Their teams NEED them to have a career season, or else...

Andy Hoops

Use my link to get up to 61% off w/ free gifts https://gruns.co/pages/first-order?utm_source=pi&utm_term=212452584  contact@tablerock.com  I make all kinds of long-form NBA content which include player stories, analysis, breakdowns, and historical topics. Make sure to leave a like and subscribe if you enjoyed this video! ► X: https://www.x.com/@andyhoopsyt ► TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@andyhoopsyt ► Music: Stormfront by Kevin MacLeod Lobby Time by Kevin MacLeod Black Vortex by Kevin MacLeod Faster Does It by Kevin MacLeod Rising by Kevin MacLeod Sardana by Kevin MacLeod Rynos Theme by Kevin MacLeod Basic Implosion by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 (incompetech.com) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ► Sources: Stats and box-scores from Basketball-Reference.com, NBA.com, Statmuse.com, PBPstats.com #nba

Transcript

00:00In November of 2025, Zach Eadie had a one-month span where he showed flashes of absolute dominance,

00:06which included a game of 32 points, 17 rebounds, 5 blocks, and 16 of 20 from the field.

00:21For a guy who got drafted at somewhat of a higher spot than expected,

00:26Eadie was looking like everything the Grizzlies thought he'd be, and more.

00:30Then, he got ankle surgery and missed the rest of the year, so that sucked.

00:35Now, entering his third year, this is the most important year of his life, not just for him, but for

00:40the Grizzlies too.

00:42Anyway folks, in this video, we're gonna take a detailed look at 7 different players whose teams need them to

00:47perform now or never.

00:49These guys carry a higher burden than they've ever had before,

00:53because if they don't perform up to their insane expectations, it's about to get ugly,

00:58and their teams have a decision to make.

01:01Zach Eadie is a particularly special fit.

01:05Competitiveness is through the roof, care factory through the roof, no ego, just wants to win.

01:09And speaking of not performing up to your expectations, I'm sure you've all experienced this in your day-to-day

01:14life.

01:14So, let me introduce you to my favorite product to get me through the day, Groon's.

01:18You know, old people like myself, we take a lot of vitamins, probiotics, and stuff like that.

01:23And Groon's is a convenient, comprehensive formula all packed into a snack pack each day.

01:29It's not a normal multivitamin or greens gummy or prebiotic, it's all of those and more.

01:34Whether it's gut health, brain health, beauty, energy, immunity, recovery,

01:37Groon's supports a wide range of benefits, as it includes biotin and niacinamide,

01:41to support thicker hair, nails, and better skin too.

01:44Groon's have 20-plus vitamins and over 60 ingredients of nutrients and whole foods.

01:48It's vegan, nut-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, with absolutely no synthetic sweeteners or dyes.

01:54And there's options for low sugar or no sugar as well.

01:57It's also HSA and FSA eligible.

02:00So if you have a tax-free health savings account at work, you can use that.

02:03The best part about Groon's is that the vitamins and Groon's are dosed at 100% of their daily.

02:08An accurate dose that not all supplements do.

02:10Over 35,000 research publications support the ingredients in Groon's.

02:15And if you're interested, use my link to get up to 61% off and free gifts.

02:19No code is needed.

02:20Just click the link in the description below to get your Groon's today.

02:24Anyway, back to the video.

02:28The third year of any rookie contract is the crossroads of every young player's career,

02:33because it's time for their team to think,

02:35should we keep this guy as a cornerstone of the franchise?

02:37Or is the risk too high to commit?

02:40For Edie, it's almost certainly the risk of injury that the Grizzlies are concerned about long-term,

02:45but they also need him.

02:47You see, when the franchise opted to move on from the tumultuous era of Jean Morant,

02:51they traded away this entire core of the previous era, with the intention to start fresh and start new.

02:58Edie was supposed to be drafted to have a much smaller role,

03:01as the center who's supposed to fit with Morant and Jaron Jackson Jr., until the plans changed.

03:07By drafting Cameron Boozer and his clear expectations to become the face of the Grizzlies,

03:12Edie not only has to show he can stay healthy,

03:14but also fit alongside their new projected franchise player.

03:17That shouldn't be hard, though.

03:20While he had the reputation from college for being a more traditional bruising back-to-the-basket center,

03:24he's also an incredible rimrunner.

03:27Even in his rookie season, he finished in the 95th percentile as the roll man,

03:31scoring 1.46 points per possession.

03:3680. Attacks the rim!

03:38Way better than Jackson, his frontcourt teammate.

03:42That, combined with knowing how to use his massive body to box out and rebound,

03:46while also looking slimmer than he did in college and surprisingly light on his feet,

03:50the defensive upside is there, too.

