Seven NBA Sophomore Slumps, Jumps, and Bumps – The Ringer

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Which second-year players are ahead of schedule? And which ones are suffering the dreaded sophomore slump? Here are seven players that are standing out, for better or for worse.
The NBA spotlight tends to focus on shiny new rookies and proven stars, but a group caught right in the middle is also worthy of our attention: the sophomores. Beyond the dreaded slumps, some sophomores are primed for jumps to stardom, while others benefit from bumps of growth.
Situation plays such a pivotal role in the success or failure of young players. Some guys are in situations that enable them to play through mistakes, whereas others get benched after one gaffe because the team is trying to win or has other options. We’re still in the beginning stages of their careers, though. And as Scottie Barnes is showing by shining at the start of his third season with the Raptors, a down year following a great rookie season isn’t the end of the world.
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So with all that in mind, let’s conduct an early-season status check on seven second-year players.
Sharpe averaged 23.7 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 4.1 assists over his final 10 games of last season. The Blazers were tanking at that point, but Sharpe was one of the biggest silver linings as Damian Lillard’s days neared an end in Portland. And now, Sharpe is picking up where he left off by averaging 20.1 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 2.9 assists through seven games this season, looking straight-up dominant for various stretches.
During Friday’s in-season tournament game against the Grizzlies, Sharpe miraculously blocked a 3-pointer at the end of regulation to send the game to overtime:
Unbelievable performance by Shaedon Sharpe. The absurd blocked 3 at the end of regulation, the clutch 3 in overtime, and the Blazers running everything through him. Sharpe is still only 20. pic.twitter.com/wjmEf7uqlC
And then he followed that up by carrying the offense play after play, running pick-and-rolls, driving straight into reigning Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. to score a layup, and draining a 3-pointer off the dribble, then two late free throws, to help ice the game.
Sharpe appears more aggressive as a scorer this season, like on the drive against Jackson when he saw an opening and then attacked. He showed flashes of takeover ability with Lillard out of the picture last season, and now it looks like head coach Chauncey Billups has further empowered him to lead the offense. It helps that Sharpe is also playing more under control by dictating pace on the floor and making sound decisions as a passer.
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The Blazers selected Sharpe with the seventh pick in 2022 (he was fourth on my big board), and as of now, he’s looking like a steal, especially considering how young he still is. But he has a lot to prove this season since he’s never been the guy that teams strategize against, and he’s still tasked with creating play after play. At just 20 years old, Sharpe is six months younger than Hornets rookie Brandon Miller and four months younger than the Thompson twins. It’s not a stretch to say that he’s the best prospect in Portland, with an even higher ceiling than rookie point guard Scoot Henderson.
After Friday’s performance, center Deandre Ayton dubbed Sharpe “Showtime Shae.” Should Sharpe’s ascent continue, the moniker is likely to stick.
Banchero put LeBron James on skates with a slick crossover in Orlando’s most recent game against the Lakers, which highlighted his best performance of this young season with 25 points, 10 assists, and seven rebounds:
Paolo Banchero lost Lebron with the crossover pic.twitter.com/kONXZEShV6
But besides a 30-point banger against the Jazz in the game prior, it’s been a rocky start to the year for last year’s no. 1 pick. Banchero averaged 12.5 points on 11.3 shots over his first four games this season, and it often felt like he was lost in the shuffle among the Magic’s many other players worthy of touches.
There’s still plenty to love about the 20-year-old’s game, to be clear: 6-foot-10 shot creators don’t grow on trees. But with that said, the key stat to watch over the course of this season will be his perimeter shooting efficiency.
Banchero shot 35.1 percent on pull-up jumpers last season and just 33.8 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s. This season, he’s 5-for-20 on pull-ups and 2-for-5 on catch-and-shoots. We’re working with tiny samples, but if his off-the-dribble numbers improve this season, it’d go a long way toward creating belief that he can realize his superstar potential.
