It’s time for our last preseason tradition — my five most intriguing players for the coming season. We don’t pick superstars or rookies. The goal is to find young-ish X factors.
TYRESE HALIBURTON, INDIANA PACERS
Haliburton understands the franchise-defining wager Indiana placed trading Domantas Sabonis to the Sacramento Kings for him: that Haliburton could be more than a second banana whose passing genius and gregarious personality draw in everyone. The Pacers were betting Haliburton could be an All-Star — a foundational offensive fulcrum.
“Sacramento was great,” Haliburton says. “I wasn’t ready to be a full-time point guard when I got there. Playing with [De’Aaron] Fox helped. But now, this is everything I ever wanted. I get to be the full-time guy. I love this.”
The transition requires a recalibration of Haliburton’s game, maybe of his basketball soul. He is wired to be unselfish. He reads defenses from two steps ahead and gets rid of the ball early.
“In the modern game, where guys love to hold the ball, he’s an outlier,” says Rick Carlisle, Indiana’s coach.
Whipping the ball early empowers teammates, catches defenses midrotation and triggers ping-ping-ping passing sequences.
“There are a lot of guys who only pass if it equals an assist,” Haliburton says. “That’s not who I am.”
Those sequences often end with the ball returning to Haliburton, and he’s productive in that position as a knockdown shooter — 43.5% on catch-and-shoot 3s — and as a catch-and-go driver.
But the Pacers need him to score — to sometimes hold the ball longer, take an extra dribble. Haliburton rarely gets to the rim or the line.
“This whole summer has been about challenging my mind and become more of an a–hole in a sense, offensively,” Haliburton says.
Victor Oladipo would give the ball up against switches, retreat near midcourt and get the ball back with space to rev up.
Haliburton will put in the work, and set the tone for the organization. He gets to know every staff member — asks them questions about their families and jobs. Chad Buchanan, the Pacers’ GM, first heard of Haliburton when his nephew was a manager at Iowa State University — and told Buchanan of the star who treated everyone with respect. Buchanan began watching Haliburton. “His game grows on you,” Buchanan says.
After the Utah Jazz walloped Sacramento by 49 points his rookie season, Haliburton put off his postgame lifting and asked two staffers to accompany him to the practice court. Haliburton stayed until he made 49 3s — one for each point in the scoring margin — from seven different spots, for a total of 343 triples. He got home around 1 a.m.
He brings the same commitment to his new team.
“I want to bring the Pacers back where they belong,” Haliburton says.
ANTHONY EDWARDS, MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES
Edwards strutted into his first postseason as if the NBA’s biggest stage had been waiting for him all along. He seized Minnesota’s offense as Karl-Anthony Towns battled foul trouble, and he averaged 25 points — including 40% shooting on 9.5 3s per game.
He hypnotized defenders with crossovers and hesitation moves before rising above them — or zooming through them. He hunted Ja Morant and tracked Morant on defense. He looked fearless and unfazed in a way only stars do.
Rivalries on opening night
• Must-see Christmas Day lineup
• Games you won’t want to miss
• Videos: Top schedule release reactions
• Full NBA schedule
“I was having even more fun than it looked like,” Edwards says. “It was the best basketball experience of my life.”
With few exceptions, even teams that invest big in frontcourt stars — as the Wolves have done pairing Towns and Rudy Gobert — need star-level perimeter creation to chase titles. Trading everything for Gobert at age 30 was a massive bet on Minnesota’s barely 21-year-old phenom becoming that star ahead of the typical pace. (Last month, Edwards apologized for anti-gay comments he made in an Instagram video.)
Those nights when Edwards looks unstoppable obscure how much work remains. He has been a below-average shooter from almost every spot. Like any young scorer, Edwards has struggled at times as a distributor — missing passing windows, holding the ball too long. (The Wolves’ offense too often ground to a halt in Minnesota’s first-round loss last season.) Edwards ranked in the bottom half in efficiency among high-volume ball handlers in pick-and-rolls and isolations, per Second Spectrum data.
But the foundation is so strong, and Edwards seems to know the path forward — including as a passer. “I gotta start seeing the help before it’s in my face,” he says. “And getting off the ball early, making advance passes.”
Good things happen when Edwards makes the simple play. It jolts Minnesota’s offense into gear and gets Edwards the ball back with an advantage:
D’Angelo Russell-Gobert action on one side could shift into a full-speed Edwards-Towns pick-and-roll on the other — perhaps an easier set of reads for Edwards. Gobert instantly becomes Minnesota’s best screener by miles. He’s an easy lob target for Edwards, who has had issues finding bigs on the pick-and-roll.
