NBA Midseason Report, Pt. 2

This part of the midseason report will target players mostly...less team talk for now

BREAKOUT SEASONS (In no Order):

• Richard Jefferson- In the shadows of Kidd and Carter, Jefferson has been the best player on the Nets this year and he's enjoying his best season averaging 23.7 per and picking up the load from Carter...That said, this is a bad team, so all stats should be taken with a grain of salt
• Chris Paul- Yes, I know he was already a very good player...but now he's a GREAT player and I believe he's the best PG in the league (Nash is clearly right there, but I digress)....Leading the hornets to a high potential seed in the West while averaging 20 and 10 dimes per; He's absolutely unguardable off the dribble and his jumper is improving still (while already very solid)
• Al Jefferson- McHale must have seen this coming (and he was big at the end of last year in Boston) but he's the lone consistent option for Minnesota averaging 21 and 12 and he absolutely exploded for 39 and 15 last night against PHX in a win (Wow). He's the only reason the Garnett trade won't be a top 5 worst all-time deal because Jefferson is without question a top 5 young Big in the L.
• Rudy Gay- Let me preface this with the fact that I don't like his game at all.....but Gay has put together some consistent numbers (nearly 20 ppg) and at times has been Memphis's best player with Pau somewhat scuffling
• Hedo Turkoglu- This one made me laugh aloud at its inclusion initially...until you realize he is averaging 19 and 6 for the playoff-bound Magic and has been a legitimate 3rd scorer for them....Take it for what it's worth
• Andrew Bynum- Hurt my heart when he went down...the league needs centers and he has already become a huge factor in the middle and one of the best legit centers in the league....wishing him a speedy recovery, GO HELP KOBE OUT!

Couple guys nearly made this list but outside circumstances kept them off: John Salmons (the return of their big 3), Monta Ellis, Brandon Roy (he was already very good), Travis Outlaw (need more consistency), and Mo Williams

GUYS WHO HAVE TAKEN A STEP BACK:

• Kirk Hinrich- See post below this one....This year has been a marked regression (although the numbers from the first month of the year are weighing him down); Unexplainable really has his shooting numbers have always been adequate to good for a PG; I expect a small resurgence
• Vince Carter- Yes, he's always an enigma...but I think he's having his worst season since his rookie year and seems to be lacking (once again) the passion to play
• Lebron James- Just kidding......
• Lamar Odom- This coincides with Bynum's explosion onto the scene but Odom has seen a sizable dip in production..should be interesting to see if he responds in Bynum's extended absence.

More later including Midseason Awards and Playoff Seeding Predictions....