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NBA Rookie Ladder 2023 – Episodio 1

There is always a mixture of disenchantment and charm in the approach to the NBA rookie season. We get to know them in their adaptation path to the league, we look for confirmations and surprises from more or less noble names.

Back – by popular demand of the writer – and we hope also of the readers – a monthly column to light a beacon on the Draft 2022 class, which has already given several interesting ideas. We will take stock around the middle of each month, until the end of the regular season, letting ourselves be carried away by the enthusiasm and the unpredictable component that is part of the game.

* The statistics cited, unless otherwise specified, are updated to the break for the midterm elections between 7-8 November.

1. Paolo Banchero

Paolo Banchero is, so far, the best rookie of the regular season. Did we expect it? Maybe yes. Did we expect him to break the NBA? Maybe not. Let’s try to put the ideas in order:

  • Averages of 23.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game in 11 games;
  • Third absolute first choice in history to start the season with at least four performances in a row of at least 20 points;
  • Fifth teenager to make two performances by at least 30 points in a row, after LeBron James (2003), Devin Booker (2016), Luka Doncic (2019), Zion Williamson (2020);
  • 9 games out of 11 played where he scored at least 20 points, second only to Kevin Durant.

All-Star potential numbers. Of course, the Orlando Magic do not have great ambitions for this season, but precisely the absence of competition is giving Banchero a way to take all the spotlight of the league. The only sore skill remains the three-point shot (25.6% achievement), but on the other hand it was a limit that we had taken into account in the Draft.

The regular season is still long, but at this rate it could seriously win the Rookie of the Year award.

2. Bennedict Mathurin

We do not want to face a comparison between the two here. What is certain is that Bennedict Mathurin, chosen on the sixth call overall, is convincing a lot of staff and fans of the Pacers. Because he is not only already a solid player of rotation (he always started off the bench but plays an average of 28 minutes per night), capable of teaming up with Tyrese Haliburton, but he is also a thoroughbred scorer, scoring 30 against Denver in the last game played.

20.4 points on average with 46% from the field and an excellent 43.7% from behind the three-point arc, he proved to have an excellent offensive arsenal, capable of penetrating into the area and finishing on the iron as if to rely on a solid jumper from medium and long distance. Perhaps something more was expected in the assist item (2.2 on average), he still has to manage the balls better in the attacking half (2.5 turnovers per evening, 3.8 only in the last four games played). Despite this, he seems to be the only one able to worry Banchero for the Rookie of the Year award.

3. Jaden Ivey

The first of the others. Even if the Detroit freshman is not at all disfiguring, the level demonstrated by the first two is difficult to maintain.

Dwane Casey puts so much trust in him, so much so that he has always made him start in the starting quintet: he plays a lot and Detroit focuses a lot on his development. Ivey is paying off this trust with excellent numbers for a player in the first 10 games in the NBA. Debut from 19 points with an excellent 53.3% from the field, he continued his streak in double figures for seven consecutive games.

Handyman guard, in addition to scoring (15.4 on average) is quite present in rebound (5.4 per evening). Even for Ivey the only sore point is the three-point shot: in this first month of the NBA he shot with about 32%, the result of 1.5 shots made out of 4.5 attempts per game. More is expected of a guard, but in Detroit they may have found a great prospect for the future.

4. Keegan Murray

Not bad Keegan Murray: Do you want after Marvin Bagley III’s failed experiment, the Kings have found the right rookie to bet on?

He started the season with five straight games in double figures, scoring 22 against Miami on October 29. He is also present in defense, with almost a block and an average steal per evening. He also proves to be a reliable scorer from behind the arc (nearly 38% achievement). All characteristics that convinced coach Brown to field him in the starting five starting from the third game of the regular season, a position that he has never given up since.

Should he continue like this, no one will take away from him a place on the All-Rookie Team.

5. Jabari Smith Jr.

Jabari Smith Jr. has landed on a team that does not aim to win immediately, and the number 5 choice of last Draft is being given a lot of room to grow and gain experience. He started all the games played directly from the starting five, playing almost 30 minutes per night on average.

