We all knew going into this season it would about Zion Williamson, RJ Barrett and Ja Morant, past that, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that players like Coby White, Tyler Herro, and Rui Hachimura are playing well, too. That’s not a shock considering all these players were selected in the first fourteen picks of the draft — otherwise known as the Lottery section of the NBA Draft.

However, what’s been a surprise are the players that were drafted or undrafted that have stepped up and opening eyes around the league. These handful of rookies aren’t just making contributions, but are playing big minutes and having an impact on their respective teams.

Kendrick Nunn, Eric Paschall are Rookie Revelations

Those names are led by an undrafted player and the player drafted lowest in this list: Miami Heat’s Kendrick Nunn (undrafted) and Golden State’s Eric Paschall (#41). Other rookies making a splash on their teams include Memphis’ Brandon Clarke (#21), Boston’s Lance Williams (#22), Jordan Poole (#28) and the Sixers’ Matisse Thybulle (#20). This is represented in the rookie leaders as (as of November 14, 2019)

To see all rookie leaders, go to this Inside Hoops page.

As you can see from the above, both Nunn and Pashall are in the top five in scoring for all rookies this season which is significant considering the history of undrafted and unheralded second round picks. Even if Williamson wasn’t hurt and in the top five, those two would still be ahead of higher selections like Darius Garland, Jarrett Culver and Jaxson Hayes.

It just goes to show that nothing is promised until everyone is on the court and we get to see things play out. It’s still pretty early to get a read on this class, but what was considered as a moderately-talented class has turned out (so far) to have a number of value picks selected not only at the top of the draft, but later in the draft as well.