NBA Season Preview: How each Australian player stacks up heading into the regular season

October 15, 2018 John NBA 0

With nine players on deck for the 2018/19 NBA season, this year
shapes up as one of the biggest from an Australian perspective.

MORE: Opening game matchups for every NBA
team

Ben Simmons’ Rookie of the Year campaign grabbed the headlines
last season and the Philadelphia 76ers point guard is set for
another big campaign, with the Eastern Conference crown in his
sights.

While he leads the pack, the likes of Joe Ingles and Dante Exum
in Utah both look to take their games to a new level. Thon Maker
and Matthew Dellavedova are bracing for bounce-back seasons under
new Milwaukee Bucks head coach Mike Budenholzer, rookies Ryan
Broekhoff and Jonah Bolden look to make their mark in their debut
seasons, while Patty Mills and Aron Baynes are set to play big
roles for the Spurs and Celtics.

Let’s take a look at the challenges and opportunities for
each Aussie player this season.

Ben Simmons – 76ers

Coming off a blistering rookie campaign, this season will bring
something different for Ben Simmons. Expectation.

This time last year, no one knew exactly what the Sixers would
achieve, but now the organisation, the city and the rest of the NBA
are expecting them to be one of the best teams in the league. And
rightfully so.

As Simmons continues to develop, as will his leadership, and as
the floor general for this team, late game execution will be one of
the big areas to watch. The Sixers took some lumps late in games
against the Celtics in the playoffs and those experiences will be
all to valuable for Simmons who will continue to have the ball in
his hands at the end of games.

The obvious improvement for Simmons this season will be the jump
shot, which will take time, but there are some quick fixes that we
can expect him to make, that can vault his game to another
level.

Limiting turnovers and getting to the free throw line.

Last season Joel Embiid and Simmons were 4th and 5th in the league in turnovers per
game, and as a team, no one turned the ball over more than the
Sixers in the regular season. The addition of Markelle Fultz as
another primary ball handler should alleviate some of that pressure
as they look to transition from young team to Eastern Conference
powerhouse.

Can Simmons become a 20-point scorer this season? His game isn’t
primarily about getting buckets, but there’s an easy win to be had
at the free throw line, both in terms of getting there and
converting. Simmons shot just 56% on 4.2 attempts per game in
2017/18, so expect that number to rise as he becomes more
aggressive with the ball in his hands, attacking the rim.

#TBT to him tearing down rims all summer!

The sky is the limit for Simmons this season, with a strong team
around him and a year of experience under his belt. Flirting with
averaging a triple-double in his second season could well land him
a spot on the All-Star team.

Joe Ingles – Jazz

The Utah Jazz are going to be a League Pass must this season and
Joe Ingles is a big reason why.

MORE: Is Joe Ingles the NBA’s most underrated player?
| Joe Ingles’ shooting confidence – ‘I feel like I
should make every one of them’

The big difference for Joe this season is his confidence. He is
already one of the best shooters and one of the best perimeter
defenders in the league, now he has enough of a body of work behind
him to talk the talk.

In all seriousness, through the pre-season Ingles showed an
increased aggresiveness with the ball in his hands and almost no
conscious letting the three-ball fly. Expect his usage rate to jump
again this season, as it has every year he’s been in the league.
The Jazz will need Ingles to take on an even bigger role if they
are to be the 50+ win team they want to be.

While Rudy Gobert is their best defensive player and Donovan
Mitchell their best scorer, Ingles is the metronome of the Jazz,
keeping things in check on both sides of the floor. He has emerged
as maybe the strongest voice in the locker room and has made the
leap from glue guy to leader.

I truly look forward to 82 games of Ingles irritating everyone
he guards.

Jonah Bolden – 76ers

After struggling in Sumer League, Bolden’s brief appearances in
pre-season have been encouraging, in particular, his efficiency on
offence. Bolden knocked down 4-of-9 three-point attempts (44.4%)
and continuing to do so will go a long way to determining how much
he plays this season.

