Kendrick Nunn: Undrafted To Rising Rookie Stud

By Jose Rohdin

If you haven’t been paying attention to the NBA so far this season, you most likely haven’t heard the name of Miami Heat guard, Kendrick Nunn. 

Nunn has been showing teams that they missed out. He has been an efficient shooter from three and has been able to get into the paint with ease. He has made a case for an early rookie of the year candidate. So far, in 7 games, he has averaged 30 minutes a game, putting up 18.3 points on .459 percent from the field.

Nunn caught the eye of his teammate, Jimmy Butler, who said that Nunn reminds him of himself.

“Look at him. He’s got so much of me in him that it’s scary because his confidence continues to grow. The same thing with our rook Tyler Herro and [second-year player] Duncan,” Butler said in an interview with Yahoo Sports. “Come on, man. Just because you don’t know these guys like that, don’t make the mistake of looking past them. They’re going to make sure you do know them pretty, pretty soon.”

Nunn declared for the 2018 draft but went undrafted. He was then picked up by the Golden State Warriors and was placed on the practice squad at the start of last season. At the end of last season, Nunn signed a contract with the Miami Heat. He immediately made an impact this season, scoring 112 points in his first five games. This is the most points scored by an undrafted rookie ever, and the first rookie to score over 100 points since Kevin Durant in the 2007-2008 season. 

Nunn attended Simeon High School in Chicago, which is one of the most elite basketball high schools in the country. They have produced players such as Derrick Rose, Nick Anderson, and Ben Wilson, who was a basketball prodigy that was killed in Chicago. 

Another name is Jabari Parker, who played with Nunn all four years of high school. The duo managed to win four straight state championships and had their jersey numbers retired. Parker was rated in the top three high school prospects in 2013. He eventually went on to Duke University and was the second overall pick in the NBA Draft in 2014. Nunn’s path to the NBA was very different from his high school friend.

Nunn was a four-star recruit out of high school and chose to play in his home state of Illinois in the BIG10 conference. He had a slow Freshman year, and only logged 19.5 minutes per game, supplying 6.2 points. He quickly gained a much heavier workload in the next two years, logging 30.2 minutes with 11.1 points and 35.1 minutes with 15.5 points. He was showing promise as a scorer. 

However, Nunn plead guilty to a domestic violence charge brought up against him, and was charged with domestic assault and battery in March 2016. Illinois dismissed him from the school shortly after. He avoided a conviction on his record by completing community service and a partner abuse prevention program.

After Nunn completed all his court-mandated actions, he was given a second chance at Oakland University. Nunn sat out the 2016-2017 season because he was a transfer and under court supervision. In the 2017-2018 season, he was able to play the entire season. He was on the court 37.9 minutes, dropping 25.9 points a game, making 777 threes for the season. He would be second in average points per game in the entire NCAA Division I league, behind current Atlanta Hawk, Trae Young. On top of that, he would lead the country in threes for the entirety of the season. 

He declared for the draft in 2018, but went undrafted. NBA scouts recognized he was a good player and desired to be in the NBA, though his history of domestic assault and battery charges scared away teams. Nunn was seen as a player with limited upside or potential. Nonetheless, Nunn was drafted by Miami Heat and has played well in the early stages of the 2019-2020 season. Time will tell if his play will result in a Rookie Of The Year honor.