Five underrated rookies to keep an eye on during the second half of the NBA season

We know who the most talked about rookies are, but who are the under-the-radar guys you should be watching?

As the second half of the NBA season kicks into high gear, now is a good time to highlight some rookies who may not be getting as much recognition as some of their peers, but are still having a pretty solid year. These are guys that aren't putting up huge numbers on a nightly basis like LaMelo Ball, Tyrese Haliburton or Anthony Edwards, and are even deeper cuts than guys like Saddiq Bey, Jae'Sean Tate and Desmond Bane who have all been gaining attention. 

These five guys are some of the most underrated rookies of their class, and while they all still have quite a journey to go they could all become valuable role players in a couple of years. 

1. Tyrese Maxey, G, Philadelphia 76ers

Maxey burst onto the scene when the Sixers were down several key players early in the season due to COVID-19 protocols, and earned the first start of his career where he put up a whopping 39 points, seven rebounds, six assists and two steals. He then proceeded to average 11 points over the next five games -- all of which he started -- while dishing out three boards and assists apiece. 

Although his playing time has been reduced since then, he still averages 16 minutes a game this season and has given the Sixers some depth in the backcourt behind Seth Curry and Shake Milton. He excels in the pick-and-roll and is at his best when he's attacking the basket as he has a variety of crafty moves he can go to when finishing at the rim.

Like a little floater in the paint:

...or a baby hook after finally finding a route to the rim.

He's got good instincts for a rookie, knowing when its best to pull up for a runner or fight through contact for a layup at the rim, and his solid frame allows him to stay balanced after contact when finishing inside the paint. The area where he needs to improve the most, though, is his 3-point shooting. It was something Maxey struggled with at Kentucky as well, and its carried over into the NBA, where he's making just 27.3 percent of his 3-point attempts. Given the Sixers want to surround Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons with guys who can shoot, it would benefit Maxey greatly to work on his outside shot in order to see more consistent minutes the rest of this season and beyond.

2. Precious Achiuwa, F, Miami Heat

Achiuwa couldn't have landed in a better situation with two hard-nosed guys like Bam Adebayo and Jimmy Butler to mentor him in an organization that's praised for its work ethic and gritty mentality. It wasn't immediate for the Memphis product, but over the past few weeks, he's shown glimpses of what he can eventually become with the Heat. He's a bit undersized for his position, but he's shown great strength down in the paint defending, and his lankiness has been a plus on both sides of the ball.

He's by no means dazzling in any one area of his game, but he's got bits and pieces that if he continues to develop he can become a nice, well-rounded player. What's been most impressive is his variety of moves down in the post. He isn't given a ton of opportunity to create for himself when on the floor, but in dire situations, he has enough patience to not force something up just because he has the ball, which is common with young bigs.

Like this beautiful fallaway jumper he nails after beating his defender to his spot:

Or this move to get his defender to bite on a pump fake to get the easy finger roll:

Then there's always, of course, his emphatic dunking:

He's been compared to what Bam Adebayo was when he entered the league, and while those are lofty aspirations to reach, you can kind of see the blueprint in the creativity he plays with that would garner such a comparison. He's won't be dishing out five assists a game any time soon, but he's also not the prototypical big who can only play with their back to the basket. He's got some finesse for his size and position, but can also be a brute force when needed. 

Obviously, there is still visible improvement that he needs, such as his consistency with his jump shot, getting a little bit stronger to finish through all the contact he'll face in the post and just the general need for him to grow into his body still. But Miami should be happy with his progression thus far this season.

3. Saben Lee, G, Detroit Pistons

The Pistons have themselves a few impressive young guys on their roster this season, but Lee hasn't been getting nearly as much attention as he deserves. It's understandable though, considering up until about two weeks ago, he was buried at the end of Detroit's bench. But when it came time for Lee to step up, he certainly proved he's deserving of more playing time. At the start of the season, Lee was stuck behind Detroit's seventh overall pick, Killian Hayes, Derrick Rose and Delon Wright on the depth chart. 

But a season-long injury to Hayes, a trade that shipped out Rose to the Knicks and another injury to Wright put Lee in the position to see some regular minutes. In just his 10th game this season, he put up 21 points, four assists, three boards and two steals in 28 minutes to lead Detroit to a win, something that is few and far between for the Pistons this season. 

