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NBA: 5 young players who have surprised everyone this season

By Dan Bennett

Scottie Barnes #4 of the Toronto Raptors looks on in a break run play against the Indiana Pacers (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images)
Scottie Barnes #4 of the Toronto Raptors looks on in a break run play against the Indiana Pacers (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images) /
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Cole Anthony #50 of the Orlando Magic handles the ball against the New York Knicks (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images) /

5 young NBA players that have surprised everyone this year: Cole Anthony

Despite being ranked as one of the top high school prospects in his draft class, an underwhelming year at the University of North Carolina saw Cole Anthony fall to 15th in last year’s NBA Draft.

But based on the point guard’s performances so far this season, it looks as though the Orlando Magic got extremely lucky.

Anthony struggled with injury and inefficiency in his rookie year, but appears to have put that behind him this season. He is averaging 19.3 points per game while shooting 44 percent from the field and 39.1 percent from three.

He has made an incredible amount of progress in a short period of time. Anthony’s jump shot let him down last season, but this season, it has been his strongest asset, especially when it comes to shooting off the dribble. According to NBA.com, he is shooting 46.5 percent on pull-up shots this season, and 42.1 percent on pull-up threes.

His shooting percentages probably aren’t sustainable given the higher number of difficult shots he is taking, but Anthony’s shot creation and scoring abilities have him earmarked as a potential future star if he can sustain this level of performance over a longer period of time.

If he continues to improve at a rapid rate as he has done since the start of last season, Anthony could well establish himself as the main focus of the Magic’s rebuild.