Is a “breakout year” really possible when you’re already a superstar? I’m going to say yes.

There are levels to this, of course. Still, a player ascending from top-15 or top-10-ish status in the league to a legit MVP candidate is arguably an even more difficult, more challenging and vertiginous jump than making the leap from random scrub to solid starter. The player might only move up past a few other players in the elite pecking order, but the degree of difficulty is off the charts.

Advertisement

That takes us to the duo of Victor Wembanyama and Luka Dončić, both of whom were lights out in their season openers after an offseason where each already seemed on a trajectory pointed upward. As such, they are the linchpins of my All-Breakout Team for 2025-26. But before we talk more about Dončić and Wemby, let’s take a quick timeout for my annual performance review.

Last year was a good one for All-Breakout Team projections: I had the league’s Most Improved Player winner (Atlanta’s Dyson Daniels), the guy who would have finished second if he had played enough games (then-LA Clipper Norman Powell) and the fifth-place finisher for Defensive Player of the Year (Houston’s Amen Thompson). I had first-time All-Star Jalen Williams of the Oklahoma City Thunder and listed Chicago’s Josh Giddey. At the upper tier, I also highlighted then-Los Angeles Laker Anthony Davis, who only played 51 games but statistically had his best season since the pandemic at age 31.

On the downside, I highlighted Toronto’s RJ Barrett (was I a year too soon?), New Orleans’ Zion Williamson (do waist breakouts count?), Charlotte’s injured Tre Mann and Denver’s Julian Strawther (low-key yikes ).

But enough about me, let’s talk about Wemby. I mean, what in the name of…

EMPHATIC BLOCK. ISO STEPBACK 4-POINT PLAY. 10-0 WEMBY RUN… HE'S GOT 31! pic.twitter.com/VP4HwuDLNn — NBA (@NBA) October 23, 2025

About six different things happen in the clip above that are unique and left me cackling in wonder. That started with the volleyball spike of a 7-foot-1 player’s hook shot and continued to the tallest player in the league calmly breaking into a left-handed push dribble, coming under control and then hitting a complex six-dribble sequence and stepback 3-pointer plus the foul.

And yet, none of those are the reasons I have Wembanyama on my All-Breakout Team. The reason I like him to improve on his already staggering level of play so much is that he seems much more capable of completing mundane plays in between the jaw-dropping highlights.

Advertisement

The thing that I noticed most i