The NBA season is just over a month away, and these three players are expected to return to form.
“Breakout” and “bounceback” candidates are two very different things. Players like Alexandre Sarr, who flashed promise last season but was not a star, would be breakout player.
Bounceback players are harder to predict, as they require a previous breach to stardom before falling back to lesser levels, before surging back up to stardom. In other words, injuries, role mismanagement, and a poor supporting cast can hold a player back, and fixing those mistakes can allow him to “bounce back.”
Whether you’re a fantasy basketball fiend looking for a value pick in your league’s draft or someone hoping your favorite player will make the cut, these three players are poised to return with a vengeance next season.
1. Jalen Suggs
After making the playoffs in 2024, the Orlando Magic were expected to take a step forward in 2025, perhaps even vie for a title. However, their offensive shortcomings, namely shooting, held them back, despite their stellar defense.
Last season, Jalen Suggs averaged a career-high 16.2 points per game, although injuries limited him to just 35 appearances, and despite an increased scoring volume, he shot only 31.4 percent from 3, down from nearly 40 percent the season prior.
Suggs is right up there with Alex Caruso, Derrick White, and Jrue Holiday as the best guard defender in the league, and the Magic seem to have found the perfect recipe for him to continue to ascend to stardom, provided he can remain healthy.
With an excellent scorer sharing the backcourt—Desmond Bane—Suggs should be able to focus on defense and facilitating. Granted, he has shared playmaking duties with Paolo Banchero rather well, but now that the Magic have the means to space the floor, Suggs should be expected to handle the ball well.
His best mark of 4.4 assists per game has not been matched since his rookie season, although he can be expected to play a more complete role in Orlando next season, provided he can stay healthy.
2. LaMelo Ball
When LaMelo Ball is on the court, he is a bona fide star. At least, his scoring output suggests that he is.
Ball has not passed the 50-game mark in any of the last three seasons, and his Charlotte Hornets, as usual, rank among the worst teams in the NBA.
Ball missed significant time again last season, although when he was fully healthy, there was a case to be made that he was the best offensive player in the entire NBA.
Ball averaged much more points and shot better from all over the floor in his first 18 games before missing time with injury. In his final 29 games, his averages went down, although in both spans, the Hornets were horrible.
Hopefully, with continued improvement from Tidjane Salaun and Brandon Miller, Ball can return to his first-half form, although, much like Zion Williamson, injuries are starting to define his career.
3. Bruce Brown
In the 2022-23 season, Bruce Brown averaged 11.5 points, 3.4 assists, 4.1 rebounds, and 1.1 steals. It was the best season of his career, earning him a lucrative two-year, $45 million contract with the Indiana Pacers.
He would play only 33 games in Indiana before the Pacers realized that they did not have what made him successful. They did not have Nikola Jokic setting him up for easy looks and generally making him look good.
After failing to live up to his $45 million billing, he returns to Denver this season on a one-year, $3 million contract. However, once he reunites with Jokic, it’s safe to say that he will take off.
In a fantastic article by The Athletic (subscription required), Fred Katz argued that, “Jokić isn’t just helping teammates on the court. Whether he knows it, he’s teaching.”
Brown’s role on the 2023 team has been replaced by Christian Braun. The Nuggets also added Tim Hardaway Jr. and Cameron Johnson this summer in much flashier moves, although Brown, who initially broke out in Denver, should quickly bounce back this season, simply thanks to playing next to the best player in the world.
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