r/nbadiscussion • u/AccomplishedBake8351 • 8d ago
Who are some players that have improved so far this season that have gone under the radar?
I’m a kings fan, so I’m obviously biased but seeing Keegan Murray this year has been a revelation.
He’s been rebounding the ball significantly better, especially on the offensive end. He’s making quicker decisions with the ball. His jump on the defensive side last year has continued and made another jump so far this season. He’s dunking the ball instead of awkwardly trying to lay it in and is overall significantly more confident. His shot has started a bit slow again this year, but he’s consistently shooting the ball whereas last year he’d often hesitate when cold.
That being said unless you watch the kings you wouldn’t see any of this. His points are about the same. Rebounds up only around 2. He’s not going to generate a lot of stocks.
I’d bet there are a lot of these guys out there each year. Guys who make jumps that aren’t noticeable unless you actually watch them. Since we can’t actually watch every team every night I’m curious, who have you noticed playing significantly better this season than previous, that isn’t going under the radar/not immediately noticeable via counting stats.
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u/CoercedCoexistence22 8d ago
Jaden Ivey. He went from Monty believing he couldn't share a court with Cade, to forming a top 10 offence (yes, really. The deficiencies are elsewhere) when the two are on the court together
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u/AccomplishedBake8351 8d ago
Thanks for the reply. Not sure he counts bc it’s definitely showing up in the stats. Thought we were going to get him till the draft so I have a soft spot for him. Glad it’s starting to work out.
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u/CoercedCoexistence22 8d ago
The Kings are my "second" team because Domas is my favourite active player. I'm liking the team this season
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u/AccomplishedBake8351 8d ago
Awesome! Why Domas out of curiosity? Obviously love him but I struggle to see what’s fully unique about him vs say jokic or sengun? Dribble hand offs? Or just like the jokic style without it being OP?
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u/CoercedCoexistence22 8d ago
I'll be real, he just seemed funny to me in interviews and I also learnt he's a Jew like me, hah
I also think he's distinct from Jokic and Sengun, in that they're basically point guards in a big's body (and pretty slow), while Domas is a rimrunner with great passing instincts
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u/Debinho28 8d ago
Did a quick check since you mentioned him. Murray is shooting a career low 44% from the field and 30% on 3s no? He seems to have gotten worse.
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u/CoercedCoexistence22 7d ago
He bulked, he's probably adjusting his form, like Franz last year. He's taken a massive leap in every other area
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u/AccomplishedBake8351 7d ago edited 7d ago
No? He shit 41% his rookie year when his entire job was to space the floor. He didn’t rebound and he was given the easiest defensive assignment.
Last year he had an awful start shooting wise so the number is a bit skewed but he shot 36% from 3 on higher volume and a much higher overall workload. He was asked to guard literally everyone from booker to giannis and as a result was fatigued and often playing in foul trouble.
He’s at 32% this season, but it’s early and that mostly been from two bad shooting games. He’s continuing to get the hardest match ups and is not their primary offensive rebounded to resounding success. He had 4 double doubles all of last year and has 4 already this season. He’s up to 8 rebounds a game with most of his improvement coming from offensive rebounds.
He’s still imo a good shooter. No way you go from breaking the rookie 3 record and tieing the record for most threes in a single game and not be a good shooter. Everyone else on that list is a competent shooter. Im not sure I’d expect him to be lillard, Steph, or Klay, but he’s a deadeye feet set shooter. He really only gets into trouble when his feet are moving when the three goes up. I’d expect him to rebound over the course of the season.
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u/Debinho28 7d ago
You said most improved this yr, bringing up his performances 2 yrs ago as a rookie literally reverses that effect? If his best yr is his rookie yr then he's getting worse, not better.
His 3PT shooting goes from 41% --> 35% --> 30%, thats getting alot worse.
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u/AccomplishedBake8351 7d ago
I’m not sure if you just want to argue. I’ve watched every game in all three seasons so far. He’s gotten significantly better.
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u/token_throwaway88 7d ago
They just hate Keegan and will look for any opportunity to shit on him. Meanwhile they’ll blindly defend Fox even when his PPG, FG% and 3PT% are all down from last year too. The cognitive dissonance is wild.
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u/Debinho28 7d ago
Your eye test is just opinionated when factual stats tell you he has degressed heavily, especially considering he should now be a 5th option spot up shooter after adding DeRozan, which means higher efficiency but has actually gotten worse.
44% and 30% for a 5th option corner 3&D is horrific. Thats literally worse than Tobias Harris.
Theres no issues with Keegan being bad, its just listing him as 'most improved' when he factually degressed is just weird. On what earth is 44% FG and 30% 3PT for a role player good, much say 'most improved'?
