Fantasy Basketball: Second-year breakout candidates

Being a rookie in the NBA can be difficult.

While some players like LeBron James (2003-2004) and Blake Griffin (2010-2011) are able to make a quick adjustment and thrive right out of the gate, the vast majority require some time to figure things out — needing to get stronger both mentally and physically.

Here is a look at the second-year players who possess the talent to expand upon their rookie showing and break out in Year 2:

Josh Giddey, PG/SG, Oklahoma City Thunder

Did Giddey have a stellar rookie season? Yes. But there is a still a lot of room to grow. As one of the league’s most promising prospects during the 2021-22 season, he was the NBA’s second-youngest player. While his rookie campaign was partially derailed after 54 games because of a hip injury that ended his season, he was phenomenal from November through February, putting up 12.7 PPG, 8.0 RPG, 6.5 APG and 1.0 BPG. During that span, Giddey was recognized as the Western Rookie of the Month every month.

There are two key areas where he can improve, though: field goal percentage (41.6%) and turnovers (3.3 TPG). With six second-year players on its roster, the Thunder are a young team and with rookie Chet Holmgren is out for the season (Lisfranc), Giddey will be counted on to be an ever bigger part of things. He’s an excellent value in fantasy drafts.

Bones Hyland, PG, Denver Nuggets

Denver had high hopes for Hyland’s long-term potential after selecting him 26th overall in the 2021 NBA draft, but had no expectation of how much he would contribute during his rookie season. Hyland stepped up in a big way. He finished with 10.1 PPG, 2.7 RPG and 2.8 APG and posted a 55.8 True Shooting Percentage. Hyland was named to the league…