Brandon Clarke rising fast past his peers on NBA Rookie Ladder

5. Kendrick Nunn, Miami Heat

15.3 PPG, 2.5 REB, 3.4 AST

Kendrick Nunn has come back down to Earth over recent weeks in terms of his scoring outbursts, but he remains a starter and effective backcourt option for the Miami Heat.

He’s always been comfortable looking for his own offense and putting pressure on the defense in isolation sets dating back to his college days, but what was encouraging about Nunn’s early progression was his spot-up effectiveness off the ball.

His shooting from 3-point range has since cooled down, as he’s back to shooting just a hair above league average at 35.3 percent.

That’s led to a dip in his overall efficiency and scoring average, but a regression to the mean was always expected from a rookie who quite frankly has already far exceeded what could’ve been expected from him at this point in his career.

Nunn remains a dynamic playmaker and suitable partner in crime for Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo, while his synergy with fellow rookie Tyler Herro also remains encouraging.

Per Synergy Sports, Nunn is still held in high regard when it comes to pick-and-roll actions as well as transition offense with points per possession ratings of 0.918 and 1.14 respectively, so there’s no reason to back off of his overall potential moving forward.

Every rookie hits some kind of wall, but if he can get hot again from deep he’ll rise right back near the top of the ladder in time.