Last weekend, the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, came to a close. The United States men’s basketball team is on top of the basketball world. This is the result of a thrilling victory over the French team last Saturday afternoon. During the 2024 Olympic Games, numerous star players from the NBA played for their respective countries’ basketball teams. And because so much talent is coming together and learning to play with each other, there are some players who are set to explode into the next NBA season. Last season, for example, it was Anthony Edwards, who got off to a fast start after his appearance at the FIBA ​​World Cup last summer.

3 NBA stars face a post-Olympic explosion this season

Tyrese Haliburton

One player who didn’t get to show off his full talent at the 2024 Olympics was Tyrese Haliburton. Notably, he only played in three games for Team USA during the Olympics, scoring a total of eight points. He also has a lot to prove in the upcoming season after his postseason run ended due to a hamstring injury.

Haliburton will have another year under his belt, and thanks to training against some of the best players in the world over the summer, he will have added some new nuances to his game, allowing him to be more effective at point guard and explode for scoring as a cornerstone in Indiana when the 2024-25 NBA season begins in two months.

What Haliburton lacks in his game is the ability to truly take control and impose his will during a contest. He’s more of a prototypical player who lets the game come to him rather than taking it over. If he can learn to better take over a game and support his teammates, the Pacers will not only be a top-four team in the crowded Eastern Conference, but they’ll be in a great position to return to the Eastern Conference Finals and compete for a title this year.

Devin Booker

Devin Booker is one of the best players in the world. However, at the 2024 Olympics, he was more of a defensive specialist, taking on the opposing team’s best offensive player. If Booker can defend like he did at the Olympics while continuing to be Phoenix’s best offensive weapon, then the Phoenix Suns will be in a great position to finally make a deep run in the playoffs.

Plus, Booker has had a chance to improve his chemistry with Kevin Durant over the past two weeks, and that can only help them play even better together as they enter the second full year of their partnership. If he can be the Devin Booker who is willing to sacrifice himself for the good of the team, then the Suns will be a championship contender this season.

Joel Embiid

Another player who had his ups and downs at the Olympics was Joel Embiid. The Sixers big man did not play in the US national team’s game against South Sudan and played just 11 minutes in the gold medal game against the French national team. However, his best game came last week against Serbia. Notably, he scored 19 points in that game and helped the US national team defeat Serbia and advance to the gold medal game against the French national team.

This was Embiid’s first Olympic experience and it took him a while to get used to the FIBA ​​style of play. When that finally happened, basketball fans saw why he is one of the best players in the world. The next step in his development into a superstar will also be learning how to sacrifice himself for the good of the team.

Over the past two weeks, Embiid has gotten a taste of that life, being asked to play more defensively than offensively. If Embiid can maintain his dominant self while getting his teammates more involved in the game plan, the Sixers will be in top shape to compete for a championship this year.