NBA: The best players who fly under the radar
We review the NBA players who are having a great moment, but who do not appear on the main marquee.
We are entering the last month of the year, Almost a quarter of the season has already passed for the 30 franchisesand it is time to point out ten players who do not appear on the main NBA marquee but they are being decisive in their teams.
This is not a ranking, but a catalog of luxury pieces. In the order you prefer, here we go.
Darius Garland (Cleveland Cavaliers)
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Darius Garland’s huge start to the season is vital for Cleveland
The Cavs point guard has been a key piece for the Cavs’ overwhelming start. Together with Donovan Mitchell they make up one of the most powerful perimeter duos in the NBA.
We know that, on the perimeter, this team belongs to Donovan Mitchell. In the paint, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley set the pace. However, in that poker of stars of Kenny Atkinson’s team, the figure of garland.
The Cavaliers point guard has been crucial to the fantastic 17-1 startwith a 10-0 record at home and a scoring average of 124.6 points at home. Crazy. Garland, in that section, averages 20.3 points, 6.9 assists, 2.4 rebounds and a very high 43.9% in triples. He has improved all the statistical sections and fights to be one of the most improved players of the season.
Alperen Sengun (Houston Rockets)
The Turkish intern is going through his confirmation season. Sengun is great. A small version of Nikola Jokicwith great movements, peripheral field vision and extreme ability to hurt defenses. It is true, not all of their games are elite, but the Rockets, one of the teams of the future, advance based on their talent. Your numbers? 18.3 points, 10.6 rebounds, 4.7 assists, 1.2 blocks and 1.1 steals per game.
Oh, I forgot: Houston already has 12 wins and only six losses so far in the regular series.
De’Aaron Fox (Sacramento Kings)
Perhaps the most obvious of this list of notables. Fox fills the role of confirmation, but he is playing spectacularly for the Kings. A growing megacrack. 28.9 points, 4.9 rebounds, 5.7 assists and 51.1% in field goals. He carried the Kings after DeMar DeRozan’s injury and has been crucial in ensuring that Malik Monk’s drop in performance is not noticeable. Of course, in Sacramento there is Domantas Sabonis, the double-double man, but today the team belongs to Fox.
That said, Sacramento has the talent to be much better in terms of results: eight wins and nine losses is too little. It takes more to shout “Light the Beam!” much more frequently.
Cade Cunningham (Detroit Pistons)
It is not a great season for the Pistons, but it does not compare to the nightmare that was the 2023-24 season. Cade Cunningham, number one pick in the 2021 Draft, is playing at an incredible level. His size, skill and dexterity have given many solutions to Detroit, which lights candles to keep him healthy.
Cunningham has stratospheric numbers: 23.5 points, 7.2 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game. In Auburn Hills the question is not about his quality, but about his future: Can he ever lead them to a situation of wins and not performance in losses? It is the challenge ahead. Today, Detroit has seven wins in 18 appearances. It’s better, but it’s still insufficient.
Derrick White (Boston Celtics)
Without him they would not have been champions. Without him they would have lost many more games than they lost in the current season. White is synonymous with intelligence, the glue between the perimeter and the paint. Capable of doing a little bit of everything, the former Spurs defends, scores key shots, appears in decisive moments and is the voice of command. His participation with Team USA in Paris 2024 was a reward for his leadership and presence. Furthermore, his numbers are at a very high level: 18.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. Add to that 1.2 blocks per game and more than 40% in triples. Now Kristaps Porzingis returns and that may lower his production a bit, but White is a certainty in himself: he will appear when necessary. Something that, in a team that seeks to repeat, is not important: it is fundamental.
