📝 usncan Note: Three Western Conference Players To Watch This Upcoming Season
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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – MARCH 20: Santi Aldama #7 of the Memphis Grizzlies reacts after making a basket against the Golden State Warriors in the first half at Chase Center on March 20, 2024 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
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The summer can be the spark of joy that an organization needs. It can be the acquisition of a star that transforms a team into a powerhouse, or a fire sale that allows for a fresh start.
Sometimes acquisitions aren’t the biggest changes a franchise can face. The development of a rotation player can be the win on the margins that saves an organization millions of dollars. A first round pick blossoming into a starter can cement a rotation. A starter flirting with all-star production can catapult a team into contention. Here are a few players that could be looked at differently come next summer:
Brandon Williams
Who? Brandon Williams hasn’t made much of a mark in the NBA, but he’ll have plenty of opportunities this season for the Dallas Mavericks. Kyrie Irving suffered a torn ACL last season, and didn’t receive surgery on the injury until March 26th. There’s a chance that the 33-year-old is able to return at some point late in the season, but it isn’t out of the realm of possibilities for him to be out the entire year.
Anyway, the depth chart shows that there is ample opportunity for him to make an impact. D’Angelo Russell was signed to fill the position as a starter, but the backup role is more than up for grabs. Max Christie and Dante Exum don’t generally handle the ball very much, and Ryan Nembhard was only signed as an undrafted free-agent.
Williams only played a tick over 400 minutes last year, but he was wildly successful during that short stint. He had a 59.2 effective field goal percentage, which made him one of only three point guards in the NBA that hit that mark over the course of the entire season. He puts a ton of pressure on the rim and has shown a propensity for getting to the free throw line. A strong season would give him a chance to prove his worth as a capable backup on the open market next summer.
Santi Aldama
Aldama was rewarded in June with a contract offer from the Memphis Grizzlies that will pay him $52.5 million over the next three years. That values him as a rotational piece that can occasionally start games for the Grizzlies, which he will most likely have to do in the beginning part of the season. Jaren Jackson Jr. may miss some of the early part of the year after getting surgery for a turf toe injury that should have him re-evaluated in late September or early October. Zach Edey is also expected to miss the beginning portion of the season after getting surgery on his ankle in June. That means that plenty of minutes will be available for Aldama to soak up to kick off the 2025-26 regular season.
Last year, Aldama continued to showcase his worth. He hit career highs across the board with an efficient shot chart to boot. Nabbing over six rebounds a game while pouring in an additional 12 points made him an incredibly valuable role player. His versatility in being able to play both center and power forward works well with the injury history of Jackson Jr.
Aldama provides strong efficiency for a player that jacks it up as much as he does. He ranked sixth among big men in effective field goal percentage for players that took as many 3-pointers per game as he did. That level of offensive versatility is key for providing spacing to players like Ja Morant. On top of that efficiency, he had the 31st best box plus/minus in the NBA. Continuing to play at that level will make him a certifiable starter moving forward.
Shaedon Sharpe
It’s always a leap to make a declaration that a player is about to enter into the star discussion, but there is some hope that Sharpe can reach that level. The basic offensive stats started to rise last year when he posted over 18 points per game while hitting 45 percent of his field goal attempts. He loves to take shots in the deep midrange and is relatively effective at hitting those looks (47 percent last year). The dynamism he shows at the basket is what elevates him into a gamechanger. His ferocity on his finishes matched the numbers as he hammered home 71 percent of his attempts at the rim last year, which was one of the best marks in the league for a guard.
Being able to provide more efficiency on his 3-point looks while getting others involved is what is holding him back from being considered a high-end player. It’s a tough development track to reach, but a better Portland team should allow for him to flourish. On top of that, lackadaisical defense is an issue that head coach Chauncey Billups has pushed as being a weakness of Sharpe’s.
The flashes have been tantalizing, but it’ll take a major step forward for Sharpe to reach the heights he has envisioned for himself.
