The All-Nobody Team: 5 NBA players making a name for themselves this season

Welcome to theScore's fifth annual All-Nobody Team, an exercise meant to identify and spotlight a handful of NBA players who have made a name for themselves after entering the season with relative anonymity.

We're looking for players whose NBA futures were uncertain before the 2024-25 campaign tipped off, but who have looked promising enough this year to convince me they can be NBA mainstays.

In prior years, this space spotlighted previous unknowns like Austin Reaves, Naz Reid, Max Strus, Gabe Vincent, Isaiah Joe, Nick Richards, Keon Ellis, and Vince Williams Jr., among others.

As a reminder, players drafted in 2024 and first-round picks from any year are ineligible, as are players who had already logged at least 1,000 career minutes coming into this season.

AJ Green, Bucks

Green's 959 career minutes entering the season came in just under our 1000-minute cut-off, making him the easiest choice for this year's All-Nobody Team.

The undrafted Northern Iowa product is the type of hired gun who can get his shot off and convert at a high rate despite everyone in the building knowing exactly what he wants to do. Perhaps Green's unorthodox mechanics, which see him bring the ball further back as he loads up, have something to do with it. Pacers All-Star Tyrese Haliburton told theScore earlier this season that Green's unique shot is one of the league's toughest to guard.

Green's 42% clip from deep ranks 11th among 169 qualified 3-point shooters, while his 3-point attempt rate of .858 (meaning 85.8% of his field-goal attempts come from long range) ranks second to 2024 All-Nobody selection Sam Merrill. It's no wonder why his minutes per game have more than doubled since last season (11.0 to 22.8).

Green caught the eye of Bucks head coach Doc Rivers long before the season tipped off, but even Rivers couldn't have predicted this level of success. "Watching him work this summer, he had the best summer (on our team), in terms of just his commitment to it," Rivers said. "I'm really proud of him and happy with how he's playing. His shooting is game-changing for us."

Scotty Pippen Jr., Grizzlies

Obviously, no one named after their Hall of Fame father can ever truly be a nobody. But staying true to our eligibility rules, Pippen qualifies after going undrafted out of Vanderbilt and logging just 559 minutes through his first two seasons.

It's not just his name that makes Pippen a standout on this list. While the other four selections are natural offensive players, the Grizzlies guard is a defensive stalwart who had to find his way on the offensive end.

"You see him being a point of attack defender every single night. We knew that was one of the great traits of his DNA," Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said. "But offensively, he's a guy who can really fit our pace of play. He's attacking, getting into the paint within three or four seconds, and improving as a playmaker. These were all things we were seeing in the summer during his Summer League prep, offseason workouts, and even in the preseason. He's still making defense his calling card, but offensively, we've seen a lot of progress in his playmaking ability, playing in open space situations, playing in pick-and-rolls. He's just steadily gotten better in our main actions over the course of the season."

Pippen ranks sixth in bench assists this season, owns a 2.4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio, has been the sixth-fastest player in the league, per NBA.com, and has shot 37.7% from deep on decent volume (2.8 3-point attempts per game) over the last two years. That level of offensive competence is more than enough to see him stick in the Association when coupled with his disruptive perimeter defense.

From an undersized long shot known simply as Scottie's son, to logging the fifth-most minutes on a second-place contender, Pippen has made his own way. "We've had to lean on him a lot, just with our injuries to start the year" said Jenkins. "He's played different roles – out of the rotation, being a third point guard, being a second point guard, playing 30 minutes a night." Safe to say Pippen has aced every test.

Jay Huff, Grizzlies

Every team wants a big man who can spread the floor on one end and protect the rim on the other. But not many teams, if any, envisioned Jay Huff would be one of the best examples of that two-way prowess.

Undrafted out of Virginia, Huff logged 5.3 minutes per game while suiting up in just 31 contests for three different teams over his first three seasons in the Association. Then the Grizzlies came calling, and the partnership has proved a match made in heaven.

The 7-foot-1 center has canned 41.5% of his 3.3 3-point attempts per game while contesting the third-most shots per minute on the defensive end among 337 players who have logged at least 500 minutes, per NBA.com. Huff's not the most mobile defender, but the former G League Defensive Player of the Year can at least use his size as the last line of defense. His defensive field-goal percentage of 57.8 isn't spectacular, but it's solid enough, ranking 24th out of 64 centers who have contested at least 100 shots, just behind Brook Lopez.

Huff's minutes have fallen off as the Grizzlies have gotten healthier over the last couple months, but I'd be willing to bet he has at least one big game in him during the stretch run or playoffs.

