Five NBA Players that are Having Breakout Seasons (so far)

We are about two weeks into the NBA season, and we are already seeing a handful of players having career defining breakout seasons. Whether it be a young player who's finally getting his chance to shine or a veteran breaking out late in his career, plenty of players fit into these categories. Here are five guys that have impressed me so far this season with their seemingly new found abilities and success.

5. Mark Williams - Charlotte Hornets

Someone on the Hornets was bound to have a breakout season this year. Some people thought it would be PJ Washington, some said LaMelo Ball would get some all-NBA first team consideration, and others said it would be second year big man Mark Williams. During his rookie season Williams averaged 9 points, 7 rebounds, and a block per game. This was a solid enough year to put Williams on the radar as a breakout candidate for the 2023-24 season. So far he's been great as the starting center in Charlotte. Through seven games he has averaged 14.6 points, 8 rebounds, a block, and an assist per game. Along with those number his field goal percentage has increased 20% from last year while taking more shots. The Hornets don't have much to look forward to, but it seems like Williams will be a defensive anchor with solid offensive upside for this team going forward.

pc: via Charlotte Hornets

4. Shaedon Sharpe - Portland Trail Blazers

With all that happened surrounding the Trail Blazers this offseason, a lot of people forgot about Shaedon Sharpe. Obviously he and the other Portland players fell behind Damian Lillard when it came to media coverage, but it also seemed like Sharpe fell behind players like Scoot Henderson and Anfernee Simons on his own team. We see now that this was irresponsible of us, as we missed what was right in front of our eyes. Last season, while coming off of the bench for the majority of the season, Sharpe averaged ten points, one assist, and three rebounds per game. This year he has doubled his point average while jumping to three assists and five rebounds a night. His shooting percentages have remained nearly identical while doubling his attempts from the field and from three. He has been the best player on the team this season, something I'm sure Portland is very grateful for considering how disappointing Henderson has been. Sharpe is still an incredibly raw prospect, and seeing that he's already playing fantastic basketball it looks like the NBA should be scared of what's to come.

pc: via Portland Trail Blazers

3. Cameron Thomas - Brooklyn Nets

Nobody has taken more advantage of their role elevation than Cam Thomas in Brooklyn. The pure scorer is purely scoring twenty-seven points per game, a seventeen point increase from last year. Normally a jump like this would ruin a player's efficiency, but Thomas has remained relatively efficient. His numbers from beyond the arch have dropped a bit, but not by a worrying amount. His other numbers have gotten better too, but nobody cares about that stuff when it comes to Thomas, that's not what he gets paid to do. All we know is that he's carrying the offensive load for the Nets when everyone thought that Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson would head that department. Can we expect this production to last the entire season? Most likely not. But even if he averages 20+ plus points this season he deserves to be on this list.

pc: Alex Goodlett/Getty Images

2. Jalen Johnson - Atlanta Hawks

Jalen Johnson probably has the weakest stats of all the guys on this list, but he also has had the most unexpected jump of all the players here. Going into this season it looked like big man Onyeka Okongwu would take the starting four spot after John Collins' departure. However, Jalen Johnson was catapulted into this role, and he hasn't looked back. Last year he averaged 5.6 points, 4 rebounds, and 1 assist while maintaining average shooting splits. This season as the lead power forward in Atlanta, Johnson is averaging 14.3 points, 8 rebounds, and 2.7 assists while shooting better from the field and the three. This emergence from Johnson has filled Collins' missing void perfectly, allowing the Hawks to move into the future without having to worry as much about contract disputes. If the Hawks become a contender in the near future this will be one of the biggest reasons why.

pc: via ESPN

1. Scottie Barnes - Toronto Raptors

The inspiration for this list, I have been incredibly impressed by Scottie Barnes so far this season. We all knew his offensive role would increase with Fred VanVleet heading to Houston, but what we didn't expect was him to get better at every facet of the game. What we also didn't expect to see was Scottie hurdling Pascal Siakam as the number one option on the team. Last year as the third option in Toronto, Barnes' averaged 15.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.8 assists, a block, and a steal per game. This year Barnes' numbers have all gotten better along with his splits from all over the floor. He's been putting up 21.5 points, 10.4 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks, and 1.5 steals per game. Everyone knew his defense would be great, but this explosion of both scoring and playmaking was somewhat unexpected. If he continues at this rate not only will Scottie make his first all-star appearance, he also has to win some sort of award at the end of the year.

pc: Frank Gunn/The Canadian Press