He had started the season very well, with five games in double figures and the first fan of his career only in the fourth game, then he lost a bit with a series of subdued performances (1/10 from the field and only 2 points against the Clippers , despite almost 27 minutes on the parquet). Shooting is an aspect that needs to improve a lot: he has an average of 10.5 points, but he shoots with 30.8% from the field. However, he compensates with the rebound presence and for this he earned the fifth position of our Rookie Ladder.

6. Shaedon Sharpe

It doesn’t take a lot of memory effort to remember how Shaedon Sharpe’s name was whispered almost half-mouthed by insiders in the months leading up to the NBA Draft. No collegiate presence with Kentucky, and a Summer League that never really went live due to injury, left legitimate doubts abouthype which had accompanied his entry into the league. In less than a month, thanks to the sprint start of the Trail Blazers, Sharpe has clearly imposed himself in the panorama of the 2022 rookie class.

In the first 10 games of his NBA career Sharpe has gone into double figures on six occasions. To underline the convincing debut in the starting lineup against the Rockets, which amazed him anche Damian Lillard: 14 points with 7-12 in 29 ‘. The subsequent debut on national TV against the Grizzlies was less brilliant. A consideration that in any case does not worry Chauncey Billups. The coach knows he has a diamond in the rough and has already bothered for him comparisons important with profiles of the caliber of Brandon Roy and Vince Carter. Oh, by the way, the enthusiasm with which Vincredible articulates its name is worth a thousand words.

It is difficult to say to what extent the ‘mystery player’ label may have influenced, possibly, positive judgments. However, the writer believes that the surprise effect will soon vanish, leaving the field to speak. For the moment, on trust, he earns a position with respect to the placement in the draft board last June.

7. Jeremy Sochan

San Antonio has returned to choose in the top 10 25 years after the 1997 Draft, that of Tim Duncan to be clear. After the Caribbean, no silver-black rookie had started the season with the prospect of starting five and it is at least curious that fate has smiled in this sense to Sochan, reserve in college in the rotation of the Baylor Bears.

Absent in the Summer League because he was positive in the Covid routine tests, Sochan has never left his place in the starting five Spurs since the preseason game on 9 October against New Orleans. In the shadow of the Alamo they already love his attitude, which he himself he defined from ‘free spirit’, accompanied by a hair with iridescent colors of Rodmanian inspiration. From The Worm he seems to have also taken the approach defense-first.

Look at Draymond Green, in which he sees himself for grit and ‘annoying’ approach (annoying, from English) in the best sense of the term. They will be on the field in a few hours, who knows if he will receive some sort of blessing.

8. Jalen Duren

Jalen Duren, the youngest in the Draft 2022 class, certainly had no qualms about exposing his strengths. In double doubles already on his NBA debut against the Orlando Magic (14 points and 10 rebounds), he came close to giving an encore at Madison Square Garden vs Knicks. He travels over three offensive rebounds on average in 21 ‘of use per evening, (as of 11 November, 16th in the league and 3rd overall among the players with minutes of less than 25 ‘). Accompanied by his arms in the locker room against the Warriors he missed the next three games before returning to the disposal of coach Dwane Casey.

9. Tari Eason

Following another player who, even with limited minutes, is collecting excellent numbers, confirming a trend highlighted in the preseason. When he is on the parquet he has already tasted challenging couplings, albeit for brief moments. A few names? Paul George, Anthony Edwards. Incidentally, against Minnesota 17 points and six rebounds and a remarkable vision of the game.

10. Jalen Williams

After an excellent preseason spiced up with four consecutive double-digit games, he may not have experienced the NBA debut he dreamed of – orbital fracture following the involuntary elbow of Jaden McDaniels. However, the OKC rookie quickly made up for it with interest. Since the trip to Dallas he has worn the usual face protection of undeniable charm.

Every other mask, beyond metaphor, has been thrown away. He filled his personal scoreboard with 13 points, three rebounds, as many assists and four blocks and in the next game, against Orlando, coach Daigneault threw him into the starting scrum. To be followed with interest in the Thunder construction site.

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