There’s a notable absence from this week’s rookie rankings, as Rookie of the Year frontrunner LaMelo Ball sustained a fractured wrist earlier this week, which is expected to keep him sidelined for at least a month. It’s a huge blow not just for Ball’s season, which was turning out to be phenomenal, but for the Hornets and the league as a whole.
Charlotte was humming like a well-oiled machine after putting Ball into the starting lineup, and it rose as high as the fourth seed in the East in part because of his play. There’s hope that he’ll be able to return before the end of the regular season, but the Hornets won’t want to rush his recovery along for what looks like a bright future for him and the franchise.
Now moving on to this week’s rookie rankings. These rankings will reflect a rookie’s performance on a week-to-week basis only, not the collective season, so these aren’t Rookie of the Year standings. With that straightened out, here is a look at the top rookies this week.
Haliburton finally bounced back after a calf injury sidelined him for four games, and slowed him down a bit in his return at the beginning of March. Coincidentally, his performance this week helped the Kings post a 4-1 record, including wins over the Celtics and Hawks. His best performance of the week came against the Warriors, where he finished a plus-21 on the night, and shooting lights out from deep (6-for-7). It wasn’t the typical all-around game we usually see with Haliburton, where he’s stuffing every category of the boxscore, as he finished with just one assist and zero boards, but he was in full scoring mode.
His first half of that game against the Warriors was electric, and while he only put up four points in the second half, here’s how he got all of those points in a single possession:
Condolences to Damion Lee, who may have to retire now after that play.
Edwards cooled off a bit this week compared to the scoring spree he went on last week where he was averaging 30 points a night. He wasn’t as efficient as he showed in the last couple weeks, and the Wolves couldn’t pull out a win in a tough three-game series against the Suns, Thunder and Mavericks. But while the No. 1 overall pick was struggling to knock down shots as easily as he was prior to this week, he remained engaged on defense and tried to contribute in other ways in the form of assists, rebounds and steals.
His consistency has been his biggest sticking point this season, and although he still got his numbers, in his 29-point outing against the Mavericks, it took him 23 shots to get there, and he also went 3-for-12 from deep. In order for Edwards to be a threat for the Wolves in the future, he needs to become more consistent on a night-to-night basis.
After being put in the starting lineup for three games due to injuries and COVID-19 protocols with other guards on the roster, Quickley was moved back to his bench role in favor of Elfrid Payton. Last week I broke down how putting Quickley in the starting lineup over Payton wouldn’t be some huge loss as their numbers virtually mirror each other. However, Quickley’s solid performance as a starter (14.7 points, over three games) wasn’t enough to convince Tom Thibodeau to keep him in there. Instead, we’ll just have to settle for Quickley doing this to the opposing team’s bench players:
The Knicks are in the thick of a playoff race for the first time since 2013, so it makes sense that Thibs doesn’t want to rock the boat if his team is winning. If the Knicks were racking up losses we’d definitely see Quickley starting, and perhaps he’ll get that job next season. For now, though, he’ll likely remain the spark plug off the bench for the Knicks.
In the lead up to the trade deadline on Thursday, there was a rumor floating around that the Kings offered Marvin Bagley III in a trade to Detroit in exchange for Saddiq Bey, to which the Pistons quickly shot down. That reported rumor shows just how low Bagley’s trade stock is, but also just how much the Pistons covet Bey, and for good reason. Bey is shooting 38.7 percent from deep this season, and his averages have consistently gone up across the board. In January he was averaging seven points and three boards, and in the month of March he’s putting up nearly 14 points, five boards and two assists. Detroit’s young core has come along nicely this season, and Bey is one of the essential pieces for their future, so they were absolutely right in slamming the door on the Kings for that trade.
The Rockets finally broke their losing streak at 20 games with a win over the Raptors, where Tate came up big for Houston on both ends of the floor. He led the team in scoring (22 points), and added on six boards, five assists and two steals for good measure in the blowout win. There was a sequence in that game where Tate knocked down a corner 3-pointer, picked up a charge on the other end of the floor then went down and grabbed an offensive board for a second-chance bucket. It went something like this:
It’s this type of hustle that made him crucial in that game against Toronto, and why he’ll likely be part of Houston future past this season.
Since being inserted into the starting lineup at the beginning of March, Poku is averaging 10.5 points, 7.5 rebounds, two assists and a block a game. He hasn’t been incredibly efficient from the floor (34.1 percent), or from deep (31.7 percent), but for a 7-foot tall, 19-year-old rookie, the Thunder should be pleased with his progression so far.
Stewart has attempted 14 3-pointers this season, and he’s made six of them so far, making him a 43 percent shooter from long range. It’s gotten to the point where Detroit swinging him the ball on the wing to pull up from deep, like this:
Over 85 percent of his 3-point attempts come without a defender within six feet of him, so he’s given a ridiculous amount of space and time to knock that shot down, mainly because in the grand scheme of things he isn’t a legitimate threat — yet — from there, but also because in his lone college season at Washington, Stewart took 20 3-pointers and shot just 25 percent from deep. This is something he’s developed in his rookie season, and if continues to consistently knock them down, he’ll become far more versatile on offense. He’ll also be trouble if he can make this fallaway jumper in the paint consistently as well:
The Thunder rolled out the second-youngest lineup in NBA history this week, and became the youngest starting five to win a game in the league, and Maledon’s play on both ends played a huge factor in that. He had a balanced game, where he finished with 12 points, four rebounds, two assists and three steals. His shot wasn’t falling from anywhere on the floor, so he shifted his focus to impact the game in other ways, which proved to be crucial for OKC.
A fun reminder that not only did Bane fall to No. 30 overall in last year’s draft, but the Celtics drafted and traded him that night as well. Boston could certainly use Bane’s ridiculous shooting and basketball IQ off the bench, and he would’ve been far cheaper than trading for Evan Fournier yesterday, which would’ve allowed them to preserve that huge traded player exception they had from signing and trading Gordon Hayward. But instead, Bane is shooting 45.5 percent from deep for the Grizzlies off the bench, and becoming an x-factor for Memphis late in games.
Stevens has played so well recently that the Cavaliers have talked about converting him from a two-way player. He recently started to get some consistent minutes, becoming the burst of energy the Cavs needed off the bench, and excelled. He plays tough, aggressive defense, will fight for rebounds and make the smart play to teammates rather than getting flustered. If he’s able to develop a 3-point shot consistently, he could push himself into the rotation for Cleveland by the time the season is over.