Kendrick Nunn
The most surprising name on this list of breakout candidates belongs to Kendrick Nunn. Entering his age-24 season, Nunn has yet to set foot on an NBA court for live action, but he just had the Summer League of a lifetime the past few weeks in Las Vegas and Sacramento for the Miami Heat.
He was named First Team All-Summer League on the strength of averages of 21 points, 6.3 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game while shooting 55 percent from the floor. While Summer League success is far from indicative of future NBA success, what we saw from him in Las Vegas was nothing shy of all his team and coaches could have hoped for.
It’s not yet a sure thing that he’ll even make the Miami Heat roster next season, as his next contract guarantee date is August 1st (followed by opening day for his next guarantee date and January 10th, 2021 for his final date of the season), but there is an exciting element of mystery surrounding just what Nunn can do.
If he’s able to make the team, there are avenues for him to crack the rotation and surprise some people next season.