Three breakout contributors from the NBL's early rounds

With plenty of teams hit hard by injuries early in NBL23, these rising stars have stepped up and made an unexpected impact.

Credit: Dan Bennett Photography

Lachlan Dent, Illawarra Hawks

Lachlan Dent is far from a new face in the NBL. Now in his fourth season as a development player, the 22 year old is playing under his third different head coach, and he has been Illawarra for longer than star import Tyler Harvey. The difference is, where Harvey stepped in as the centerpiece of the Hawks, Dent has had to scrap and claw for every opportunity on the court.

Through his first three seasons combined, Dent played a total of 66 minutes and scored 22 points. He was scarcely used last season, tallying 12 minutes played, taking just five shots, and scoring zero points. While he earned a spot on the Hawks roster once again for NBL23, history suggested that expectations coming into the season should be low.

Illawarra Hawks Basketball @illawarrahawks

Two words, Lachlan Dent. That is all. Check out his best highlights from last Saturday's game against the Kings. #hawknation

Instead, Dent exploded in Illawarra’s season opener against Sydney, dropping 19 points on the defending champions to almost double his career tally in one night. That damage was done in just 15 minutes off the bench, and he didn’t miss a shot while knocking down five triples. “It felt like I was throwing it in the ocean for a second there,” Dent said in his first postgame press conference that night.

That performance was far from a flash in the pan, and Dent has continued to excel early in the season. Over the first three rounds he has averaged 11.4 points and 3 assists per game, ranking among the league’s leaders in three point makes (2.4 per game) and three point percentage (50%) and helping the Hawks to remain competitive. After battling to get on the court in his first three seasons, Dent is suddenly playing himself into the conversation as one of the league’s top young guards.