The season is nearing. Time is racing. The days are being counted. The 2018-19 NBA season will start in less than two months.
Slept On is coming back.
This special Slept On article is designed to dip our toes in the Slept On waters and get the ball rolling on what our PerSources team thinks about the future of the uncovered players in the NBA. Four writers. Lots of players who are Slept On.
Jordan Davidsen (@JDavidsenPS): Jakob Poeltl, San Antonio Spurs
It doesn’t matter who Gregg Popovich gets. He’s one of the greatest coaches of all-time and will develop them to the best of his ability. Jakob Poeltl is a former top-10 pick who’s bursting with potential. In a system without Kawhi, a strong forward such as Poeltl will be able to really be dominant. His ability to play PF and C makes him a threat all over the court and the Spurs lack of a true center (who even is Dewayne Dedmon?) will give him his chance at being a high-production player this season.
Poeltl’s abilities to be a spot-up mid-range shooter, strong bully on the boards, and a decent defensive player gives him the two-way view the Spurs are known to have. If Pop can help Poeltl with his basketball IQ and post abilities for creating his own shot, there’s no reason that Poeltl shouldn’t be a 10 PPG and 8 RPG player this season. Poeltl will be a key player in the best system on the planet and is definitely SLEPT ON.
Matt Spirio (@MS_persources): Julius Randle, New Orleans Pelicans
The 2017 Lakers were a lot of different things. They were the most promising group of talent the Lakers have had in five years. They were a young, bold group of players led by Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, and Brandon Ingram. Interestingly enough, one player lost in all of that was forward Julius Randle. Randle was the first of four-straight Lakers draft picks to be taken in the top 10.
Like Ingram and Ball, he was once viewed as a promising young part of the Lakers core, but this past offseason he was viewed by Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka as expendable, as they weren’t prepared to make a long-term commitment to him. This is a questionable move for LA considering what Randle brings to the table. Randle, who signed with the Pelicans on a two-year, $18M deal, was tied with Brandon Ingram and Kyle Kuzma as the leader in points per game for the Lakers at 16.1, yet played the least minutes of the three.
Randle was also the Lakers leading rebounder (8.0 RPG) and shot an admirable 56% from the field. He was the only Laker to appear in all 82 games last season and will help soften the blow of losing DeMarcus Cousins for New Orleans. Randle’s a tough, physical presence who will get on the offensive glass, while continuing to grow as a shooter and overall offensive player. He made considerable improvements in his third full year of playing and is certainly SLEPT ON.
Mason McFee (@_mason_jar): Elfrid Payton, New Orleans Pelicans
Originally selected 10th overall by the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2014 NBA Draft, Elfrid Payton’s time in the “City of Brotherly” was short lived as he was shipped off to Orlando in exchange for the 12th overall selection Dario Saric, a 2015 second-round pick, and a conditional 2017 first round pick. Payton was a member of the Orlando Magic up until the trade deadline this past season, where he was sent to Phoenix for a second-round pick. The trade didn’t work, and now Payton is on a one-year, $2.7 million deal with the Pelicans.
Payton’s often described as a non-shooting/pass-first PG, but that’s actually not the case. While he’s a career 29.8% shooter from deep, he shot 37.3% from deep before the deadline with not much space to operate in Orlando. In New Orleans, he’ll have at least one of Anthony Davis, Nikola Mirotic, Jrue Holiday, and Julius Randle spacing the floor for him. Payton may not particularly excel at one thing, but he’s good at everything. He had two triple-doubles in his rookie season and has 10 triple-doubles already in his career. He probably won’t put up huge numbers statistically, but he’s definitely SLEPT ON.
Mateo Caliz (@casiopersources): Bojan Bogdanovich, Indiana Pacers
Game 3 of the Eastern Conference first round. Indiana is once again facing LeBron in the playoffs at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse. Every NBA fan expects a matchup between Oladipo and James. Instead, they get Bogey. The Croatian forward scored 30 points on 11/15 shooting and a lights-out 7/9 from three-point range.
To the NBA, such performance came out of nowhere which is why Bojan Bogdanovic is Slept On.
Last season, Bogey averaged a career-high 14.3 PPG and shot 40.2% from deep. Although Bogdanovic was considered the third scoring option, when he got his touches he made them count, posting career-highs in nearly every offensive category (3P%, FG%, NetRTG and True Shooting%). Under contract for one more season in Indiana, Bogdanovic will surely improve as the Pacers develop more chemistry, and he should get more attention being a starter and solid player on a top-four team in the East. Bogdanovic’s a good player on one of the best teams in the East. He has a penchant for exploding in big games, and he’s really SLEPT ON.
Want to read the original Slept On articles? Click here.
Want to read more from Mason, Mateo, or Matt? Hit their name!