5 former All Stars who can bounce back this season

With the landscape of the league significantly different today than it was 4 months back, there are a number of plays and teams in brand new situations that are teeming with the potential to be an elite force in the league.

The Western Conference is as stacked as it ever has been, what with LeBron deciding on a move to Los Angeles with the Lakers and the rest of the Conference improving in order to catch up with the Warriors who have now won 3 of the last 4 NBA championships.

In this article, we take a look at 5 former All Stars who have a chance to get their mojo back in new settings and around new supporting casts.

#1 Blake Griffin

Griffin signed a 5-year, $173 million contract extension with the Clippers in the summer of 2017 with the franchise hoping and expecting that he'd put his injury woes behind him. Injuries had already taken him below his physical peak for a couple of seasons, but the injury Blake suffered at the start of last season was probably the final straw that broke the camel's back as Jerry West went in on a full restashing midway through the season.

Since moving to Detroit, Blake has performed at an All-Star caliber level, but his play has not gone hand in hand with team success as the Pistons failed to make the playoffs despite swinging the high-risk trade.

This offseason is one of the pivotal moments in Griffin's career. If he manages to mesh well with the rest of the team and Dwane Casey is able to use his All-Star caliber frontcourt to its fullest abilities, Griffin can make his first All Star game in 4 years this time around.

#2 Isaiah Thomas

How times change! About 14 months, people declared the Kyrie Irving trade as a win for the Cavaliers since they were able to net an All-Star point guard who finished 5th in MVP voting the previous season and a versatile swingman in Jae Crowder and a Brooklyn Nets first round pick which the organization has since used to draft Collin Sexton.

IT4 was unable to recuperate from his hip injury since choosing not to get surgery done the offseason before his eminently team-friendly contract ended, and looked totally out of sorts most of the time last season in a Cavs jersey. A slight redeeming took place during his time with the Lakers, but for him to get paid the big bucks that he believes he deserves, Isaiah will have to prove himself as the best sixth man in the league this year.

Fortunately, he will be playing under a head coach who believes in him in Mike Malone. He will have ample opportunities to rest up and recoup his health before taking the floor this season, having learned enough from a mistake that has cost him potentially tens of millions of dollars in career earnings.

#3 DeAndre Jordan

DeAndre made his only All Star team last year. Since Chris Paul's departure, DJ has proven that he is more than comfortable playing without CP3 or Blake, acting as the defensive anchor for a Clippers defense that was middle of the pack last season.

A move to the Mavs to play with the likes of Harrison Barnes, Luka Doncic and Dennis Smith Jr looks exciting on paper, as the latter duo is more than capable of using his ability as a rim-runner on offense to the fullest.

The Mavs don't currently have enough talent to mount a sustained playoff qualification campaign, but the stage is clearly set for DJ to make his presence fully felt on both ends of the floor and earn one last big payday based off his injury-free history and play.

#4 Brook Lopez

The 11th-year veteran was a force to be reckoned with during his time with the Nets. Although injuries have deprived him of much of his athleticism, Lopez has a really soft touch for a player at his height and has always been a reliable mid-range shooter by any standards.

In a system under Mike Budenholzer, who has a pretty good track record of getting the best out of his players, expect Lopez to shoot 3-pointers at about the same volume as he did during his final season with the Nets. Perhaps even more, if the Bucks' preseason game against the Bulls was any indication of the Bucks' regular season tactics.

Previously a team with one of the worst center rotations in the league, the Bucks now have 2 floor spacing options as bigs in Lopez and Ilyasova. If Giannis turns in a great year and Lopez provides the spacing we can already see theoretically, the Bucks will be a strong contender for homecourt in the 2018-19 season while Lopez will be garnering All Star game attention.

#5 Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard is the only player to average a double-double in every single season of his career - 14 years now and the 15th about to begin. Literally, the only player to ever do so. He's a first ballot Hall of Famer and has been so for a long time now, and yet a lot of people who've recently become basketball fans have disrespected him for a lack of postseason success in the last couple of years.

His year with the Hornets was typical of the Charlotte franchise - mostly good but unable to capitalize on crunch time moments. Howard continued to demand more post touches than he deserves, and he continued to get them on a Hornets team that didn't have any elite shot creator other than Kemba Walker.

The Wizards are situationally a better match for Howard's skillset, but for him to be as useful as he could be, Howard needs to stop demanding those post touches that have held him back from becoming an elite rim-runner that he still has all the attributes to be.

If Scott Brooks can use his reasonably talented squad well enough, the Wizards have a chance at their first 50-win season in a long time, as does Howard get a shot at an All Star Game berth.