Omer Yurtseven Cracks Rookie Top 10

Miami Heat center Omer Yurtseven is now finding himself lumped in with the league's top rookies.

He recently made an appearance on the NBA.com "Rookie Ladder." Yurtseven checked in at No. 10 this week.

He is the only undrafted player on the list.

"The biggest thing I would say I've learned about myself is the ability to adapt and resilience," Yurtseven said. "I just had to adapt to different coverages ... pick it up on the run on the fly and adapt."

After going undrafted out of Georgetown in 2020, he is now lumped with the likes of Cade Cunningham of the Detroit Pistons, Scottie Barnes (Toronto Raptors, Evan Mobley (Cleveland Cavaliers and Franz Wagner (Orlando Magic).

Highlights of the only player in team history to grab 12+ rebounds in 10 straight games. #YURTSZN #HEATCulture pic.twitter.com/lR8dUNZ2I9
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) January 6, 2022

Since becoming a rotation player 10 games ago, Yurtseven has averaged 10,4 points and 14 rebounds. His rise from project to impact player is similar to Hassan Whiteside, who went from the G League to one of the NBA's top big men at one point.

“He’s just scratching the surface,” Heat forward P.J. Tucker said. “He hasn’t even really played good yet. I’m not going to lie: I’m on Omer a lot because I think he can be really good. He’s just so nice. He doesn’t have a mean bone in his body.”

The Heat return to action Saturday against the Phoenix Suns. They completed the road trip versus the Atlanta Hawks.

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