8 NBA breakout player candidates who could change the 2026-27 season

(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images Every NBA season is defined in part by the players who take an unexpected leap. The Detroit Pistons went from 44 to 60 wins largely because big man Jalen Duren ascended into an All-NBA player at age-22. The Portland Trail Blazers made an unexpected playoff appearance after Deni Avdija grew into a first-time All-Star. The Atlanta Hawks turned into a plucky playoff team after trading Trae Young in part because Nickeil Alexander-Walker leveled up as a starter in the backcourt. The Phoenix Suns exceeded expectations because they found some hidden gems like Collin Gillespie, who went from a two-way contract to an advanced stats darling in a bigger role. Ryan Rollins went from a totally anonymous end-of-bench guy to one of the league’s better young two-way guards for the Milwaukee Bucks. There’s going to be more surprises this year. It will only take one or two breakouts to rock our Eastern Conference preseason predictions given how close teams 1-10 appear to be bunched together entering the season. It would be surprising if anyone new can break into the top-6 of our Western Conference rankings, but injuries or a Most Improved Player campaign could turn things quickly. With the 2026-27 NBA season around the corner, here are our picks for breakout players this year. Collin Murray-Boyles, F, Toronto Raptors Murray-Boyles has been a cult hero going back to his time at South Carolina that helped make him a lottery pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. He had a solid rookie year for the Toronto Raptors, and seemed to earn the trust of head coach Darko Rajaković more and more as the season went on. Toronto is dreaming of making a darkhorse NBA Finals run with Kawhi Leonard back in town, and it’s only going to happen if Murray-Boyles fully goes mainstream in his second season. CMB is a monster defender with a strong base, quick hands, and elite instincts. He’s a legitimate game-wrecker at the four, but Toronto might need him to play more center this season, where he’s a bit undersized. He has more room for growth offensively. Murray-Boyles is a very low volume three-point shooter at two attempts per 100 possessions as a rookie. Any improvement there would be massive, but he could also make more of an impact as a bully-ball driver and offensive rebounder. I think Murray-Boyles is going to be a staple in Toronto’s best lineups next to Leonard and Scottie Barnes, but it’s only going to happen if he continues to develop his offensive game. Zach Edey, C, Memphis Grizzlies Edey changes the complexion of the game every time he’s on the floor. He’s arguably the most powerful player in the NBA at 7’4, 300 pounds, and he proved that he has elite endurance for a player his size during his historic college career at Purdue. The only thing holding Edey back in the NBA so far is injuries, which limited him to just 11 games last year. The hope is that he can finally stay healthy entering his third season to form a destructive frontcourt partnership with rookie Cameron Boozer, who somehow slipped to the third pick despite being the best prospect in June’s draft. Across 77 games in his first two seasons, Edey’s on-off impact has been pretty remarkable with a +11.5 net-rating, fueled by dominant rebounding numbers on both ends. Boozer’s playmaking and shooting should be a perfect match with Edey’s rolls to the rim and elite glass cleaning. The Grizzlies are the easiest ‘over’ on the preseason win totals to me, and the big man’s breakout potential is one reason why. Day’Ron Sharpe, C, Brooklyn Nets Sharpe was once the starting center on Montverde’s greatest high school basketball team ever assembled, but his NBA career has gotten off to a slower start. Sharpe backed up Nic Claxton last year in Brooklyn despite being a better scorer, rebounder, and defensive playmaker on a per possession basis. Now he’s set to take over as Brooklyn’s top big man after the team dumped Claxton on the Chicago Bulls over the offseason, and he could be poised for a big leap in production. Sharpe is incredible at generating extra possessions on the offensive glass with a 16.2 percent o-board rate last season. He also has soft hands as a finisher with 63.8 percent true shooting, mostly on rolls, post-ups, and putbacks down low. He’ll need to get more confident with the ball in his hands, because he turned it over way too often last year. While he’s not the bounciest center, Sharpe is still an impactful defender with quick feet (88% stop rate last year) and even better hands (99th percentile in steals per 100 possessions among bigs). There’s nothing flashy about Sharpe’s game, but he’s proven he can be effective by doing the dirty work some bigs shy away from inside. Khaman Maluach, C, Phoenix Suns Maluach essentially got redshirted as a rookie, but the same qualities helped him land at No. 3 overall on our 2025 draft board should still help lift him to success in his second season. There should be more of an opportunity for playing time this year with Mark Williams unsurprisingly already out with a torn labrum, meaning Maluach and Oso Ighodaro (another potential breakout candidate) should get the bulk of the minutes inside for the Suns. Maluach looked excellent in Las Vegas Summer League by slamming everything inside, using his length to deter