It's been a pretty small sample size to work with, given Lee has only played in 15 games this season, but what he's been able to show in that small amount of time shouldn't be minimized. Lee shows no fear attacking the rim, as evidenced from this almost insane dunk over Magic's Nikola Vucevic which would've certainly competed against Anthony Edwards' dunk earlier this season.

This was almost the dunk of the year by Saben Lee. Poor Vuch caught this in the “mid section” #MagicTogether pic.twitter.com/25yv6NnhyE

— chris timmerman (@ctimmerman35) February 22, 2021

There was no doubt in his mind that he was going to attempt that dunk. No last-second decision change to opt for a tough layup or settle for a foul call, no, just trying to go straight through Vucevic who is clearly far bigger than he is. While it didn't end in a viral video seen around the world in the way Edwards' did, it showed just a glimpse of the type of mentality Lee plays with. 

He's never going to shy away from contact at the rim, and if he can improve his finishing rate down there (55 percent), then it'll make him more valuable to Detroit. Right now, Lee has all the moves to get shots over and around defenders, but finishing them is what he needs to work on. 

Lee's already displayed his great court vision, capable of fitting a pass through the tiniest of windows to his teammates, like this wrap-around find under the basket:

...or this underhand scoop past three Raptors defenders for an easy bucket:

If he can get his efficiency up around the basket, and continue to take more 3s to spread the floor to open up even more lanes for him and teammates, he'll develop into a quality rotation piece for Detroit. 

4. Xavier Tillman, F, Memphis Grizzlies

Of course, there was going to be a Memphis Grizzlies player on this list, considering there hasn't been a team in the draft in the past couple of years that has evaluated talent better than Memphis. Last year, Brandon Clarke was the great find, this year the Grizzlies have several with Desmond Bane and Tillman. Bane's getting all the love this season, though, so Tillman has been more under-the-radar, mainly because as a big he doesn't do a ton of flashy things that warrant attention.

His favorite shot has been the floater, where he prefers to pull up from just outside the restricted area over bigger defenders, which makes sense given his smaller size. But his biggest impact by far has been on the defensive end of the floor for Memphis. While undersized, he's incredibly bulky, which allows him to throw his weight around in the paint.

Tillman also is an impressive defender out on the wing for a rookie big man. He doesn't have great lateral quickness, so faster guards who can change direction on a dime will beat him with relative ease, but look at how he managed to -- sort of -- stay in front of John Wall and force him into a fadeaway which missed:

When he's matched up against a bigger opponent, he also does a pretty decent job of recovering when they've got him beat:

Then there's the great job he did defending Pascal Siakam on both of these plays, not allowing him to get off an easy look on either possession:

Tillman's offensive game is still a work in progress, but his defensive presence is already lightyears ahead of where most rookie bigs typically are, proving that once again Memphis is excellent at drafting high value players.

5. Theo Maledon, G, Oklahoma City Thunder

At times Maledon looks like he could develop into a good fit alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in the backcourt, as he's able to play off the ball and knock down 3s at a high clip. He can also act as a secondary facilitator to SGA to take some of the offensive playmaking duties off of him. However, then there are the stretches of time where he looks like a 19-year-old rookie who still needs tons of improvement. That's just the price of playing young guys through their development. 

He's shown to be a good passer, which was his most talked-about quality before entering the draft. He's not as flashy a facilitator as SGA, but he has a great feel for just making the correct pass and finding guys at the right time to get a bucket. Like this pass that displayed patience in not trying to force something up just because the Thunder had a three-on-two fastbreak opportunity.

Or this no-look pass in transition in which he showed off his tremendous speed that completely caught the Hawks defense off guard:

He operates at a level above some other rookies, as his prior professional experience overseas factors in to his calm demeanor when he's on the floor. He still makes the typical rookie mistakes, but he doesn't get frazzled easily, is always scanning the floor in transition to make the right pass and most importantly, doesn't turn the ball over a ton.

For a second-round pick, Maledon has shown great promise through the first half of the season, and as the Thunder continue through this rebuilding year, the opportunity he's getting in the starting lineup will only help his development.