Edwards hit 36% on 177 step-back 3s — the sixth-most attempts in the league; he’ll drill triples over dropback schemes. Midrangers will always be core to Edwards’ game, but he wants to turn more ultra-long 2s — those dreaded 21-footers — into 3s, and burrow to the rim more. (Edwards has averaged four free throws per 36 minutes; that number should get much higher.)
Edwards had only 19 post touches last season; bully-ball would be a game-changing weapon as Edwards continues targeting small guards on switches.
“My post-ups will be a lot better,” he promises. “I’m working on it now. That’s all I can say.”
Alongside Russell and Towns, the Wolves need Edwards to be an off-ball threat too. He hit 41% on catch-and-shoot 3s last season. Duplicate that and defenses will stick more closely to him. Edwards can exploit that attention with backdoor cuts, and he needs to be a more active off-ball mover. You see glimpses — including an encouraging habit of running into catches:
Hunter — fresh off signing a four-year, $95 million extension — is a textbook case of how hard it can be for young players to find their rhythm. Injuries short-circuited every stretch of momentum — including Hunter’s scorching start to the 2020-21 season.
He entered the league as an NCAA champion and No. 4 pick, with ambitions of Carmelo Anthony-style mid-range scoring. That role didn’t exist in Trae Young’s offense; the Hawks needed Hunter to become a spot-up threat. Meanwhile, Hunter jostled with other young guys eager to prove their scoring chops.
“It’s really difficult to establish your game when you come in with a group of talented players,” says Nate McMillan, Atlanta’s coach.
Hunter has bounced between roles — spot-up guy with sprinkles of one-on-one — but never looked comfortable in either. He has been a stilted isolation player — unable to power through defenders his size, not quick or deft enough with the ball to get by wings. The Hawks scored a ghastly 0.823 points last season when Hunter shot out of an isolation or dished to a teammate who fired — 159th among 198 players who recorded at least 50 isos, per Second Spectrum. He hit just 39% on mid-rangers after nailing 54% in 23 games in 2020-21.
Hunter spent the offseason training with Chris Brickley, and worked on cleaning up his handle, says Ty Jerome, Hunter’s college roommate who joined him in Brickley’s gym. Hunter’s dribble can get high and loose. “The best wing scorers, their handle is tight,” Jerome says. “Dre focused on that.”
He has done well posting up mismatches — often after screening for Young and forcing switches. Atlanta scored almost 1.12 points per possession directly out of Young-Hunter pick-and-rolls — 52nd among 457 pairings that ran at least 100 such actions, per Second Spectrum. Atlanta milked that play against the Miami Heat in the first round of last season’s playoffs:
Dillon Brooks of the Memphis Grizzlies.)
He sometimes overthinks after catching a kickout pass — pass-faking and jab-stepping at ghosts, gifting the defense time to reset.
“It has to be catch and go, or catch and shoot — not catch and hold,” McMillan says.
Decisive Hunter gets places:
Toppin plays, and the Knicks should be in the business of discovering why — and whether that effect carries over against opposing starters. That success has come despite New York playing Toppin almost exclusively alongside rim-running centers — marginalizing Toppin’s skill as an explosive screen-and-dive guy. When Toppin bolts inside for lobs, he might bump into a center calling for a lob at the same time:
Julius Randle, but they likely worry about torpedoing their defense and rebounding — weak points in Toppin’s game. Toppin somehow logged more minutes alongside Jericho Sims than Randle last season, and Tom Thibodeau, New York’s head coach, has not seemed interested in exploring the Randle-Toppin duo much more. (I’d do it.)
Toppin has spent too much time chilling in the corners. You spot him bouncing on his toes, begging for some reason to get moving — to get involved. But when the ball swung to him, he mostly refused open 3s.
“We all saw it — he wasn’t confident in his shot,” Thibodeau says.
Defenders ignored him to muck up the paint:
Derrick Rose got injured. Perhaps Jalen Brunson, some creative coaching and a renewed commitment to passing could remedy that — and benefit Toppin.
He’ll get the offense moving anyway. Toppin is one of the league’s most ferocious end-to-end runners, and should be even more dangerous trailing fast breaks this season — jacking 3s and pivoting into his hand-off game. He can sprint into mismatches, and seal smaller guards under the rim.
“He can run all day,” Thibodeau says. “His energy is a gift. It allows us to play at a different pace, and everybody likes that.”
