By james art It’s been just over a week since the start of the NBA season and the teams have only played a few games. However, we are already seeing some players from the 2024 NBA draft class getting minutes and making an impact on their respective teams.
Below, we look at four of the most impactful rookies so far this season.
The Wizards rookie is a 6-foot-5 guard who played one season in Pittsburgh before being selected with the 14th pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. In four games so far (with three starts), the 19-year-old rookie is averaging 10.5 points, 3.5 assists (17.8 percent assists), 3.5 rebounds, 0.8 steals (2.3 percent steals) and 1.8 turnovers per game (17.6 percent turnovers) . He also shot 44.4% from the field (27 attempts), 50% from three (12 attempts) and 92.3% from the free throw line (13 attempts). Carrington is averaging 26.3 minutes per game so far this season and doesn’t turn 20 until July 2025.
Best known for his defense, Dunn is a 6-foot-8, 215-pound wing who has played in all five games for the Suns this season – starting two of those five games and averaging 18.6 minutes per game. He posted 9.4 points, 0.6 assists, 2.2 rebounds, 0.8 steals (3-point percentage) and 0.2 turnovers per game. Dunn shot 51.4 percent from the field (35 attempts) and a remarkable 44 percent from three (25 attempts) — the latter area most considered a weakness that would limit his impact as a prospect. Finally, Dunn posted an impressive +22.4 net plus/minus per 100 possessions.
Knecht is a 6-foot-6 guard/wing who has played in all five games with the Lakers so far this season, averaging 16.6 minutes per game. He averaged 8.2 points, 1.2 assists and 1.2 rebounds while shooting 45.2% from the field (31 attempts) and 35% from three (20 attempts; 11.5 three-point attempts per 100 possessions) . Additionally, Knecht has posted a +11.9 net plus/minus per 100 possessions so far this season and has provided both floor space and offense off the bench.
The 6-foot-8, 205-pound wing has made an impact for the Grizzlies so far this season. Wells is a former Division II basketball player who made 42 percent of his 3-pointers at Washington State last season. He has appeared in all six of the Grizzlies’ games so far this season, recording one start and playing 23 minutes per game. Wells is averaging 9.5 points, 1.7 assists, 3.3 rebounds, 0.5 steals and one turnover per game while shooting 37 percent from three (27 attempts). While his efficiency inside the arc could improve (37% on both 3-pointers), Wells has been impressive as a distance shooter so far.
Read more: Interview with Jaylen Wells
Read more: Jaylen Wells scouting report
Honorable mentions
Alex Sarr (Wizards) and Yves Missy (Pelicans) have both been statistically impressive as big players so far this season, especially defensively. Sarr recorded 11.8 percent shares while Missi recorded 9.8 percent shares. On the other hand, Edey has been impressive offensively for the Grizzlies thus far, using both his screen setups and offensive rebounding (13.1 percent offensive rebounding) to make an impact.
With this season just getting started, this is an early look at which players have made an impact so far. We only have a small sample size of a few games, so it will be interesting to see how the impact of different rookies varies throughout the season.
Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to keep up with all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.