Almost one-third of the way into the season, the Rookie of the Year contenders are starting to separate from the rest of the pack. Teams like the Toronto Raptors and Cleveland Cavaliers may have some award-winning youngsters on their hands in Scottie Barnes and Evan Mobley.
Across the league, both rebuilding squads and teams looking for a spot in the play-in tournament have benefitted from the performances of the 2021 NBA Draft Class. Even after just a few months, some of the players in this class are looking like stars that can carry their teams for years.
In addition to most of the lottery picks looking like they were expected, many of the players picked later in the draft are emerging as solid role players. Even a handful of second-round prospects have shown they should earn some extra playing time here and there.
Was there any movement on this most recent NBA Rookie Ladder? Are Barnes and Mobley at the top once again? Did anyone new break into the Top 10?
NBA Rookie Ladder: Did Toronto Raptors’ star Scottie Barnes stay on top?
Sacramento is playing much better basketball under Alvin Gentry after the Luke Walton firing, and Mitchell serving as one of the best players in the second unit is a huge reason as to why. After struggling on offense under Walton, Mitchell has taken a step forward since Gentry was put in place.
Since November 24, Mitchell is averaging 11.3 points per game on 43% shooting and 34% from 3-point range. The Kings are still a bad defensive team, but Mitchell’s feisty on-ball defense is a huge reason why he’s stood out on this roster. Sacramento may make a play-in push, and Mitchell has been a massive boost in their quest to break a postseason drought.
NBA Rookie Ladder: The Rockets are winning without Jalen Green.
Green hasn’t played in a while due to an injury, and the Rockets went on a seven-game winning streak as soon as he went out. While some might try to use this as evidence to show that Green is not playing well, correlation does not imply causation in this specific example.
Green is still showing a knack for getting to the rim while starting to become slightly more efficient. While Green’s injury could knock him out of the Rookie of the Year race, he still looks like a player who will be instrumental to Houston’s quest to turn themselves around.
While Jones is benefitting from playing on a terrible Pelicans team willing to put young guys out on the floor for heavy minutes, the Alabama product is proving to potentially be the best second-round pick in the 2021 class. Jones is looking like a quality small-ball defensive center in his first extended NBA action.
Jones was criticized for his lack of dynamic offensive ability early in the season, but after four nights with 10 or more points since November 29, Jones is continuing to make the strides Willie Green expects. With Zion Williamson still out, Jones isn’t leaving the starting lineup anytime soon.
NBA Rookie Ladder: Alperen Sengun continues to impress.
Houston chose to bench Daniel Theis to let Sengun and Christian Wood alternate between manning the center spot. The change has proven to be exactly what Houston needed, as Stephen Silas has allowed the Turkish big to exhibit all of the traits that made him a hot prospect.
Sengun is not only proving to be a quality interior finisher, but he appears to be much further long on the defensive end than anyone anticipated. With his major pre-draft question appearing to have been answered, Sengun could easily become the best non-lottery pick in this class.
Duarte took a minor fall in these rankings while trying to figure out how to play alongside Caris LeVert following his return from injury. With his shooting slump now in the past, Duarte appears to be back on track and ready to help the Pacers continue winning.
From November 24 to December 8, Duarte averaged 14.4 points per game while making 43% of his shots. Given his age, he was expected to come into the NBA and make an immediate impact. While his 3-point percentage has gone down since the start of the season, he is still getting to the rim effectively.
NBA Rookie Ladder: Josh Giddey continues to impress for OKC.
Giddey hasn’t fallen due to his own poor play, but rather some of the rookies in front of him starting to figure things out on offense. Giddey remains one of the best players on a Thunder team that has pulled off some solid upsets this season, as his blend of passing, vision, and craftiness have driven them offensively.
Giddey is still leading all rookies in assists per game, and he’s finally got his shooting percentage above 40%. If he can work on getting that 3-point shot down, that will take his offensive game to the next level and make the Oklahoma City backcourt one that teams will genuinely start to fear.
The Magic were beaten up by poor health before the Jalen Suggs injury, and the Gonzaga product going down only put more pressure on Wagner and Cole Anthony. Considering what he’s done on the offensive end over the last few games. he seems to be adjusting to life without Suggs just fine.
After going 0-9 in a loss against the Bucks, Wagner has averaged 17.0 points on 48% shooting from the field and 43.5% from 3-point range. These numbers might get dismissed as the byproduct of a bad team, but Wagner is really starting to come into his own as a scorer.
NBA Rookie Ladder: Cade Cunningham is starting to heat up.
Cunningham didn’t start his NBA career in the most high-flying manner while recovering from an injury. Now that he’s fully healthy and Dwane Casey is letting him take full control of the offense, the future NBA superstar we saw at Oklahoma State is starting to get comfortable.
While the Pistons have lost all five of Cunningham’s most recent games, he is averaging 22.0 points per game while making half of his 3-point attempts and almost half of his total shots from the field. Detroit may be in contention for the top pick again, but Cunningham appears to be progressing nicely. His 15.3 points per game lead all rookies.
It’s almost scientifically impossible to find something as thin as the line gap between Mobley and Barnes right now. Mobley has a completely valid and deserving case to be made for Rookie of the Year, as he has been instrumental in turning Cleveland into a legitimate playoff team.
Mobley is averaging 13.9 points and 8.2 rebounds per game while already establishing himself as a premier defender in this league due to his ability to reject shots. Between Mobley, Jarrett Allen, and Lauri Markkanen, the Cavs are building a humongous team that looks every bit like a viable playoff team.
NBA Rookie Ladder: Scottie Barnes barely held onto the top spot.
By the slimmest of margins, Barnes beats out Mobley. Outpacing the USC product in points and rebounds per game on a team that is currently much worse than Cleveland, Barnes is doing everything he can to remain at the top of this list. Any concerns about his fit alongside Pascal Siakam have washed away.
In the 16 games Barnes has played alongside Siakam, he has reached double-figures in 14 of them. He’s doing all this while picking up the offensive load for a disappointing bench, continuing to play excellent on-ball defense, and providing stability in a raptors’ frontcourt held back by a lack of depth. Mobley is charging hard, but Barnes is clear for the moment.