Thompson as just one of the many draft picks that the Cleveland Cavaliers have made that left people scratching their heads, but there's a chance this one may actually be panning out. In reality, Thompson should have been getting plenty of credit last year, with averages of basically 11 points and 9 rebounds per game, and with a PER around 16. This year, his numbers are up slightly to 13 points and 10 rebounds. Yet, more importantly, he has drastically improved his free throw shooting, up nearly 15% from 60% last year. This allows him to be on the floor at the end of close games. Considering the debate that began when the Cavaliers took SF/PF Anthony Bennett #1 overall about who would get the most minutes at the 4 spot, this FT shooting improvement has been incredibly important. Bennett has been, to put it nicely, a mess, and Thompson's improvement has allowed the Cavaliers to work on developing Bennett while not sacrificing effectiveness at the end of the games by keeping him on the floor. While the Cavaliers draft selections most definitely deserve the ire that they have drawn, Thompson has made the case for his name to be left out of those discussions.
2. Erick Spoelstra/Michael Beasley
This is a unique situation. Beasley is supremely talented, has shown flashes of his ability, and has also been one of the biggest boneheads in the NBA (See: The "Off Court Issues" section of Beasley's Wikipedia... it's lengthy.). Yet, Eric Spoelstra has handled this situation to perfection, or at least it would seem so up to this point. Beasley has an amazing amount of talent on the offensive end, but he tends to get careless and at times not play very good team basketball. So, Spoelstra kept Beasley on the bench for the first few games, essentially allowing him to watch what his teammates are capable of. He forced Beasley to build some trust. Then, in the last few games he has released Beasley in small, concentrated doses: several minutes at a time, never totaling more than 23 total minutes. So far, the results have been staggering. In 3 of his last 4 games, Beasley has put together some impressive stat lines, including a Milwaukee game in which he played 20 minutes, going 8-14 from the floor and scoring 19 points, a Charlotte Bobcats game in which he played 23 minutes, scoring 15 points on 7-14 shooting, and a Celtics game in which he only played 8 minutes, but managed to go 5-7 from the floor for 10 points. His efficiency, not something Beasley is typically known for, has been staggering, with a PER sitting just above 25 right now. On the season, Beasley has now scored 56 points in 71 minutes on 25-42 shooting. Whether or not, Spoelstra continues to use him in his current capacity or begins to give him more minutes remains to be seen. Either way, Beasley is an enigma, enormously talented and completely incapable of getting out of his own way. If Spoelstra can continue to handle this in the right way, Beasley could give the Heat another dimension for teams to account for and could ultimately be the difference that Miami needs to return the championship trophy to South Beach.
3. Monta Ellis
To those people who love advanced analytics, Monta Ellis is a nightmare. Throughout his NBA career he has been a volume scorer. Blessed with incredible ability to do everything on the offensive end, but also hampered by very questionable decision-making, Ellis has always been a confusing, if not troubling, NBA player. Grantland's NBA Preview series featuring Bill Simmons and Jalen Rose displayed a Monta Ellis shot chart showing that Ellis did not shoot above average from anywhere on the floor this past year (See for yourself, it's around the 6:30 mark). This year, however, he is shooting the highest eFG% (a metric that weights 3 pointers more than 2 points) of his entire career. He is averaging 22.1 PPG, and he is not doing it to the detriment of Dirk Nowitzki or his team. He is taking 6.6 free throws per game, and shooting them at a 82% clip, both of which are career highs. That translates to a lot of free points. He is also dishing out just shy of 6 assists/game and his team is winning. Ellis has found a home that may be the perfect situation for him. He has always had amazing pure talent, but his decision making has gotten in the way. If Ellis can keep his current playing style up, we may be watching him on All-Star weekend for the first time in his career.
4. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist
This is an interesting one. No, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has not been as prominent on the offensive end as the first three guys on this list, but he is showing marked improvement over last year. The former #2 overall pick came into the league amidst expectations that were, quite frankly, way too high. He was still a raw prospect with a very quirky jump shot, but he was also a high level athlete who could finish at the rim, defend almost anybody, and bring extreme intensity to the floor day in and day out. Clearly, it was unreasonable to expect him to be a scorer in his first few years in the league as that part of his game needed serious development. Yet, low and behold, about two weeks we saw Tony Kornheiser labeling MKG a "bust." At the time, he was about 2 weeks into his SECOND NBA season. This season, his raw numbers don't seem too much higher. Yet, a closer look reveals some very encouraging trends. First of all, his eFG% has jumped nearly 8%. Such a jump is key to making opposing teams respect his jump shot, and thus open up more driving lanes so that he can use his explosive athletic ability (Watch this, you won't regret it). Yet, the most important component to Kidd-Gilchrist's game pertain to his defense. His length, athleticism, and energy are creating some real problems for opposing players. For example, look at Carmelo Anthony. In the Bobcats' third game of the season, they played Anthony's Knicks, and MKG drew the Carmelo matchup. The above video displays several possessions within that game, showing MKG harassing Melo in the post, fighting over ball screens, contesting shots at the rim and generally making Carmelo work really hard. By the end of that game, Carmelo was 10-28, with most of those makes coming during time frames in which MKG was on the bench. The Bobcats won that game. Simply put, Kidd-Gilchrist dramatically affected the game from the defensive end of the court, which is a skill that will always carry weight in the NBA. Yet, couple that with his improving offensive efficiency, and MKG deserves a little more love than pundits like Tony Kornheiser are giving him.
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