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Five shooting guards to watch for in the 2016-17 NBA season
Victor Oladipo of the Oklahoma City Thunder Victor Oladipo of the Oklahoma City Thunder shoots prior to the game against Real Madrid as part of the 2016 Global Games on October 3, 2016 at the Barclaycard Center in Madrid, Spain. With an increased role in OKC, his numbers should take a jump in the 2016-2017 season. Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images

Five shooting guards to watch for in the 2016-17 NBA season

With the NBA season set to start in just a few weeks, Yardbarker is breaking down the most interesting players to watch at every position. Here, we take a look at the shooting guards who will move the needle during the 2016-17 season. 

CJ McCollum, 20.8 PPG | 2.2 RPG | 2.4 APG | 51.7 eFG% | 6.0 WS | 17.7 PER

Last season, CJ McCollum was inserted into the starting lineup to play alongside Damian Lillard and his numbers exploded. His per game numbers didn’t just expand with increased minutes, but he was also better per/36 in scoring and assists, lifted his shooting numbers across the board, including a scorching 41 percent from three. McCollum tripled his total win shares from his first two seasons in his third. His usage rate increased by seven percent with his turnover percentage only increasing by less than a percentage point. 

McCollum earned the NBA’s Most Improved award not just because he lit up box scores, he became a better basketball player. Now, entering his fourth season and a certified rising star, it’s up to him and Lillard to continue exceeding the expectations thrown their way. The Blazers finished fifth in the Western Conference and made it to the second round of the playoffs. But if the Blazers are going to build on what they’ve established, McCollum is going to have to take another jump from where he was last year, and he’s proven that he’s capable of continuing to improve. 

Klay Thompson, 22.1 PPG | 3.8 RPG | 2.1 APG | 56.9 eFG% | 8.0 WS | 18.6 PER

Klay Thompson has been saying all of the right things since the Warriors brought in Kevin Durant, but if anyone is going to take a numbers hit this season, it’s going to be Thompson. Despite being the second or third best shooter in the NBA right now, Thompson could be relegated to a glorified 3-and-D guy with occasional explosions. 

What Thompson’s presence on this team does is keep the defense honest, and opens up the floor not only for driving lanes, but for passing lanes. The Warriors run a lot of complicated sets creating opportunities for backdoor cuts, many of which Thompson benefited from last year. With Curry and now Durant expected to handle the crux of the scoring for the Warriors and with Draymond Green’s role expanding with the absence of Harrison Barnes and Andrew Bogut, Thompson is going to have to work to find added meaning to his work. Watching Thompson solve this existential crisis in real time will almost be more fun than watching the Warriors as a whole. 

Dwyane Wade, 19.0 PPG | 4.1 RPG | 4.6 APG | 45.9 eFG% | 4.9 WS | 20.3 PER

Dwyane Wade is home. The Chicago native spent the first 13 years of his career in Miami leading the franchise to its only three titles. But after Pat Riley refused to give Wade the contract Wade feels like he deserved, he left the only franchise he’s played for to go team up with Jimmy Butler and Rajon Rondo in Chicago. Wade has lost a step or two, and he looks weird as hell in his Bulls uniform, but he’s still producing with the best of the shooting guards in the NBA. 

What is going to make this season interesting for the Bulls is that the three players mentioned above are going to have to find a way to play their game without stepping on each other’s toes. Neither Wade, Butler or Rondo are great from deep, add if the team plans on starting Taj Gibson over Nikola Mirotic, they won’t have a single player who can spread the floor in their starting lineup. Wade has always found his way to the rim, but with opposing defenses knowing they can clog the lane, we might see a sharp decline in Wade’s numbers this season, not because of him, but because of his surrounding cast. 

Victor Oladipo, 16.0 PPG | 4.8 RPG | 3.9 APG | 48.9 eFG% | 4.9 WS | 16.7 PER

If nothing else, the Oklahoma City backcourt is going to be extremely athletic – and quite possibly the most athletic combo in the league. With Kevin Durant gone and Serge Ibaka traded away, Victor Oladipo is Russell Westbrook’s new running mate, and they’re going to wreck havoc on any backcourt not ready to match their collective intensity level. Oladipo is becoming one of the best defensive guards in the NBA, and with a heightened role in Oklahoma City, he should see a jump in his offensive game, too. 

Many are looking at Oladipo as a 3-and-D guy coming into this season, but he believes he can become much more than that for the Thunder. Oladipo spent five weeks in Los Angeles training with Westbrook this summer, and as a former Maryland native, he’s adapted a few of the game day rituals he’s learned from Durant. The Thunder are going to have periods where they struggle to score the ball, but if Oladipo can become the player who he wants to be instead of the player we’re projecting, those periods will be few and far between. 

Monta Ellis, 13.8 PPG | 3.3 RPG | 4.7 APG | 47.0 eFG% | 4.3 WS | 13.7 PER

The Indiana Pacers are going to be as good as Monta Ellis wants them to be. They’ve added Jeff Teague to the fold, and Paul George looked better than he was before the injury last season. Myles Turner had a fantastic rookie season and is emerging as one of the best rim protectors, finishing fourth in block percentage at 5.1, and that number jumped to 9.8 during the seven playoff games the Pacers played in last year.

If Ellis can play within the system, show up on the defensive end and attack when he has his opportunities, the Pacers are going to be tough to beat on any given night. Despite the fact that Ellis’ scoring average was his lowest since his rookie season, he can still score in bunches and is still one of the fastest players from baseline-to-baseline the NBA has to offer. In his second year with Indiana, it’s time for Monta to have it all.

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