With the NBA regular season just one week away, NBA preseason continues to churn along, with several rookies continuing to make impacts to their new squads.
Tari Eason, the 17th overall selection in the 2022 NBA Draft, continues to play well above his age for the Houston Rockets.
Through three games, Eason is averaging 20.7 points per game while shooting 64 percent from the field and 44 percent from three.
Eason, quite frankly, has looked unstoppable. He’s also bringing down 10 rebounds and nabbing 1.7 steals per contest.
In his lone season with LSU, Eason amassed a solid reputation as a multi-tooled, do-it-all forward. But near draft time, there were questions about his intangibles, leading to a small slide out of the NBA Lottery.
Now with the Rockets, he’s clearly not at a physical disadvantage in the NBA.
Scroll to Continue
Eason is older than a majority of the players selected around him, but at just 21-years-old, there’s still plenty of time to improve upon an already vastly improving game.
Miami’s Nikola Jovic, the 27th player taken in the 2022 Draft, has also continued to make an impact in the wing role.
While he’s not filling the stat sheet similarly to Eason, the 19-year-old has continued to show his versatility night in and night out.
In his latest contest, Jovic finished with 15 points on 4-for-12 shooting, tacking on 12 rebounds, four assists and two steals in the process. Overall, he’s averaging 10.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.3 steals and 0.8 blocks per game.
Jovic’s numbers aren’t electrifying, but they’re solid for a player who wasn’t thought to be impactful for at least a season or two.
His ability to extend beyond the arc will be a much-needed skill for Miami, who will again look to run the Eastern Conference gauntlet this season.
Want to join the discussion? Like Draft Digest on Facebook and Follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest NBA Draft news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.
.