NBA Draft: LaMelo Ball goes first in 2020 NBA Redraft

As a general rule, rookies get playing time for one of two reasons. The first is if they are top-10 picks on bad teams; the other if they earn a spot in the rotation on a stronger team. Cole Anthony took the less-traveled third path, where every other guard on the Orlando Magic went down with injuries and he got the run of the place.

Despite being injured at times himself, Anthony appeared in 47 games, starting 34 of them, and averaged 27.1 minutes per game. His usage rate was a whopping 24.3 percent, a crippling number when you factor in a 49.6 percent true-shooting percentage and 14.8 percent turnover rate.

Anthony was not prepared for the situation he was thrust into, running the offense for an NBA team early in his rookie season after a lackluster and injury-filled freshman year at North Carolina. He played hard, and deserves credit for that, but he did not play very well.

Anthony was a little older than most of his classmates, already 21, but that still leaves plenty of time for development. He was an elite prospect coming out of high school, and was expected to be a top-5 pick before his poor freshman year. The Denver Nuggets can bet on his upside while at the very worst getting a point guard who can play a handful of minutes down the road.