Five under-the-radar NBA rookies to watch after All-Star break, including Ayo Dosunmu and Jonathan Kuminga

Keep an eye on these five rookies for the remainder of the season

As we pass the time between the All-Star Game and when NBA action starts up again Thursday, now is a good time to take stock of the rookie class and examine some guys who you should pay attention to for the remainder of the season. This won't be a list highlighting potential Rookie of the Year candidates like Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes or Cade Cunningham, but rather looking at some impactful rookies who are flying under the radar and could have big finishes to the season. 

Some of these players have stepped up for their respective teams as injuries have created more opportunity, while others benefited from the trade deadline opening up more minutes for them for the rest of the season. Whatever the reason, all five of these guys should be on your radar when the All-Star break ends.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, Dosunmu has turned out to be the steal of the draft, and if we were redoing the 2021 NBA Draft there's no doubt in my mind that he would be taken in the first round instead of falling in Chicago's lap at the 38th pick. Dosunmu's been asked to do quite a lot for the Bulls since both Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso went down with injuries that have sidelined them for significant time, and his promotion to the starting lineup has been seamless in Chicago. 

Over 18 straight starts dating back to mid-January, Dosunmu is averaging 11.8 points, 6.8 assists, 4.2 rebounds, 1.3 steals and is shooting 52.8 percent from the field and 39.7 percent from long range. He's exemplified the "starring in your role" term for the Bulls, as he knows to feed his All-Star teammates in DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine, while also choosing his spots wisely when he's looking to score. 

A perfect example of that came in an early February game against the Indiana Pacers. LaVine was sidelined, putting Chicago even more in a hole to start out. While DeRozan and big man Nikola Vucevic stepped up to each hang 30-plus points in the win, it was Dosunmu's passing and clutch basket at the end of the game that put the Bulls over the top. The rookie finished that night with a 15-point, 14-rebound double-double, with the exclamation mark being this dunk in crunch time to put the game out of reach:

It takes a lot of guts for this rookie to take the last shot with DeRozan -- who has been a clutch-time master this season -- out on the floor with him. But it's indicative of how much confidence Dosunmu has, as well as the amount of trust head coach Billy Donovan has in his rookie. That trust exists for good reason, because in Ball's absence Dosunmu has done a tremendous job facilitating the ball and making smart passes to set his teammates up for good looks. Although Dosunmu doesn't have the same court vision to the level of Ball, the rookie is always scanning the floor to make the right play.

And despite the fact that Dosunmu's traditional numbers don't stand out as particularly remarkable when you stack them up against fellow rookies in his class, he's incredibly efficient when he is looking to get his own bucket. The former Illinois product has a 59.6 effective field goal percentage, which ranks in the 96th percentile in the entire league amongst guards. His 40 percent clip from 3-point territory ranks in the 81st percentile, and his 53 percent from mid-range has him ranked fourth in the league among combo guards. His usage percentage is incredibly low (13.9 percent), so those stats are somewhat skewed, but it tells you that when the Bulls do need him to get a basket he can do so efficiently. 

Once Ball and Caruso come back into the fold for the Bulls, Dosunmu will be moved back to the bench, but his impressive run in the starting lineup will make Chicago's second unit even stronger.  

Kuminga's development as a rookie has followed more of a traditional path this season. He started out getting spotty minutes in the rotation, but has now graduated to getting consistent playing time off the bench, in large part due to injuries with Draymond Green sidelined and key players like Andre Iguodala missing time. But Kuminga has earned those minutes, and while you can tell on some possessions that he's still learning Golden State's various schemes on both ends of the floor, he's made legitimate progress over the course of the season. 

Kuminga's athleticism is what stands out the most at first watch, but this is more than just your springy forward whose only catching lobs and doing little else. What's really bubbling to the top as head coach Steve Kerr continues to place trust in him with each game is his ability to create offense.

While some of it is as a beneficiary of Golden State's offense, Kuminga can take a defender on his own, and because of the perfect balance that he possesses of brute athleticism and finesse, he can get to the rim and past bigger defenders, like this take on Nuggets' big man DeMarcus Cousins:

Even without the ball in his hands he's so smart in attacking angles and knowing when to cut to the basket:

Then there's the little things Kuminga is doing on both ends of the floor that are positively impacting the game. His pin-down screens to get Klay Thompson open have been huge for the sharpshooter, and he fits right in with the Warriors switch-heavy defense that he's earned his spot as a reliable rotation player. 

Similar to Dosumu, Kuminga was thrown into the unique situation of playing on a team that is a championship contender. Oftentimes that means there's little room for rookies to get playing time. However, Kuminga's progress has been ahead of schedule and he's proving to be a crucial role player for the Warriors.

