The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1252590
56 THE WOLVERINE JUNE/JULY 2020 MICHIGAN IN THE PROS 5. LW Max Pacioretty (Vegas Golden Knights, NHL) His 32 goals and 66 points both led the Golden Knights in 2019-20, while his 34 assists checked in second on the club. Pacioretty's 32 goals were also tied for the 13th most in the NHL and helped him earn his first-ever spot in the NHL All-Star Game. This past season was one of several successful campaigns in his 12-year career, with the New Canaan, Conn., native hav- ing tallied seven seasons of at least 39 points and six campaigns of at least 30 goals. The 31-year-old had helped Vegas (39-24-8) to first place of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference when the season was delayed. 6. SG Tim Hardaway Jr. (Dallas Mavericks, NBA) He has become a consistent scoring threat in the NBA, averaging at least 14.5 points in each of the four seasons since 2016-17. His best offensive year came in 2018-19 when he posted 18.1 points per game while splitting time between the Dallas Mavericks and the New York Knicks (19 games with the former and 46 with the latter). Though Hardaway saw his scoring average dip to 15.8 points per game this past season to place third on Dal- las' roster, he was nonetheless able to set a new career-best mark from behind the arc by connecting on 40.7 percent of his attempts (eighth-best in the Western Conference). The Mavs were in playoff position and just 1.5 games behind the Rock- ets for the Southwest Division lead when the season was paused. The 6-5, 205-pounder has spent time with three different organiza- tions — the Mavericks, Knicks and Atlanta Hawks — and has been a bit of a journeyman during his pro- fessional career, but has nonetheless played a minimum of 51 games in all seven of his NBA seasons, and averaged double-digit points in six of those campaigns. 7. SP Rich Hill (Minnesota Twins, MLB) Injuries have derailed his career a bit, but the 40-year-old starting pitcher showed how effective he can be when healthy in both 2017 and 2018 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, recording a 3.32 ERA and 12 wins in the former and a 3.66 ERA and 11 victories in the latter. Hill was limited to just 58⅔ innings and 13 starts last year for the Dodg- ers, but still registered a 4-1 record and a 2.45 ERA. The 6-5, 221-pound southpaw owns an impressive career ERA of 3.82 and a 65-42 record since debuting with the Chicago Cubs dur- ing the 2005 season. Hill's 3.5-year stint with the Dodg- ers came to an end Dec. 31 when he signed a one-year deal with the Min- nesota Twins, marking his ninth dif- ferent MLB franchise. 8. SG Caris LeVert (Brooklyn Nets, NBA) He enjoyed a modest three-season start to his NBA career from 2016-19, working from 21.7 minutes and 8.2 points per game as a rookie to then- career highs of 26.6 minutes and 13.7 points per game during the 2018-19 season. LeVert's career really took off this past season, however, when his 17.7 points per game checked in third on the Nets' team and set a new single- season best, along with his 4.1 re- bounds and 4.1 assists a contest. The 6-6, 205-pounder also shot a career-best 38.1 percent from three- point range, while tallying his first- ever 50-point game when he poured in 51 in a 129-120 victory over the Boston Celtics March 3. He hit yet an- other milestone just three days later when he recorded his first triple- double, accumulating 27 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists in a 139-120 win over the San Antonio Spurs. 9. D Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks, NHL) He put together a phenomenal rookie campaign at just 20 years old this past season, racking up 45 as- sists and eight goals in 68 games. Hughes' 45 assists tied for the 16th most in the NHL and were a Vancouver record for a first-year player, while his 53 points led all NHL rookies. He earned himself a spot in the 2020 All-Star Game and became just the second rookie de- fenseman ever to score a goal in the annual event. The 5-10, 170-pounder finished the year with 126 shots on goal and 22 power-play assists, the latter of which helped make him the first rookie defenseman in NHL history ever to register three power-play assists in multiple games in a single season. 10. SG Duncan Robinson (Miami Heat, NBA) After an underwhelming rookie campaign in 2018-19 that saw him play in just 15 games and average 3.3 points with the Heat, Robinson ex- ploded during his sophomore season of 2019-20 and had his team on pace for a Southeast Division title. He started 60 of 65 games and av- eraged 13.3 points per outing, but made a name for himself with his three-point prowess. Robinson's 44.8 percentage from deep was the fourth-best in the entire NBA, while his 243 total triples were the third most and a Heat record. He also set NBA single-season re- cords for the most three-pointers by an undrafted player and the most treys in a player's second year. That shooting earned Robinson a spot in the NBA's 2020 Three-Point Contest, but he wound up losing in the first round. The Wall Street Journal referred to the York, Maine, native as "the most improbable player in the NBA" and "one of the best shooters on the planet" in an article this past December. ❑ Quinn Hughes put together an outstanding debut season for the Vancouver Canucks, leading all NHL rookies with 53 points while earning a spot in the All-Star Game. PHOTO COURTESY JEFF VINNICK/CANUCKS PHOTO