06-28-2019, 12:51 AM
While much of the focus of the NBA Offseason is about stars changing teams, there isnt necessarily a dramatic impact, say to LeBron James production going from Miami to Cleveland. Leaving aside the possibility of more changes to come with the Cavaliers roster, there isnt an obvious reason that James numbers should be significantly different next season. His greatness will travel. On the other hand, there are some players that are looking at better opportunities next year, with the possibility of more playing time and touches leading to potentially better production. Here are 10 guys that could have bigger roles with their respective clubs next season: Chris Bosh, C, Miami - Wooed by the Rockets, Bosh decided to return to the Heat, even in the wake of LeBron James departure. Sure, newcomers Luol Deng and Josh McRoberts will have big roles in the frontcourt, but if anyone is going to have a bigger role in LeBrons absence, doesnt it have to be Bosh? He had 12.1 field goal attempts per game last season, his fewest since his rookie year (2003-2004!) and this while hes become a more effective shooter, with a career-best 55.5% effective field goal percentage, dramatically increasing his three-point attempts to 4.5 per game. Thats up from 1.6 per game, which had been a career-best, the year before. Sure, there wont be as many open threes if Deng is handling the ball instead of LeBron, but it should come as no surprise if Bosh sees his field goal attempts go back to 15-16 per game and he gets back over 20 points per game. Darren Collison, PG, Sacramento - After Isaiah Thomas departed for Phoenix, Collison moved north from the Clippers to take the Kings starting point guard job. Collison played a career-low 25.9 minutes per game last season, yet was effective enough, scoring 11.4 points and dishing 3.7 assists per game. With presumably more minutes and possibly more shots (Thomas was one of three Kings to average more than 15 field goal attempts per game), 26-year-old Collison is in position to have his numbers bounce back signfiicantly this season. Lance Stephenson, SG, Charlotte - Moving from starting shooting guard in Indiana to starting shooting guard in Charlotte doesnt necessarily mean a big change, but the Hornets let Gary Neal jack up 12.8 shots per game last season while shooting 35.3% from the field. Why not give those looks to Stephenson, who shot a career-best 49.1% from the field, averaging a career-high 14.1 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game with the Pacers last year. Jordan Hill, C, L.A. Lakers - There are newcomers at power forward for the Lakers, including Carlos Boozer, Julius Randle and Ed Davis and, between them, they will eat some minutes in the middle, but Hill is looking at a prime opportunity to start for the Lakers, a chance to build on a great finish to last season, when he averaged 15.9 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game in March and April. Hill shot a career-best 54.9% from the field last year and played more than 20 minutes per game for the first time in his career. If he can maintain that efficiency, he could be a real asset over 28-30 minutes per game as a starter. Patrick Beverley, PG, Houston - With the Rockets sending Jeremy Lin to to the Lakers, Beverley is head-and-shoulders above his competition for playing time at the point with the Rockets. Beverley may not play a bunch more, than the 31 minutes a night he averaged last season, but there are more touches available and if Beverley takes an extra couple shots per game and dishes a few more assists, he will continue on his Andrei Kirilenko, SF, Brooklyn - A 33-year-old forward coming off a season in which he averaged 5.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, while playing a career-low 19 minutes per game, Kirilenko will have to compete with younger Euro forwards Sergey Karasev and Bojan Bogdanovic for playing time but, as an established NBA player, Kirilenko should have first crack at replacing Paul Pierce in the starting lineup. With significant playing time, Kirilenko has an opportunity for something resembling a bounceback season. Donatas Motiejunas, PF, Houston - One other reason that the Rockets should have some shots available is that they let Chandler Parsons go to Dallas and only James Harden (16.5) had more than Parsons 13.3 field goal attempts per game. With a thinned-out roster, because they were trying to lure a premier free agent, there is opportunity in Houston for someone like Motiejunas, a 23-year-old left-handed 7-footer who has