10 Players With The Most To Prove This Season

The 2018-19 NBA season is about a month away, which means every player will get another full season to showcase what they can do. Whether they be young players looking to find their footing or veterans looking to show they still have what it takes to play at a high level, every one of them is looking to prove themselves this upcoming season. The players on this list, however, have the most to prove out of anyone. Whether it be a second-year player who had a rough rookie season, a player who's been injured frequently in his career, or a player looking to bounce back from a rough year, these are the 10 players with the most to prove in the 2018-19 season.

Trae Young

Out of all the players selected in the 2018 draft, the one who has received the most attention (outside of maybe DeAndre Ayton or Luka Doncic) is arguably Trae Young. Young first gained national attention during last year's college basketball season, during which he lead average a nation-best 27.4 points, 3.9 rebounds, a nation-best 8.7 assists, and 1.7 steals while shooting 42% from the field and 36% from three-point range as a freshman. That performance led to Young being named the National Freshman of the Year and the Big 12 Freshman of the Year, along with being named to the All-Big 12 First Team and to the consensus All-American First Team. Despite that, Oklahoma's season was not all that successful, as they went 18-14 on the year, 8-10 in conference play, and was eliminated by Rhode Island in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament, with Young at the forefront of the criticism. Still, Young would declare for the 2018 draft and was selected 5th overall by the Dallas Mavericks, who quickly shipped him to the Atlanta Hawks for Doncic. The Hawks, who were coming off their worst season in almost 15 years, clearly see Young as a player to build around and focus on, as they decided to send former star player Dennis Schroder to the Thunder for Carmelo Anthony (more on him later), who they would waive, apparently going all in on the 19-year old. Following a disappointing Summer League performance (even though the Summer League is completely meaningless), Young has attracted even more criticism. Young has been a polarizing player for over a year now, and this season, Young will have the most weight on his shoulders of any rookie. This season, Young will like to silence all doubters and possibly win the Rookie of the Year.

Dante Exum

Recently I wrote about players who might not have known played last season. Of all the players on that list, the youngest one on that list was Dante Exum. Exum was only 19 years old and had skipped college when the Utah Jazz drafted him with the 5th pick in the 2014 draft, so they clearly saw big potential in him. His rookie season saw him shoot the ball poorly (35% from the field and 31% from three-point range) and averaged just 4.8 points and 2.4 assists per game, but the Jazz did have a 24-17 record with him as the starter. Unfortunately, Exum would not get a chance to improve in the next season, as he would tear his ACL in the Summer League and would miss the entire 2015-16 season. Exum would return the next season and would average 6.1 points and 1.7 assists while shooting 43% from the field and 30% from three-point range, showing some improvement from his rookie season. However, things would take a turn for the worst again for Exum, as he would miss the majority of this past season due to a shoulder injury. Exum would play in just 14 games in the 2017-18 season after recovering, averaging 8.1 points and 3.1 assists per game while shooting 48% from the field and 28% from three-point range. Those are decent little numbers, but they are taken from a small sample size. Exum's career has been a complicated one so far, as injuries have caused him to miss a lot nearly half of the games he could've played in and his stats haven't been very good, as he holds career averages of 5.7 points and 2.2 assists per game and shooting percentages of 40% from the field and 31% from three-point range. The Jazz still seem to have faith in him, however, as they signed him to a three-year, $33 million deal. Exum will need to prove this season (and the following two seasons) that he can put up at least decent numbers off the bench and keep his roster spot.

Isaiah Thomas

Isaiah Thomas went from being one of the NBA's biggest feel-good stories to one of the NBA's sadder ones. Drafted with the 60th and final pick in the 2011 draft, Thomas would exceed expectations for four and a half years before arriving in Boston via a three-team trade in 2015. In Boston, Thomas the best stretch of his career. In those two and a half seasons, Thomas averaged 24.7 points, 6 assists and a steal per game while shooting 44% from the field and 37% from three-point range. Along with that, Thomas was a two-time all-star during that time, was selected to the All-NBA 2nd team in 2017, and was top 5 in MVP voting in 2017. Despite his strong play, the Celtics would send Thomas to the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Kyrie Irving trade. Thomas, who was recovering from a hip injury before being traded, would have a dud of a season this past year. Thomas would miss the majority of the year due to his hip injury and when he returned, he was far from the MVP candidate he was the year before. In his 15 games with the Cavs, Thomas averaged 14.7 points and 4.5 assists per game while shooting 36% from the field and 25% from three-point range. The Cavaliers quickly lost faith in Thomas, as they shipped him to the Los Angeles Lakers as part of a roster overhaul. Thomas would finish out the year in LA and ended the year with averages of 15.2 points and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 37% from the field and 29% from three-point range before undergoing hip surgery. After signing with the Denver Nuggets, Thomas will have to prove this season that he can return to form and become a top player again. Denver might not be the best spot to do that with Jamal Murray likely getting the starting job, but this season he'll have the opportunity to.

