They weren't draft busts yet, but most of the 2024 rookie class looked a bit uninspired at the end of their first year. Expectations were reset as the best prospects looked like high-level role players and the projects fizzled out.
The No. 1 pick, Zaccharie Risacher, only averaged 12.6 points per game and drew just five first-place votes in the Rookie of the Year race. The No. 2 pick, Alex Sarr finished down at fourth. Jaylen Wells, a second-round pick, finished third, averaging just 10.4 points per game. Only five rookies appeared in at least 25 games and also averaged double figures. Only three of them were lottery picks and one was undrafted.
But just a quarter of the way into the 2025-26 season, we're dramatically adjusting our evaluations of last year's rookies. More than a few of taken huge second-year leaps, addressing their biggest weaknesses and delivering on some of the star power that seemed to be missing last year. Here are the players from last year's rookie class who appear to have improved the most.
Reed Sheppard, Houston Rockets
Sheppard's was thrust into a much larger role when Fred VanVleet went down for the year with an ACL tear, and an enormous hole opened in the Rockets' point guard rotation. He's playing twice as many minutes as he did last season, but he's also dramatically increased his per-minute productivity — averaging 19.6 points, 4.8 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per 36 minutes.
He's still more of a connector than a pure creator at the point, but that's exactly what the Rockets need with Alperen Şengün, Amen Thompson and Kevin Durant also capable of facilitating. In terms of vibes, it's cleat that Sheppard feels more confident and comfortable and the game has slowed down for him. In practical terms, that means a huge surge in his shot-making.
Watch as he comes off the screen here, drawing both defenders. There's a very tight window for a pocket pass to the rolling Steven Adams, but Jeremy Sochan has dropped enough to disrupt that and close off the option of skip-pass to Thompson. This is well-defended and a tough spot, the kind that last season might have resulted in a turnover or a wild, ill-advised drive. This season, Sheppared just calmly pulls up and drills the jumper over Victor Wembanyama.
He was supposed to be one of the best shooters in the rookie class, but he made just 33.8 percent from beyond the arc last season. This year, he's at an eye-popping 47.1 percent on 3s and has made 45 percent of his pull-up 2-pointers. Having him attacking closeouts and carving up a defense scattered by Şengün and Durant has added a new dimension and is a not insignificant factor in them putting up the best offensive efficiency in the league so far.
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Matas Buzelis, Chicago Bulls
Buzelis talked a big game this offseason about leveling up as a defender, and so far, he's delivered. The second-year forward has played more minutes with Nikola Vucevic than any other teammate this year, and has done a great job of providing ancillary rim protection, covering up for Vucevic's weaknesses.
Buzelis is averaging 1.4 blocks per game and contesting more shots within six feet of the basket than players like Rudy Gobert, Ivica Zubac, Kristaps Porziņģis or Chet Holmgren. All that adds up to solid rim-protection numbers, but he's not just an impediment in the paint. He ranks in the 76th percentile as a defender on isolations, and you can see a dramatic difference in his aggressiveness and his technique. Watch how he fights over the screen here and, while trailing, still recovers to get a hand in on the pocket pass.
He's also improved a ton on offense, increasing his shooting percentages across the board and looking more assertive and under control on drives. But he's more advanced at the defensive end right now and you have to give him credit for saying he would be a defensive difference-maker and then actually making it happen.
Jaylon Tyson, Cleveland Cavaliers and Tristan da Silva, Orlando Magic
We're lumping Tyson and da Silva here because their situations and development are roughly similar. Both were drafted onto solid teams — Tyson to the Cavs and da Silva to the Magic — who really needed shooting on the wing with the opportunity to play right away. But neither player made enough shots last season to actually carve out regular rotation minutes for themselves.
Tyson has already started 10 games and will likely blow past his minute total from last year before the end of November. He'll end up back on the bench when Darius Garland, but he's firmly entrenched in their rotation, averaging 11.3 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game, shooting 52.7 percent from the field and 47.5 percent from beyond the arc. He's giving Cleveland exactly what they needed from him — the high-level shot-making that keeps the floor spaced for Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
da Silva's story is almost identical. He played a lot more than Tyson last season — 74 games, 38 starts and just over 1600 minutes. But he only hit 33.5 percent from beyond the arc and made just two appearances, for a total of five minutes, in the playoffs. He's playing roughly the same minutes this year but averaging 11.5 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.4 assists, shooting 41.1 percent from beyond the arc. The Magic spent big to bring in Desmond Bane and try to fix their spacing issues, but right now da Silva has made more 3-pointers than anyone else on the roster and, along with center Wendell Carter Jr., is one of just two players shooting better than 40 percent from beyond the arc.
Kyshawn George, Washington Wizards
George has been one of the few bright spots in a disastrous Wizards start this season. The 6-foot-8 wing has nearly doubled his per-game averages across the board — putting up 16.5 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game on a 60.8 true shooting percentage. His increased accuracy from beyond the arc (44.0 percent after hitting just 32.2 percent) has unlocked a ton of things for him on offense, but he's also getting a lot more opportunities to work with the ball in his hands and create for himself and teammates.
Watch how patient he is here, using a quick in-and-out dribble and change-of-direction feint behind the screen to freeze both defenders and blow past with his speed and length.
His touches are about a second longer, on average this year, and he's shooting 54.2 percent on 9.9 drives per game, up from 44.6 percent on 4.4 per game as a rookie. Even if this is small sample size and George looks like he could be way more than just a solid two-way connector, perhaps even pushing into Trey-Murphy-fringe-All-Star territory. For a roster that desperately needs talent that can help organize the chaos, he could turn out to be their most important player.