Who will be stepping into the limelight this NBA season?

When a new wave of players becomes NBA relevant, it usually happens over time, never all at once. It’s a gradual increase in relevance, sometimes under the radar, because it’s guys who reach their potential in small markets and losing situations. When a lottery pick hits early and fast, like Paolo Banchero, we know about it in real-time because our expectations are being met in their expected timeline. But it’s harder to remember precisely when guys like Alex Caruso, Maxi Kleber, Jerami Grant, and Tobias Harris started to click.

If you’ve been paying attention, and I mean really paying attention — like watching six to seven NBA games a night — you’ve begun to notice a few guys making their presence known around the league. And yes, most of them play on bad teams. And a few play on bad teams that are off to a hot start. Or they’re on good teams that have started off poorly. Either way, situational circumstances have led to a breakout beginning. Let’s chart which players should become household names before the season’s end and what their improved standing means for their team’s chances moving forward.

For the rebuild the Portland Trailblazers pursued this summer around Damian Lillard to work, Simons needed to reach his full potential. Last season, the Blazers missed the playoffs for the first time in nine years. With C.J. McCollum gone to New Orleans, Simons is averaging 36.7 mpg and a career-high 22.4 ppg. Since Lilliard went down, Simons has had to carry an even heavier load, which has impacted some of his efficiency, like his 36.6 percent three-point shooting (through 11 games), down from 40.5 percent last season.

Simons has improved at the rim with better spacing and a tighter handle this season. He’s notched increases across the board in rim frequency (21 percent) and rim accuracy (60 percent), with 20 percent of his shots coming four feet from the basket while hitting 60 percent of them. This increased efficiency on drives will allow for more space for Lillard when he returns. Simons might lack elite athleticism, but if he can continue his increased efficiency, he can add a new dynamic to the Blazers’ offense, especially in his pairing with Lillard.

The jokes around Markkanen have been long-running. Since his days with the Chicago Bulls and short stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, he has been roasted for being one of the tall, European players doing horrible Dirk Nowitzki impersonations. He’s mostly been a bust, thanks to porous defense and a lackadaisical attitude as a teammate. Many felt his career was on a lifeline when he was thrown in as an ancillary piece in the Donovan Mitchell trade.

But nobody saw this resurgence coming. The Utah Jazz were supposed to be tanking, but thanks to the emerging leadership and career turnaround of Markkanen, they are one of the hottest teams in the league. The slender Finnish forward has averaged a commanding 21.9 ppg and 8.8 rpg on 52 percent field-goal shooting, a dramatic uptick in production from a mediocre career. This includes his current PER of 22.54, which leads the Jazz. Markkanen has been leading the attack for the Jazz night after night, proving Utah might have a core sooner than predicted.

The perception of European big men as soft has preceded their reputation since Toni Kukoč entered the league in the 90s. Wagner is a good example of how a new generation of players shatters that notion. In his rookie season, the gritty German forward averaged 15.2 ppg and brought a level of toughness the perennially loser Orlando Magic have long needed. He was also a legitimate candidate for Rookie of the Year last season, earning All-Rookie First-Team honors.

He’s currently averaging 18.1 points and 4.5 assists (up from 2.9 a year ago) while giving the Magic an offensive rating of 112.7 points per 100 possessions when he’s on the court. In addition, this season, he’s becoming the Magic’s lead facilitator, showing another dimension to his game. After Orlando took Paolo Banchero first in this year’s draft, they solidified a dynamic pairing between him and Wagner, who have already shown a tremendous two-man game in a small sample size.

The talented Turkish big man should have been part of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s young core. Şengün was initially selected by the Thunder with the 16th pick in the 2021 NBA Draft, but was traded to Houston for a pair of future first-round picks. Those picks were later used in a trade with the New York Knicks for a 2022 pick that turned into Ousmane Dieng, a long-term project player. Şengün would have been the perfect big off the bench behind Chet Holmgren in OKC. The Thunder have accumulated one of the nicest young cores in the league, but lack power up front. So now Şengün holds down the middle for the Rockets, with an expanded role after Christian Wood was traded to the Dallas Mavericks.

He’s a bruiser in the paint, upping his averages to 17.1 ppg and 9.9 rpg this season. He’s also shooting close to 60 percent from the field, a staggering number. To make it worse for Thunder fans, he’s only scratching the surface of his talent. In a game last month against the Clippers, he dropped 26 and 13 on 8-for-13 shooting, showing off the full package of his scoring ability. Once he can solidify his range from three, he could be one of the best bigs in the NBA.

The ceiling of this current Atlanta Hawks core has always been dependent on Hunter reaching his full potential as an elite three and D wing. Unfortunately, injuries and logjams in the frontcourt have hampered him from reaching it. The Hawks felt confident in their investment this summer by offering him a four-year, $95 million contract extension.

So far, it’s come to fruition, as Hunter is averaging a career-high 12.4 shots per game while shooting a career-best 42 percent from the perimeter. He’s close to meeting his career high of 15 ppg, while also averaging 4 rebounds and 1.2 assists across just under 30 minutes per game. With the Hawks adding Dejounte Murray this offseason, Hunter has slid into a more complimentary role, allowing him to focus more on defense, notching the second-highest defensive rating of his career at 115.4. Watch out if Hunter can continue to contain the opposing team’s best player while continuing his hot start from three.

Of all the players on this list, Huerter’s inclusion had the least anticipation before the season started. “White Mamba,” as his fans know him, played a supplemental role with the Atlanta Hawks for the last four years off the bench and as a starter. Huerter has been the model of consistency during this stretch, averaging around 12 ppg while being a threat from the perimeter, shooting 38 percent from three.

Since joining the Sacramento Kings in a preseason trade, Huerter increased crucial stats across the board as a starter. His stat line this season holds career-highs of 16.9 ppg, 50 percent from the field, and 51 percent from three. What’s so impressive is casual onlookers might equate this efficiency boost to more touches, but Huerter is averaging almost the same number of shot attempts this season (around 11 per game) as he did in Atlanta over the last three seasons (around 10 per game). But digging into the advanced metrics tells an even better story. This season, Huerter’s true shooting percentage has shot up to .68 percent, while he’s flexed his facilitation abilities on a 7.8 TOV percent and a career-high PER of 16.5.