3 of 6

Mike Stobe/Getty Images

Ben Simmons, Donovan Mitchell, Jayson Tatum and Kyle Kuzma, among others, garner more than their fair share of love and attention. This space isn't for them.

It isn't even for the OG Anunoby-, Bam Adebayo-, Jarrett Allen- and Jordan Bell-types. Liking them has been cool for too long. This one's for the slightly deeper cuts and bigger leaps. Top-10 picks from the 2017 draft are fair game, but they need to be rising out from the ash of rookie-year obscurity.

De'Aaron Fox, Sacramento Kings

De'Aaron Fox is technically too high-profile for this exercise. The Sacramento Kings selected him fifth overall in 2017. He's not sneaking up on anyone. Then again, he kind of, sort of, most definitely is.

More study and superlatives have been spent on fellow 2017 draftees Lonzo Ball, Markelle Fultz and Dennis Smith Jr. Maybe it's the team for which Fox plays. Perhaps he's not launching or hitting enough difficult, off-the-dribble jumpers. Whatever it is, the national oblivion ends now.

Fox is good. Like, really good. And he's getting better. He could feasibly end up being the best point guard from his draft class. Everyone else looms large here—including Frank Ntilikina—but it could happen.

Better efficiency off the bounce is on the horizon. He's shooting 55.6 percent between eight and 16 feet—second-best mark among anyone averaging more than 2.5 attempts from that range per game. Most of those looks have come on the move, in the form of pull-ups and floaters. His standstill shooting is a greater concern. He doesn't need to check that box at the moment. (He's shaking defenders and reaching the rim almost at will, by the way.)

Smith is the only other other point guard from the 2017 class who registers as the No. 1 option, but he's never show the same on-ball poise. Luka Doncic is also coming for his pecking-order position. Even with a few players around him on the come-up, Fox is the lifeline for a Kings offense that has climbed out of the doldrums. (Spacing is now a thing!) His importance to their progress is a feat by itself.

Josh Hart, Los Angeles Lakers

Every LeBron James-captained team needs someone like Josh Hart—that guy who can make plays without the ball on offense and whose defensive motor seldom stalls. For this iteration of the Lakers, though, Hart is something more than a necessity. He's indispensable.

He is the lone reliable plug-and-play option Los Angeles employs. Close to two-thirds of his shot attempts come without taking more than one dribble, and he's dropping in more than 44 percent of his catch-and-fire threebies. A devout commitment to running the floor ensures his offensive value will never waver within the Lakers' surplus of ball-dominant talent.

Hart stands out even more on the defensive side. His hustle offsets some of the Lakers' half-court cohesion. He leads them in deflections per game and is someone they can trust to hang tight on an island and clean up pick-and-roll coverage.

Jonathan Isaac, Orlando Magic

Jonathan Isaac's feel for the game is coming around.

Not much has changed for him on defense, because he never needed significant adjustments. He takes a ton of gambles and can get a little foul-happy—particularly for someone coached by Steve Clifford—but his activity is not without substance. He has improved his presence on the glass while spending more time at power forward; sends away shots around the basket without egregious block-seeking; and uses his wingspan to party-crash passing lanes and bust up entry and exit passes.

It will take more time before Isaac resembles anything close to a well-rounded offensive product. But he's getting there. He's moving well without the ball and sporadically experimenting with pull-up jumpers and drives.

Coaxing more from-scratch creation out of Issac is paramount if the Magic aren't going to deploy four- and five-out lineups without a headlining point guard. But this is his first full season. Orlando should revel in his gradual progress.

Maxi Kleber, Dallas Mavericks

Early-season absences from Harrison Barnes and Dirk Nowitzki opened the door for Maxi Kleber to remain a staple in the Mavericks rotation despite the arrival of DeAndre Jordan. Barnes' return has already knifed into some of his minutes, but Kleber is playing well enough to be a full-strength fixture.

It helps that, at 6'11", he doesn't need to play center. All of his minutes are thus far coming at the 4, according to Cleaning the Glass.

Power forwards are supposed to verge on glorified wings these days, but Kleber doesn't move like a stretch plodder. He's quick enough to dribble around defenders when they chase him off the three-point line, and he leverages his height to break up plays from behind on the defensive end.

Take this with a spaceship's worth of skepticism, but Kleber is on pace to join Brook Lopez and Karl-Anthony Towns as the first three players to ever average more than two blocks and two three-point makes per 36 minutes in the same season.

Frank Ntilikina, New York Knicks

Frank Ntilikina may never pass the cursory box-score test. Whatever. He's laying the groundwork for a promising career.

He continues to be an all-over-the-place defender. He never gives up on closeouts and has the length and speed to keep pace with some of the more cagey guards and wings. The Knicks have tried his hand against bigger covers (Khris Middleton, Taurean Prince, Jayson Tatum, etc.) without real success, but to even have the option of entertaining that switchability is an asset.

That Ntilikina is starting to blend his defensive energy with offensive nerve is huge. He's not drilling step-back jumpers after cooking fools off the dribble, but he's no longer unassertive. He has shown more poise attacking set defenses and is no stranger to flinging sharp passes on the move.

New York may not be sold on shimmying Ntilikina between guard spots, but he's growing as a table-setter. He's shooting better than 40 percent on a not-insignificant number of pull-up threes and hitting almost 67 percent of his shots around the rim. With more confidence in his handle, upping his volume and facilitating a larger offensive breakout doesn't seem out of the question.

Other player to watch: Monte Morris, Denver Nuggets