Frank Ntilikina

Frank Ntilikina is the first second-year player on this list, and trust me, he won't be the last. Drafted with the 8th pick in the 2017 draft by the New York Knicks, Ntilikina was just 18 years old at the time of the draft, but he had already had experience playing professional basketball. In his home country of France, Ntilikina would sign with SIG Strasbourg at the age of 16, and played there for two seasons with before declaring for the draft. In his rookie season with the Knicks, Ntilikina would have a less than stellar year. Averaging 5.9 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 36% from the field and 32% from three-point range, Ntilikina would struggle with his shooting while also receiving inconsistent minutes throughout the year, but was given the starting job towards the end of the season. Still, Ntilikina is still very young at just 20 years old and has tons of potential, as he was top 10 in assists among rookies this year. While the Knicks do have a Trey Burke and Emmanuel Mudiay on the roster as well, but if Ntilikina was getting the starts towards the end of last season, I could see him continuing to get the starts next year. He has competition at the point guard spot, so if he does get the starting job this season, he'll need to prove that he's the man who should have the job.

Jabari Parker

The career of Jabari Parker has been one hell of a rollercoaster so far. Coming out of college after a single season at Duke where he averaged 19.1 points, 8.7 rebounds, 1.1 steals and 1.2 blocks while shooting 47% from the field and 36% from three-point range, Parker declared for the 2014 draft and was considered one of the top prospects in the entire class, despite him skipping the draft combine. The Milwaukee Bucks jumped at the opportunity to take Parker, and they selected him with the 2nd pick of the draft. Unfortunately, Parker would quickly feel the wrath of the dreaded injury bug, as he would miss the majority of his rookie season following an ACL tear. Parker would return the next season and would have a strong comeback, averaging 14.1 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting 49% from the field. Parker would follow up the next season looking like a star in the making, averaging 20.1 points, 6.2 rebounds and a steal per game while shooting 49% from the field and 37% from three-point range. Unfortunately, Parker's breakout season would be derailed thanks to a second ACL tear. Parker would return the next season, but he played a smaller role and had arguably his worst season yet. Still just 23 years old, Parker was still seen as a valuable free agent this summer and Chicago Bulls signed him to a two-year, $40 million deal. This season, Parker will have to prove that he can put up those numbers that he did in the 2016-17 season and that one day, he can potentially be a star player.

Jonathan Isaac

A few rookies this past season had bad rookie seasons. Jonathan Isaac was one of them. Drafted with the 6th pick in the 2017 draft, Isaac was a highly touted player ever since he was in high school. Ranked #12 on the ESPN 100, Isaac would go on to play a single season at Florida State and averaged 12 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 51% from the field and 35% from three-point range before making the jump to the NBA at just 19 years old. Expectations were obviously high for Isaac, and unfortunately, he would not live up to those expectations in his rookie season. Despite getting a decent amount of playing time early in the season, Isaac would end up on the inactive list for over a month before going down with a right ankle sprain. Isaac would finish out the year with averages of 5.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.2 steals, and 1.1 blocks per game while shooting 38% from the field and 35% from three-point range over just 27 games. Isaac will look to bounce back after a poor rookie season and, with a vacant small forward spot with the departure of Mario Hezonja, Isaac could potentially take that spot. Isaac while have to show improvement though, and he'll have to do it this season to prove he can be a starter.

Markelle Fultz

Markelle Fultz's rookie season was an absolute disaster. That's not all that controversial of a statement. After having a stellar freshman season at Washington where he averaged 23.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 5.9 assists, 1.6 steals, and 1.2 blocks per game while shooting 48% from the field and 41% from three-point range, Fultz declared for the 2017 draft. Despite his team's lack of success (9-22 on the year), Fultz was heavily considered the top prospect in the draft class, and he was taken with the #1 pick in the draft by the Philadelphia 76ers, a team looking to find the final piece of the Process to lead them to the playoffs. The Sixers would end up making the playoffs, but not with much help from Fultz. He would struggle through the first four games of the season, shooting just 33% from the field and averaging 6 points, 2.3 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. Fultz would end up being diagnosed with "scapular muscle imbalance", a shoulder injury that caused his shooting woes. Fultz would end up sitting out for the majority of the year, during which Fultz would develop "the yips" (the loss of fine motor skills in athletes) and altered his shooting mechanics, something which drew heavy criticism. Fultz would return for the last 10 games of the season and showed some improvement, averaging 7.1 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.8 assists while shooting 41% from the field, and would become the youngest player to ever record a triple-double. This upcoming season, Fultz will have to prove that he's recovered and the changes he made were worth it and that he can be a valuable piece to a team with the potential to be champions one day.

