Best NBA Rookies so far: 4 surprisingly confident players

Best NBA Rookies so far: Tyrese Haliburton’s confidence

With 10 games under his belt, Tyrese Haliburton has only scored under double digits one time. Of rookies that have played at least five games and attempt more than a shot per game, he has the fourth-best field goal percentage at 54.1 percent and the best-best 3-point percentage of rookies attempting at least one three per game at 52.1 percent.

Beyond his scoring and shooting efficiency, he’s second in assists behind passing prodigy LaMelo Ball, and has a 4.38 assist/turnover ratio, much better than Ball’s still-good 2.96 so far. Arguably, Haliburton should not be on this list considering he’s up there with the Balls, Wisemans, and Edwards of his class, but nestled away in Sacramento, he’s not exactly getting the limelight they are thus far.

At times, Haliburton feels too confident, sometimes elevating before a logical opportunity seems to have presented itself, but he always seems to figure out a solution for the predicament that his undue confidence has gotten him into before he comes back down to the hardwood.

Haliburton has had to find his way on an intriguing Kings offense that features the likes of De’Aaron Fox, Harrison Barnes, and Marvin Bagley. At best, his confidence can be the piece that unlocks and bridges the gap from good to great for the Kings.

So far, so good. The Kings have the 12th-best offensive rating in the league at 111.5, up from 18th last year (109.5).

The Kings haven’t exactly optimized the young spark of other confident players in recent history, but let’s hope Haliburton can help them get over the hump of mediocrity they’ve been stuck in for some time.