10 NBA Hidden Gems Nobody Is Talking About – Bleacher Report

With the drama of another NBA season ready to unfold, everyone already knows the featured players.
Nikola Jokić, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Jayson Tatum and several other household names will author the biggest storylines of the upcoming campaign. But less heralded players will have an impact, too.
Here, we run down 10 hoopers who aren’t getting the appreciation and coverage they deserve. There is no strict criteria for inclusion here, and some options will be more obscure than others. Generally, though, the players we’ll cover all pass the “people should be talking about them more” test.
One caveat: If you’re a diehard fan of the teams these guys play for, you know what’s up. Every Golden State Warriors fan on the planet understands Jonathan Kuminga can explode like he’s been shot out of a cannon, and you won’t find many Charlotte Hornets supporters unaware of Mark Williams’ hulking presence in the paint. But broader audiences need to know about these guys.
Let’s uncover some hidden gems.

Golden State Warriors fans have devoted plenty of brain space to Jonathan Kuminga since the franchise selected the ultra-athletic forward with the No. 7 pick in the 2021 draft.
However, with single-digit scoring averages in each of his first two seasons and some prolonged stretches outside the Dubs’ rotation, the 21-year-old probably isn’t top of mind for NBA observers beyond the Bay Area.
That will change this season, as Kuminga enters his third campaign with clear directives and the opportunity to seize a much larger role than he’s ever held.
Poor rebounding cost Kuminga playing time during the 2022-23 regular season and especially the playoffs, and he fully understands that his minutes will depend on his glasswork. The Warriors have been stopping practice whenever he fails to attack the boards.
The presence of established stars and the pursuit of a championship mean Kuminga isn’t going to get the chance to showcase what could be a first-option, on-ball offensive skill set. Don’t expect routine 20-plus point efforts like he’s been posting during preseason play.
That said, the 2021 first-round pick appears primed to excel in all the smaller ways the Warriors want him to this season—which is to say as a finisher on cuts and in the pick-and-roll, as a transition threat, as a versatile perimeter stopper and, yes, as a pogo-stick rebounder.
Kuminga is a truly overwhelming athlete who can blow by and soar over the league’s best defenders. He has the potential to one day average 10 free-throw attempts per game. Few human beings on Earth can quick-jump Anthony Davis off two feet and float past him to the rim.
If he masters the role-playing details and earns more minutes in the process, Kuminga will make himself known to fans across the NBA.

Already 28 and undersized as a 6’2″ combo guard, Jevon Carter comes with none of the physical measurables or highlight footage that earns Kuminga “hidden gem” status. That just proves there are plenty of ways to excel in relative anonymity.
What Carter does exceptionally well is defend, probably the most overlooked ability in the league—especially among guards.
Last season with the Milwaukee Bucks, he put up a plus-1.3 Defensive Estimated Plus/Minus, good enough for an 88th percentile ranking. By way of comparison, a more widely known defensive irritant, Patrick Beverley, ranked in the 86th percentile. Carter, in an almost identical amount of playing time, recovered more loose balls and committed 29 fewer personal fouls than his more celebrated peer.
The kicker: Carter shot 42.1 percent from deep and upped his career hit rate on threes to 39.7 percent. Beverley finished 2022-23 at 33.5 percent from long range and sits at 37.3 percent for his career. Basically, Carter is a better version of Beverley with nowhere near the reputation. Maybe if Carter was a little more vocal and/or embraced the theatrics of, say, bringing a camera onto the floor in the middle of a game to contest a call, his Q rating would be higher.
Unfortunately for Carter’s name recognition, he joined the Chicago Bulls this offseason. He’ll now share a roster with Alex Caruso, arguably the best backcourt defender this side of Jrue Holiday. There’s only so much niche appreciation to go around for non-star, defense-first guards, so he will have to work even harder to get noticed with Caruso absorbing so much praise.

We shouldn’t have to do this.
Not after Jalen Williams finished second in Rookie of the Year voting to Paolo Banchero, and not after the Oklahoma City Thunder wing closed last season on an absolute tear, putting up 18.6 points, 5.4 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 1.7 steals per game on a 54.6/42.9/88.0 shooting split after the All-Star break.
Even with a slower start, he finished ahead of Banchero in field-goal, three-point and free-throw percentage, while also eclipsing the Orlando Magic cornerstone in Box Plus/Minus and EPM.
Banchero may have the higher upside as a top-option scorer, but Williams has the more diverse skill package, superior defensive versatility and higher offensive efficiency.
In his first preseason action, the 22-year-old flashed almost all of those skills in one end-to-end-to-end sequence.
And yet, in a HoopsHype poll asking 25 NBA executives to rank their top three breakout candidates for 2023-24, Williams didn’t even get a mention.
Maybe it’s the small market. Or maybe there’s not enough room to appreciate Williams as he works alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who busted out last season and figures to stick in the top tier of MVP voting for the next half-decade or so. Whatever the explanation, he is arguably the most overlooked future star in the league.
He’s polished, he’s productive, he’s got ideal big-wing size and despite his one year in the league, Williams also has a game without holes. Bank on this being the last time he’s overlooked.