Over the first quarter-ish of last season, Mathurin looked like a star in the making, averaging nearly 20 points off the Pacers bench while shooting over 40 percent from 3. After that, though, last year’s no. 6 pick hit a wall by shooting just 26.7 percent from 3, with a negative assist-to-turnover ratio. Those struggles have become even more pronounced this season, as he’s averaging just 11.2 points on 25 percent shooting from 3 and 46.3 percent shooting from 2 and has had a dwindling free throw rate.
One positive for Mathurin is the fact that he’s had three five-assist games already this season after just two all of last season. But the Pacers have enough playmakers on their roster without Mathurin chipping in. What they need is a scorer, so he needs to refind his shot and start getting more stops on defense.
Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle has played Mathurin for only 22.3 minutes per game, in part because he has other options to turn to, like Buddy Hield and Aaron Nesmith. Mathurin could help himself earn minutes by playing better defense. Against the Hornets, he was hunted on the ball by Gordon Hayward. Against the Cavs, he lost track of sharpshooting wing Max Strus on multiple occasions. If Mathurin isn’t shooting the ball, he needs to at least be getting stops on defense. Right now, he seems all around lost.
When I was growing up, Ben Wallace was the epitome of Detroit basketball to me. Billups earned his “Mr. Big Shot” moniker, Rip Hamilton was draining midrange jumpers, Tayshaun Prince was making All-Defensive Teams, and Rasheed Wallace was the trash-talking power forward who could hit 3s. Yet it was Big Ben, with his Defensive Player of the Year accolades, who truly embodied that championship team by owning the glass and swatting away shots as his trademark afro flopped around.
Since Wallace’s 2012 retirement, the Pistons have struggled, making only two playoff appearances and seeing their defense plummet. What used to be the franchise’s identity is now an afterthought. Here is Detroit’s defensive rating each season since then:
But this season could be different. The Pistons, who sat at 11th in defensive rating before Sunday’s loss, have found a new anchor in 19-year-old center Duren, whose rim-protecting abilities evoke fond memories of Wallace’s defensive dominance. Just look at the way he flies in from the weak side to viciously send the ball away from the rim:
With his springy athleticism and 7-foot-5 wingspan, Duren is at his best defending in the paint, but he also brings scheme versatility since he can switch onto the perimeter. And since he’s complemented by a host of strong perimeter defenders like Cade Cunningham, Killian Hayes, and rookie Ausar Thompson, the Pistons are able to play virtually any style that new head coach Monty Williams desires, with Duren as the reliable back line of defense.
There’s at least one thing Duren can do that Wallace couldn’t. Wallace could never score like Duren. In Wallace’s four All-Star seasons, he averaged 8.4 points on 45.9 percent from the field and 44.5 percent from the line. Duren is averaging 18 points on 66.1 percent from the field and 73 percent from the line, following a similarly productive year with a far lower volume. And he’s not just a catch-and-finish big. Duren can make accurate high-low and kickout passes or put the ball on the floor to drive to the rim.
The Pistons need some offensive presences to develop alongside Cunningham and Duren. Hayes is getting chances ahead of Jaden Ivey right now because of his reliable passing and versatile defense, and though Ausar already looks like an All-Defensive candidate, he has yet to prove that he can shoot. For Detroit to reach great heights again, at least one of them must shine. But with Duren’s emergence alone—and the promise of a defensive juggernaut and, perhaps, an offensive one as well—the DETROIT BASKETBALL chant may once again reverberate among fans.
Kings head coach Mike Brown said last month that the only time he’ll sub Murray out of the game is “when he doesn’t shoot the frickin’ ball.” His statement came after a familiar sight one night in which Murray passed on a chance to shoot a 3-pointer. Last Saturday against the Lakers, he didn’t take a few open opportunities to launch again, but he’s still shooting plenty. The problem is that he’s not making many at all.