put up 5.6 points and 3.0 rebounds in a little over 14 minutes per game through two NBA seasons. Motiejunas had a strong showing in the Las Vegas Summer League so maybe hell find his way into a regular spot in the Houston rotation and put up some decent numbers as a result. Cody Zeller, PF, Charlotte - With Josh McRoberts moving on, there is opportunity available in the Hornets frontcourt and last years fourth overall pick, Zeller, should have the edge over this years ninth overall pick, Noah Vonleh, for a spot in the starting lineup. Zeller started slowly as a rookie, shooting 38.0% from the field before the All-Star break, but he hit 50.7% from the field after the break, averaging 7.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game in 18.3 minutes per game. If Zeller is a starter, 12 (points per game) and 8 (rebounds per game) should be possible. Anthony Morrow, SG, Oklahoma City - While the Thunder are looking at a starting lineup that will effectively include two point guards, Russell Westbrook and Reggie Jackson, there should be a regular rotation role for Morrow, a three-point bomber who hit 45.1% from beyond the arc last season and has made 42.8% on threes for his career. Morrow played under 19 minutes per game in New Orleans last season, but effectively takes over a spot from Thabo Sefolosha, who was playing 26 minutes per game for the Thunder last year. Some of those minutes would figure go to Jackson, but if Morrow plays 24 minutes a game, he could score in double figures. Hollis Thompson, SF, Philadelphia - 23-year-old Thompson started 41 games for the Sixers last season, averaging 6.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game. An undrafted free agent out of Georgetown, Thompson made 40.1% of his three-pointers as a rookie and there just arent that many great offensive options for the 76ers. Once Michael Carter-Williams and Thaddeus Young get theirs, why couldnt Thompson double last years 4.8 field goal attempts per game? Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Ryan Kalil Jersey . The day began ominously for the Rangers when star pitcher Yu Darvish was scratched from his scheduled start with stiffness in his neck. Fill-in Scott Baker gave up three hits over six innings and Chris Gimenez hit a tiebreaking two-out RBI single in the sixth off Phil Hughes. Javien Elliott Jersey . Kalish got his first hit since Sept. 11, 2012, when he rapped an RBI triple in the first inning Sunday in the Chicago Cubs 8-3 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. http://www.cheappanthersjerseyselite.com...aan-jersey. They are back to a game above .500 on the year and back to .500 on the road. It was their 10th extra time game of the year, and only the second one that did not got to a shootout. Parker Collins Jersey .com) - Eric Fehrs goal 42 seconds into overtime lifted the Washington Capitals to a 5-4 come-from-behind victory over Columbus, halting the Blue Jackets seven-game win streak. Greg Olsen Jersey .com) - The Buffalo Bills will return to the friendly confines of Ralph Wilson Stadium on Sunday when they welcome the upstart Cleveland Browns to town.WINDSOR STATION, N.S. -- He may have stumbled in the second round of the Nova Scotia Open with a two-over 73. He may have finished his day with a sloppy bogey and there may be a hurricane bearing down on Ashburn Golf Club which will mean a long day of waiting around on Saturday, but none of it could dampen the enthusiasm Adam Hadwin has been showing this week. The resident of Abbotsford, B.C., slipped back on Friday but was still smiling in a post-round chat on Friday. Hadwin, who opened with a 66 on Thursday, was slow from the gate the second time around the course. "It was just one of those days," said Hadwin. "(Thursday) everything seemed to go right. I missed it in the right places, got up and down when I needed to, made a few putts. Today was the complete opposite. I didnt hit it very well starting out." The third-year Web.com Tour player made a double on the par-3 fifth hole after hitting a shank. Yup, a shank. He bogeyed the next par-3, the eighth, before righting the ship on the back side with birdies on the 10th and 12th. There were many more opportunities over the final six holes, but nothing dropped on the exceptionally difficult greens, which are starting to cause frustration among the field. "You take a look at the last hole, I had a four-footer for par and Im lagging it," said Hadwin. "I had a putt on 14 that I had to lag from 15 feet. I had 15 feet and had to play four or five feet of break. The greens