Two Spurs made it to ESPN’s list of under-25 players having breakout seasons

Earlier in the holiday week, ESPN.com’s Neil Paine compiled a list of NBA players under-25 who, using some factors detailed below, who are having what are considered ‘breakout ‘seasons for their appreciative teams.

Since the article sits firmly behind the ESPN / Disney paywall, here are factors considered in how Paine generated that list: are under the age of 25•, are on pace for at least 2 WAR per 82 games, had under 10 career WAR before 2024-25, never previously had a season of 2.5 WAR, improved their WAR pace (per 82 games) by at least 2.5 wins this season.

The two Spurs that made the list are covered along with a brief rundown of the other young stars-in-the-making, as well. Players listed were also given by Paine production comparisons to recent and current players.

The interesting approach Paine took was to separate these players into the following categories: Top Ten draft picks, first-round selections from 11 and beyond, second-round inclusions, and finally, undrafted contributors.

Perhaps to none of our surprise, Jeremy Sochan, the former #9 pick, made it to the ‘Top Ten’ category for:

Sochan was compared production-wise to Greg Monroe and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.

And perhaps to my surprise, (but probably not August Bembel’s) Julian Champagnie made it onto the list, specifically for:

Champagnie was linked to super-sub Terrence Ross, Cam Johnson, and Martell Webster.

Other players featured:

• Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels was compared very favorably to earlier versions of Clyde Drexler and Scottie Pippen, along with Jalen Suggs.
• Former #1 pick, Detroit’s Cade Cunningham, was linked to Juwan Howard, Brandon Ingram, and Paolo Banchero.

In the later draftees list, there were:

• Toronto’s Ochai Agbaji was connected to the highly coveted Cam Johnson (again) and Aaron Nesmith along with Jake Layman.
• Denver big man Christian Braun, who interestingly was compared to early-career Jimmy Butler, Aaron Wiggins, and Ed Pinckney.
• Agbaji’s teammate Gradey Dick, every immature social media poster’s dream guy, was compared to Jeff Malone and former Spur DeMar DeRozan.
• Memphis’ Jake La Ravia was linked to Josh McRoberts, late-career Kwame Brown, and Grant Long.
• New Orlean’s Brandon Boston (amidst the Pelicans’ too-many-to-count injuries) was the lone second-rounder who made it and compared to OG veterans, Winston Garland, Franklin Edwards, and (personal favorite) Bryant Stith.

Pounders: Happy Holidays and what do you make of these two entries?