Every season, there seems to be at least one player at every position that emerges from out of nowhere for a breakout second half. A year ago, the Utah Jazz traded Enes Kanter to the Oklahoma City Thunder and gave a young center named Rudy Gobert the opportunity to prove that he belongs in the NBA. That move resulted in Gobert putting together a dominant second half while the Jazz became one of the stingiest defensive teams in the entire association. So who are the prime candidates for a breakout second half for the 2015-16 season? Here is a look at the best NBA players ready to breakout:
PG: D’Angelo Russell, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers’ decision to have their second-overall pick come off the bench behind Jordan Clarkson has been talked about a lot this season. However, Russell has put together some impressive performances already and it might be only a matter of time before he gets the opportunity to start in Los Angeles. Russell has improved his numbers, averaging 13.5 points, 3.5 assists, 2.0 rebounds, 2.0 three-point shots and 1.2 steals in just 24.3 minutes per game over the past two weeks and he is shooting close to 50-percent from the field over that span. The young star has developed somewhat of a swagger as he has adjusted to the NBA this season. As the Lakers continue their full-on tanking, he’s going to get more minutes as the team looks to develop him. He’s one of our NBA players ready to breakout…assuming the Lakers decide to take the training wheels off.
SG: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Detroit Pistons
Caldwell-Pope hasn’t been the sharpshooter that he was advertised to be when the Pistons selected him with the eighth-overall pick in the 2013 NBA Draft but there is so much more to his game and he has certainly excelled in other areas this season. Caldwell-Pope has been an outstanding defender with nearly two steals per game and while he has posted a respectable 14.4 points, 3.7 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game so far this season he has the potential to put up even bigger numbers if he can improve his three-point shooting percentage. Detroit is willing to give the 22-year-old every opportunity to show what he can do this season so don’t be surprised if he breaks through with even better numbers in the second half.
SF: Danilo Gallinari, Denver Nuggets
Gallinari didn’t wait for the second half to begin to start his breakout as he has played some of the best basketball of his career since the start of 2016. Gallinari has averaged 23.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.4 three-point shots per game over the last month of action and there is no reason to expect him to slow down anytime soon. Gallinari just signed a three-year, $45.5-million extension in August and the Nuggets have to be thrilled that they were able to lock him up at this point.
PF: Terrence Jones, Houston Rockets
Injuries have prevented Houston’s first-round pick from the 2012 NBA Draft from reaching his potential for the Rockets but he is finally healthy this season and there is every indication that he is on the verge of breaking through. Jones has averaged 9.7 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.0 assist per game this season but with Clint Capela limited at the offensive end of the floor and Donatas Motiejunas struggling to stay healthy as well it could be time for Jones to breakthrough as Houston’s starting power forward. He’s one of the quality, young NBA players ready to breakout.
C: Tristan Thompson, Cleveland Cavaliers
It took some time but the Cavaliers finally locked up Thompson with a five-year, $82-million deal that should pretty much signal the end of Timofey Mozgov’s time in Cleveland with the latter set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer it wouldn’t be a shock if the Cavaliers moved him ahead of the February trade deadline. Thompson has averaged 8.4 points and 8.5 rebounds in just 28.1 minutes per game over the past month but if Mozgov is moved then it could lead to even more minutes. Thompson lacks the ideal size of a prototypical center at 6’9’’ and 238 pounds but he makes up for it with his hustle and intelligence and there is every reason to expect him to progress as a young starter in the second half of this season.
