The 2015 Rookie of the Year award winner Andrew Wiggins led a talented cast of first-year players but there is no question that injuries took away from this season’s class –including three top picks that never got the opportunity to showcase their skills. It’ll be interesting to see how fantasy general managers value these guys in drafts next season as we’ve only seen a small sample.
Here is a look at three top picks that didn’t get the chance to play to their potential this year and what we can expect from them looking forward to next season.
Jabari Parker, Milwaukee Bucks
Parker averaged 12.3 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game for the Bucks in his first NBA season but it was limited to 25 games by an ACL injury that required surgery. The second overall pick from the 2014 NBA Draft left a strong enough impression to expect a major leap from him next year, assuming this isn’t a two-year injury. Sometimes – although it’s become rarer these days – ACL injuries linger into a second season.
At 6’8’’, 240 pounds Parker has the potential to be a matchup nightmare for other teams trying to guard him on the wing especially with such incredible speed and athleticism. Parker will need to develop his shooting in order to become a more complete player but with an excellent head coach in Jason Kidd and every opportunity in front of him, he looks like he could be a strong value pick next season. You have to like the fact that the Bucks did a lot of growing with him sidelined and he’ll return to a stronger cast next season.
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Philadelphia’s management is fully committed to bottoming out in order to rebuild their roster with the right players and while they decided 2014 NBA Rookie of the Year Michael Carter-Williams didn’t fit the bill, they are fully committed to Embiid as one of their franchise players. The 7’0’’, 250-pound center would have likely been able to play at some point in his rookie year after having foot surgery but the 76ers elected to keep him out for the entire year in order to give him more of an opportunity to grow and strengthen himself for his debut. Embiid has the potential to be a dominant power center in an Eastern Conference largely void of them. It wouldn’t be a surprise if he made a major statistical impact right away kind of what we saw with Nerlens Noel, who also sat out his rookie season.
#Sixers Embiid doing some standstill shooting. Has definitely put on a few. pic.twitter.com/wqlRl5haNB
— Tom Moore (@tmoore76ers) January 5, 2015
With Embiid, you’ll want to keep an eye on his weight issues as some reports have indicated that head coach Brett Brown is not very pleased with him. Hopefully he shows otherwise in the summer.
Julius Randle, Los Angeles Lakers
The Lakers were absolutely devastated when Randle suffered a broken tibia that ended his rookie year. What’s painful is that time is ticking for Kobe Bryant and Randle, who was supposed to be an integral piece, was lost after just 14 minutes of action. However, it might have been best for the team’s long term fortunes as they were able to bottom out, shut down Bryant’s season early and secure another top pick.
Randle is back to 100% according to most reports as he’s spent the entire year rehabbing. He will spend the summer working hard to prepare for what will hopefully be his first full NBA season. At 6’9’’, 250 pounds Randle is an absolute beast in the paint and Los Angeles will lean heavily on him as one of their core pieces to build around moving forward. Randle has all of the tools to thrive as a power forward. While he will have a tougher time reaching his potential against much better competition in the Western Conference than what he would face in the Eastern Conference, it’s only a matter of time before he breaks through with big things expected from him looking forward to the 2015-16 NBA season.