Toppin might leak out more than Thibodeau likes — leaving New York vulnerable on the defensive glass. “We can’t run if we don’t rebound,” Thibodeau says. The general rule, according to Thibodeau: If Toppin challenges a shot up high, run. If he’s in the paint, try to secure the rebound and then sprint.
Toppin is a minus defender at both front-court positions, but he tries and talks. His biggest obstacle is a stubborn upright stance that makes it hard for him to slide.
“He’s got some flexibility issues,” Grant says.
Toppin tried to crouch lower this summer in defending guards — including Brunson and Chicago Bulls guard Coby White in workouts. “Even if I can’t get low, I have to find a way to stay in front of them and contest shots,” Toppin says.
Right now, Toppin is a good backup big. If he stagnates or improves only a bit, that’s what he’ll be. But the actualized version of Toppin is an average defender and major plus on offense — a true-blue starter. That’s what the Knicks need him to be.
PATRICK WILLIAMS, CHICAGO BULLS
Williams might be the most important young X factor in the league, and the one who feels most like a blank slate. Williams has played only 88 games in two seasons after missing most of last season with a wrist injury. He’s barely 21 — younger than Edwards and eight first-round picks from the last draft.
He returned for last season’s playoffs, and embraced the assignment of guarding Giannis Antetokounmpo (and sometimes Jrue Holiday). He looked a hair more aggressive on offense, averaging 12 points, doubling his 3-point volume and nailing 58% on 2s.
Knicks-Grizzlies, 7:30 p.m.
Mavs-Suns, 10 p.m.
Friday
Celtics-Heat, 7:30 p.m.
Nuggets-Warriors, 10 p.m.
*All times Eastern
A major short-term leap from Williams is Chicago’s best and maybe only avenue of contending in the DeMar DeRozan/Zach LaVine/Nikola Vucevic era. Williams holds the keys to their next era given the Bulls dealt three first-round picks and Wendell Carter Jr. for DeRozan and Vucevic.
He hasn’t lived up to expectations on defense, but chalk that up to youth and injury. Williams should grow into a very good, ultra-switchable alpha defender. He’s huge and strong, and tries hard. In his one season at Florida State University, coaches often spotted Williams lingering after practice and early in mornings with an older teammate — Wyatt Wilkes — peppering Wilkes with questions and having Wilkes walk him through actions, says Leonard Hamilton, the Seminoles coach.
“Unlike most kids — ‘What are my stats? What are my minutes?’ — Pat only cared about getting better,” Hamilton says. “He didn’t worry about the NBA. He just wanted to learn.”
He asks staffers for film on elite scorers, looking for clues on guarding them. He has worked on slithering around picks, and uses his giant hands and arms to disrupt passing lanes.
Offense is the wild card. So far, Williams has been a bit player — a reluctant corner shooter and tentative dribbler. He defaults to his one-dribble pull-up — an important shot, but not one to overdo.
Williams has good feel and vision with the chess pieces in motion. The Bulls have dabbled in using him as a screen-setter — with Vucevic spotting up — and Williams comes to life in that role, flipping rapid-fire between actions and slinging smart passes in space:
Aaron Gordon in that role, but well short of the apex version in Draymond Green. He has hit 41% from deep; as a spot up stretch four, he brings to mind someone like Harrison Barnes. The blend of all those role players — the ability to shift between those identities — is a really, really good player.
That’s fine now, with Williams so young and surrounded by three recent All-Stars. But the Bulls did not draft Williams No. 4 in 2020 for him to be a Barnes-Gordon hybrid. At some point, they will want more on the ball.
Even now, Chicago’s coaches and stars encourage Williams to be less deferential — to take the reins when action dictates it. (Williams joined DeRozan in Los Angeles this summer for DeRozan’s “Hell Week” of early morning workouts and lifting. He also played pick-up in L.A. with several stars.)
Those around the Bulls whisper that Williams hasn’t discovered how good he is. That tracks with Hamilton. When Hamilton sat with Williams to discuss declaring for the draft, Hamilton said that Williams asked, “What if I don’t get drafted?”
Williams has run a piddling five pick-and-rolls per 100 possessions over two seasons, per Second Spectrum. His efficiency on isolations has been dreadful. He has nine career post touches, and that’s a tool he needs as a screen-setter — a way to exploit smaller defenders on switches. (Teams already hide their weakest defenders on him.)
When Williams kicks the skittishness and gets aggressive, he almost looks like a different player. It’s jarring. If the Bulls want that more, all they have to do is ask, Hamilton says.
“If you tell him what you want,” Hamilton says, “he’s gonna give it to you.”