The NBA offseason is moving swiftly through to the preseason and training camps and now that the majority of big named free agents are off the market, team are starting to look towards the beginning of the season and a number of players have plenty to prove, including Avery Bradley, Pau Gasol, Andrew Bogut, Dirk Nowitzki and Joe Johnson, who will all try to rebound from "down" seasons.
Some of the players on the list are there because they had injuries like Kevin Love did, while others just simply need to get themselves back into the players they previously were, including Johnson and Nowitzki, who should get a boost this season after the Mavericks signed Monta Ellis and other players in free agency. Howard is coming to the Rockets after a crazy season in Los Angeles and while he put up good numbers with the Lakers, everything surrounding him wasn't so good and the team did not play very well either, meaning that he will need to show that he is a player that can win and not just a player that can play at an elite level.
Pau Gasol had one of his worst seasons and it wasn't all his fault. Dwight Howard whined all year and never fit into the system and Mike D'Antoni looked clueless at times and now that Gasol is back again with the team despite trade rumors, he has the chance to rebound big time. Last season he had solid numbers with averages of 13.7 points and 8.6 rebounds on 46.6 percent shooting, but he could do even better now that Howard is gone. While he is 33-years-old, Gasol still has something left in the tank and Kobe loves him and as long as he can stay healthy, he should have a bounce back season.
Love is coming into this season with very high expectations after dealing with injuries all last year and while he averaged 18.3 points and 14 rebounds in 34.3 minutes per game, that was only in 18 games as he was dealing with a broken hand and lingering issues. Love is a superstar in the league and since the Timberwolves have Ricky Rubio and brought back Chase Budinger while also adding Corey Brewer and Kevin Martin to the roster as well. Love will need to of course just stay healthy to get things back on track and his shooting should get back to normal levels that he put up in 2011-12, including 45 percent from the field.
Avery Bradley is coming into a very important season in his career, as he could end up being the point guard of the future for the Celtics depending on what happens to Rajon Rondo. The team already blew things up by trading Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce away and now Bradley will get the chance to step up in 2013. Last season he dealt with shoulder surgery that kept him out for the beginning of the season and during the year he looked off on the court, especially after Rondo was hurt.
Bradley averaged 11.6 points per game last season and he will need to improve that this year along with his shooting, which was much better the previous season. Bradley is an elite defender and if Rondo can stay healthy that will help along with his development too as he starts to workout in Brad Stevens' system.
