Miami Heat: Here’s something about Kendrick Nunn that I bet you didn’t know

The Miami Heat have a very good habit of being able to find players that weren’t on anybody else’s radar. They’ve done it again with rookie guard, Kendrick Nunn.

The Miami Heat are known around NBA and sports circles for many things. Some of those things include being a buttoned-up organization, being able to get players in the best shape of their lives while also requiring that players maintain it, and for having as much stability amongst the organization as any team in the NBA. Something else that they are known for is being able to find gems.

In the real world, gems are expensive rocks found via mining, but most have to be polished before they shine as much as the world will see them shine upon obtaining their final form. In the same light and in the sports world, finding a gem refers to the instance where a player is discovered or given an opportunity that others didn’t know about, didn’t see enough in, or didn’t think enough of to give them an opportunity. Kendrick Nunn of the Miami Heat qualifies here.

While there are a ton of things that you may know about one of the newest members of the Miami Heat by now, he hasn’t always been a well-known commodity. By now you probably know that he is a rookie out of Oakland University in Michigan. You probably know that he transferred to Oakland University after playing for several years at Illinois.

You may also know that he was a highschool teammate of the former top high school recruit in the country in Jabari Parker. You may also know that he and Parker won several highschool state titles during that period, that eventually saw the famed Simeon High School(yea, the one of Benji Wilson and Derrick Rose) retire both of their numbers. Here’s something, however, that I bet you didn’t know.

I bet you didn’t know that the Miami Heat aren’t the first NBA team to see something in the young dynamo from Chicago. After going undrafted out of Oakland in the 2018 NBA draft, Nunn was signed by the Golden State Warriors.

After being guaranteed a small amount of salary, an invitation to their training camp, and a roster spot on their Summer League roster that year, he went on to be waived by the team. After being waived by the big club, he went on to join their NBA G-League affiliate in the Santa Cruz Warriors.

Across 49 games played for the Santa Cruz team, Nunn averaged 19.3 points, 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.4 steals, 0.3 blocks across 29 minutes per game. These figures came in spite of the fact that he only started in one of those 49 games.

That is one of my favorite facts about Nunn. The Golden State Warriors, a team that is currently gasping for air and grasping for anything close to a semblance of a win these days, had this guy on their roster and let him go. Guess they couldn’t get everything right, huh?

Nowadays, Nunn is a viable and active member of our Miami Heat roster. He is averaging 22.4 points, 2.4 rebounds, and 2.6 assists across 31.6 minutes played per game as a starter, while also being atop the shortlist of current rookie of the year candidates.

We are just glad that our front office saw enough in the guard to get him a deal and permanently in the building. We have been overjoyed and impressed by his showings thus far, and we can’t wait to see what he does with the rest of his season.