shots at the rim, and even showing the early signs of a reliable three-point stroke. He’s one of the biggest players in the NBA with a nearly 7’7 wingspan and 9′ 6 standing reach, and he’s going to be disruptive defensively on sheer size alone if he can improve his positioning. Maluach isn’t super quick off the ground and his hands are pretty rough, but there’s still an outline of a modern big man who protects the paints, finishes with ease in close, and can threaten the defense from long-range on pick-and-pops. The Suns feel like a gritty, high-floor team entering the season, but Maluach is the one guy who can raise their ceiling. All he needs is a chance. Pelle Larsson, G, Miami Heat It’s a safe bet to put a Heat player on this list, because under Erik Spoelstra, no team is better at uncovering diamonds in the rough than Miami. The Heat can tell themselves that they enter the year with the best player in the East in Giannis Antetokounmpo, the best coach in the league in Spo, and the best frontcourt tandem with Bam Adebayo next to Giannis at center. All Miami needs to do is develop more depth around their stars, and that means Larsson should get a big opportunity after already agreeing to a four-year, $60 million extension before training camp. Larsson does a little bit of everything in a connector role, showing off efficient inside-the-arc scoring, high-IQ passing, and the ability to get into the passing lanes defensively when he got on the floor last year. It feels like the Heat need everything he provides — as long as he improves his jumper a little. Larsson only hit 32.8% of his threes on 5.2 attempts per 100 possessions across his first two seasons, which isn’t good enough in terms of volume or accuracy. Miami obviously believes in him by already rewarding him with a contract. If he takes another step forward, the Heat’s depth would suddenly look a lot better. Brandin Podziemski, G, Golden State Even Warriors fans can’t agree on if Podziemski is any good after his first three seasons. The 23-year-old is now playing for a contract extension next summer as he enters his fourth pro season, and there’s plenty of low-hanging fruit in his profile that could make him an impactful two-way guard if he can clean it up. Podziemski is already solid on the defensive end, showing a good nose for the ball to force takeaways and provide timely rotations as a helper. His offense has been a little hot-and-cold so far, mostly because he’s not super explosive inside the arc and he can be prone to getting a little too crafty with his ball fakes and hesitations. Podz would benefit from being a bit more decisive when the ball swings to him, either leaning more into his outside shooting or trying to move the ball quicker as a passer. I’m pretty low on the Warriors this season, but I am talking myself into some of their role players this year as a huge Yaxel Lendeborg fan and a Gui Santos respecter. If Podz can take another step forward, maybe Golden State has enough around Stephen Curry for him to carry them across the finish line. Carter Bryant, F, San Antonio Spurs Carter Bryant mostly watched from the bench as the Spurs made a run to the NBA Finals in his rookie season. His imminent ascent in the rotation is just one more reason why San Antonio is only going to get scarier in the coming years. Bryant is an elite athlete with a prototypical frame for an NBA wing at 6’8 with a 7-foot wingspan. He already looked good defensively in a small role as a rookie, and should grow into a true terror on that end in the coming years. He’s the definition of a quick-twitch athlete who can move his feet on the perimeter with guards and explode off the floor to challenge shots. His offense is pretty rudimentary for now, but I think he’s going to be a pretty good three-point shooter after hitting 38.6% of his above-the-break threes on 83 attempts as a rookie, per NBA.com. The Spurs have some solid veterans in front of him in the forward room, including newly-signed free agent Tobias Harris, but none of them have Bryant’s athletic explosiveness and defensive upside. As long as Bryant can space the floor offensively, his defense is going to be good enough to get him on the floor. Joan Beringer, C, Minnesota Timberwolves The biggest thing young players need to break out is an opportunity, and Beringer should get a big one this season. The Wolves are thin in the front court behind Rudy Gobert after losing Naz Reid and Julius Randle over the offseason, and that means Beringer will actually be counted on to play big minutes off the bench. Minnesota is going to push the tempo to the max after their sharp trade for LaMelo Ball this summer, and Beringer should be perfect for that type of system. He’s one of the most explosive bigs in the entire league, with real speed in the open floor and some quick-twitch flashes in the halfcourt that might remind you of a young Giannis. Beringer should gobble up blocks and offensive rebounds if he can improve his awareness on both ends, and Ball should set him up for some easy finishes inside. Beringer will stay in the rotation if he can leverage his tools into making a defensive impact, and he should run into easy points offensively just by playing within the Wolves’ flow. Chris Finch can be notoriously hard on young players, but Beringer is too talented to keep on the sidelines.

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