable margin, the best - of any player - in NBA history.
Andre Drummond
And last but certainly not least is this fleet-footed manchild, who paradoxically rocks braces while
Drummond currently sits a shade below 18 rebounds per game; a threshold only Dennis Rodman has crossed since the ABA merger - which is basically to say no human has done it. He's particularly devastating on the offensive glass, where he's a basically a guaranteed 2nd-chance bucket.
His dominant rebounding creates a viable facet to an otherwise-limited offensive game, adding another weapon to his dish-finishing and pick-n-roll crashing. And while he waxes the boards historically, he's far from a one-trick pony defensively. Drummond's a threat to disrupt anything near the rim; both shots and passing lanes, particularly the trendy back-door lob.
He's already one of the NBA's most terrifying matchups, and the worst is likely yet to come - he's still just 22.