03:53And in his sophomore year, I know he only played 11 games, so this sample size is tiny,

03:58but his defensive metrics were freaking insane.

04:02Within 10 feet of the basket, opponents shot like 20% lower than normal, which is stupid.

04:08Of course, take this sample size with a grain of salt,

04:11but it shows how impactful he was in such a short span,

04:14and why his team needs him to extrapolate this small sample size across a larger season.

04:19These qualities make him the ideal center for the start of a new rebuild in Memphis,

04:24regardless of who his teammates are.

04:26The burden lies on Zach Eadie to prove that he can stay on the court,

04:30because I can imagine the negotiations are guaranteed to have some sort of incentives or stipulations.

04:35Like, he needs to play X amount of games per season, or something like that.

04:39But if he can sustain this level of performance across at least 55 to 60 games per season,

04:45he'll be worth everything the Grizzlies give him,

04:47and for sure be a future piece of this franchise moving forward.

04:52Nikola Jovic

04:54In October of 2025, Jovic signed a four-year, $62 million rookie extension.

05:00On paper, this isn't actually that much compared to what other guys are getting these days.

05:05I mean, $15 million a year for a young man who showed some decent potential, that's not bad, right?

05:11But the 2026 offseason was marked by a major transaction that shook the direction of the Miami Heat,

05:17the acquisition of Giannis Adetokounmpo.

05:20Giannis Antetokounmpo taking his talents to South Beach in exchange for a package headlined by Tyler Hero.

05:26It wasn't this trade itself, but how much depth the Heat had to give up to get Giannis.

05:31They lost two important young players, Khalil Ware and Jaquez Jr., both of whom were on the come-up.

05:37However, Jovic remained, and on a new-look Miami Heat in desperate need of more depth,

05:43the pressure is on him to live up to the player the team believes he could be.

05:48Two on two break. Jovic.

05:50Fruit traffic.

05:51First.

05:52In the past, Jovic had for sure showed flashes of brilliance.

05:55For about a month in 2025, the start of January until the start of February, he averaged about 15 points

06:02a game,

06:03and had several stretches that made fans believe he could be part of this team's future.

06:08The funny thing is, Pat Riley initially believed in him.

06:12When he approved that $60 million extension, he claimed,

06:20Yet, when the 2026 season concluded, Riley told Jovic to meet him in his office for their exit meeting,

06:26and then Riley told him straight to his face,

06:40Yikes. That's hilarious. It's like getting called to the principal's office for failing a class.

06:44Jovic in 2026 was his worst year ever, statistically, and his body language was completely off.

06:51Of course, injuries were a huge problem.

06:54He's had a history of random injuries, from his ankles to his back.

06:57His elbow, too. That was a major one.

07:00There's always something that comes up that stunts his development right when things are looking good.

07:05That's why it's so important for him to now show his career's moving in a positive direction.

07:10Because it's not just his own career at stake,

07:12but the Heat have a revamped timeline that forces them to contend right now

07:16for the remaining years of Giannis' prime,

07:19with a roster filled with players who already reached their peak, or well past it.

07:24That's why Jovic is so important now.

07:27He has more pressure than ever, because by shipping out Yikes and Ware,

07:30he is their main young investment, who their team is waiting for to break out at any moment now.

07:36The dude was praised so much when he came in as a late first-rounder,

07:40and supposedly a massive steal in the draft.

07:42At 6'10", Jovic's ball-handling skills, his brief moments of passing brilliance,

07:47and exceptional shooting touch all make him such a unique prospect at that height.

07:52But now, it's a waiting game, and if he doesn't show it,

07:55he'll either be traded or fall so far down the rotation chart

07:58that he'll be a benchwarmer for the rest of his time in Miami.

08:04It's been a while since the Chicago Bulls have witnessed

08:07their own lottery picks show so much promise so early in their careers.

08:18An athletic marvel of a prospect with a rapidly developing offensive game,

08:22and the physical tools to become a fantastic defender.

08:25Heck, he was already at the top of the league

08:27when it comes to defending isolations.

08:29But there's room to improve.

08:35Yet, despite the allure of a great second season,

08:39the jury is still out on whether or not

08:40Buzelas will be a cornerstone of this team.

08:43Or will he be replaced when the Bulls find a shiny new thing?

08:47Like what happened with Kobe White,

08:48whose development got put on the back burner

08:51when they got DeMar DeRozan.

08:53That did not work out, and this is the problem.

08:55The development of Buzelas is determined just as much by what the Bulls do

08:59that might impact his role on the team.

09:02It took five years during the era of Karnishevis and Eversley in the front office

09:06when they decided to blow it up and start over before both of them got fired,

09:10which concluded an era of mediocrity.