The case against the Denver Nuggets repeating as NBA champions may not start with the departure of rotation mainstay Bruce Brown Jr., but his absence is certainly one factor that will make it more difficult for the team to go back-to-back.
Christian Braun showed enough defense, smart cutting and general hustle during last year’s run to secure himself a spot off Denver’s bench in 2023-24. Even if he soaks up all of Brown’s vacated 28.5 minutes per game, the Nugs still have Jeff Green’s minutes to backfill.
That’s where Payton Watson comes in. Though he appeared in just 23 games as a rookie, he flashed just enough rangy defense and athleticism to tantalize without clearly proving he’s consistent enough to stick. That chance will come this year.
If the 21-year-old can knock down threes at a high enough clip to warrant defensive attention (6-of-14 in 2022-23), the springy 6’8″ forward will get enough playing time to affect the game with his defense, speed and length. His 3.3 percent block rate in limited time last season, which ranked in the 100th percentile among forwards, offers an idea of his potential impact.
Though raw and inexperienced, last year’s No. 30 pick could spread his wings and give Denver a new dimension.

Those in search of deeper Memphis Grizzlies cuts might prefer Ziaire Williams here, but it’s not like Santi Aldama is a regular topic of discussion in the broader NBA discourse.
Plus, unlike Williams, who trudged through a disappointing sophomore season last year, Aldama took major steps forward.
Picked 30th in 2021, the Spaniard is a 6’11” spacer with surprising craft off the bounce. His 35.3 percent hit rate from deep last year feels low, given the fluidity of his stroke and the ease with which he lets fly. Defenders are already concerned with his shooting, as evidenced by the aggressive closeouts he saw last season.
22yo Santi Aldama has all the makings of an excellent complimentary piece for a winner<br><br>At 6'11, his mix of quick trigger spot-ups, closeout attacks, &amp; timely cuts make him a quality off-ball scorer. Combined with his defensive versatility &amp; crafty passing, he's an underrated gem <a href="https://t.co/UyOp3SvStW">pic.twitter.com/UyOp3SvStW</a>
When he’s on balance, Aldama skillfully exploits those closeouts, using his length and solid downhill package to attack the bucket.
Brandon Clarke is likely to miss the season after tearing his Achilles late last year, so Memphis should lean even harder on Aldama as its first big off the bench and occasional starter.
If the 22-year-old can get his long-range accuracy into the high 30s and contribute a bit more on the glass, a breakout could be imminent.

Early in his career, Nickeil Alexander-Walker was a chucker. Even if you’re unfamiliar with the Seinfeld reference, you know the type. He was once of the mind that if he could see the basket, he should probably fling the ball toward it, regardless of coverage, angle or game situation.
During his first two seasons, the 2019 No. 17 pick attempted over 16 shots per 36 minutes. For context, that’s in the neighborhood of DeMar DeRozan and James Harden’s career attempt rates. Unlike those two, he couldn’t put the ball in the hole often in those early days, hitting just 40.0 percent of his tries from the field.
Midseason trades bounced Alexander-Walker from New Orleans to Utah to Minnesota over the next two seasons, but something helpful happened in the process: He changed his game.
He accepted a limited role, shot threes when open, moved the ball more often when covered and generally settled in as a supporting piece. The reformed chucker also (and this is the important part) used his rangy 6’6″ frame to great effect on defense.
Remember when he gave Shai Gilgeous-Alexander fits in the Play-In Round?
Alexander-Walker is only 25, and he has all the tools a team could want in a wing. There’s a legitimate starting-caliber player within him, and possibly the potential for more than that if he can sprinkle the right amount of his first-option tendencies into the successful role-player recipe he’s found.

