The Whiteboard: 3 young players taking a leap in these NBA playoffs

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The eye-popping performances of players like Trae Young, Deandre Ayton and Luka Doncic (three of the first five picks in the 2018 NBA Draft) have been getting plenty of well-deserved attention the past few weeks. But they’re not the only young players who have elevated their games in these NBA playoffs, changing the fortunes of their teams.

Bruce Brown is glue for the Nets’ NBA playoffs run

Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden hold so much of the offensive responsibility for the Brooklyn Nets, the role players around them can often seem like window dressing. Landry Shamet and Joe Harris help space the floor with the threat of their shooting but Bruce Brown complements the Big 3 in a different way in the backcourt.

Brown is not much of a shooter — he only shot 28.8 percent from beyond the arc during the regular season and he’s made just 1-of-5 in the postseason. However, he compensates by being a very smart off-ball, cutting, finding pockets of space inside the arc, and attacking sloppy closeouts. In several Nets’ sets, he acts as a screener, showing plenty of trust in his ability to make good decisions when getting touches in traffic at the elbow and in the middle of the floor.

At the other end of the floor, his defensive prowess takes a lot of pressure off the Nets’ perimeter scorers. In the two games against Milwaukee, he’s spent most of his possessions defending Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday and played a big role in gumming up the Bucks’ offensive gears. He’s not the prototypical 3-and-D archetype you’d envision around the Nets’ scorers but he is still very skilled and both he and the Nets have figured out how to make it work.

Kevin Huerter is doing everything the Hawks could hope for

Trae Young’s explosive offense has been front and center for the Hawks’ surprisingly successful postseason run, but don’t overlook what Kevin Huerter has done. He’s been playing just over 25 minutes per game off the bench, helping anchor the second unit with his scoring and secondary creation ability. His jumper has been literal fire — 14-of-28 on catch-and-shoot 3s and 8-of-12 on all pull-up jumpers.

Huerter has been particularly good in the pick-and-roll, picking his spots and knowing when to rise up, find a teammate or take it all the way to the rim. Across seven games, Huerter is scoring 1.19 points per possession as the ball-handler in the pick-and-roll, even more efficient than Young (albeit in far fewer opportunities). This whole postseason has been a fantastic developmental experience for the young Hawks’ roster, even if their run ultimately ends here against the 76ers. In Huerter, the Hawks can feel very good about a dangerous 22-year-old secondary creator and spot-up threat.

Mikal Bridges elevates everything the Suns do

Devin Booker and Deandre Ayton have shined in their first postseason experience but Mikal Bridges has, quietly, been just as important to the Suns. In the first round, he took much of the responsibility for defending LeBron James, matching up with him on roughly a third of LeBron’s offensive possessions. But that heavy defensive load hasn’t limited him at the offensive end at all.

Bridges has hit 39.1 percent of nearly six catch-and-shoot 3-point attempts per game. When given space, he’s also smartly attacked closeouts, getting solid shots for himself and his teammates. His combination of high-level defense and diverse, mistake-free, complementary offense has really elevated everything else for the Suns. In the playoffs, the Suns have played just seven minutes with Ayton, Booker and Chris Paul on the floor and Mikal Bridges on the bench. With him glued to that core threesome, the team’s point differential has been plus-11.6 points per 100 possessions.

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Deandre Ayton’s done well enough in his matchup against Nikola Jokic to shift the Phoenix Suns’ second-round series in their favor.

The Milwaukee Bucks are on the brink of another playoff exit, without a workable formula for how to win, searching for answers they may never find.