The NBA Next Breakout Superstar?

In today's NBA we are often looking for the next story of triumph and success. We are often waiting and debating about who is going to be the next breakout player. Last season it was Pascal Siakam, of the Toronto Raptors. This year it is quite easily Devonte' Graham of the Charlotte Hornets.

Graham isn't being talked about nationally because of how little attention the Hornets receive. They only play 3 games on National TV this year. Anyone who has kept up with the Hornets at all should know that they've been impressive, compared to the expectations that were set for them before the season started. They are currently 8-13, currently sitting in the 9th seed in the Eastern Conference only one game back from the 8th seed.

Devonte' Graham has been quite impressive this year scoring 18.2 points, 7.4 assists, and 3.5 rebounds. To put this into comparison last season Graham averaged 4.7 points, 2.6 assists, and 1.4 rebounds. Last season Graham only played 46 games and had 3 starts, this season he has played in all 21 games and has started in 11 of them.

Graham has been quite impressive for the Hornets so far. Graham has lead the Hornets in points and assists, and he's second in 3 point percentage. Graham has lead the Hornets into a possible push for the playoffs. He truly is the breakout star this season, but only time will tell when the National Media coverage will catch up to it.

Can The Cleveland Browns Turn It Around?

The Cleveland Browns are currently 1-2, with their only win being against the New York Jets. When they played the Jets, they were without Sam Darnold and were forced to play with 3rd stringer, Luke Falk. The Browns looked unstoppable and seemed to have bounced back from the horrific week 1 loss to the Titans, the final score was 43 to 13.

In week 3, the Browns lost to the Rams 20-13 in a heartbreaking fashion. The Browns were the 6 yard line with 4 attempts to score. Baker Mayfield's first pass was overthrown, second one was tipped, the 3rd one was incomplete, and the 4th one was ultimately intercepted with 30 seconds left in the game. The Rams would take a knee and win the game. What made this loss feel even worst than normal was the fact that Daniel Jones looked like a top 5 quarterback, passing for 336 yard, 2 passing touchdowns. and rushing for 2 more touchdowns. With Odell being traded from the Giants, the question was being asked on if Odell would've been better off with Jones instead of Mayfield.

The Browns biggest problem is their offensive line, they can't seem to protect Mayfield most of the time. The Coaching staff for the Browns needs to address this problem and quickly change their playbook to adjust. With Jarvis Landry and Odell Beckham, the Browns, in theory, should have no problem moving the ball at all. With Baker having little to no time to throw, they should be running more slant plays and screens for Odell and Landry. When Odell catches the slant is when he's the most dangerous, the Giants mainly ran slant plays to Odell and it proved to be the most effective.

The Browns arguably have the best wide receiver duo in the league with Landry and Beckham, it's ultimately up to the coaching staff to adjust to their glaring weakness on the line. Odell Beckham is the most electrifying receiver in the league, and Baker has the balls to throw any play ball up to Odell. This quarterback-reciver duo should be working and they need to have a better record than 1-2. If the Browns coaching staff doesn't turn this around. this has the chance to leading to most of that staff being fired before December.

Rookie no more! Will the younger generation rise up?

This exciting NBA has many story lines about teams preping for their window of championships in the next 2-3 years. But one of the most important story lines are the rookies who played so well in their rookie year. With the top 3 players of that rookie class. The top 3 were Luka Doncic, Trea Young, and Deandre Ayton. Who will have there season this year?

Luka Doncic won the Rookie of the year for his first season. His career looks so promising for so many reasons. The first one is because he just got help from another young star in Kristaps Porzingis. This will take off pressure on the Luka in every possion. they are both young and can work well together if they have time to develop a good duo in the two of them. Also Luka is greatest weakness is his athleticism and that can be covered with good coaching and training in athleticism.Luka is looking to improve his game and make his team a real threat in the near future.

Trea Young is also coming off a great season from the last. His second hal of the season had him putting great numbers and triple doubles in multiple games. He put the pressure on voters to look away from luka in the voting process for Rookie of the year. Tea is a player who has shown great skill but now must face defense that are more prepared for his game this season. they will be waiting to see if he can still play his game again this year.

the final player to talk about is the number 1 pick Deandre Ayton. He had a solid year with his team the year before. I believe we wont see the best version of Deandre this coming season because the sun management isn't playing a plan. the team has no path to improving and it is showing. i believe Deandre is going to play well this year but nothing that will over shadow the other two because they will have the ball more then him. Deandre will have to put a practice in defense but his offense will show how good he could get.

Overall the future isn't that far away. it could happen this year where young players take the crown from the older players this or next season. There is always a toss up on who and what team will show that. there is a chance that these teams that just formed will have a short life span.Which one of theses players will succeed is all about work and luck for the most part.

The New York Giants Horrific Season

The New York Giants have been the absolute laughing stock of the entire league since trading away Odell Beckham and losing Landon Collins for nothing. So far this season hasn't even began but has been filled with many disappoints.

Sterling Shepard has suffered a fractured thumb and is listed as week-to-week. Sterling Shepard is going to be the best receiver on this team and hearing the news that he's already hurt is going to make any Giants fan discouraged about this upcoming season. Shepard will ultimately come back and be healthy again, which is a great thing for the Giants fans.

Corey Coleman has suffered a torn acl, that just means he's out for the rest of the season. Golden Tate said that Coleman was having a great offseason before this point. Tate also admitted that it's been a very deflating 24 hours in the wide receiver room.

