NBA Stock Watch: The Unexpected Stars Shattering Expectations This Season

Every NBA season brings its share of surprises, but have you ever wondered who’s quietly hustling behind the scenes to rewrite their narratives before the calendar flips too far? We’ve hit that curious sweet spot where “but” creeps into casual NBA talk — as in, “I know it’s early, but…” And guess what? It’s enough time to spotlight the players who aren’t just warming up—they’re actually leveling up. With every team hitting double-digit games, we sift through the noise using DRIP, our cutting-edge performance model that cuts past the flashy streaks to reveal real, tangible growth. Forget the rookies—who come with their own wild swings—and check out the non-rookies who didn’t just show improvement; they announced it. From De’Andre Hunter’s overlooked evolution amidst shooting hiccups to Ajay Mitchell’s sophomore surge for the Thunder, this isn’t just a stock watch—it’s a glimpse into NBA players staking their claim with undeniable progress. Ready to dive into the freshest narratives reshaping this season? LEARN MORE .

Every year, we see a few NBA players put the league on notice to start a season. Here are the players who have already shown improvement this year.

We have reached the part of the NBA season where we can start using the word “but.”

As in, “I know it’s still early, BUT …”

Although there are some things we can learn very early in the season, it can be hard to sort out tangible improvement from noise over the first few weeks.

Little by little, the sample sizes are growing.

Every NBA team has now played at least 10 games. While any grand declarations taken from 10 games are ill-advised, it’s enough of a sample to start to pay attention to the players who have taken a big leap forward.

We can try to separate tangible improvements from early randomness by using DRIP, our all-in-one player performance model. DRIP won’t overreact to hot shooting stretches, but will only significantly alter projections based on real impact on the floor.

By looking at DELTA, which measures how much a player’s DRIP has changed since the start of the season, we can find the players who have improved their stock the most based on our model.

Rookies tend to fluctuate the most since DRIP has the least information on them as players entering the season, so we’ve removed them and are focusing on some of the other players who have looked better than expected.

NBA’s Most Improved Players So Far

De’Andre Hunter, Cleveland Cavaliers

Hunter is the perfect example of a player whose improvement might be overlooked because of a shooting slump.

His shooting percentage has cratered, but it’s entirely due to shooting 29.0% on 3-point attempts compared to 40.5% last year. His 2-point percentage has actually improved this year.

There is no reason to think Hunter won’t find his shooting touch again. He’s only 28, shot a combined 39.6% on 5.7 3-point attempts per game the last two seasons and is shooting just fine everywhere else (his free throw percentage is 85.7%).

If the shooting ticks up, everything else has been impressive from Hunter. The Cavaliers bet that he’d improve once he moved past his nagging injuries (including a recurring knee injury that forced him to miss time early last season). That bet is paying off in a big way.

Hunter shouldered part of the void left by Darius Garland’s absence early in the year. He’s shown the best playmaking of his career, averaging a career-best 2.9 assists so far. It helps that his handle looks better than ever.

Don’t believe me? Just ask Josh Giddey.

It’ll be interesting to see how Hunter adjusts to the ball being in his hands less with the reintegration of Garland. He had his worst game of the season in the first game they played together (eight points, 2-of-9 shooting) but bounced back with 23 points in their second game as a duo.

Obviously, the 3-point shot returning to last year’s form will be crucial, but there’s still room for Hunter as a connector, cutter and tertiary creator.

Jaylon Tyson is one of the most improved players this season, as well, per DRIP’s projections and Sam Merrill continues to be one of the deadliest shooters in the league. If this trio keeps it up, the Cavs will be deeper and more flexible than they’ve ever been with their current core.

Ajay Mitchell, Oklahoma City Thunder

The Thunder have done it again.

Sam Presti moved up to grab Mitchell with the 38th pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, and he showed flashes in a small role as a rookie. He’s shown much more than that in his sophomore season.

Mitchell is averaging 17.2 points so far, which ranks third on the team. The Thunder needed role players to shoulder a heavier scoring load with Jalen Williams missing the beginning of the season – and Mitchell has delivered.

The shooting has always been the appeal for Mitchell, as he’s demonstrated in flashes the versatility of shooting quickly and accurately both off the dribble and off the pass. But it’s his driving to the rim that has really been surprising this year.

DRIP still projects Mitchell as a below-average offensive player, mostly because of the small sample of his production (48 total games). If he continues to prove his scoring chops and solid playmaking are for real, his offensive DRIP (O-DRIP) will keep ticking up in the coming months.

Notably, Mitchell ranks in the top 100 in the league in defensive DRIP (D-DRIP) and is eighth on the team. Eighth, mind you, because the Thunder have accumulated arguably the most defensive talent on one team ever.

It’s not really that much of an exaggeration. The 2024-25 Thunder posted the third-best D-DRIP we’ve recorded since the 1986-87 season. Mitchell would be second in D-DRIP on the Washington Wizards.

Mitchell doesn’t have to be the primary stopper or anything close to it for the Thunder. But he needs to be solid to earn Mark Daigneault’s trust in big moments. He’s shown that he can be that player early in the season, with solid activity and awareness complementing his 6-foot-5 frame. And he’s added defensive playmaking, ranking 12th in the league in steals per game for a team that thrives off turnovers.

The Thunder didn’t have a lot of needs last year, but it did feel like they could use another creator who had enough shooting, IQ and defensive prowess to help the team continue to lean into its identity. Mitchell has shown he can be that player early in the season.

Keyonte George, Utah Jazz

George isn’t as high in DELTA, ranking 13th among non-rookies. But DRIP and the eye test both confirm that he’s improved in a way that has been crucial for the structure of the Jazz.

The Jazz didn’t have enough playmaking on the roster last year, and then traded away Collin Sexton. Most of the swings the Jazz have taken with their draft picks have been on prospects who were secondary or tertiary creators at best.

Walter Clayton has looked like a solid passer in his minutes off the bench, but the Jazz basically rely on Isaiah Collier and George to create for their teammates. And Collier missed the start of the season with a hamstring injury and has only played three games.

It was basically down to George to run an offense with a lot of inexperienced players (and, fortunately, an All-Star playing the best basketball of his career in Lauri Markkanen), and he’s acquitted himself quite well.

He’s still not a high-efficiency scorer, but he’s up to 21.5 points per game and can score in a variety of ways inside the arc. He’s struggled to hit 3s so far in his career, but he still takes a lot of them without hesitation and has a good-looking shot.

The scoring is nice, but without further improvement as a playmaker, George wouldn’t be nearly as appealing. The line between combo guard and an undersized 2 is a fine one, but George is decidedly on the positive side of that now, capable of playing both on and off the ball.

He’s also starting to develop a nice two-man game with Collier in the 44 minutes they’ve played together. The overall play of the team has been bad in that limited time, but they’ve both shown a willingness to cut off the ball and find each other.

The Jazz still need more playmaking and talent in general, but without George, they might not have a functioning offense at all.

His steady improvement as a lead ball handler is one of the most important stories of the year for the rebuilding team.

For more coverage, follow along on social media on Instagram, Bluesky, Facebook and X.

The post NBA Stock Watch: The Players Who Have Improved the Most to Start the Season appeared first on Opta Analyst.

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