NBA Rookie Rankings: 5 underrated guys in this year's class

NBA Rookie Rankings: 5 underrated guys in this year’s class

BROOKLYN, NY - DECEMBER 26: Rodions Kurucs #00 of the Brooklyn Nets shoots the ball against the Charlotte Hornets on December 26, 2018 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images) /

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TORONTO, ON – DECEMBER 05: Landry Shamet #1 of the Philadelphia 76ers during their NBA game against the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena on December 5, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /

2. Landry Shamet

A lot of teams backed off of Shamet ahead of the draft due to their concerns over whether or not he had the quickness to play point guard in the NBA. Credit the Sixers for focusing on what Shamet is, rather than what he isn’t. They selected him to be a knockdown shooter off the bench and he’s filled that role to perfection.

Interestingly, Philadelphia’s coaching staff uses Shamet with the bench unit the same way they leverage J.J. Reddick with the starters. Each player is expected to run off a ton of screens and be ready to catch and shoot the ball when it comes their way. Shamet isn’t as good as Reddick at either skill, but he’s showing real progress on both fronts.

To Shamet’s credit, he’s getting up 4.4 3-pointers per game in just over 20 minutes of action. That’s an excellent rate for a guy who isn’t the primary focus of the second unit. The better news for Sixers fans is that Shamet is converting his shots from distance 38.8 percent of the time.

Perhaps more importantly, Shamet is already showing that he understands how to diversify his jump shot. He’s not limited to taking standstill 3s in the corner. A healthy percentage of his attempts come off pin downs and curls. That’s a skill set that will allow Shamet to be an effective player for Philadelphia in the playoffs. That’s not something that can be said about a lot of rookies.

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