We might be taking the “hidden” part of this exercise a little too far with Jaden Springer, whose 95 career minutes across two seasons make the Philadelphia 76ers prospect closer to “invisible.”
However, there’s not much dispute about his “gem” status, and it’s hard to stay off the radar entirely when you’re meeting MVP candidates at the top for ferocious dunk denials:
Jaden Springer sends it back! <br><br>Close one on ESPN <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NBAPreseason?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#NBAPreseason</a> <a href="https://t.co/l7eRR6ymgJ">pic.twitter.com/l7eRR6ymgJ</a>
That’s Springer rising to rudely reject Jayson Tatum during preseason play. And if you’re impressed by what the 21-year-old can do on defense, you’re not alone.
“It’s one game, so you don’t try to go too far,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse told reporters. “I thought obviously Jaden Springer stood out a great deal in the game. He guarded hard; he rebounded hard; he finished at the basket; he sunk a couple of shots.”
The 2021 first-round pick has a long way to go on offense, as evidenced by 28.9 percent he shot from three across 149 career attempts in the G League. That said, he can contribute as a cutter and offensive rebounder, and his defense might be impactful enough to earn him rotation minutes on its own.
Though still a project, Springer is starting to show more of the skills that will get him on the floor with regularity. And whenever he’s out there, odds are something spectacular will happen. Just ask Tatum.

It’s hard to shine next to the star power of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, particularly when you see action in only 41 games as a 19-year-old rookie. That’s why Max Christie’s summer-league performance was so important; it proved he had the skills to be productive if given the opportunity.
The Michigan State product put up 19.0 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.7 assists across three games in Las Vegas, shredding the nets from everywhere.
After drilling 41.9 percent of his triples last season, the Los Angeles Lakers guard canned 45.7 percent in Vegas while also hitting 50.0 percent of his shots from the field and making every free-throw he attempted.
While those offensive numbers impress, Christie might have been even better on the other end. Summer league head coach JD Dubois praised his versatility on D, and the bulk he added over the past year should only make him more potent defensively this season.
The Lakers are deep, and Christie doesn’t figure to start unless injuries force him into the first unit. But it seems safe to assume his age-20 season will include more than 41 contests and 12.5 minutes per game. Expect a rotation role at minimum.
And if the gains Christie showed off in July prove to be real, fringe consideration for Most Improved Player could be in order.

Several of the hidden gems we’ve highlighted have star upside. While that may not be true for Houston Rockets forward Tari Eason, he still qualifies as an overlooked, underappreciated contributor who deserves recognition from a wider audience.
Much of what the 22-year-old does on the floor goes unquantified unless you dig a few layers deep into the stats.
His 9.3 points per game on a 44.8/34.3/75.2 shooting split hardly leap off the page. But he recovered more loose balls than anyone in the league last year, and his Cleaning the Glass pages make his hustle and disruptive defense undeniable.
As a rookie, Eason ranked in the 93rd percentile among forwards in block rate, the 98th in steal rate, the 90th in defensive rebound rate and the 100th in offensive rebound rate.
His effort is relentless, and it had a clear impact on a 2022-23 Rockets squad that operated with almost no defensive accountability. When he was on the floor causing chaos, Houston shaved 4.7 points per 100 possessions off its defensive rating and generated turnovers at a far higher rate.
Eason doesn’t come with the same tantalizing ceiling as his hot-prospect teammates. Jalen Green, Jabari Smith Jr., Amen Thompson, Alperen Şengün and Cam Whitmore generate highlights and buckets in ways he doesn’t.
However, none of those players can impact Houston’s defense like Eason, whose motor and intensity could go a long way toward turning the Rockets back into a serious, competitive organization.

You aren’t alone if you didn’t pay much attention to the Charlotte Hornets after LaMelo Ball went down for good with an ankle injury on Feb. 27. But if you tuned out, you missed rookie center Mark Williams quietly turning into a quality starter.
From Feb. 28 until the end of the 2022-23 season, the 21-year-old averaged 11.5 points and 9.5 rebounds while hitting 61.6 percent of his shots from the field. That he was so productive without Ball, the team’s best facilitator by a mile, suggests even better numbers lie ahead in 2023-24.
The Duke product is listed at 7’0″ and 241 pounds, but he somehow appears even bigger than that on the floor. A forceful finisher, he was one of just two players to log at least 70 dunks in fewer than 900 minutes of court time last season.
Both of those figures will climb, as Williams should have full control of the starting job after opening just 17 contests last year.
If the 2022 No. 15 pick continues to improve as a defender in space, it’ll be much harder for opposing offenses to exploit him. Despite his inexperience, he managed to hold opponents to 62.6 percent shooting inside six feet—not a terrific number for a center, but roughly in line with what Joel Embiid and Jakob Poeltl managed last season.
Perhaps more importantly, opponents attempted fewer shots at the rim and more in the mid-range area when he was on the court.
Scorers clearly paid attention to Williams in the lane. This should be the year everyone else—fans included—takes notice of him, too.
Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.
Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter (@gt_hughes), and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report’s Dan Favale.

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