Buddy Hield (Golden State Warriors)
Isn’t Klay Thompson anymore? No problem: welcome Buddy Hield. The former Sixers is pure confidence on the perimeter: 44.1% in shots behind the arc, which makes him a guarantee next to someone as dangerous as Stephen Curry. Hield arrived in Oakland and immediately understood his role on the team. Thompson, a legend of the franchise, had to be replaced, and his first quarter of the season has been amazing, often being the second offensive sword of the franchise led by Steve Kerr. Hield averages 15.9 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per gamebut beyond his individual numbers, his contribution to group growth has been key, a situation he shares with Andrew Wiggins, a star in full recovery. It is no coincidence that Golden State is first in the West with 12 wins and only four losses. It is not a hypothesis or a risky forecast: Hield is the best reinforcement they had in 2024-25. The Warriors are back and they will be very dangerous.
LaMelo Ball (Charlotte Hornets)
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LaMelo Ball and a season with Most Valuable Player averages
The Charlotte Hornets point guard is the one who is giving shine to a team without many lights. We review some of his best plays in the great game he played against the Milwaukee Bucks.
Without exaggeration, his full return is the best news of the season. A team in black and white, boring, like Charlotte, was filled with colors from the hand of Ball. It’s true, they are not winners yet, but they are very funny. Electricos, a basketball roller coaster in extremis. Lamelo has MVP numbers: 30.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game. That’s ten more units per game than he averaged in his career. In the loss to the Bucks, he reached 50 points with 10 assists. Crazy.
I didn’t think I was going to say this, but Thanks to Ball, the Hornets appear as one of the League Pass teams of the season. Not because of the game, but because of unpredictability: Ball causes at least one highlight to cut in each match that occurs. If he stays healthy, with a higher level player Charlotte can make people talk.
Nikola Vucevic (Chicago Bulls)
The inconsequential team begins to warm up its engines. Well, don’t get your hopes up either, it is in an expected play-in position, but Vucevic is playing really well in Chicago: 20.5 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.2 assists and a block per game. The Bulls cannot break the halo of mediocrity that surrounds them, but some signs are positive and it is worth clinging to those kinds of sensations when they appear. The fact that I love about Vucevic is his three-point shooting percentage: 46.3%. It’s truly outrageous. They’re not going to be champions, but it would be nice for a team from the post-Derrick Rose era to once fight for something more than a playoff spot. Let them compete accordingly. As its history dictates. No more, no less than that.
Norman Powell (LA Clippers)
Among so many injuries and unfortunate situations, the name of Norman Powell arises. The former Blazers and Raptors is playing at a very high level: 23.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game. What is said, a pure scorer. Already without Russell Westbrook (today in the Nuggets) and with Kawhi Leonard in the infirmary since the start of the competition, someone has to step forward at the Intuit Dome to accompany James Harden. Powell shows that he is a great player, who needed a chance to stand out. His 48.7% on triples is striking for the better.
Franz Wagner (Orlando Magic)
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Franz Wagner dressed as a hero to take away the Lakers’ undefeated record at home
With a triple with less than 3 seconds left in the game, the German silenced the Cripto.com Arena on Thursday, November 21.
With the departure of Paolo Banchero due to injury, Wagner established himself as the great star of the franchise. The German is an XXL Manu Ginobili: talented, creative, incisive in attacking the rim. He appears in the last 2023 World Cup that Germany won, averaging 23.6 points, 5.6 assists and 5.8 rebounds per game. The Magic are third in the East, with eleven wins and seven losses, only behind the champion Celtics and the surprising Cavaliers.
The German perimeter guard carries the team on his shoulders and for now the responsibility does not weigh on him. How far can it go? He is only 23 years old. Believe me: your future is incredible.
Jalen Williams (Oklahoma City Thunder)
Sure, Chet Holmgren’s injury helped his jump in quality. The absence of Isaiah Hartenstein at the start as well, but… Are we going to take away credit from a player who achieved something like that on both sides of the court? Make way for one of the revelations at the start of the season! Williams has 21.8 points, 6.6 rebounds, 5.2 assists, 51.7% from the field and 39% in triples with two steals per game. All this within the structure of a winning team that has a record of 12 wins and four losses. Williams, who attacks and defends with intensity, energy and judgment, is also only 23 years old. The Thunder are one of the great candidates to win now, and due to their depth of talent, they are emerging as a protagonist in the NBA for many years.
