The NBA season is one week short of the All-Star break and while some players to go the All-Star Game in New York, other players need to sit at home for a little while and realize how they need to grow as professionals. Rookies, in particular, are players who face that challenge and their organizations are depending on them to grow up. Here are three specific examples of players that were expected to be better by now.
Zach LaVine, Minnesota Timberwolves
LaVine is the player who openly expressed his disgust and displeasure after being drafted by the Timberwolves. The vines and images of LaVine reacting in the arena on draft night last June went viral and it wasn’t a very good look for him. Now that he’s in the NBA, though, LaVine needs to carry himself as a professional. He certainly has potential, and that’s what makes him so irritating.
On Nov. 28 against the Los Angeles Lakers, LaVine – who played college ball at UCLA, near where the Lakers play – scored 28 points in just 26 minutes. He hit 11 of 14 shots and was the star of Minnesota’s 120-119 win over the home team at Staples Center.
LaVine showed his promise on that night but it’s something which rarely comes back to the surface. In a few other games this season, he’s put up big numbers but they’ve been in garbage time games when his team had no chance of winning. He scored 22 points in a 22-point loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 6. He scored 19 in a 15-point loss to the Spurs on Jan. 10. His one other good performance in a winning effort was a 17-point game on Jan. 28 in a win over the Boston Celtics. For the most part, though, LaVine drifts through 20-minute nights scoring just a handful of points. He has so much to learn in terms of being consistent.
Shabazz Napier, Miami Heat
It is surprising to see Napier struggle the way he has in Miami. It’s true that the Heat are in transition and have struggled a little more than they had hoped and it’s also true that without LeBron James, Miami is trying to redefine itself. Yet, Napier is so much faster than Norris Cole and a capable perimeter defender. He figured to become more of a factor at point guard for the Heat – especially since Cole has not been the answer at the point this season, averaging only 6.2 points per game to this point in the season.
However, Napier is averaging only 5.1 points per game and is finding it hard to break through. His learning curve is proving to be steeper than anyone imagined given that he led Connecticut to the national title last year and was a more polished college player than many of the freshmen or sophomores who come out after a brief college career. Napier was not that kind of player but he’s still not developing in Miami. Napier had six straight games with double-figure scorelines in late November, but he hasn’t scored in double figures since Jan. 16. He’s in need of a break – we’ll see what happens after All-Star week ends.
P.J. Hairston, Charlotte Hornets
The troubled shooting guard, who ran into all sorts of off-court problems at the University of North Carolina, was given a second chance not just by the NBA, but by Charlotte, close to where he played college ball. This was supposed to be the comfortable landing spot for Hairston in a state he knew well. This was supposed to be the NBA city where Hairston had the best possible chance to succeed. Yet, he’s averaging only 5.3 points per game.
He is a shooter – that’s what he did better than anything else in college – but he’s not filling up the stat sheet. He’s shooting a paltry 31.6 percent from the field. And if he’s only going to average 0.4 assists per game, he better knock down a lot more shots. So far, that’s not happening for a Charlotte team that badly needs offense and will only make the playoffs if it gets more shooting help.