He will be fighting Mike Muscala and Amir Johnson for backup
minutes at the four and five, with his defensive ability giving him
an edge over both. Bolden is long and springy, can protect the rim,
grab rebounds and get out in transition, but the big thing for him
will be how he adjusts to switching out on the perimeter and
defending quicker, smaller players.

It’s safe to assume, coach Brett Brown will give Bolden a clear
role as a rim-running big to start the season, but it’s on him to
expand that and get his offensive production to a level where he
can command 15+ minutes a night.

Philly is no longer a young, developing team. They’re an elite
team that just happens to be run by a bunch of young guys in Ben
Simmons, Joel Embiid and hopefully Markelle Fultz, so the margin
for error is a lot thinner now as they look to contend with the
Boston Celtics and Toronto Raptors at the top of the East. What
that means for Bolden is that it will be harder for the Sixers to
let him ‘figure it out’ on the floor. He will need to come ready to
play and contribute right away.

Having said that, Bolden may well end up splitting his time
between the 76ers and their G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue
Coats, where he will be able to get plenty of run and build his
confidence.

Dante Exum – Jazz

The Utah Jazz backcourt is overflowing with talent, so minutes
will have to be earned, but the early signs point to Dante Exum
being a key figure in what will be a big season for the Jazz as
they look to finish in the top four in the Western Conference.

Exum signed a three-year, $33 million deal in the off-season,
and with that deal comes expectation. Now that Exum is fully
healthy and in his fifth year, he has a real opportunity ti imprint
himself on this team.

Between Donovan Mitchell, Ricky Rubio, Alec Burks and Grayson
Allen, there is plenty of offense at their disposal, but what will
keep Exum on the floor is his defense. The 23-year-old is the best
defender of the group, which gives him an edge over the likes of
Allen and Burks.

Don’t be surprised to see Exum in some three-guard lineups,
utilising his size and speed on the perimeter, something the Aussie
says he is looking forward to.

“I think it’s going to be really good. It gives me the chance to
run the floor on kick-aheads and show my speed in transition,” Exum
said via the Salt Lake Tribune . In that scnario,
Exum will likely be guarding small forwards and bigger guards, but
after his display agianst James Harden in the playoffs,
he is confident he can do that job.

“I’ve been playing this summer in L.A. against a lot of the
threes, and I’ve been doing well.”

Matthew Dellavedova – Bucks

After an injury-disrupted campaign last season, Dellavedova will
look to gain his spot back in the rotation under new head coach
Mike Budenholzer.

The Bucks’ offense already looks night and day from 2017/18,
with increased ball movement and a TON more three-pointers getting
hoisted, playing right into Dellavedova’s hands. Delly has knocked
down 36.9% of his threes over the past two seasons and last year he
buried 40.3% of his catch and shoot triples.

His minutes will largely come with the second unit, putting more
pressure on his playmaking, but if Delly can re-discover his
shooting from deep and become the leader of the bench mob, he will
have a clear role on this team.

Health will be the big concern, having missed 44 regular season
games last year, so a good start to the season will go a long way
to breaking back into the roatation.

Thon Maker – Bucks

Heading into year three, there’s plenty of pressure on Thon
Maker to make ‘the leap’ and turn his potential into production for
the Milwaukee Bucks. So far we’ve seen flashes of what he is
capable of on both ends, but this is the year where consistency
will be key.

No one will benefit from the arrival of new coach Mike
Budenhozer more than Maker, with his modern floor spacing
principles, which look set to be the key to unlocking the
seven-footer.

Last season, the Aussie converted 29.8% of his threes, down from
his blistering rookie campaign where he shot 37.8%. The new-look
Bucks offense will prioritise opening up the floor from the
perimeter and the message from coach Bud has been simple. LET IT
FLY.

