2025 NBA Rookies Who Already Look Like Draft Steals

It takes years to establish who should have gone where in a particular NBA draft, but we can still highlight players who've outperformed their billing to this point.

Maybe these early indications will hold, and we'll remember the 2025 draft as the one that produced as much talent outside the lottery as in. Three of the last four players to win MVP were taken outside the top 10 in their class.

We'll dip into the 20s and beyond to single out rookies who've shown more than their draft slots suggested was possible. We're going to avoid choosing steals based on hot shooting alone. That invites too many small-sample anomalies. Instead, we'll focus on actual skills these players have showcased, especially if they seem to fit well into their respective teams' plans.

Keep an eye on these first-year players. They're off to intriguing starts that could turn into expectation-defying careers.

Clifford is already 23 and enters his rookie season with a full five years of college experience, so it's not exactly a shock that he's looked more poised and prepared than most of his classmates. For a Sacramento Kings team that has next to nothing in the "conventional two-way wing" department, the ready-to-roll Clifford could be a godsend. The thumb injury that'll sideline Keegan Murray for several weeks ups Clifford's importance.

His 18.5 points and 5.0 assists in Vegas weren't out of step with expectations given his experience, and his 9-of-17 effort from deep supported the leap he took from long range in his final two years at Colorado State.

The No. 24 pick didn't quite carry that through to his early preseason games, but a 7-of-7 clip from the foul line against Toronto and Portland adds further validity to his improved three-point stroke.

Clifford should get every chance at a real rotation role with the Kings and might already rate as one of their most balanced players. That's not necessarily the expectation with a No. 24 pick. Though his age limits his long-term upside, the immediate help Clifford could provide only adds to his value.

Fellow Charlotte Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel is getting most of the press for playing exactly like a top-five pick should, but it's Liam McNeeley, selected 25 spots later, who could represent the best first-year value on the roster.

A former five-star high school recruit, McNeeley never quite found his stroke at UConn. Mechanics like his shouldn't have produced a 31.7 percent conversion rate from deep, and early flashes as a pro suggest better efficiency is ahead. The 6'7" forward debuted with a 22-point, 12-rebound, six-assist effort in Summer League play. While the rest of his exhibition and preseason work hasn't produced numbers quite like those, McNeeley continues to pass the eye test with flying colors.

Skill-wise, McNeeley appears to be a lottery pick—one whose court sense, passing acumen and shot-making prowess could lead to big things. If given a rotation role, he might approach his collegiate numbers—14.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game—with even more efficiency than he showed as a freshman.

Jase Richardson slid to No. 25 in the draft partly because it was difficult for most teams to justify a first-round pick on a 6'1" player who wasn't a point guard. He certainly wouldn't have been a steal for squads that viewed him through that lens, but the Orlando Magic are a little different.

They don't need Richardson to make decisions with the ball because they have a pair of star forwards in Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner who'll handle most of the playmaking. What those two (and the Magic, collectively) need is someone who'll fire away with abandon when on the receiving end of those setups.

Richardson has no issue with that job and has drained multiple threes in each of his first three preseason appearances, going 7-of-10 overall.

A willing shooter who understands the assignment, Richardson is in a great spot to showcase what he does well—defend with tenacity and score off the catch—while rarely being asked to assume duties outside his skill set.

Orlando added Desmond Bane and his career 41.0 percent hit rate from deep over the summer, but he can't play all 48 minutes or space an entire offense by himself. Richardson might wind up seeing major action in relief of or alongside Bane, and the payoff could be a Magic attack that ranks above the league average for the first time since 2012.

Yang Hansen seems to have made the unlikeliest of transitions—going from a player many regarded as a draft-night reach to a potential steal. All without playing any actual NBA games.

The shift may have started at Summer League, where the 7'1" center's highly advanced passing shone immediately. The No. 16 pick has three unteachable qualities—great hands, feet and feel—that separate him from most players at his position. He'll face some challenges athletically; Hansen isn't going to cram down lobs from above the square, and opponents will test him in space on defense. But he has something close to a superpower in his vision and facility with the ball. 

Hansen doesn't see the pass and then make the right read, which is all most bigs are ever asked to do. Instead, he anticipates what the right read is going to be before the process plays out. Early indications are that he can be the kind of offense-transforming passer whose creativity and willingness to move the ball actually inspires teammates to cut when they'd otherwise stand still.

Added bonus: He's shown some preseason scoring chops and uses his size well on D, as evidenced by the 16 points and three blocks he hung on the Kings on Oct. 10.

No, we will not invoke a certain Denver Nuggets center for purposes of comparison. That'd be unfair. Let's just say that Hansen at least has a chance to mimic some aspects of that unnamed player's impact on the Portland Trail Blazers' attack.

Signed to a two-way deal and buried beneath tons of talent on a defending-champion roster, Oklahoma City Thunder wing Brooks Barnhizer won't get many chances to show what he can do in games that actually count. So far, though, he's used every lower-stakes opportunity to prove he should have come off the board well before No. 44.

Barnhizer's high basketball IQ pairs well with relentless defensive intensity, as evidenced by his pair of six-steal efforts over the summer. He swiped four more in his preseason debut against the Hornets on Oct. 5.

Far from a Grade-A athlete, the 6'6" Northwestern product compensates with cleverness and body positioning. He knows how to move his feet and shift his hips while navigating screens, and he has a knack for appearing in the right place at the right time.

It's possible he'll be physically overwhelmed if he sees real minutes against regular-season NBA competition. But he's never going to lose the effort battle, and high processing speed means he won't be out of his depth schematically.

Boiled down, Barnhizer has his flaws, but he looks like a player who can contribute to a winning operation on both ends. That's a shocking result for someone picked halfway through the second round.

Stats courtesy of NBA.com, Basketball Reference and Cleaning the Glass. Salary info via Spotrac.

Grant Hughes covers the NBA for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Bluesky and subscribe to the Hardwood Knocks podcast, where he appears with Bleacher Report's Dan Favale.