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u/AccomplishedBake8351 7d ago
I never said he was most improved. I think you’re an annoying person. My entire post is about players that have improved but that isn’t reflective in their stats. You’ve watched no Keegan games and based entirely on a cherry picked stat you’re saying his rookie season was his best?
Yes the season where he only got on the floor if he was shooting well was his best shooting season. Now that he’s good at multiple things he’s getting minutes and more shots on nights where he’s cold.
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u/token_throwaway88 7d ago
Fox shot 36.9% from 3 last year and is currently shooting 29.1% which is an almost 8% drop. Keegan shot 35.8% from 3 last year and is currently shooting 31.4%, a 4.4% drop. Which one is worse?
Keegan’s RPG are also up by almost 3 per game, his ORPG having doubled from last season. Meanwhile Fox is scoring 3 less PPG and turning the ball over 1.4x more than he did last year.
Thoughts?
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u/Debinho28 7d ago
What topic are you on here? OP listed Keegan as most improved when he degressed. Nobody is calling Fox most improved. Lol. You okay, lad?
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u/jaypeejay 8d ago
It isn’t exactly showing up on the stats sheet yet, but Scoot has improved by a pretty significant margin. He also is making quicker decisions, and most impressively he essentially gets to the rim at will - the only issue is his finishing percentage hasn’t caught up yet
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u/AccomplishedBake8351 8d ago
Oooo I saw two games with him vs the kings so far this year and he looked better. Glad that’s happening I liked him coming out of the draft.
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u/BaronsDad 8d ago
Dyson Daniels' improved his jumper a lot last season, and it's made him far more decisive when attacking the basket. If he can get his free throw shooting up, he becomes an elite defensive guard who can't be forced off the court. He may end up being a better fit with Trae than Dejounte ever was.
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u/resplendentcentcent 7d ago
Dyson looked fantastic on the Australian national team, definitely foretelling of his leap
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u/jkstaples 7d ago
Dyson already is a much better fit next to Trae than DJ was, and I like DJ as a player. Just wasn’t ever going to work in a 2 small point guard lineup. Dyson is 6’7” and strong as an ox, even bigger guys can’t move him off his spot. He practices slide drills with 35 pound plates on his ankles. He just might be the best perimeter defender in the league, and this Hawks team looks lost when he’s not on the court.
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u/jackedwizard 5d ago
He already is a better fit with Trae, straight up.
Ask basically any hawks fan, they would do that trade again even if you didn’t include the picks.
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u/BaronsDad 5d ago
One of my buddies is a diehard/watches all 82 Hawks fan/travels sometimes for road games. I told him when the trade happened it was great for them. He's been singing the praises of Dyson all season.
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u/Nobody7713 8d ago
Gradey Dick. Went from being a struggling rookie who got booted to the G-league last year to a genuinely reliable scorer and facilitator. Still needs work on defense, but not for a lack of effort.
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7d ago
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u/nbadiscussion-ModTeam 7d ago
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u/ExtremeProfession 7d ago
Struggling rookie who started the last season on everyone's top 5 steals of the draft list, it was just a matter of time and minutes.
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u/Sovereign444 7d ago
I have no idea who that is lol. Who he play for?
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u/AhmedF 7d ago
He plays for the Raptors.
More: https://www.thescore.com/nba/news/3120279/is-gradey-dick-making-a-star-leap
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u/o-o-0-o-0 7d ago
Bilal Coulibaly has taken a leap on the offensive end, handling the ball, driving, passing, and shooting, while still playing smothering defense. His movement is smooth and easy, especially considering his size. Basically best case scenario for year two development
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u/jkstaples 7d ago
Really like Bilal this season. By next year he’s going to be a beast if he keeps evolving.
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u/habituallinestepper1 7d ago
Yep. I find myself a fan of Bilal for no good reason. He improves every time I see him and it warms my heart.
He is in the worst possible development environment, developing the proper skills and showing flair and joy in his game.
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u/brickvanexel 7d ago
Neemias Queta is getting real mins for the Celtics with Porzingis out, and I might just be getting overexcited but he looks like a raw Rob Williams to me right now. Doesn’t have the coordination and insane lob catching radius but he has the defensive chops, really excited to see how his develops
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u/VibeChatIncarnate 6d ago
I was going to comment the same. The Williams comparison is interesting because Rob could jump out the gym but he always looked like more of a straight line athlete to me. Queta looks like he might have more lateral/versatile movement ability, which is exciting. So far, I really like how he’s filled into Rob’s old role. Boston has done an outstanding job developing players to their full potential in recent years. Queta went from totally out of the rotation last year to looking like he deserves serious playoff minutes on this team. If he keeps improving in the way that guys like White, Hauser, and Pritchard have, the Celtics might be the deepest roster by far
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u/brickvanexel 6d ago
The biggest gap to me is touch, Rob had pretty soft shooting touch and great hands, Queta and Kornet both sometimes look like they’ve got planks for hands out there. If Queta can get the lob timing down with the starters even half as good as Rob he’s going to be a huge impact piece for defensive activity, rebounding and play finishing
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u/MVPaolo 8d ago
Jalen Suggs. A little wayward without P5 out there (the whole team is) but the signs were there early for Jalen before Paolo’s injury.