“Tell them to keep shooting,” Budenholzer told Matt Velazquez of the Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel about his mentality with the three ball.

“I think lots of people, bigs in particular, probably, they miss
one or two and they may expect [us] to say, ‘Stop’ or ‘We don’t
want that.’ I think right now we’re very much in an encouragement
mode. We want guys to expand their range, expand their games. I
think when you give them confidence and they know that you want it
that’s the biggest thing you can do.”

Defensively, Maker’s block-a-palooza in the playoffs against
Boston showed how much damage he can do on defense, however during
the regular season, former head coach Jason Kidd’s defensive
schemes left Maker on an island at times, caught in between the
perimeter and the rim, which didn’t really maximise his
strengths.

Maker will be competing for minutes with newly-acquired Brook
Lopez and John Henson (who has also been working on his range from
deep), so competition for minutes will be tough. If Maker can
consistently produce, it will be hard to ignore, but for a team
with high playoff expectations, there won’t be as much room to
‘figure it out’ as there has been in year’s past.

Ryan Broekhoff – Mavericks

Fit is everything in the NBA and Ryan Broekhoff and the Mavs
might just be a match made in heaven.

Dallas doesn’t have a ton of depth at small forward, nor an
array of three-point shooting after Doug McDermott, Seth Curry, and
Yogi Ferrell all left in free agency, giving the Aussie an
opportunity to carve out a role from the jump. Dallas was fourth in
three-point attempts per game last season and fifth in
three-pointers made, so there’s plenty of long range shots to go
round.

MORE: Exum says Broekhoff primed to succeed in NBA: ‘He
can shoot the hell out of the ball’

He’s already shown that the NBA three-point line is no problem,
knocking down 6-of-13 triples in pre-season. Between Harrison
Barnes, Doncic and Broekhoff, the Mavs’ wings are super
interchangable and that flexibilty could see him playing the two,
three or four at different times during games, depending on
matchups.

A strong rebounder at 6-foot-7, Broekhoff has a knack for
getting involved on the offensive glass and creating second-chance
opprtunities. He will need to hustle to stay on the court and that
type of extra effort will be hard to ignore for coach Rick
Carlisle

Patty Mills – Spurs

With Dejounte Murray sidelined with a torn ACL and Derrick White
going down with a foot injury, the Spurs’ point guard stocks are
severly limited, putting a ton of respoibility on Mills’
shoulders.

MORE: What Dejounte Murray’s injury means for Patty
Mills

It’s unclear whether Mills or Bryn Forbes will start, with Gregg
Popovich’s prefence to have the Aussie running the second unit, but
expect to see him playing career-high minutes. The Spurs simply
need him to until they get healthy.

Now one of the elder statesmen in San Antonio, Mills’ leadership
will be more important than ever this year. Tony Parker and Manu
Ginobili are gone, leaving the 30-year-old as one of the most
important voices in the locker room.

Aron Baynes – Celtics

After a strong debut season for the Celtics, Baynes quickly
became a vital cog for Boston, especially on defense and we can
expect much of the same from the big man this year.

BAYNES: Celtics motivated by ‘bitter taste’ from Game 7
loss to Cavs

Having said that…..I am all here for the season of Aron Baynes
launching a ton of threes after his absurd 11-of-23 shooting
performance in last season’s playoffs.

In all seriousness, if Baynes can keep up his long-distance
threat and draw the opposing big man out of the paint, the likes of
Gordon Hayward, Jaylen Brown, Jayson Tatum and Kyrie Irving can run
riot at the rim. If opposing coaches have to start game-planning
for Baynes threes, Boston’s offense will be adding a hilarously
unexpected wrinkle to their game plan.

“I’m not going to shy away from it this year, and I’m not going
to live by it, either,” Baynes said of his three-point shooting at
Media Day. “I’m not gonna try to live off it either”

The NBA season tips off Wednesday 17 October and you can
catch all the action on NBA League Pass.

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