From Being Undrafted to NBA ROTY Finalist: The Remarkable Tale of Miami Heat’s Kendrick Nunn

The story of Kendrick Nunn is quite refreshing for the modern NBA. Especially this season. The 2019 Draft Class was known to be very top-heavy, with two franchise-altering picks available. However, the rest of the draft had solid players with potential. While people expected R.J. Barrett or a late-surging Coby White to challenge Zion Williamson and Ja Morant for the Rookie of the Year, an unlikely contender emerged.

Kendrick Nunn went undrafted in the 2018 draft and played for the Santa Cruz Warriors in the G-League. He was picked up by the Miami Heat for the season and dropped 40 points in a pre-season game to spell his intentions. He would have a hot start to life in the NBA, averaging over 22 points in his first week as a pro. Nunn has since gone on to break records for undrafted players like having most points in five games with 112. Along with that, the 112 point number made him the highest-scoring rookie since Kevin Durant in a five-game span.

Nunn’s contributions to the Heat have been recognized in the form of a nomination for Rookie of the Year. He is alongside Ja Morant and Zion Williamson for the award.

Kendrick Nunn and his chances of winning

Sadly, Nunn won’t be beating out Morant and Williamson. Both men have starring roles on their teams in the harder Western Conference. Nunn is a piece of a very deep and solid Miami roster. He is playing with another standout rookie in Tyler Herro. Nunn’s success was facilitated by the strength of talent around him.

Ja Morant led a Grizzlies team predicted to win under 30 games to a playoff berth while Zion Williamson had an explosive few games in the NBA to single-handedly will the Pelicans into the playoff race. Nunn’s contributions are important to the Heat’s success, but his individual play hasn’t contributed to the team being good in the same way Ja Morant or Zion Williamson had.

However, Zion and Ja did go number one and two last year. They are exactly the franchise-altering superstars they were expected to be. Nunn may be unheralded, but he broke out after going undrafted in 2018. It is a testament to his hard work. While he won’t win the overall trophy, with Morant reportedly the favorite for it, he has shown that being undrafted could just be a minor setback in an NBA career.

Source: NBA.com