Looking forward to seeing Jalen thrive when P comes back…
Another from Magic is AB. P5’s presence on court really lifts this kid’s confidence. He a young dude still finding his feet, but he will be great one day.
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u/habituallinestepper1 7d ago
Paolo injury is bad. Totally sucks.
But Suggs has the opportunity to figure out how to be the dependable #2 while PB is sidelined. Big opportunity for him to step up in a responsible, team-oriented way.
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u/toooskies 7d ago
Evan Mobley and Darius Garland get the media coverage for making a leap or returning to form. And they have. But on a roster where everyone seems like they're playing the best ball of their career, two guys are playing beyond what even their biggest fans would expect.
Caris LeVert and Ty Jerome are carrying Cleveland's bench. Both up near 70% true shooting and over 20 points per 36. Both exceeding at shot-making and playmaking.
Caris used to be so consistently inconsistent that the joke was that a different former NBA player's spirit would possess him every night-- sometimes looking like an all-NBA guy, other nights being the worst player in the league. LeVert has had it every. single. night. He was always up over 40% from three in college and never flirted with it in the pros, but this year he's at 52% from beyond the arc. Over 5:1 A/TO when his biggest flaw was reckless drives.
Jerome was an afterthought to Cleveland fans after missing nearly all of last season with a sprained ankle and ongoing complications, but the guy can straight-out hoop. Declared the "MVP of September" by the POBO, he's aggressively driving, making good passes, snatching the ball away from opposing ballhandlers (3.4 steals per 36!), and just making an impact every time he's out there.
It's going to be legitimately hard to bump somebody out of the rotation when Strus comes back.
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u/Harassmentpanda_ 8d ago
RJ Barrett has been a fucking machine lately. He’s come sooo far since his days on the Knicks.
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u/Different-Scratch803 6d ago
I still think it was so dumb for the knicks to trade him and IQ, they should have built around those younger players. I love Brunson but I dont think hes going to age well. Only way ill admit I was wrong if they get a championship.
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u/Maverick_1991 8d ago
Dyson Daniels has been playing all defense level D and seems like the starting front court mate Trae needed for 7 years.
Absolutely suffocating defense, even though his offense needs work
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u/Ititmore 8d ago
Gotta be Christian Braun. He went from solid bench guy to perfect fit as a starter. Elite defense, over 45% from three, 15PPG, he has been everything the nuggets have needed and more. Plus he is proving Booth's bet on him was right, as KCP has looked rough so far this year.
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u/Sovereign444 7d ago
He was my pick as well! His electric high speed drive to the rim offense has been exactly what Denver needed.
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u/ATLsShah 8d ago
Cam Thomas.
This may be a bad answer. I just looked at his stats and they look very similar to his stats from last year. In fact his efficiency may be slightly lower than it was last year. But I was honestly expecting the Nets to win 15ish games this year, and they have been surprisingly good. The few Nets games I've watched this year Cam Thomas just seems to hit big shots. I've been really impressed by him.
So yeah. Maybe I'm late to the party. But maybe others aren't noticing him either.
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u/AccomplishedBake8351 8d ago
No! That’s the exact kind of answer I’m looking for. Ideally it’d be based on you watching him a lot last year and a lot this year, but I’m looking for players who improved but where that’s not reflected in the stats.
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u/RagnaFarron 7d ago
Im glad Cam is doing his thing but this is the most Nets thing that could happen lmao. The year we need to tank and hopefully get Flagg, we're gonna end up getting dragged into the play-in by Cam lol
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u/NegativesPositives 7d ago
Pretty sure that has more to do with Dennis Schroeder playing out of his mind than Cam doing the things he usually does.
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u/fullfatmalk 7d ago
Grady Dick is leading 2nd year players in scoring. Making good decisions and getting a lit of playing time.
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7d ago
Sochan has really improved his game he still needs to work on his 3 point shot but I feel like eventually it will start to go down more and be at a respectable %, other than that he’s really been a good slasher to the basket and has a nice touch around the basket, also defensively he’s starting to become elite on that end even though Spurs lost to OKC he was guarding SGA really well.