Kevin Love

The second LeBron James-era is over in Cleveland. It led to their most successful period in franchise history and the end of the 52-year long championship drought for the city (sorry, Stipe.) However, it's over, and the Cavaliers will have to move on, and the team's leader going into this new era is Kevin Love. The leadership role is not new to Love, but it didn't lead to much success. For four years of his career between 2010 and 2014, Love was the star player for the Minnesota Timberwolves. A dominant big man capable of putting up a double-double every night and a threat from three-point range, Love was one of the best power forwards in basketball in those four years. During that time, Love averaged 23.5 points and 13.7 rebounds per game while shooting 45% from the field, 37% from three-point range, and 82% from the free throw line. Unfortunately, the Timberwolves would not have much success during that time, as they would not make the playoffs during that time, would win 40 or more games in just one season, and would post a winning percentage of just .348 over those four years. When Love was traded to Cleveland, he took a backseat to LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, averaging 17.1 points and 10 rebounds per game while shooting 43% from the field and 38% from three-point range. Now that both James & Irving are gone, Love is the leader again, and this season he'll have to prove that a team he's leading can be successful.

Lonzo Ball

Let's face it; a lot of the hate and criticism surrounding Lonzo Ball is because of his dad. I mean, if your dad was saying you'd be better than Stephen Curry before you've even played a professional basketball game, people are going hold that over you, whether that's fair or not. That being said, Lonzo Ball's rookie season was not bad by any means, but it was far from perfect. Drafted with the 2nd pick in the 2017 draft, Lonzo Ball was quickly thrust into the role of the franchise player, with the Los Angeles Lakers trading away their old potential franchise player in D'Angelo Russell. With a young core along for the ride, Ball would end up having a fairly good season, averaging 10.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, 7.2 assists, and 1.7 steals per game. However, his shooting was notably poor, as he shot 36% from the field and 31% from three-point range. Ball would end up making the All-Rookie 2nd team, but even that could be seen as a disappointment due to his #2 pick status. This upcoming season, Ball will have a massive upgrade in the teammate category, as he'll now have arguably the best player in basketball in LeBron James to facilitate the ball to. Ball may never be able to silence his biggest critics, but this season, he will have to prove that he can be a strong playmaker in and help lead the Lakers to the playoffs.

Carmelo Anthony

The 2017-18 season was supposed to be the Oklahoma City Thunder's year. After an underwhelming first year post-Kevin Durant, the Thunder now had two new all-star players to go along with their strong core that included the reigning-MVP Russell Westbrook, one of the better centers in the league in Steven Adams, and a strong perimeter defender in Andre Roberson. Expectations were high for the Thunder in a stacked Western Conference, and in the end, they improved...by one win. The team would end up losing in the first round of the playoffs for the second year in a row, leading many to wonder; what went wrong? And by all accounts, it looks like a big issue was one of their new "all-star players"; Carmelo Anthony. For the entirety of his career at that point, Anthony was the star player on his team. He was a 10-time all-star, a career 24.8 points per game scorer, and a former scoring champion. It seemed like a huge acquisition for the Thunder. Unfortunately, it didn't pan out. Melo would put up the worst numbers of his career this past season, averaging 16.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game while shooting 40% from the field and 36% from three-point range. On top of that, Anthony was not able to adjust to his new role, even laughing at the idea of coming off the bench when asked by a reporter. It was such a bad fit that when Anthony wasn't on the floor during the playoffs, the Thunder outscored the Utah Jazz. It became clear very quickly; Carmelo Anthony & the Oklahoma City Thunder were a match made in hell. Anthony and the Thunder parted ways after the season, as he was sent to the Atlanta Hawks. The Hawks would buyout Anthony, allowing him to sign with the Houston Rockets for the veteran's minimum. However, Melo won't be the star player in Houston either, as they already have James Harden and Chris Paul. Anthony will have to become a team player and be willing to do what's best for the team, not just him. He has to prove that OKC was just a bad situation and that the problem wasn't with him.

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