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  • We picked some of our favorite breakout players for the upcoming season.

  • The guys that we think are going to make a leap or should make a leap.

  • Start with your favorite guy.

  • Who is your number one breakout player?

  • Anfernee Simon's in Portland.

  • And if you watch summer league before he got hurt, he is a lot of fun.

  • Toe watching Neil O.

  • Shea, who drafted Damian Lillard, C J.

  • McCollum and then with the Clippers, drafted Blake Griffin.

  • Eric Bledsoe.

  • DeAndre Jordan calls him as naturally talented of a player as he's ever drafted, and he's going to be a player who is going to be on the floor in Portland this year.

  • And you're you look at the wings, the young wings that they have in Portland, and that's been a position for them.

  • Um, you know that they certainly need to upgrade, you know, at the three.

  • Simon's is gonna be a lot of fun.

  • Didn't go to college, went to I M G Academy for a year, so it was almost like a high school player to the N B.

  • A.

  • Did that year prep school and comes last year, and you know what Naseer Little's another player who they drafted this year.

  • Another wing who dropped Carolina.

  • They got all these young wings around in Portland.

  • Um, I'm not sure little is going to contribute much this year, but man, Simon's is a lot of fun.

  • The watch?

  • Yeah, I don't remember the last time I've heard so much buzz about a guy who is almost literally not played in the MBA is I'm hearing about Simon's and how good he is.

  • You know how, given his skill set, how is he gonna be on the floor fit with Damian Lillard and C.

  • J.

  • McCollum.

  • On the other hand, Terry Stotts has had great success with with small guards or with guards in general.

  • You know, guys who can shoot and move off the ball tend to do very well, So I'm excited for him.

  • My first pick, I wasn't really my first pick with a guy that I just I feel like I haven't talked about on podcaster and columns, and I'm very interested to see partly because I'm high on the heat.

  • I'm really excited to Obama.

  • To Biocon Do is a starting center, and now you started at the end of last year after taking the job from Hassan Whiteside.

  • Now he's locked in.

  • He's the starting center.

  • They're super high on him and, you know, he kind of like he came into the league and like, Oh, he's an athlete.

  • We know he's an athlete.

  • He's fast.

  • He could dunk, but he could do a lot of stuff.

  • He's a good pastor.

  • He could bring the ball up the floor.

  • He has a little bit of a mid range, touched it.

  • Maybe he can stretch out a little bit defensively.

  • I think they're gonna ask him to do a lot.

  • Um, he's gonna have to protect the rim.

  • And then on some nights when he plays with Kelly Olynyk, you might have to defend Stretch Fours because Kelly Olynyk is not fast enough to do it.

  • I think he's a really interesting, multi skilled, versatile player, and if he hits, I think Miami has a chance to be the third best team in the East.

  • They think they have a lot of talent and a lot.

  • It's a lot of weird, versatile talent, but he's one of the guys who can kind of make it all mess.

  • Yeah, there was a lot of talk around him this summer at us, say camp, and he wanted to be on that team.

  • He was disappointed when he didn't make it.

  • Another young player in Miami who has opened eyes already in the priests in training camp.

  • Preseason.

  • Tyler Hero.

  • It's our lucky well, he's played in preseason real quickly.

  • Who is another guy and really well, just to exchange the names.

  • Who else was on your break out lists?

  • Well, mark health faults in this regard.

  • I think he's going to be a contributing player this year for the Orlando Magic.

  • We didn't know if he was ever going to be that.

  • But while the shootings not there yet, this is still a player who can go from Point A to Point B like no one else.

  • There's a reason he was drafted first.

  • Overall, there's a reason Bryan Colangelo moved up in that in that draft to be able to take him number one.

  • And it's not because he isn't without a tremendous amount of talent, but the shoulder has been feeling better.

  • He's been practicing.

  • You've seen him fill up the box score in preseason games, and when he played a little bit in Philly.

  • You know, he you know, he can put up lots of numbers and a lot of columns.

  • And I think just for that Orlando organization to see some growth development and just to see his career stabilize this year and then start to build off of that is going to be really important.

  • Well, I mean, for them, it's huge, because who is the point guard on their team next season?

  • Because D.

  • J.

  • Augustine is a free agent, I don't view him as really a core piece of their team going forward.

  • Maybe they disagree.

  • If it's not fault, who is it?

  • Rapid fire.

  • The other guys on my list.

  • I wrote a whole column, the six most intriguing players of the season, so I tried to move off that cut.

  • I couldn't steal any years.

  • Mitchell Robinson.

  • I still I'm super.

  • He was in that column.

  • I he just does crazy things.

  • And the other guy that didn't make that column.

  • It's a It's a little obvious, but because he got injured and he plays in Memphis, I think Jaren Jackson Jr is going to be a star, not just not just a good player.

  • I think he has a chance to be a star on both ends of the floor.

  • And I looked Memphis.

  • It would be very good.

  • I just I can't wait to watch Moran and Jaren Jackson Jr together.

  • I can't wait.

  • Yeah, there there were executives who I really respect last year in that draft who were trying to get way to the top of that draft to get it.

  • Jaren Jackson Jr.

  • Who they thought he in five years might be remembered as the best player in that group.

  • And he did Maura offensively as a rookie than people expected.

  • The shooting 36% from three.

  • Yeah, on a not token amount of attempts, and you look at that draft.

  • It's interesting.

  • The leaving smaller, more wings, five of the top eight picks, or maybe even five of the top seven in that draft for big guys.

  • Bagley, eight, and Jaren Jackson Jr.

  • Wendell Carter, Mo Bamba.

  • He had the best rookie season of them.

  • I had him third on my rookie of the year ahead of eight and and I don't think it was in terms of all around play.

  • I don't think now I think Ayten and Bag Little averaged more points per game this year.

  • Probably.

  • But I think all around it wasn't close.

  • He was the best player, and another player who's season was cut short with injury last year.

  • Laurie Marketing in Chicago.

  • He He is going to be a star in this league.

  • They're gonna be able in Chicago, have a player.

  • I'm not sure he's gonna be an all N B a first or second team player, but he is going to score 20 points a game in this league until he's he's done in his mid thirties.

  • So because it's a big year for him, the Bulls have a chance to be decent and his career has kind of gone in fits and starts.

  • We'll have 10 games where he looks like a world beater, you know, get hurt or he'll go into a slump or take a lot of mid Rangers.

  • The injuries for him have been through.

  • This is the year were like the consistency has to come about this.

  • It's nice to talk about the Bulls to, you know, the way the Magic jumped up into the playoffs last year.

  • No one saw it coming I think if the Bulls get really get some solid play at the point guard, I don't think it's out of the question that they're the least competing to be in the playoffs deep into the season.

  • It look, it's the East.

  • I might be able to be the eighth man team in these.

  • Well, it's nice to talk about basketball, breakout players, extensions, fun stuff.

  • Whoa, watch podcast, every account on SportsCenter.

  • Catch him all there and we'll be talking basketball for a long time now.

  • Thanks for joining us, guys.

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We picked some of our favorite breakout players for the upcoming season.

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