Duarte may not be considered "under-the-radar," given the fact that he ranks sixth among rookies in points per game this season. However, watching Duarte for the remainder of the season will be interesting after the Pacers made several trade deadline deals that sent out the likes of Domantas Sabonis and Caris LeVert in an effort to retool around some of the younger players on the team, Duarte being one of them.  By doing so, the Pacers officially pivoted to a different path, one that will see Duarte, Tyrese Haliburton (who Indiana got back in the Sabonis trade) and Myles Turner (when he returns), as the new core of the team.

Duarte entered the All-Star break having missed Indiana's last two games after injuring his toe in the first four minutes of the Pacers game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He's considered day-to-day and the break may be enough time for him to rest up and return to Indiana's starting lineup, a place where he'll see a lot more opportunity as a scorer than ever before. 

We've already seen flashes of Duarte's scoring and playmaking ability this season, but his place on the totem pole was low before the Pacers decided to reshuffle the deck with their trade deadline deals. Now, we'll get to see Duarte show off those skills even more. Despite being in his first season, Duarte already feels like the type of player that could be plugged into any system because of his ability to generate offense with or without the ball in his hands. He's one of the best 3-point shooters in his rookie class, making him a dangerous option as a spot-up shooter when Haliburton is running the offense like this:

He can also get his shot off the dribble, whether that's a step-back 3-pointer:

...a mid-range jumper:

...or attacking the rim.

When you watch Duarte play he always seems collected and never rushed by the defense. The 24-year-old operates like a guy four or five years into his career, and now that he'll have even more of a green light to score, we're bound to see some big numbers from him over the remainder of the season.

Here's an eye-opening stat to illustrate just how important Jones has been to the Pelicans this season: his 12.1 efficiency differential ranks in the 96th percentile in the league among other forwards. The Pelicans score eight points more when he's on the floor compared to when he sits, and they allow 4.1 fewer points on defense when the the rookie is on the court as well. Jones is another second-round pick that has surpassed expectations, and his play has been key in New Orleans' recent climb up the standings. Jones' offensive game is still a work in progress, but he's shown flashes of being a positive 3-point shooter and knows when to cut to the basket.

But Jones' upside is on the defensive side of the ball, and he's been incredibly impressive on a nightly basis guarding the opposing team's best perimeter player. Just look at how well he stays glued to Jimmy Butler, resulting in a shot clock violation for the Heat:

On this next play Jones does a great job seamlessly switching onto Butler, and though he was called for a (questionable) foul, he stood his ground and denied Butler an easy basket at the rim:

Jones' 46.8 defended field goal percentage ranks 10th amongst rookies, and his 662 defended field goals this season ranks fourth-best in his class. He anchors New Orleans' defense on the perimeter, and it shows when he goes to the bench and the Pelicans start to crumble a bit without him on the floor. With New Orleans acquiring CJ McCollum at the trade deadline, a deal that signaled this team wanted to compete for a play-in spot this season, Jones' defense will be even more crucial in this team's journey in getting there. 

If you think Jones' defense has been stellar, then you'll be amazed at how impressive Mitchell has been this season. He ranks first among rookies in defended field goal percentage (41.9 percent), and 11th in the entire league. But prior to the All-Star break, Mitchell was taking strides in his offensive game, and his coaches and teammates began to take notice of that. Mo Harkless said Mitchell's "confidence level is growing day by day," and interim Kings coach Alvin Gentry noted that he comes in to the gym early before practice to work on his shooting, he stays late after practice and he'll come back at night, too. 

It's definitely started to show, as Mitchell had a five-game stretch recently where he averaged 19.4 points, and shot an impressive 39 percent from deep on over seven attempts per game. Mitchell's consistency was an issue at the start of the season, but his recent play signaled that he was rounding into form. That surge in offense also coincided with six games where Mitchell started for the injured De'Aaron Fox, and he certainly stepped up to the opportunity.

Mitchell may get an even bigger role after the Kings traded away Haliburton to get Sabonis and Justin Holiday from the Pacers. In the three games since that trade, Holiday got the start over Mitchell, but the rookie put up 18 points and 13 points in two of the contests, carrying over that production from the starting lineup to the second unit. 

It'll be interesting to see what Gentry's rotations look like for the rest of the season, because Holiday gives Sacramento size in the backcourt next to Fox, and he's a more consistent shooter. But Mitchell has shown recently that he has upside as a starter, despite being undersized at 6-foot-2. Mitchell's defense is also crucial for the Kings, as Sacramento allows 6.5 fewer points when he's on the floor, which ranks in the 91st percentile in the league among guards. If Sacramento wants to chase a play-in spot, Mitchell being in the starting lineup may need to happen. His defense has become a necessity, and the ninth overall pick is starting to show that he can be helpful on offense as well.