NBA: 10 Players That Exceeded Expectations In 2015-16

Zach LaVine, Minnesota Timberwolves

Stats: 13.9 points, 34% 3PT

Zach LaVine may be most known for what he’s done in back-to-back years during the NBA’s Slam Dunk Contest, but what he’s been doing on the court, in games that actually matter, shouldn’t be overlooked.

LaVine, since the NBA All-Star break, is averaging 18 points on 50 percent shooting from the field and 46 percent from three-point range. To put that in perspective, he’s essentially averaging the same numbers as Andrew Wiggins.

That’s pretty amazing, considering that we didn’t even know if LaVine was good enough to make it in the league just a year ago. It’s a 15 game sample, but what LaVine has been able to do in the second half of the season has to be encouraging for the Timberwolves. A young trio of Karl-Anthony Towns, Wiggins and LaVine is not bad. Not at all.

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