5 players to go out of your way to see this season
Everyone knows LeBron James, Kevin Durant, and Anthony Davis are a treat to watch. Superstars drive the bus for the NBA, and the national television schedule leans heavily towards the league's most prominent faces and franchises.
Beneath that top layer of must-see All-Stars is an endless supply of highly-entertaining players. Fans may have to fire up LeaguePass to see them, but the five players below are worth making an extra effort to see this season.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
There may not be a more unique player in basketball than The Greek Freak, who is 6-foot-10 with a 7-foot-4 wingspan and hands nearly a foot in length. The body alone is intriguing to watch fly around the court, doing weird things like running the whole floor with just three dribbles.
He also has loads of actual potential. He averaged 6.8 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists as the league's youngest player last year, and while he's struggled some in the preseason, he's also shown tangible signs of improvement.
What's more, the Bucks should prove an entertaining team overall. Head coach Jason Kidd has experimented with Antetokounmpo at point guard for short stints and will likely continue to do so. The roster as a whole is insanely long, making for some very unique lineup constructions.
The dancing, smiling, smoothie-devouring Antetokounmpo is the main reason to tune in, though.
K.J. McDaniels, Philadelphia 76ers
Even though they may not win 10 games, there are three good reasons to tune in to Sixers games: to see just how bad things can get (rubbernecking), to check out intriguing rookie Nerlens Noel (prospecting), and to catch all of the McDaniels highlights before they hit SportsCenter.
A second-round pick out of Clemson, the general public doesn't yet seem aware of just how entertaining a player McDaniels is. Despite standing just 6-foot-6, KJMcD averaged 2.7 blocks a game as a junior last year, all of them emphatic, and swatted 14 shots in seven preseason games. That ferocious athleticism carries over on offense, allowing him to play well above the rim and throw down some of the hardest jams you'll see from a wing.
While we're here - McDaniels was a huge steal in the second round (he's an official theScore favorite), and by signing a one-year deal instead of a longer one, he adds intrigue to the proceedings as one of the most unique pending restricted free agency cases in recent memory.
Nick Young, Los Angeles Lakers
The league's most entertaining player off the court also happens to be a fun player to watch on the court. The avatar for all gunners, Young isn't shy about looking for his shot, putting up a field goal attempt every 122 seconds last season.
This year should prove exceptionally interesting by Swaggy P standards, as he'll be sharing the court with Kobe Bryant. Bryant kind of likes the ball in his hands, and it's not hard to imagine him becoming incensed with Young's chucking. The bet here, though, is that Bryant comes to love Young by year's end, embracing his fun-loving teammate as the ying to his yang.
Unfortunately, Young stands to miss the first month of the season recovering from surgery on his thumb, so he'll only be able to entertain via Instagram and Twitter for the time being.
Ricky Rubio, Minnesota Timberwolves
Kevin Love may be gone, but the Timberwolves may have become even more entertaining this offseason, even if they'll be worse on the court. Amid a roster full of intriguing youngsters (and one big Serbian bear), it's Rubio who gets the nod here as the de facto engine and team's best player.
Ever the creative passer, giving Rubio toys like Andrew Wiggins and Zach LaVine is an absolute dream for LeaguePass junkies. Throw in his developing pick-and-roll relationship with Gorgui Dieng, the speculation around a possible contract extension, curiosity around whether he'll develop an effective jump shot, and his boy-band good looks, and there's no shortage of reasons to pay attention to Rubio.
Keep an eye on the defensive end, too. The highlights will come on offense, but he's a terribly underrated stopper, and plays a really smart brand of defense that hardcores appreciate.
Josh Smith, Detroit Pistons
There may be more questions about Josh Smith than any other player that's already been established in the league for a decade. Somewhat inconsistent year-to-year, Smith is coming off the least efficient offensive season of his career, and perhaps his worst season overall.
He's partially to blame for that, but he was also just a bad fit with the Pistons, where he was forced to play small forward and opted to turn into a 3-point specialist who can't shoot threes. With Stan Van Gundy now at the helm, it sounds as if more will be demanded of Smith, and that he'll be put in situations to succeed rather than flounder.
How he responds to an adjusted role will be paramount to the Pistons' hopes of rebounding from a disappointing season without many roster changes. It wasn't long ago that Smith was a shot-blocking, ball-stealing, distributing, dunking...you get the idea. He can be very good. He can be quite bad. Figuring out which he'll be under Van Gundy is one of the season's most interesting subplots.