Over the season, Murray has made just 11 of his 44 attempts from behind the arc, good for only 25 percent, which is way down from his 41.1 percent as a rookie. Murray still offers plenty of other positive traits as a versatile defender, rebounder, and decision-maker, but his shot is supposed to be his calling card. If it begins to click again, his slump could turn into a jump.
After anchoring the Charlotte defense with a surprisingly stout second half last season, Williams is now flashing his offensive upside to begin his sophomore campaign. The no. 15 pick had a season-high 27 points against the Pacers and is averaging 14.7 points while shooting 81 percent from the field. A hard screen-and-roller, he’s developing tasty chemistry with Hornet point guard LaMelo Ball:
GET USED TO SEEING THIS FOR A LONG TIME! @MELOD1P ↗️ @MarkWi1liams@hornets | #LetsFly35 pic.twitter.com/U7pP34vxt3
Beyond Williams’s even higher finish rate at the rim, the Hornets are also giving him far more touches out of dribble handoff situations. Give Charlotte credit for keeping his role simple. Possess the ball. Review the defense. Hand the ball off to LaMelo or Hayward, then roll hard. But it’s still more responsibility on his plate, adding more to his repertoire than just screening, cutting, and crashing the boards.
There’s a chance that Williams will just end up fulfilling the requisite tasks a center is typically asked to do. But his increased usage is intriguing because of his potential untapped shooting ability. Williams has long had good touch near the rim, but he’s also improved every year as a free throw shooter and displays touch from midrange. Could he start launching more slot-up jumpers out of handoffs or someday even take a step back behind the 3-point line?
It’s nice to dream big about what Williams could be, but he’s already good enough for us to know for certain that the Hornets have found their starting center of the present and future.
So far this season, I’ve really had only three types of discussions about the Spurs:
Victor Wembanyama has already looked like the best player on the court, even when Kevin Durant was on the other side. It seems like every single quarter, he’s doing something we’ve never seen before. The predraft buzz somehow might have sold him short.
I shared some strong takes about Vassell over text and X this offseason, including that he has All-NBA upside, which was usually met with caution or straight disagreement. Now that he’s averaging 19.4 points on 62.5 percent from 2-point range and 40.7 percent from 3-point range while hitting some absurd shots off the dribble, my inbox is being flooded with love for his game. (Vassell is currently sidelined by a groin injury but is listed as day-to-day, so hopefully it’s minor.)
On multiple occasions this season, I’ve received a text suggesting that the Spurs should trade for a veteran point guard or start Tre Jones, a throwback 6-foot-1 pass-first point guard. This is in part because San Antonio’s offense has often looked like a clunky mess in the half court while it’s being run by Jeremy Sochan, a 6-foot-9 dude who can’t really shoot from the perimeter.
Sochan makes some sloppy mistakes on the floor, and way too often he forgets the Spurs have a skilled rookie who towers over everyone that he can pass the ball to.
But Gregg Popovich called his decision to make Sochan the team’s starting point guard the “official 2023-24 experiment” for a reason. The Spurs view Sochan as a Draymond Green type of player in that he’s a highly versatile defender and a player that can be used in a variety of different roles on offense. In no way is that to suggest that he’ll ever be as great as Draymond, but he has size and feel that are worthy of investment and opportunity.
It says a lot about San Antonio’s belief in Sochan that it’d do this during Wembanyama’s rookie season. Why mess with the potential greatness of the most promising prospect since LeBron James? Because Sochan has the upside to be a long-term fixture alongside Wemby, likely as one of multiple shot creators on the team. If the Spurs someday have a smaller guard who can drain 3s, Sochan could be an asset in dribble handoffs or a screener who thrives out of the short roll. But he’s also skilled enough as a handler to bring the ball up himself and run a pick-and-roll.
Today it’s important for the Spurs to get him as much experience as he needs—both for Sochan’s sake, to improve his decision-making, and for the franchise’s, to find out what it has in him. San Antonio’s priority is to build a perennial championship contender, and the best way to do that is through experimentation.
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