This article is part of our NBA Barometer series.
GUARDS
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J.J. Barea, DAL: Every team in the NBA would be better off with a player like Barea on their roster, as he's able to seamlessly adapt to a first-unit or bench role. He stepped in for Dennis Smith, Jr. against the Celtics last week and rattled off 20 points, eight assists and three rebounds. Prior to that contest, he'd generated six consecutive double-digit scoring efforts and dished out at least five assists in four of those games, despite playing under 30 minutes in all of them.Emmanuel Mudiay, NYK: Mudiay remains a work in progress, but he could finally be coming into his own in his fourth campaign. The 22-year-old recently was reinserted into the starting five and has responded with five double-digit scoring efforts in the last seven. The most notable and pivotal improvement has come on the shooting front, as Mudiay is draining a career-best 47.4 percent of his attempts. Mudiay does face competition for minutes from Trey Burke, however, and thus far the Knicks' rotation has been among the most difficult to project on a night-to-night basis.
Bogdan Bogdanovic, SAC: Bogdanovic's season got off to a late start after preseason knee surgery, but he's been making up for lost time. The second-year guard has generated seven straight double-digit scoring tallies and is already averaging 11.8 shot attempts per contest, despite the fact he's been coming off the bench. Bogdanovic could eventually make his way into the starting five, but
GUARDS
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J.J. Barea, DAL: Every team in the NBA would be better off with a player like Barea on their roster, as he's able to seamlessly adapt to a first-unit or bench role. He stepped in for Dennis Smith, Jr. against the Celtics last week and rattled off 20 points, eight assists and three rebounds. Prior to that contest, he'd generated six consecutive double-digit scoring efforts and dished out at least five assists in four of those games, despite playing under 30 minutes in all of them.Emmanuel Mudiay, NYK: Mudiay remains a work in progress, but he could finally be coming into his own in his fourth campaign. The 22-year-old recently was reinserted into the starting five and has responded with five double-digit scoring efforts in the last seven. The most notable and pivotal improvement has come on the shooting front, as Mudiay is draining a career-best 47.4 percent of his attempts. Mudiay does face competition for minutes from Trey Burke, however, and thus far the Knicks' rotation has been among the most difficult to project on a night-to-night basis.
Bogdan Bogdanovic, SAC: Bogdanovic's season got off to a late start after preseason knee surgery, but he's been making up for lost time. The second-year guard has generated seven straight double-digit scoring tallies and is already averaging 11.8 shot attempts per contest, despite the fact he's been coming off the bench. Bogdanovic could eventually make his way into the starting five, but he's already averaging 24.9 minutes in his second-unit role, and that includes a few games for which he had a minutes limit. The 2014 first-round-pick has the ability to provide serviceable rebounds and assists production, in addition to his strong work in the scoring categories.
ALSO TRENDING UP: Landry Shamet, PHI; Spencer Dinwiddie, BKN; Reggie Jackson, DET; Klay Thompson, GSW; Terrence Ross, ORL
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Markelle Fultz, PHI: Not only is Fultz's season currently in the dumps, but his future in the league is as clouded as ever. The 2017 first overall pick is slated to meet with more specialists this week, and it's unclear when -- or if -- he'll be back in the rotation for the Sixers.Evan Fournier, ORL: Fournier's current, multi-game shooting struggles have him currently trending south. The veteran has drained just 23.5 percent of his 34 attempts over the last three games, and he's scoring just 6.7 points per game during that span. while going 1-for-12 tally from three. The slump is one Fournier has the talent to bounce back from, but it currently has both his overall shooting percentage (41.3%) and three-point percentage (28.6%) at career-low levels.
FORWARDS
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Justin Holiday, CHI: Holiday is making good use of the extended run he's seeing due to the Bulls' injuries. The seventh-year pro is averaging career highs in points (13.0), rebounds (4.6), assists (2.4), steals (1.6), made threes (3.2), three-point attempts (7.7) and three-point percentage (41.4), while logging 35.4 ,omites per contest. Given how well he's performed, and the fact Denzel Valentine is projected to be out the remainder of the season, Holiday seemingly needs to just continuing holding off rookie Chandler Hutchinson for the starting job at the three. However, once Kris Dunn, Bobby Portis, and Lauri Markkanen return -- likely sometime in December -- the Bulls may shuffle the lineup.Otto Porter, Jr., WAS: Porter's production was in the dumps early in the season, as he opened the campaign scoring in single digits eight times over his first 14 games. Significantly reduced usage was largely to blame, as Porter put up single-digit shot attempts in nine contests during that span. He's turned things around over the last two weeks, however, scoring 11 to 29 points in each of his last five games, and in six of his last seven overall. Additionally, Porter's rebounding has seen an uptick – after topping five boards just three times over his first 13 games, Porter has at least five rebounds in five of his last six games.
Marvin Bagley, SAC: Bagley has yet to earn the starting five on a full-time basis, but the second overall pick is nevertheless making excellent use of his second-unit role. For the season, Bagley is averaging 12.7 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks, posting a 50.8 percent success rate from the field on an average of 9.5 attempts per game. The rookie currently has five straight double-digit scoring efforts, a stretch that includes a pair of double-doubles. With an average of 24.0 minutes per game and a 22.8 percent usage rate that figures to sustain, if not rise, up as the season unfolds, Bagley's outlook is bright at the moment.
ALSO TRENDING UP: Luka Doncic, DAL; Jabari Parker, CHI; Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, BKN; Thaddeus Young, IND
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Mario Hezonja, NYK: Hezonja was in the opposite category earlier in the season, when he opened the campaign with nine double-digit scoring efforts over his first 14 games. Things have gone downhill since then, however, as the fourth-year wing has six consecutive single-digit scoring tallies. Predictably, his shooting has taken a dive over that stretch, and Hezonja's minutes have been typically capped in the mid-to-high teens.James Johnson, MIA: Johnson finally made his season debut Nov. 18 after sports hernia surgery, but he's been underwhelming thus far. He's played as much as 27 minutes over his first five games, but he's yet to top eight points or five shot attempts in any contest. Johnson also has a pair of rebound-less games and is shooting just 23.7 percent from the floor.
CENTERS
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Tristan Thompson, CLE: Thompson has upped his game considerably over the last four games, averaging 16.0 points and 14.8 rebounds during that stretch. Thompson has played at least 30 minutes in each of the last five games, including 35, 39 and 40 minutes over the last three games, respectively. He's coming off of a 16-point-11-rebound double-double Monday against Minnesota, which came two days after a 16-point, 20-rebound, four-steal effort in a win over Houston.Clint Capela, HOU: The fifth-year big recently put together a three-game stretch with at least 23 points and 15 rebounds, and he currently boasts a six-game double-double streak. His usage rate (19.0 percent) is strong, given that he shares the floor with James Harden and Chris Paul, while his career highs in points (17.3), rebounds (12.0), assists (1.7), blocks (2.1) and field-goal attempts (11.7) speak to his increased role in the Rockets' offense. After averaging 27.5 minutes per game a season ago, Capela is up to 34.6 through 19 games.
ALSO TRENDING UP: Andre Drummond, DET; Richaun Holmes, PHO; Bam Adebayo, MIA
