NBA: Five Players Poised To Make The Jump Into Stardom This Season
By Ryan McNeill
Mar 27, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Zach LaVine (8) dunks against the Houston Rockets in the second half at Toyota Center. Rockets won 120 to 110 .Mandatory Credit: Thomas B. Shea-USA TODAY Sports
Zach LaVine, Minnesota Timberwolves
Last year all of the media spotlight fell on top pick and Rookie of the Year Andrew Wiggins.
This season, almost all of the attention will be on Kevin Garnett, Wiggins or current top pick Karl-Anthony Towns. But fans shouldn’t sleep on current dunk champ Zach Lavine or count him out as just another high flyer who only dunks.
During his last 15 games of the regular season, Lavine blasted through the rookie wall on the way to averaging 19.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 5.7 assists.
Let that sink in: he nearly averaged 20, 5 and 5 during the last 15 games of his rookie season – while fellow rookies hit the wall.
Lavine scored more points than Marcus Smart (7.4 points per game during that stretch), grabbed more boards than Jusuf Nurkic (4.7 rebounds) and dished out more dimes than Dante Exum (2.9).
Plus, I really hope he tries to dunk a free throw this season during a blowout game.