2014 Surprise! Who's your next Larry Sanders?

[NovU]

I'd probably pick Larry Sanders and Tobias Harris as the biggest unlikely surprise of last season. Throw in Paul George(MIP) if you want but he was expected to step up in Danny Granger's shoes anyways, which he did. Even then he mostly made noise in the playoffs. Otherwise I'd say his emergence was expected to certain degrees.

Larry Sanders however was nearly a waived player and now he's the biggest paid player on his team. As for Tobias Harris, he was a bonafide stat sheet filler like Batum with healthy wrist, which nobody really expected even after the trade. They were indeed the gems that a lot of people overlooked upon.

So in which player(s) do you see a huge potential to be the surprise of 2014 season(aka hidden gem)? No Andre Drum fanbois because great things are already expected unless he goes Shaqtastic. And no Daye unless you're benji.

[Rokyn]

Well who knows what happens. If I were to put my bet on some people it would probably be JJ Redick, Eric Bledsoe, or either Jeremy Lamb/Perry Jones. These players will definitely get more responsibilities and playing time this season. I'm a fan of the Perry Jones and Jeremy Lamb potential bench duo and JJ Redick is going to contribute a lot to the Clippers escpecially with CP3 as his point guard. You could also say Eric Bledsoe was a small surprise last season but he needs a lot of work and polish as a point guard.

[Alejandrov011]

I give some coins to:
• the Greek rookie of the Bucks,
• Archie Goodwin, if he gets enough minutes

[Kenny]

I'm hoping Evan Fournier can step up this season. Towards the end of last season, he showed some glimpses of what he can do. And with Iguodala gone, he should have more opportunities.

[Andrew]

With Jefferson and Millsap gone in Utah, Enes Kanter is probably going to have a pretty good opportunity to get a little closer to his per 36 numbers.

[Alpha_]

With Jefferson and Millsap gone in Utah, Enes Kanter is probably going to have a pretty good opportunity to get a little closer to his per 36 numbers.

I second that.

Jared Sullinger will have a chance to show his real potential. With the departure of KG, they should insert him in the starting lineup. As for Jeremy Lamb, I do hope he will have a breakout season.

[NovU]

I actually think whatever Enes Kanter does will be a surprise. And Sullinger actually had done some nice things last season. I want to see him lead his team to the 9th seed.

Some unfamiliar names like Perry Jones, Goodwin, Greek rookie of the Bucks. Sure will be a heck of a surprise if they make an impact.

[Bella]

Enes Kanter and Derrick Favours. I remember seeing Enes play ages ago, and I liked him quite a lot.

[Moz]

Jimmy Butler (being a starter this season) and Marquis Teague (Rose still adjusting and Hinrich will be Hinrich) will have their break-out season

[Its_asdf]

Everyone talks about Kanter and Favors being awesome next year, but I expect Alec Burks to be a guard to look out for. He's probably not going to wow anyone with insane statistical output, but I can see him being a player people will suddenly go "oh man there's a guy who's got some potential to be a really good starter in this league."

Derrick Williams is also another guy I want to see succeed, but he'll need to get traded out of Minnesota first for that to happen.

[rise]

Jeremy Lamb, Thomas Robinson, Dennis Schroeder, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Moe Harkless, and Tony Wroten are going to surprise a lot of people this year.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Mullens as well. He's going to be coached by a top 5 coach in the league, has the game's best point guard setting him up for easy looks, and should still get ample opportunities. He's crazy talented, but dumber than a brick. If he can figure things out, I see him being a legit 3rd big, but that's a big "if."

[Stress Fracture]

Bias aside, I would pick Jeremy Lin. Pick-and-Rolls with Howard can be deadly, assuming he learned a lot from (H)Akeem.

[shadowgrin]

Jeremy Lin. Pick-and-Rolls with Howard

Dwight can't even do decent pick and rolls consistently with one of the two PGs that's really good at doing it (Chris Paul's the other one), much less with Jeremy Lin.

[NovU]

Bias aside, I would pick Norris Cole. Pick-and-Pop with Oden can be deadly, assuming he learned a lot from ALfonso Morning.

[deihatein]

Bias aside, I would pick Jose Calderon. Pick-and-Pop with Dirk can be deadly, assuming he learned a lot from Mike James.

[Alpha_]

Bias aside, I would pick Mario Chalmers. Pick-and-Pop with Bosh can be deadly, assuming he learned a lot from Joel Anthony.

[dare]

Evan Turner of the Sixers...

[shadowgrin]

lol no. Noel has a greater chance of playing in the season opener than Turner finally loving up to his potential.

[Spree#8]

Evan Turner of the Sixers...

Like shadow said, not gonna happen. He still can't shoot, gets blocked often when he tries to go inside (and then complains to the refs instead of getting back to play defense) and his legendary ball handling usually leads to absolutely nothing. The problem with Turner - other than his terrible scoring efficiency - is he can kind of do everything, but does nothing really well. Maybe except for rebounding, which he's way above average at for his position. As far as defense goes, he's not too bad on that end unless he has Doug Collins come up with a brilliant idea of playing him at small forward, where he gets overpowered by pretty much everyone. Unfortunately for him, swingmen usually need to excel at something more than rebounding to have a really good career in the NBA. At this point, I can't see that being a possibility. He hasn't developed at all since coming to the league and while we were happy to see his flashes of good play back in the day, they don't cut it anymore. When the season starts, he'll have already turned 25 and continues to be consistently inconsistent. An All-Star once a month, a scrub 90% of the time. Good fit with Spencer Hawes.

[stereoxide]

Wesley Johnson. LOL

[Axel]

Kemba Walker

[Alpha_]

Mo Harkless, Ben McLemore and Jonas Valanciunas.

[_Steve_]

Mo Harkless, Ben McLemore and Jonas Valanciunas.

No, never, maybe.

[bowdown]

Derrick Favors imo can be the next Jermaine O neil.

[Alpha_]

SteveHTOWN, Yeah, Mo Harkless will likely have limited minutes because of Afflalo. I can see McLemore being the runner-up of the ROY award.