With the majority of attention focused on the first-ever in-season tournament’s knockout round, this was an unusual week for the NBA. As a result, many teams took a few days off in between games, and some groups only participated in two games this past week. However, despite the league’s shortened week, there is still a ton of noteworthy activity involving the best rookies to discuss and write about.
Prior to that, though, the NBA presented awards earlier this week, with Jaime Jaquez Jr. and Chet Holmgren taking home the Rookie of the Month titles in their respective conferences. The fact that Holmgren prevailed in the West over Victor Wembanyama, the first overall pick, kind of provides us with a baseline for how the league judges the Rookie of the Year competition. Neither selection is particularly surprising. Holmgren has so far been the best in his class, as I have stated numerous times, but there is still plenty of time for that to change.
Let’s now discuss the rookies that impressed me the most this week. Remember that these rankings will only take into account a rookie’s performance from week to week and not their entire season. These aren’t Rookie of the Year rankings; rather, they are an analysis of the player’s performance in the previous week. Now that we have that straight, let’s take a look at the top five players from the NBA’s rookie class:
On the Heat, Jaquez is the only rookie-team combination that fits like a glove. He has been everything Miami could have asked for, and nobody could have predicted that he would have such a profound effect on a team coming off a defeat in the NBA Finals. Miami appears to be in the habit of selecting a player later in the lottery or first round, when other teams have evidently passed on them for various reasons. only for that player to take off nearly right away while being raised in the much-discussed “HEAT culture.” Tyler Herro demonstrated this, and Jaquez, who has scored in double figures in 13 of his previous 14 games, is demonstrating it as well.
It’s not just the scoring that makes Jaquez an obvious win for the Heat. He does so many of the little things that add to the value. Like knowing how to move without the ball into space to set himself up for an open jumper:
Or anticipating a few steps ahead and making the deft pass that results in a simple dunk:
Jaquez’s incredible bounce and athleticism also contribute to his exciting plays. He is a crucial member of the Heat because of his scoring, playmaking, and rebounding, and he will only get better as the season goes on.
With a 15-game losing streak under their belt and one game away from setting a franchise record, the Spurs are in complete collapse. But that shouldn’t take away from the fact that Wemby continues to go out on the town every night. There are signs of him becoming an All-Star in the future, even in games where he has “off” nights. Even though he only scored 12 points on 4-of-13 shooting against Minnesota, he is still accomplishing feats that very few players in the league are able to accomplish.
Wembanyama is demonstrating a rare skill by successfully making a hook shot under the basket against three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert.
However, it has become abundantly clear that the Spurs require a talent infusion to surround Wemby, as there are a number of possessions in every game where his teammates fail to read him in the post for easy two points. Wembanyama is virtually unguardable when he’s in the dunker spot, so hopefully that will change over time.
George is already projecting himself as Utah’s point guard of the future thanks to his deft handling, three-point shooting ability, and, of course, his status as the top facilitator in his rookie class. As the only player in his class to record multiple games with 11 assists—something he has already done three times—he leads all rookies in assists per game. He sets the perfect example for his teammates by dribbling his way past defenders and then lobs the ball up to a big man in the paint or out to a shooter on the perimeter.
George’s court vision is only enhanced by having players like John Collins and Lauri Markkanen to feed him the ball, and those are the only plays where he is truly receiving an assist credit. With 9.1 assists per game, George leads the league in potential assists and should be averaging much more than 5.2 this season.
In Dallas, Lively’s influence was felt right away. Pick-and-roll combinations between him and Luka Doncic are already so difficult for opponents to counter, as Doncic noted following the Mavericks’ convincing 50+ point victory over the Utah Jazz this past week. Doncic remarked, “They’re already a little scared of him.” “You saw they put a smaller guy on him so we don’t play pick and roll, but we managed that well.”
Although Lively may not receive the same attention as other rookies, he frequently seizes opportunities presented to him by Doncic and the Mavericks and does so with remarkable efficiency. Lively recorded his first 20-point performance earlier this week in a loss to the Thunder, going perfect 9-for-9 from the field. The former Duke player was playing on the court like a younger Tyson Chandler, soaring for tip dunks and managing to pull off this decisive finish while swerving in midair to evade a possible block from fellow rookie Chet Holmgren:
However, Lively’s value to Dallas extends beyond his ability to pick and roll and dunk on defense. The Mavericks have greatly benefited from his rim protection, and although he occasionally defends in the post too aggressively, which leads to fouls, that is something that will undoubtedly change as he grows and learns.
This season, the Wizards haven’t given fans much to cheer about because Kyle Kuzma and Jordan Poole haven’t delivered the high-scoring one-two punch that some had anticipated. Coulibaly, though, has been a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing season opener. He had an incredibly productive two-game week. This kid is simply amazing, as shown by the multiple highlight-reel-caliber dunks he put up against the 76ers.
Although Coulibaly is an athletic scorer, defense is where he might be most useful to the team. Coulibaly is a major pain on that end of the floor; it takes more than just effort to win. He always keeps his hands moving, has excellent footwork to stay ahead of opponents, and strong instincts to break up passes. Currently playing off the bench, Coulibaly will undoubtedly flourish in a larger role if the Wizards choose to make trade deadline moves to create more opportunities for him.
