The NBA has a third of the regular season in the books and elite players are grabbing the headlines. Rookies Chet Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama have been as good as advertised. Many young players like Tyrese Haliburton and Tyrese Maxey are taking the leap. There are so many stars emerging, but a few under-the-radar players deserve more of the attention.
What classifies as an under-the-radar player? There are several different ways to qualify. They could be playing for a small-market team that is not getting much attention. Or, they could have improved key parts of their game that don’t always show up in the highlights. Top-line talent can sometimes overshadow under-the-radar players on a team, but they are integral pieces nonetheless.
The most important thing about under-the-radar players is that they are not household names but should be.
Below are a handful of players all fans should be aware of as essential pieces for their respective teams.
The Sacramento Kings are not the darlings they were last season, but what has gone unnoticed is the play of Malik Monk off the bench. Over the years, the now-25-year-old guard has made massive strides in his game.
This season, Monk is scoring a career-high 14.6 points and shooting 41.9 percent from three. He has provided a scoring punch off the bench and has dropped 20-29 points in seven games already. More impressive than the scoring, though, is the playmaking.
In addition to Monk’s career high in scoring and three-point percentage, he is averaging 5.2 assists, up from his previous high of 3.9 last season. As a result, he has blossomed into the third playmaker for Sacramento.
The two clips in the X post below show Monk’s passing skills. In the first play, he comes off the Domantas Sabonis dribble handoff; he sees the defense gets sucked in on his drive and Sabonis’ roll, and then he fires a one-handed pass off the bounce to Keon Ellis for a wing three. In the second clip, he comes off a ball screen and throws a beautiful bounce pass to a cutting Keegan Murray.
It has been a journey for Monk after getting drafted in Charlotte but never finding a home there, so he headed to L.A. to join the Lakers. There, he showed off his skills, but in Sacramento, he has found a home and is still improving on his game.
Including a rookie on a list of under-the-radar players seems silly, but Jaime Jaquez Jr. is an exception. The Miami Heat were the perfect landing spot for him. He fits everything about their style; Jaquez is a tough, mature, high-IQ player. That screams MIAMI HEAT!
On the court, Jaquez’s numbers are not eye-popping. He’s averaging 12.9 points on 50.5/37.3/84.2 shooting splits in 28.3 minutes per game. Jaquez is fourth in scoring for all rookies and will be on the all-rookie team.
It is Jaquez’s position versatility that has helped the Heat. According to Cleaning the Glass, he swings between the guard and forward positions, giving the Heat more lineups to play with.
There is a level of trust that Erik Spoelstra has in Jaquez. It shows up in the crunch time minutes distribution. Jaquez is fifth in crunch time total minutes for the Heat. Spoelstra has even said about Jaquez, “He’s playing winning basketball.”
Keep an eye on Jaquez as the season goes on; he averages 31.9 minutes in December and is firmly entrenched in the rotation. He embodies everything the Heat are about, even though he went to a stupid college (Fight On!).