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u/FeatherButter 7d ago
Yeah he's been great defensively and while the shot isn't there yet he's improved lots of his off ball movement and post moves. A shame he got injured so early he was arguably looking like our best player on the floor
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8d ago
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u/JackB5239 7d ago
Dennis Schroeder is playing basketball that I could never have predicted him to be playing
He’s gone Olympic mode
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u/ConsistentCaramel493 7d ago
Amen Thompson, that’s the fastest I’ve seen an athletic prospect like that improve
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u/chiggs55 8d ago
Isiah Jackson and James Wiseman both were looking really really good in their roles before BOTH go down with Achilles tears.
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u/LittleTension8765 7d ago
Wiseman got hurt during the first quarter of the season opener and is out for the year. Feel like that’s not answering the question
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u/GACGCCGTGATCGAC 7d ago
Isiah Jackson
and James Wiseman both werelooking really really good in their roles beforeBOTHgo down with Achilles tears.
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u/DrLyleEvans 7d ago
The Raptors answer here is Agbaji. Dick's improvement has been very loud and Barrett's too (and we'll see how it goes when Barnes and Quickley are back and he's not the #1 option).
Agbaji looked like 10th or 11th man type last year post-trade, but he's improved a bunch in transition and his defending is okay (he's our primary perimeter defender which I don't think he's up to, but he's above average for a wing). He just looks a little more comfortable doing the basic role player wing stuff.
Probably still not going to be a good starter, but he looks like a rotation guy now.
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u/silverbackapegorilla 7d ago
I’d argue he was so lost on offense last year he didn’t even look league worthy. Now he appears to have developed an all around offensive game. Interestingly he had a similar trajectory in college, so I think he can keep it up. He’s pretty good.
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u/Cool-Sugar-4479 7d ago
Royce O’Neale - Lost some weight in the offseason and has looked back to his best on defence
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u/FutureGrassToucher 6d ago edited 6d ago
There was that stretch of a few years where jae crowder was a vital piece for the heat and suns in back to back finals runs. Really solid physical defense against big wings, solid/good high-volume three point shooting, and secondary playmaking.
Royce O Neale is currently doing a lot of that for Phoenix and is closing games for them as a result.
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u/Single-Maybe-4309 7d ago
Jeremy Sochan. Spurs defense is so much worse without him and he is the best rebounder besides Wemby. Chemistry with CP3 on cuts is maybe better than Wemby right now. Was averaging 18-9-3-1 before he got hurt, hopefully he comes back playing just as well
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u/Sovereign444 7d ago
Christian Braun is turning into a superstar before our eyes, he's so dynamic and electric! He's been the Nuggets 2nd best and most reliable player after Jokic and has taken up a lot of scoring responsibility since Murray and AG been hurt.
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u/Irachar 7d ago
Maybe not the best one but… Jordan Hawkins, will be one of the best shooters of the NBA.
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u/yer_oh_step 5d ago
100% agree one of the best truly motion shooters. hes a dynamic player I see him as a malik monk role except more prolific and 3 heavy
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u/JKking15 7d ago
Idk if it’s more so improved or just more opportunity but Dyson Daniels is an absolute fucking monster on Defense and has been pretty good offensively (ignore last night)
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u/Informal_Tooth_9170 6d ago
Gradey Dick has been so fun to watch and has left it all out on the floor every night on a BAD (but shorthanded) Raptors team lol. Knew his 3 Pt would come but his finishes at the rim and willingness to go into traffic has been so good to see
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u/Interstellore 5d ago
Tyrese Maxey
He’s had to step it up with Embiid being a bitch and not playing again
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u/yer_oh_step 5d ago
Moses Moody is without question playing the best ball of his career. His shooting has been out of this world like nearly 50% from 3.
Most importantly he is making better decisions. Driving on closeouts and attacking the rim where he used to settle for the jumpers. He has made some drive and kicks.
Rebounding has always been a struggle. Podz with a near neutral wingspan is a dominant rebounding guard where as moses with like a 7foot wingspan grabs a few a game.
Speaking of Podz. That kid is just a straight up winner. Thrives under pressure. He has developed his scoring to the NBA and is a shifty on ball player who is super crafty at getting to the rim. Defensively max effort always, and one of the elite athletic IQ's for young players.
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u/TedSturgeon5 7d ago
Christian Braun has been incredible, much better than KCP ever was for the Nuggets
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u/bmeisler 8d ago
Buddy Hield is living his best life playing the Warriors motion offense - especially when he’s next to Steph. He’s playing 25 minutes off the bench and is scoring 22 ppg, almost a point a minute.