These guys are the ones to watch

John Wall simply destroys opponents (sorry, Brandon Jennings) in transition. (Getty Images)

Every weekend we’re going to try to leave a fun post for those folks who check in on Saturday and Sunday. And we wanted this one to be all about fun after a week in which lockout talk dominated NBA news. So, here’s our list of players we’re most excited to watch this season. No rigorous analysis went into choosing these players. This is about breakout years and welcome returns, destructive potential and unique skill sets. These are the players I can’t wait to see.

THE OBVIOUS ROOKIES

John Wall

Wall is already one of the five most devastating transition players in the league, and he might be ahead of everyone in this (imaginary) category except LeBron James. He’ll have his 6-of-19 shooting nights and six-turnover games, but he’s going to be fun to watch every night.

Blake Griffin

Griffin has a chance to be the most destructive roll man since a young Amar’e Stoudemire zipped down the lane and obliterated everyone waiting to defend the rim. He’ll have a highlight dunk almost every night, but it’s his subtler skills — the developing jumper and the better-than-advertised passing — that will make Griffin exciting on every level.

DeMarcus Cousins

Cousins is part throw-back, part modern big man. He’s a true back-to-the-basket force, but he also has range to 20 feet and is a good ball-handler and passer for his size. There will be some hot-dogging, some technicals and disputes with Tyreke Evans, but the baseline spin-dunk move is going to make it all worth it. For us and the Kings.

TIME TO BLOW UP

Nicolas Batum

A 6-foot-8 Frenchman who can fit in at three positions without looking silly? Wonderful. Batum’s long-armed defense can frustrate almost any wing player, and he looks primed to take on a larger role in Portland’s offense. And why not? He can fly in transition and stroke the three. This is the best reason to flip over to the slow-paced Blazers game on League Pass as you finish that late-night bowl of cereal.

Roddy Beaubois

The last time we saw Beaubois, he was shredding San Antonio’s defense for 16 points in 20-plus minutes in Dallas’ last game of the season. He had played just about 10 minutes total in the first five games of that first-round series, and that glorious 20:56 stint in Game 6 told us Rick Carlisle had screwed up in waiting so long to unleash Roddy Buckets. We’ll have to wait again this year, as Beaubois recovers from a broken foot. But all the quickness and creative shot-making in that 6-foot frame will make it worth it. Bonus: He’ll play a lot more high-stakes hoops in the playoffs this year.

James Harden

Sure, you can debate whether the Thunder really should have taken Stephen Curry or Evans in the 2009 draft, but Harden is a player. He’s fun to watch in transition and, at 6-5, he should be able to both hit threes and finish strong at the rim. He had trouble with the latter last season, but not for lack of aggressiveness. He’ll keep bringing it this season. Plus, lefties look better doing everything.

Roy Hibbert

Did he already blow up last season — his second in the league — when he averaged almost 12 points and six rebounds? I say no. Hibbert, one of the game’s true giants at 7-foot-2, is 20 pounds lighter and ready to share offensive focal-point duties in Indiana with Danny Granger.

Jrue Holiday

Holiday is already a handful on defense, and now he’s going to be the undisputed point man in Philadelphia. Holiday, the youngest player in the league last season (he turned 20 in June), averaged double digits over the last three months of 2009-10 and flashed a reliable three-point shot we didn’t know he had. Something like a 14-7-5 line is on the table.

WELCOME BACK, WE MISSED YOU

Yao Ming

We’ve all got our fingers crossed, don’t we? By all accounts, there’s not a nicer guy in the league. But his place on this list is about a 7-6 guy raining 18-footers, rolling to the hoop in his unique meandering way and dishing from the low post like an ultra-tall Karl Malone. There is no one like Yao.

Chris Paul

I’m aware Paul missed less than half of last season, so it’s not as if we’ve been missing him like we have Yao. But that half-season was painful. Paul is one of my main go-to League Pass draws. I know the knocks against him — he dominates the ball, the Hornets milk the shot clock and everything goes through him. I don’t care. No one, outside of perhaps Steve Nash, runs a half-court offense like Paul. No one goes from mid-dribble pause to full-speed drive to the hoop as fast.

Josh Childress

This guy was born to play with Nash, something he has in common with every player in the league. But after two years away, a lot of folks have forgotten the smooth aggression with which Childress, a long 6-8, attacks the rim. The guy shot 57 percent in Atlanta when the Hawks were still a sub-.500 team. Toss in an improved jumper and imagine what this guy might do on the break beside Nash.

THIS COULD TURN OUT REALLY WELL OR REALLY BAD

Tyrus Thomas

This is year five for Thomas, and he’s going to get a lot of minutes with the lack of frontcourt depth in Charlotte. There might not be a player in the league who alternates so often — and so quickly — from jaw-dropping awesomeness to plays so bad they make you shake your head, even though you don’t care much about the Bobcats.

Terrence Williams

There is so much that could go wrong here, between Williams’ tendency to pout and overshoot, which he did to the tune of 40 percent shooting on more than 13 shot attempts per 36 minutes last season. And he started jacking up shots indiscriminately early in this preseason, too. But Williams can be a game-changer off the bench if Avery Johnson can keep Williams’ orientation team-first. There are few 6-6 players alive with this tantalizing skill set.

Dorell Wright

He’s 6-7, he broke out a three-point shot last season and he can be a menace on defense. It’s time to see what the new Warrior can do in a steady, big-minute role.

WE BROKE UP, AND IT WAS GOOD

Al Jefferson

Big Al is often derided as a no-defense ball-stopper, but nobody really stops the ball all that much in Utah. Jefferson’s going to be playing center, so he’ll have a quickness and athleticism advantage on a lot of nights, and he has the offensive tools to do damage in Jerry Sloan‘s system. This is a big chance for Jefferson, and it will be fun to watch.

Kevin Love

He’s already a darling among the hoops die-hards, and he produced well when he got the chance on a big stage at the FIBA World Championship over the summer. We should get him for much longer than the 28.5 minutes per game he averaged last season, and if we do, Love could win the league’s rebounding title away from Dwight Howard. Love’s defense may be average — at best — but his offensive game is beautiful to watch and continues to grow. Alert: He’s 13-of-22 from three-point range in the preseason.