Professional slap in the face! The Lakers have two of the top five players who have performed far better than expected this season, and Kiddy is on par with Jordan.

Before the start of each season, the media and fans are keen to predict various performances in the new season, among which player performance and data are one of the most hotly discussed topics.

Before the start of this season, many players were not favored by everyone at all. But now that nearly 20 games have been played in the new season, these players have performed professional slaps in the face and proved that they are definitely not weak persimmons with their performance beyond expectations.

Kon Knipel

Team: Hornets

Average data: 17.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 2.7 assists

It is never easy for a white forward to make his way in the NBA. So when the Hornets used the No. 4 pick in the first round to select Knipel in this year's draft, everyone was very surprised.

In various predictions, he is only around the 10th pick in the first round. Therefore, before his career even started, he was already facing overwhelming doubts.

When the new season started, the media were all reporting on the No. 1 pick and VJ who went berserk when he came up. In the corner where no one cares, Knipel began to prove himself with practical actions.

His maturity and sophistication on the field surprised everyone. In the past 8 games, he averaged 21.6 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, shooting 48%, 39%, and 93% from the field.

Famous mouthpiece Simmons bluntly said in his blog: I love Kniper so much now. He is more like a 27-year-old veteran on the court. He's always in the right spot.

Reeves

Team: Lakers

Average data: 28.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, 8.2 assists

Being able to become the team's main force from an undrafted pick, and also receive a big contract, Reeves' career has been successful enough. But unfortunately, he is in a team with a long history and huge traffic like the Lakers, so when talking about Lakers players, everyone will use a magnifying glass to look for problems.

So Reeves' previous unstable performance still made many people not optimistic about him. After the start of the new season, he proved with practical actions that he is absolutely worthy of being the third leader of the Lakers.

At the beginning of the season, he ushered in a big explosion on the offensive end. In the absence of both James and Doncic, he led the team to score 51 and 41 points in back-to-back games, helping the Lakers win consecutive games.

Reeves is naturally responsible for the Lakers' ability to achieve such a record without Lao Zhan. His points and assists per game currently rank among the top ten in the league.

Porter Jr.

Team: Nets

Average data: 24.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists

In the past few years, the Nuggets have used Porter as their core for training. It's a pity that he has never been able to perform well, and coupled with constant injuries, the Nuggets eventually traded him to the Nets this summer.

Porter, who thought he would be hit, would find it difficult to get ahead in the chaotic Nets. As a result, after the start of the season, he fully demonstrated his offensive talents. He has already delivered 30+ statistics in 4 games this season.

Ayton

Team: Lakers

Average statistics: 16.2 points, 8.4 rebounds, 0.9 blocks

After the Suns failed to compete for the championship, Ayton seemed to have his heart broken. He became an interior mysophobia patient. As a center, he always wanted to float around and shoot from the outside.

So even if he was signed at a super low price, there are still many doubts and confusions about the approach of the Lakers management.

After the season started, everyone finally discovered that Ayton had undergone a big change. He no longer refuses confrontation, and his accurate mid-range shot returns again. Coupled with the support of Doncic and Reeves, as well as the consistent encouragement from the coach, Ayton has successfully completed his evolution.

Kiddy

Team played for: Bulls

Average statistics: 21.8 points, 10.4 rebounds, 9.4 assists

The positional conflict with Alexander, coupled with the negative public opinion from off-court gossip, finally made the Thunder choose to send him to the Bulls.

I thought Kiddy would sink into this, but this season he has proven with practical actions that he is definitely the league's top defender.

So far this season, his rebounds and assists are among the top ten in the league. More importantly, he set two Bulls franchise records.

First of all, he has scored 200+100+100 in the first 11 games, becoming the fastest player in the history of the Bulls to achieve this achievement. His triple-doubles also rank second in the league behind Jokic.

The second thing is that in the game against the Jazz, Kiddy got a triple-double, becoming the third Bulls player to have triple-doubles in double figures after Jordan and Pippen.