3 budding bench players who already deserve to be NBA starters

We are now roughly four weeks into the 2023-24 NBA season. There have been plenty of surprises to start the season, including some impressive play from these three budding bench players who have shown they already deserve to be NBA starters.

Whether you start the game or come off the bench, your ability to positively impact the game keeps you on the floor. Additionally, your ability to not negatively impact the game is also something that can keep you on the floor.

The Cavaliers' lack of depth off the bench has played a role in their 4-6 start to the season despite having the No. 4-ranked starting lineup in terms of net rating based on this graphic after winning 51 games in 2022-23.

Anytime one of these three players comes in off the bench, they find ways to impact the game immediately and have made a case that they should be NBA starters if it weren’t for the players in front of them on their respective depth charts.

3. Andrew Nembhard, Indiana Pacers

Since the Pacers selected Andrew Nembhard with the first pick of the second in the 2022 NBA Draft, head coach Rick Carlisle hasn’t hesitated to gush over the second-year point guard from Gonzaga. “Guy should have been a top-10 pick in the draft,” Carlisle said about Nembhard last season.

“Every night, he keeps proving me right about that,” Carlisle added. That has continued to be the case to start the 2023-24 season with Nembhard operating as a reliable backup point guard option for the Pacers behind All-Star Tyrese Haliburton. Nembhard has also fit in as a complimentary backcourt piece alongside Haliburton if the Pacers want to stagger the latter’s minutes with Bennedict Mathurin’s.

Nembhard is a sound decision-maker with the ball in his hands and has shown an ability to run an offense as well as create shots for himself when needed in addition to being a solid defensive presence given his 6-foot-5 frame. His versatility allows him to fit with virtually any lineup, making him a more than deserving NBA starter.

As a rookie, Nembhard started 63 games for the Pacers due to injuries to Haliburton and former first-round pick and current member of the Kings, Chris Duarte. In those games, Nembhard averaged 10.0 points, 4.8 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per game, shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 35.6 from beyond the arc.