With the 2019-20 NBA season just about two months away, there is no shortage of players who are looking to make their mark in the league. From the incoming class of rookies to the star players now on championship-contending teams, they're all looking to prove something to everyone. Then there are these 11 players. From former all-stars looking to rebound after a rough season to sophomores looking to wash away the stink of a mediocre rookie season, these are the players that have more to prove than anyone else in the league. Now, I did want to give two honorable mentions to Bol Bol and Cam Reddish for this list. Bol was projected to be a lottery that slid all the way to the middle of the second round. He'll be looking to prove to everyone that he is still the lottery-level talent he was projected to be, but based on his draft position, I'm not sure if he'll be on the roster or in the G-League for most of the season. Reddish, on the other hand, had an underwhelming season at Duke behind Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett. Reddish will look to get out of the shadow of the two, who were both selected in the top three while Reddish went 10th. Still, he was a top 10 pick who put up decent enough numbers in college, so he's only an honorable mention here. But with that out of the way, these are the 11 players with the most to prove in the 2019-20 season.
Jamal Murray
Out of the 10 players with the biggest contracts heading into the 2019-20 season, six of them are multiple time all-stars. Out of the other four, Ben Simmons and Khris Middleton are coming off their first all-star appearances and Tobias Harris could be considered a borderline all-star. That leaves one other player; Jamal Murray. Drafted with the 7th pick in the 2015 draft, Murray has steadily built himself up to be one of the rising stars in the league. This past season, Murray averaged 18.2 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game while shooting 44% from the field and 37% three-point range. That stat line was good enough to earn a massive five-year, $170 million max extension from the Denver Nuggets. Murray is definitely a good-to-great player, but the fact that he is now one of the top 10 highest-paid players in the league has raised a few eyebrows. With that extension, Murray is going to make more Kemba Walker, Damian Lillard, and Kyrie Irving, three-point guards who are all better than Murray, who hasn't even sniffed an all-star selection yet. This season, Murray will have to prove that he deserved his max extension and that he's one of the top point guards in the league today.
Kyle Lowry
I don't think I'm alone in thinking that Kyle Lowry has been very lucky when it comes to his teammates. Don't get me wrong, Lowry is a great player in his own right, but to say he hasn't benefitted greatly from playing second fiddle to the likes of DeMar DeRozan and Kawhi Leonard isn't exactly true. These past two seasons have seen Lowry's stat lines drop, but he's still gotten all-star selections over the likes Kemba Walker in 2018 and D'Angelo Russell in 2019, two players who have arguably surpassed him. Now, however, Lowry is the top guy for the Toronto Raptors now that Leonard has left for the Los Angeles Clippers. Having played the sidekick for the about seven years now, this season Lowry will have to prove that he can be the first option and lead his team back to the NBA finals.
Markelle Fultz
Markelle Fultz's season was an absolute disaster. That's not all that controversial of a statement. And if you're getting déjà vu from reading that, it's because that's pretty much what I wrote about Fultz's rookie season last year. After a rookie season that saw the #1 overall pick in the 2017 draft play in only 14 games due to what was called a "scapular muscle imbalance." He did show some promise, however, when he became the youngest player in NBA history to record a triple-double towards the end of the season. Things looked good to start the season for Fultz, as he got the starting shooting guard job, only to lose it after 15 games when the Philadelphia 76ers traded for Jimmy Butler. From there, back to disaster. Fultz would only play in four more games before agent stepped in and said Fultz would not play until his shoulder injury was evaluated. That injury was diagnosed as thoracic outlet syndrome, which affects nerves between the neck and shoulders. Fultz would be traded to the Orlando Magic midway through the season, where he has yet to play. Just like last year, Fultz will look to bounce back from these major setbacks and develop into a valuable player for the Magic.
Michael Porter Jr
Coming out of high school in 2017, all eyes were on Michael Porter Jr. The Nathan Hale High School star had already collected a series of awards before he had even played a game in college, including the Naismith Prep, Gatorade, and USA Today Player of the Year awards, and was named Mr. Basketball USA. Hopes were high for Porter Jr as he began his college career with the University of Missouri. Unfortunately, that career would be very short-lived. Halfway through his first game, Porter Jr injured his back and missed the rest of the season. He'd return for the quarterfinals of the SEC Tournament and the NCAA tournament before declaring for the NBA draft. Once considered a potential 1st overall pick, Porter Jr would fall to the 14th pick in the 2018 draft by the Denver Nuggets due to health concerns. Those concerns would lead to Porter Jr having another back surgery and missing the entire season. Porter Jr will be looking to prove why he was considered a top pick and that all the teams that passed on him made a big mistake.
Terry Rozier
Look...I like Terry Rozier. Not just because he's out there representing Northeast Ohio, but I do think he has talent and is at least a decent player who can be valuable to an NBA team. That being said, the fact that he's now the best player on the Charlotte Hornets should give you a good idea of bad the Hornets are right now. Rozier is coming off a season where he averaged 9 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per game while shooting 39% from the field and 35% from three-point range. That's not very good, especially when you look at who's shoes he has to fill. Going from Kemba Walker to Terry Rozier is a major downgrade. Rozier's not going to be able to completely fill the void left by Walker, but this season he'll have to prove that the Hornets made the right choice in signing him to that three-year, $56.7 million deal.