As for why the Grizzlies seem to always discover such diamonds in the rough, Huff says it's no coincidence. "It's a very simple system, especially now. Guys play to their strengths within that, but it's still structured in a way that works well for a wide variety of players. And then the way they use the G League - there's some real talent down there. There are guys that have been in the G League for years, that if given the right opportunity, are NBA players. I think (the Grizzlies) have a really good view of the G League. It's developmental, yes, but it's not a separate thing."

The fact Memphis has ranked in the top three in man games lost to injury two years in a row also helps lead to increased opportunities for players like Huff and Pippen. But injuries alone can't explain it. Jenkins' Grizzlies share the wealth, with only one player (Desmond Bane) averaging more than 30 minutes this season.

"There are teams that play a lot of players. I think that helps. That's not to say teams who don't play as many players are doing it wrong, but it is what it is, there's just more opportunity with some teams than others," Huff told theScore. "I think places like that are good places to be for myself, for Scotty, for guys coming up through the two-way (contract) route or through the G League. Memphis has always been a good place to be for guys like us."

Jamison Battle, Raptors

The only rookie on this year's list, Battle has been a quiet revelation in Toronto for those paying attention to the Eastern Conference tanker, er, rebuilder.

Undrafted after five collegiate seasons at Ohio State, Minnesota, and George Washington, Battle has logged plenty of G League time this year, but he's shown the makings of a long-term NBAer in his limited action for the big club.

First and foremost, Battle is an elite shooter who knows his role. He's shooting 41.6% from deep, with more than 75% of his shot attempts coming from long range. Among all rookies in the 3-point era (since 1979) who made at least 60 total 3-pointers, Battle's conversion rate ranks 15th, per Stathead. He's not just a shooter, though, occasionally flashing some inside-the-arc craft or putting on an off-ball clinic with his movement and cutting.

That combination of shooting, movement, and basketball IQ should see Battle competing for serious minutes as soon as next season, with head coach Darko Rajakovic raving about the rookie's growth behind the scenes. "He's very focused. He's very motivated. He's very coachable, and you can see a lot of development and progress with him already. He's improved his defense tremendously from the point where he was when he came to us," Rajakovic said. "He's just the ultimate team guy. Everyone likes him. He brings a lot of value."

As for next steps, Rajakovic said he sees the 6-foot-7, 220-pounder guarding guards and forwards, improving his defensive screen navigation, and rounding out his offensive repertoire. "More of his shots from the 3-point line have to come, not just necessarily from stationary positions, but on the move," Rajakovic said.

"Once teams are chasing him off the line and not allowing him to get those shots, what's next? Being able to get to the rim, using two dribbles to touch the paint is very important, and playmaking from there. Is it going to be a layup, or his nice little floater, or connecting with his teammates?"

Johnny Juzang, Jazz

Juzang logged 604 minutes across 38 games through his first two seasons in the Jazz organization. He's racked up 872 minutes over 48 appearances this year, with his combination of shooting and length (6-foot-5 with a 6-11 wingspan) exciting believers like head coach Will Hardy.

"He's taken a big step this year in his isolation defense, in terms of when to brace up and use his body. On the offensive side, he's continuing to learn how to squeeze off threes when he's a marked man," Hardy told the Score. "His reputation may not be where he wants it to be yet, but he definitely has more of a reputation now than he did six months ago. You see it when he checks in the game, you can hear the other team's coaches and players identify him as someone they don't want to give catch-and-shoots to, so he's figuring out solutions and ways to still find those shots."

Juzang's been afforded extra court time and room for error with the banged-up Jazz racing to the bottom of the standings, but the 23-year-old's commitment to two-way improvement and his understanding of how role players stick in the league has not gone unnoticed.

"I feel like my defense has really gotten better throughout the season. Scoring has come more natural my whole career and I improved my 3-ball last year, but if you can do those things and also be a strong defender, get steals, get deflections, that can make you really valuable," Juzang said. "During the summer and offseason, defense is really in my workouts. I'm working on my body, getting stronger, and working on lateral movement. I'm really guarding, playing one-on-one, and trying to put myself in positions where I can get steals and deflections, working on my anticipation. Getting defensive reps in the offseason is really important, and if you do that at game speed, you start to pick up on more stuff.

"Offensively, I've always had a quicker release, but taking the right shots is big, and also knowing where you're going to find your shots. I'm trying to space the floor the right way. Staying active and moving off the ball is a big thing coach talks to me about and works with me on, being super active off the ball, flying around, constantly spacing (the floor). You're not always going to have a lot of time on the ball, but being active off the ball helps you maximize your opportunity out there."

Honorable mentions: Neemias Queta (Celtics), Moussa Diabate (Hornets), Dru Smith (Heat)

Joseph Casciaro is theScore's lead Raptors and NBA reporter.