09:13As of now, the only three players likely to be part of this new future are

09:17their point guard Josh Giddey,

09:19probably Nick Claxton as well,

09:21who in my opinion is the most underrated center in the league,

09:23and Buzelas, who the franchise is trying to put all their resources to invest in.

09:28As confirmed by coach Thiago Splitter, who said,

09:43Basically, Splitter wants to give Buzelas the green light to do as much as possible,

09:47to figure out what his biggest strengths are and take advantage of that.

09:50Because, at this point, even with a successful year under his belt,

09:54there are still questions on what kind of player he could become.

09:57So, it's better to test it through experimentation when he's still young,

10:01and find the best role for him on a struggling franchise that needs something to look forward to.

10:07Keegan Murray

10:08Is it me, or has Keegan Murray become completely irrelevant after his rookie season?

10:18Remember when he broke the record for most threes made by a rookie?

10:21That was before Khan Knipple shattered it.

10:25Since then, Murray has regressed to an average three-point shooter,

10:28but even more surprising, the Kings still gave him a huge extension.

10:32Five years, $140 million is a lot.

10:35But, while his offensive game stagnated, it's his defense that has quietly gained ground.

10:41It didn't help, though, when immediately after signing this extension,

10:44he suffered an entire year of injuries,

10:47culminating with an arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle,

10:50which has bothered him for months.

10:53Get ready for it. Are you ready for it?

10:54Yeah, let's do it.

10:55You're gonna light this beam?

10:56Let's do it.

10:56Let's let him light the beam!

11:00Bam!

11:05Murray joined the Sacramento Kings at a different time,

11:09a time when they had the ambitions to return to relevance

11:11as one of the youngest teams in the league.

11:13Which they did, and Murray played a huge role in that.

11:17But after such an inspiring year that saw them reach the postseason

11:21for the first time in 17 seasons,

11:23it's been only downhill for the franchise since.

11:27Along with the injuries and botched rebuild that saw their team get a lot older very quickly,

11:31Murray has been in the background still trying to figure it out.

11:35With the extension he got, the Kings viewed him as a core piece,

11:39presumably with a bigger focus on defense.

11:42They envisioned him to have the impact of somebody like Draymond Green or Herbert Jones,

11:47the defensive glue guy with intangibles who does all the dirty work.

11:52The Kings' previous GM, Monty McNair, once viewed Keegan Murray as untouchable.

11:57There was no trade he ever viewed as reasonable enough to give him up.

12:01After he got fired, that feeling is gone.

12:06Now, the Kings need him to perform and stay on the court,

12:09as one of the few young players remaining on the team still with some potential to improve.

12:14They've been waiting for a long, long time for him to blow up

12:17and have an astronomical year.

12:19But that has yet to come.

12:22At the very least, they'd like it if his three-point shooting was back to his rookie year percentages.

12:27Some fans have speculated that Murray bulking up has impacted his shooting,

12:31which, honestly, that's not the worst theory.

12:34That was the same theory back in the day of why Anthony Davis' jumper regressed over time in New Orleans.

12:43Harper had a crazy playoff run in his rookie year.

12:47Heck, you can say he already had a breakout year, which is reasonable.

12:51But it was also coming off the bench,

12:53and his opponents perhaps being less prepared for him.

12:56With all the trade rumors surrounding De'Aaron Fox and the urge to expand Harper's role,

13:01he's expected to seamlessly fill in his spot as a starter

13:04to complete their young, three-headed beast of a trio.

13:08Dillon Harper split the defense.

13:13Naturally, there's a lot of pressure on him.

13:15I'm sure you know the phenomenon called the sophomore slump,

13:18where somebody has a great rookie season, but they slip a bit as a sophomore.

13:23In fact, it happened to Keegan Murray.

13:25It happened to Jaime Jaquez Jr.

13:27But do you know why it happens?

13:29It's usually because that rookie now gets a much bigger role,

13:32much more defensive attention, and their opponents have studied them.

13:35Of course, it doesn't happen to everyone,

13:37but it's a trend that has made these expectations for Harper dangerously high.

13:42Yet, the Spurs also desperately need him.

13:45When they prematurely developed into one of the league's best teams,

13:48their days of high draft picks are over.

13:51So, barring any drastic regressions,

13:53this is their new big three that'll usher in a new era of the Spurs franchise,

13:58with the eyes focused on Dillon Harper.

14:01With such an exceptional rookie playoff run,

14:04they're anticipating a massive jump as soon as possible.

14:07However, even with the absolute terror that is Fox's contract,

14:11there is a bright side.

14:13He signed a four-year $230 million extension,

14:16even saying it hurts.

14:18He signed it in the summer of 25,

14:20but it starts in the 2026-27 season, lasting until 2030.

14:26They've entered a cap space crunch with this deal as the main culprit,

14:29but they got time to trade him

14:31before the future extensions of their young players kick in.