are very difficult if you get out of position and I was perfectly in position yesterday and I wasnt today." The sour ending came when he just missed a 10-footer on the 17th for a birdie and then lipped out a four-footer on the 18th for a finishing bogey. In the past, that type of conclusion to the day may have kept Hadwin steaming for some time. But as a sign of how far hes grown as a professional, he was positively chipper as he walked off the course, smiling to his fans and acknowledging the applause. "I used to have troubles putting bad shots behind me," he admitted. "They would stick with me for a little bit and thats something that I worked really hard to improve on and to get better at, and know thats going to help make me a better player." There are many who expected hed already be that better player by now, already be on the PGA Tour. Those expectations were fueled in large part by his RBC Canadian Open performance in 2010, when he finished as low Canuck, and then again in 2011 when he came within a couple of shots of winning the Open outright in front of hometown fans in Vancouver. But, not surprisingly, Hadwin couldnt keep up the meteoric rise and has found himself trying to re-set his game and his career, admitting that he probably hadnt worked hard enough. At the start of this year, he decided to re-dedicate himself, taking a more professional approach to everything he did. Blessed with immense natural talent, hee realized that alone wouldnt be enough to get him to his goal of the PGA Tour.ddddddddddddHe wanted to work hard every week and be prepared as best he could when he stepped on the first tee on Thursday. "That sort of continued from the end of last year," Hadwin said. "I thought I did a much better job of knowing the golf course, knowing where to miss and all that. Im still getting better, its still something I can improve on but Im giving it my best shot, trying to understand the golf course. . . when to be aggressive, when not to be aggressive. Obviously Im playing a lot better this year than I have in past years so it must be working." You can make a good argument that Hadwin is the most popular Canadian golfer not playing the PGA Tour. His personality is positively effervescent and he is a marketers dream, smiling and engaging fans non-stop (just this week, he inked a new sponsorship deal with Shaw). He had the largest contingent of Haligonians on Friday, who followed him around and cheered his strong play. "It is noticeable for sure," Hadwin admitted. "It is a good feeling to know you have support. On Twitter and Facebook and all those social media outlets, to hear the words of encouragement and support even when Im not playing well, (its good to know) people are supporting me. Its nice and it makes getting over rounds like this easier." Of course his improved play this season doesnt hurt either. Hadwin notched a win earlier this year in Chile and has three other top-10 finishes to sit sixth on the Web.com Tour money list with just over $200,000. He is all but guaranteed of advancing to the PGA Tour next year by finishing inside the top 25. And he admits that there have been times when hes allowed his mind to wander and think about joining the big leagues. "Ive thought about it a few times," Hadwin said, "but at the same time including playoffs I think we have 10 events, 11 events left in the year. So theres lots of events left, lots of money to be made. When you get to the golf course and get into that competition mode its All right whats my next shot? How can I hit the best shot possible? Everything future-wise kind of goes out the window and youre just focused on getting the ball in the hole in the fewest shots possible." But when hes off the course, with time on his hands, say, riding out a long weather delay, it can be a little different. "When youre sitting through Hurricane Arthur in your hotel room with nothing to do, you might start to think Greenbrier looks pretty good right now," he chuckled. Ah yes, Arthur. The hurricane is on a collision course with Halifax and organizers have already announced that there will be no play until noon on Saturday at the earliest. Judging by the forecast, that might be optimistic. For Hadwin, however, hurricane or not, hell be ready to go whenever he next tees off. Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Cheap NBA Jerseys Wholesale NHL Jerseys Wholesale MLB Jerseys Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Wholesale NCAA Jerseys Wholesale Football Jerseys Wholesale Basketball Jerseys Wholesale Baseball Jerseys ' ' '