The NBA has plenty of “what if” scenarios when it comes to players who suffered career-altering injuries.
Tracy McGrady.
Shaun Livingston.
Derrick Rose.
Greg Oden.
Brandon Roy.
The list goes on and on of superstars who could only flash their prime ability before having it ripped away from them due to injury.
There is one name that gets forgotten when you think of these types of players. And it wasn't that long ago that we witnessed this player play for an NBA team.
This man is Danny Granger.
Granger may not have been on the level of the former league MVP Rose, or scoring champion McGrady, or even the level of play shown by Roy during his peak. But, Granger is still one of those stars who looked like they had an even brighter future before losing it all to injuries.
Granger was drafted by the Indiana Pacers in the 2005 NBA Draft with the 17th pick in the first round. Granger was the typical rookie, inexperienced and struggled on defense, but flashed some ability to be a decent player in the league.
He made a big jump in his sophomore season, almost doubling his points per game average from 7.3 in his rookie season to 13.9 in his second season. Along with the points, Granger raised his three-point percentage from 32.3 percent to 38.2 percent.
The steady climb of Granger's career continued into his third season, as he took over starting forward spot and started all 80 of the games he played in. Granger averaged 19.6 points per game this season, 5.7 points better than the previous season.
He also raised his three-point shooting, taking 5.3 attempts per game while shooting 40 percent. This was Granger's second straight season of having a true shooting percentage of 57. Granger was a young player who was improving rapidly, showing the ability to not only be an elite scorer but uber-efficient scorer as well.
Any time a team drafts a player, they obviously hope for the player to improve throughout their career. However, Granger is one of few players you'll find that got quite literally MUCH better each season he played. If Granger stalled out after this third season, it would've still remained a great pick by the Pacers three years earlier.
However, Granger continued to make the other 16 teams that passed on him in the offseason of 2005 look dumb.
Granger would go on to win the Most Improved Player of the Year award in his fourth NBA season. He averaged 25.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 2.7 assists a game.
He took a career-high 19.1 shots a game and 6.7 shots from beyond the arc. Most players when given more responsibility and more shot attempts would see their efficiency drop. Granger, however, saw the exact opposite happen.
With more responsibility, Granger got even more efficient! Granger had a career-high 58.4 true shooting percentage en route to also appearing in his first All-Star game.
At only 25 years-old, Granger was putting the NBA on notice, showing the world that he was one of the most elite scorers in the entire league.
This was the peak of Granger's career, and boy was it pretty high. Back before Stephen Curry and James Harden reset how you look at efficiency and scoring, Granger was already with the program. There just simply weren't that many players who were elite, volume shooters who were also extremely efficient.
From the years 2008-2012, Granger would put up 22.2 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. He would shoot 43 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from deep, which would be good for a true shooting percentage of 56.2.
Granger would then go on to only play 5 games in the 2012-13 season, and this would mark the downfall of his career. He was dealing with tendinosis in his left knee and missed the first 55 games of the year. He would return to try and play in February of 2013 but had to be shut down for the season after 5 games.
After having surgery on his knee in April of 2013, Granger still wouldn't be 100 percent at the beginning of the 2013-14 season due to a strained calf.
Sadly, Granger would only go on to play 66 games the rest of his career after the 2011-2012 lockout-shortened season, where he played in 62 of 66 possible games.
Injuries can rob players and fans of some exciting basketball.
He may not have been the youngest MVP, may not have been a multiple time scoring-champion, and may not have had much playoff success/experience.
But, Danny Granger was pretty freakin' good before injuries derailed him.
One of the best scorers in the entire NBA good.
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