The Giants have been having a very horrific offseason and it seems like it will only translate into a terrible season. The Giants only hope is that Saquon Barkley has an incredible season. I believe in Barkley who has already shown in his rookie year that he is going to be truly special and has what it takes to be an all-time great.

The Biggest Issue Facing Zion Williamson

Zion Williamson played a total of 9 minutes and recorded 11 points and 3 rebounds. In those 9 minutes Williamson showed how excited he could be in the league, having a few highlight plays being shown all over ESPN, Twitter, and Youtube. Ultimately Zion would sit for the rest of the Summer League as a "precautionary."

This "precautionary" has created a story of it's own as everyone is debating if the biggest issue facing Zion Williamson is his weight. Zion is the second heaviest NBA player, coming in at 284 pounds. Williamson is a 19 year old kid and still hasn't played an official regular season game. Zion is going to lose weight and the Pelicans will make sure he gets the right. They will have him working with their nutritionist to make sure Zion hits his ideal weight. Zion Williamson's weight will not be an issue with him by his 2nd year or 3rd year, at the latest.

The biggest issue facing Zion Williamson is the fact that he is Zion Williamson. Zion hasn't played a single game in the league and is already being compared to LeBron James and talked about if he will be one of the greatest players of all-time. If Zion has a bad game it'll be front page news, if he hits the "rookie wall," that almost all rookies hit, there will be discussion on if Zion is actually worth the hype. The pressure the media and society as a whole has place on this 19 year old kid is incredible. He's front page news, he's in everyone's debates about basketball, even Drake wore Zion's jersey during one of his concerts when Zion was still in high school.

With all of this hype there definitely some resentment from players around the league, not every player just some. Some of the players are probably feeling like what did this guy do to get this much hype? Zion Williamson will be a target to some of these players, they will try their hardest to ball out on him and lock him up to help make a name for themselves. It'll be like when Lonzo Ball was a rookie and Patrick Beverly went after him all game. Patrick locked Lonzo up from full court and made Lonzo's life that night terrible.

Zion's biggest issue he will face is the hype that surrounds him. If he doesn't become a great player in his first game in the NBA, then he will talked about as a bust. The pressure he faces is incredible and it's unbelievable that a 19 year old will face this issue. Zion Williamson will lose that weight that shouldn't even be a discussion of debate.

Ben Simmons got paid! What does the Sixers want?

The Philadelphia 76ers have just signed Ben Simmons to a have a 170 million dollar extension for 5 years. The sixers have made sure to keep there young talent for a good while longer. But will this experiment work?

The pros with signing this extension for Ben is pretty straight forward. The first is he has his max money early on he doesn't have to try and prove he is worth it now. Also the sixers have given him a the message that they believe in his game for future seasons. He can train and improve with confidants from his coaching staff. For the sixers the pros are keeping a young talent who's can so many things on court. There are very few players who has his skill sets in the league.

The only questions that this move bring up is what kind of team does the sixers want. They have also express the same concern in keep their young center Joel Embiid for the future. The issue with this is both Ben and Joel are inside scores and must share the paint. Ben is a point guard but doesn't have a shoot to extend his range to help his co-star Joel Embiid.There has been reports saying he getting better but in game it doesn't show. The talent of Ben Simmons is unquestionable but still lacks so much that his future his always in a weired spot. He may have gotten his extension but i believe the sixers have hope that he will develop the one important shot so he and his co-star can play together more fluidly.

The Houston Rockets Demise

With the acquisition of Russell Westbrook, the Houston Rockets are looking at unprecedented territory. This new NBA duo is use to having the ball in their hand all the time. Over the last 5 NBA seasons Westbrook and Harden have been one and two in a variety of categories, usage rate, points, assists, steals, field goals attempts, and free throws. Westbrook and Harden are use to having the ball in their hands a majority of the time, with these two now on the same team they will have to learn how to compromise on the court.

These two players are going to have to learn how to play without the ball. Both Westbrook and Harden are often criticized for their off-ball play. Westbrook has potential to becoming the best slasher in the NBA, if he can learn how to move better without the ball. With Westbrook's athleticism he can easily catch alley-oops and be hard for any player to defend the entire game. James Harden could become a lot better at his off-ball play also, he is a phenomenal shooter and has the chance to become even more unguardable. If Harden could learn from Stephen Curry off-ball play, he could learn how to keep moving without stopping. Curry is constantly moving and is always getting wide open 3's, if Harden could learn from this he could become the most unstoppable force in the league.

The best solution for the Rockets could be that Russell Westbrook's and James Harden's would be to do what they did when Chris Paul was on the team. Westbrook and Harden should have their minutes so they only play 18-20 minutes max together, the rest of the game they should make sure at least Harden or Westbrook is on the floor at all times.

Ultimately if the Rocket's don't come up with a plan on how to successfully play James Harden and Russell Westbrook this experiment could blow up this team. James Harden is coming off of the 2nd highest usage rate of all-time, the highest usage rate of all-time is Westbrook during the 2016-2017 season where he won MVP.

The Rockets now have two former MVP's on their team and have potential to make this team something special. With that being said, this experiment could blow up in everyones face and potentially get the Rocket's Head  Coach and General Manager fired if this doesn't work out. I believe in them to figure this out, but the first few months will be very rocky.