Houston Rockets
Breakout candidate: Ben McLemore
To be honest, it was difficult to select a breakout candidate for such a veteran-laden team like the Houston Rockets. And this certainly isn’t the ideal selection. Nevertheless, I went with Ben McLemore as the team’s potential breakout player in 2019-20. Maybe this will look foolish in a couple of weeks, but I believe this is a real possibility.
Even though McLemore has had a rough, to say the least, start to his NBA career, I still believe that there’s at least a small chance that he could right the ship on his career. McLemore won’t be asked to do much, and will certainly have a niche role with the team. Couple that with Gerald Green‘s injury, and I believe there’s a path where McLemore could emerge as a legit rotation player this season.
If McLemore puts the work in and plays to his role, there’s no question he can be a “breakout” player for the Rockets, considering the circumstances. Context has to be used here. McLemore is not going to have a breakout season in terms of counting stats, but he could in terms of role.