Second-year All-Stars aren’t as seldom as they once were, especially with how fast young players have hit the ground running in the NBA.
The 2025 class saw numerous players put together stellar debut seasons, and it’s a good bet that the class could hold a number of players that can push for All-Star bids in just their second season.
Excluding Cooper Flagg — who’s likely already on the precipice of the star-tier — here are three players who could soon find themselves in stardom:
Kon Knueppel, Hornets
Outside of Flagg, Kon Knueppel is likely the easiest pick here. He was neck and neck with Flagg for the Rookie of the Year Award last season, putting together 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game while shattering rookie shooting records.
The improved version of Knueppel is a scary prospect, given he’s already 1-for-1 on leading the entire league in 3-pointers made.
Even more, the Hornets will need someone to step up, given LaMelo Ball is off to more Western Conference pastures.
Dylan Harper, Spurs
It’s no guarantee that Dylan Harper will even start for the San Antonio Spurs, who are chock full of talent, including fellow guards in Stephon Castle and De’Aaron Fox. Still, his performances in the Western Conference Finals and NBA Finals were massively noteworthy.
Harper was among the more poised rookies ever seen in the postseason, tacking on additional top performances to go along with his season averages of 11.8 points, 3.9 assists and 3.4 rebounds per game.
It’s more a question of when Harper will become a star, opposed to if. Thought Harper may not get his way as early as this season.
Egor Demin, Nets
Likely the most ambitious of our three picks, second-year Nets’ guard Egor Demin could be primed for a breakout season, or a disappointing second campaign in Brooklyn.
Drafted at No. 8 overall last year, Demin was thought of to be a project pick, but was already further along in a few areas than previously thought coming into his rookie season. Namely, he was an elite shooter, where that was once a question mark.
Now, Demin’s summer campaign’s, which included looking like one of the best players at Las Vegas Summer League, has Nets fans ready for a leap. There’s a chance Demin will be a more complete player, and if so, he could handle plenty of the Nets’ responsibilities without much star-power currently rostered.
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