A deadly marksman, Young hit 48.1% last season on catch-and-shoot 3’s, and with Murray in the mix, expect him to fire up more than the 17 shots he took last season off screens.ĭefensively, Murray instantly upgrades length on the perimeter, which should minimize breakdowns in rotations on the back end. Offensively, Murray provides a secondary creator to Young, which will also allow the latter to play off the ball more often.

In what’s expected to be one of the more impactful transactions of the offseason, Atlanta traded Danilo Gallinari and a trio of first-round picks in June to land Murray, one of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders, who also continues to improve as a playmaking triple-double threat on offense. Time spent working in the San Antonio Spurs organization likely provided plenty of insight for Atlanta Hawks general manager Landry Fields on how Murray might fit alongside superstar guard Young. Trae Young and Dejounte Murray, Atlanta Hawks Until the shot starts falling, Smith will be able to consistently rely on his effort on defense. Green is already asking Rockets fans for patience as Houston trudges on with its current rebuild, and he can accelerate that effort next season by getting Smith shots in good positions. It’s important to note that Green, the second overall pick in 2021, also struggled early last season before averaging nearly 30 points in the last nine games of the regular season to earn All-Rookie First-Team honors. Smith’s numbers should improve from his summer campaign – with him snagging better touches in advantageous spots from Green – while playing alongside seasoned NBA talent. Smith shot 37.7% from the floor and 25.9% from deep in Las Vegas but showcased versatility on defense that seemed to go unnoticed. 3 overall pick in this year’s Draft, because he’ll be a different player alongside Green this season. Hopefully, what you saw in Summer League didn’t sour your perception of Smith, the No. Jalen Green and Jabari Smith Jr., Houston Rockets At some point, we might see a Pistons starting lineup featuring five former first-round picks. Maybe we should be talking “trio” or perhaps more here because we haven’t even mentioned the 2022 No. If he can defend at a high level as a rookie, perhaps that alleviates some pressure off Cunningham, who is already exerting plenty of energy as Detroit’s primary playmaker on offense. Another sneaky element of Ivey’s game? His defense. Ivey brings speed, explosiveness, and downhill attacking ability, not to mention plenty of experience playing off the ball (despite being ball-dominant in college at Purdue), and those attributes should mesh well with Cunningham’s polish, poise, and playmaking skills. Both are rising stars dripping with perennial All-Star potential. At least that’s the plan right now for the No. Bickerstaff plans to protect the backcourt with athletic twin-towners Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley.Ĭade Cunningham and Jaden Ivey, Detroit PistonsĪthletic, dynamic, and flat-out humongous, Cunningham, 21, and Ivey, 20, could turn out to be Detroit’s backcourt starters for the next several years.

The duo’s expected effectiveness on defense (both are 6-foot-1) naturally comes into question, but Cavs coach J.B. 1, Mitchell teams up with Garland this season to form what should be a dynamic scoring backcourt. If you can bring that on a night-to-night basis in a workout and practice, you get to a game, and now we’re on the same team, it’ll be special.” He made me have to raise my level in a workout. “I consider myself a pretty good shooter, but he’s right there,” Mitchell said of his summer workouts with Garland. In those sessions, Garland pushed the future Cavalier, leading to optimism about the motivation these guards can provide one another once Cleveland starts playing real games. This duo participated in a pair of summer workouts unaware they’d eventually become teammates. 19 - a day after the league’s opening-night double-header on TNT.ĭonovan Mitchell and Darius Garland, Cleveland Cavaliers With that in mind, we’ll look at six of the new duos formed during the 2022 offseason that will be interesting to watch opening week on Oct. NBA training camps open with plenty of optimism about what might transpire for the 2022-23 season. Expectations are high for Cleveland’s new duo of Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland this season.

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