Gordon Hayward
Before he was even in the NBA, Gordon Hayward had the reputation of an underdog. Coming off a sophomore season at Butler where he and the Bulldogs inches away from upsetting Duke in the National Championship game, Hayward was selected with the 9th overall pick by the Utah Jazz. In his seven seasons with the Jazz, Hayward would develop into one of the league's most underrated players, averaging 21.9 points, 5.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and a steal per game while shooting 47% from the field and 40% from three-point range in his final season in Utah. Hayward would also make his first all-star appearance in that season before signing a big four-year, $128 million deal with the Boston Celtics. Unfortunately, Hayward's debut season with the Celtics would end after five minutes when he dislocated his left ankle and fractured tibia. He'd miss the rest of the season, and when he returned the next year he wasn't even close to the same. Averaging 11.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.4 assists per game while shooting 47% from the field and 33% from three-point range, Hayward came off the bench most of the season and while he had moments where he looked great, he was clearly far from the strong scorer he was. This season, Hayward while look to prove that he can still be the player he was as the Celtics look to move on from the Kyrie Irving-era.
Kevin Knox
The negative reaction Kevin Knox got when he was selected with the 9th pick in the 2018 draft was brutal, but not surprising. The New York Knicks fans have a history of booing their team's draft picks. The most infamous of those was Kristaps Porzingis, who quickly proved them wrong with a strong rookie season. Kevin Knox's season, however, was not as strong. Knox would finish the year with averages of 12.8 points and 4.5 rebounds while shooting poorly, with percentages of 37% from the field and 34% from three-point range. On top of that, Knox failed to make an All-NBA Rookie Team, being passed over for the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kevin Huerter, Mitchell Robinson, and Landry Shamet, all of whom were selected after Knox. This season, Knox will have to do the same thing he had to do last year; prove the Knicks' fans wrong and show that they made the right choice in taking him over those taken after him.
Cam Johnson
We've all seen the clip. I know that Coby White reacted the way he did when Cam Johnson was drafted 11th was out of happiness...but you can tell he was shocked when he heard it. After all, Cam Johnson wasn't projected to go anywhere from late in the first round to early in the second round. Even with a solid stat line of 16.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 51% from the field and 46% from three-point range, it looked like few teams in the lottery were considering using their pick on Johnson. However, the Phoenix Suns liked what they saw, as they traded their 6th overall pick to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Johnson, despite needing a point guard and the fact that Coby White himself was still available. This season, Johnson is looking to prove that he deserved to be a lottery pick and that every team that saw him as a late first-rounder was wrong.
Miles Bridges
Miles Bridges played like ass in his rookie season. Those are his words, not mine. Bridges was coming off a sophomore season at Michigan State where he averaged 17.1 points, 7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 46% from the field and 36% from three-point range, being named to the All-Big first-team and the All-American second team in the process. Drafted with the 12th pick in the 2018 draft by the Los Angeles Clippers, Bridges was traded for the 11th pick Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on draft night to the Charlotte Hornets. In his rookie season, Bridges would average 7.5 points, 4 rebounds, and 1.2 assists per game while shooting 46% from the field and 33% from three-point range. Maybe "played like ass" is a bit harsh, but compared to the other lottery picks, he was underwhelming, finishing in the bottom five in terms of scoring. Bridges will look to bounce back from a rookie season he himself saw as disappointing and become one of the better players in an already strong-looking draft class.
Mo Bamba
There was a lot of hype surrounding Mo Bamba heading into the 2018 draft. After all, he had a hit song named after him. As a freshman at Texas, the 7'1 Bamba averaged 12.9 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 3.7 blocks per game while shooting 60% from the field before he declared for the draft. Additionally, Bamba was one of the physically impressive prospects on the board, having a record 7'10 wingspan and reportedly running a staggering 3.04 three-quarter-court sprint, which is faster than the likes of Russell Westbrook, James Harden, John Wall, and Kemba Walker. The Orlando Magic jumped at the opportunity to take Bamba with the 6th pick in the draft. However, his rookie season was disappointing, with Bamba averaging 6.2 points, 5 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks while shooting 48% from the field and 30% from three-point range before a stress fracture in his left tibia took him out for the rest of the season. Bamba was not selected to either of the All-Rookie teams. With the Magic re-signing Nikola Vucevic after his all-star season this might be a little harder, but Mo Bamba will look to prove that he's not just impressive physically and can be one of the top players in his draft class.
DeMarcus Cousins
Almost everyone had written off this past season when the Golden State Warriors signed DeMarcus Cousins. Even if he was already going to miss over half of the season following Achilles tear the previous year, that still gave the Warriors a line-up full of all-stars after they had already won three of the last four NBA Championships. However, Cousins' time in Golden State was less than stellar. In his 30 games, Cousins would average 16.3 points, a career-low 8.2 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.3 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game while shooting 48% from the field and only 27% from three-point range. After tearing his left quadriceps in the first round of the playoffs, Cousins would sit out until the Finals where he played just 18 minutes per game and averaged a poor 8.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and a block per game while shooting 43% from the field and only 22% from three-point range. Cousins would end up signing a one-year deal with the Los Angeles Lakers this summer, pairing him with LeBron James and Anthony Davis. This season, Cousins will have to prove that he's still an all-star caliber player that can help lead the Lakers to the NBA Championship.
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