14:35Bub Carrington

14:37The Wizards have compiled a crap ton of high draft picks in recent years

14:41because of how much losing they've done.

14:43But one thing they've been missing ever since the departure of John Wall

14:46was a steady long-term point guard.

14:49In my opinion, that's the most important part of a rebuild,

14:52because point guards are an extension of the coach.

14:55Carrington was drafted in 2024

14:57with the intention to be that long-term point guard they sought.

15:00But when the Wizards made a trade for Trey Young

15:03and gave him a colossal four-year $200-plus million deal,

15:07it was obvious their intentions have changed.

15:10Carrington became the odd man out.

15:13Coming into the NBA,

15:14he was projected to be a meticulous, calculated player

15:17who can run the offense without doing too much.

15:20He wasn't the most explosive athlete,

15:22nor was he ever the fastest player on the court,

15:25but he didn't need that.

15:26In his first couple years in DC,

15:28he made plenty of mistakes,

15:30but also plenty of improvements,

15:32most notably in his three-point shot.

15:34Since getting drafted at the same time as Alex Saar,

15:37the two of them developed their chemistry over the years,

15:39so this seemed like a duo that could work together

15:41as they grow to get better.

15:43But the arrival of Trey Young and Anthony Davis,

15:46who's in a contract year,

15:47has created a weird scenario for both of those young players.

15:51Carrington even more so,

15:52because he was still clawing his way

15:54to become a full-time starter before Trey arrived.

15:57And now, that's been thrown out the window.

16:00In a report by The Athletic,

16:02according to an NBA scout,

16:03he immediately noticed an issue here

16:05when Trey Young arrived.

16:07Quote,

16:19Carrington may be the wizard's prospect

16:21who stands to lose the most.

16:24In his first two years,

16:25his efforts to fight for the starting point guard spot

16:28became futile,

16:29and at a certain point,

16:30he'll need to accept a role as the backup point guard.

16:33Yet, the wizards need him to feel comfortable in that role.

16:36There is a timeline where Trey Young

16:38doesn't live up to his massive salary,

16:40and Carrington plays so well as a backup

16:42that it makes the wizards re-evaluate

16:44who they want as their point guard moving forward.

16:47He has the opportunity to flourish as a backup

16:49in a season that will determine his future on the team.

16:53Khalil Ware

16:55I briefly mentioned the Giannis trade,

16:57but I didn't say much about the buck side of it.

17:00This was their package from the deal.

17:02At a glance,

17:03casuals might think Hiro was the centerpiece of it,

17:05but he's not.

17:06It's their draft assets,

17:08it's Jaime Jaquez Jr.,

17:10and it's the young Khalil Ware

17:11who was not just heavily desired by the bucks,

17:14but a massive player during trade discussions.

17:17Around that time,

17:18several teams,

17:19including the Lakers,

17:20were willing to put so much down for this guy.

17:22Ware has improved so much

17:24between his first and second year in the league

17:26that even other coaches took notice of how good he is.

17:29Most importantly,

17:30he does it within the flow of the game.

17:32Ware rarely forces up shots,

17:34or tries to do too much,

17:36and maintains a solid presence in the paint

17:38while quietly improving his skills elsewhere.

17:40He became good enough as a three-point shooter

17:43to force defenders to come out and guard him,

17:45which is rare for a legit seven-footer.

17:52While he was on track to become the Heat's permanent starting center,

17:55the trade to Milwaukee threw a wrench in that plan.

17:58It left Ware at a crossroads in his career.

18:01There's only one real player he needs to compete with

18:04for the starting center spot,

18:05Miles Turner.

18:06And if he cannot snatch the starting spot

18:09from a past-his-prime Miles Turner,

18:10the Bucks probably won't see the value in investing in him.

18:13Up until now,

18:15this is the most critical year for him and the team.

18:18It could be the difference between the Bucks

18:20giving him a potential $150-200 million extension,

18:24or nothing if he fails to live up to what they thought he was.

18:28Much like Zach Eadie,

18:30the summer of 2027 will be when the extension talks begin.

18:33And the team needs Ware

18:35to eventually become the young anchor of this franchise,

18:38as they transition to the post-Yannis era.

18:42Anyway, that's all, folks.

18:44Let me know your thoughts on these seven players.

18:47Which ones do you see having a massive breakout season?

18:50And which ones do you think won't?

18:52And they'll disappoint us.

18:54Let me know your thoughts in the comment section.

18:56I hope y'all enjoyed the video.

18:58Thank you all so much for watching.

18:59And of course, as always, I'll see you next time.

19:02Peace.

19:03Peace.

19:11Peace.

19:12Peace.

Category

Transcript

Comments

Recommended