The 5 NBA players who took the biggest 2025 playoff leap, ranked

The NBA playoffs are where basketball legacies are forged. It’s all well and good if a player can be effective during the regular season, but if they become unplayable when the playoffs roll around (Josh Giddey last year, for example), their standing around the league can quickly plummet regardless of their regular season accomplishments.

Conversely, some players can change their public perception by rising to the occasion and playing their best basketball when it matters most, often leading to a more lucrative contract in the future.

Below are the five players who have raised their stock the most during this year’s NBA playoffs so far, but before I begin, I’d be remiss not to acknowledge some other players who have drastically raised their stock this postseason. Luke Kornet is a legitimate NBA center (Celtics fans already knew this), Christian Braun became a reasonable KCP replacement, Jonathan Kuminga reminded people that Steve Kerr is insane and should’ve found a way for him to be playing all along, Ivica Zubac has arguably entered into the “most important Clipper” conversation, and the Thompson twins have proven that they’re two of the best young defenders in the league. Props to all of these guys for making themselves some money in the future.

Now, on to this year’s biggest stock risers.

5. Mitchell Robinson

Robinson hasn’t increased his points per game from the regular season to the playoffs, but he has clearly elevated himself to a new tier; he went from an injury-prone role player (on a good day) to a meaningful sixth man on a title contender. He’s averaging a ridiculous 10 offensive rebounds per 100 possessions — significantly better than any other player in the playoffs who has played in at least three games, according to NBA.com — and he’s also holding players to 51.6% shooting from less than six feet.

Sure, Robinson’s only playing 18.5 minutes per game, but it’s not because he isn’t in shape or mobile enough. In fact, he has actually excelled as a perimeter defender, sliding his feet and using his length to his advantage on switches and pick and roll coverage. Robinson has proven to be a legitimate NBA center (as evidenced by the Celtics hacking him in order to get him off the floor), something borderline unimaginable midway through the regular season.

4. Alex Caruso

Caruso wasn’t chopped liver before these playoffs, obviously. He’d already carved out a legitimate reputation as one of the league’s best perimeter defenders and a winning player during his time with the Bulls, and before that, as a contributor to the Lakers’ 2020 NBA championship.

However, during the regular season, his role was up in the air. He played 19.8 minutes per game and was often the Thunder player that teams ignored on the offensive end – he shot 35.5% from three on 3.1 attempts per game. During this postseason, though, Caruso has proven to be invaluable to OKC; not only has his three-point shooting become more consistent (41.7% on 4.4 attempts per game), but he’s somehow leveled up his defense. On a team of defensive savants, Caruso stands above the rest. He has a 33.3% steal percentage (meaning he accounts for nearly one-third of the Thunder’s steals while he’s on the floor) and was ridiculously impressive as a primary defender against Nikola Jokic in Game 7. Caruso has firmly solidified himself as one of the elite NBA role players, even though his playoff role was unclear before the postseason started.

3. Aaron Gordon

Gordon has always been an important piece for the Nuggets, but his late-game heroics this postseason really put his importance in the limelight. He has improved his three-point shooting to the point where he can no longer be ignored, and he has become more aggressive offensively, going from 14.7 ppg in the regular season to 16.2 in the postseason.

Defensively, his versatility allows the Nuggets to hide Jokic on perimeter non-shooters and have someone else to fight on the boards; offensively, Gordon has mastered the art of playing with Jokic — arguably the most important characteristic in a Nuggets player — through his understanding of cutting and off-ball movement. If there was a class taught on how to effectively raise your level through symbiosis with the best player in the world, Gordon would teach it.

2. Andrew Nembhard

Truthfully, there might not be a player on the Pacers whose stock HASN’T risen during these playoffs – virtually every guy on their team has raised their level on both ends. But Nembhard’s ascension seems the most legit. He went from 10 ppg in the regular season to 14.6 ppg this postseason, and he has all of a sudden become a knock-down three-point shooter. He shot 29.1% on 2.7 attempts per game during 65 games this season but then 50% on 4.4 attempts this postseason.

This isn’t just a matter of a role player hitting open shots, either, because his attempts aren’t easy; he’s making tons of off-the-dribble threes and turning into a real offensive creator for Indiana. Furthermore, he’s the Pacers’ best point-of-attack defender and is essentially unscreenable – he slides his feet wonderfully and has super active hands. Nembhard has become a premier NBA playoff performer; it might’ve seemed like a fluke last year, but it’s happening again as we speak. It’s real now.

1. Julius Randle

It seemed impossible for Randle to escape his negative playoff perception from before his Wolves arrival. He averaged less than 20 ppg in both of his previous postseasons with the Knicks (20-21 and 22-23), and on really poor efficiency (29.8% and 37.4% respectively).

This postseason, though, he’s averaging 23.9 ppg — up from 18.7 ppg during the regular season — on 50.9% shooting from the field, while turning the ball over less and having more assists than he did in either of his previous two playoff runs — and most importantly, helping lead the Wolves to (at least) the conference finals.

He’s a lot more calm with the ball in his hands, and he’s finally making shots that he normally hits during the regular season – he seems to have settled in mentally. The regular season numbers guy who crumbled during playoff time has flipped his reputation on its head and become a lethal playoff performer. If he can keep it up, it’ll be one of the more significant playoff stock-rising scenarios of recent NBA memory.

This post was originally published on this site