Why these young NBA players are primed to take a leap in 2025

Yahoo

25-07-2025

Yahoo Sports senior NBA reporter Vincent Goodwill and analyst Dan Titus discuss the young NBA stars that they think will improve the most during the 2025-26 NBA season. Hear the full conversation on 'Good Word with Goodwill' and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube or wherever you listen.
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Video Transcript
Is there a player in particular that you're looking at and you're like, man, this guy is primed to make a leap next season.
First name that comes to mind, Andrew Nembhard with Tyrese Haliburton out.
Nembhard is probably gonna be the guy that's gonna be the engine of the offense.
They're gonna play through Pascal Siakam too, but I think we're gonna see that big leap in Andrew Nembhard.
It's gonna be a very important year for him.
I think that that's the person that I'm kind of pegging right now, most improved player, taking that leap to kinda keep Indiana on the brink of relevancy in the East.
Like they're not gonna be what they were last year, but they're still obviously gonna be a playoff team cause their team is still super deep.
It, it's an interesting thing when you look at a guy like Nembhard, when you look at the Pacers as a whole, like we're so easily writing them off, right?
Ben Mathurin is a guy that I think of and I'm saying he is super talented.
You can see him playing with, uh, you know, Pascal Siakam and seeing if, you know, their chemistry can develop just with more usage and more opportunity to play.
Ben Mathurin is a guy for me.
Is, do you have somebody else or is that just your one?
Yeah, I was thinking also Asser Thompson.
I think the Asser leap is what's really gonna propel the Detroit Pistons.
Cause the thing about Asser, I think he's been kind of overlooked because he dealt with the blood clot injury and he kinda came on mid-season.
That's the guy that I'm really keen in on in Detroit that I think.
Could be that X factor for them to go to that next level if they're gonna take it there.
I agree with everything you said about Asser Thompson.
I think he's gonna be in the most improved category, if not a bunch of other categories.
What do you think about Alex Caruso?
I know it's Washington, nobody pays attention to them.
Because they're the Wizards and now they're trying to be Oklahoma City East.
Alex Caruso just because of his physical makeup.
Maybe I'm jumping on in a year early, but I'd rather be that guy to say, yeah, yeah, yeah, I saw Caruso along, but I won't gonna say it.
No, I'm calling my shot.
Now, I think this kid is gonna be good.
Yeah, I mean, uh, so he was one of the players that I was really curious to watch in summer league, and, you know, he broke the summer league record for most blocks in the game with 8, but I think it was his shot selection that to me looked a bit improved.
Now that we're kind of, they're reshaping the roster akin to, you know, the Oklahoma City Thunder, I think we should see a leap in Alsar.
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