The NBA announced lineups for this year’s non-existent Rising Stars Game, and while we can’t see LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Zion Williamson and Ja Morant on the same team, we can only hope that the league will somehow make up for it next year. The new format that the league adopted in 2015, which went from rookies vs. second year students, for Team USA vs. Team World, should highlight all the international talents that the league has seen entering the NBA in recent years.
However, this shift from putting an entire team full of newcomers on the field meant that there would be some notable scorns left on both teams, which is exactly what happened this season. Newcomers like Immanuel Quickley, Saddiq Bey, Desmond Bane and Patrick Williams were left out of the list and, while it is completely understandable, given that the US team is absolutely full, it is still a pity that some newbies who were great in the first half of the season will not receive that honor.
The current format is a great idea, as it shows how global the game of basketball is, but it also limits some of the league’s brightest play on a larger stage. At the very least, it shows how many young talents the NBA has as a whole, which shows that the league is in good hands going forward.
Now moving on to this week’s rookie ranking. These ratings will reflect a newbie’s performance only weekly, not in the collective season, so these are not the Newbie of the Year ratings. With that fixed, here’s a look at this week’s best newcomers.
Ball had his second game with the highest score of the season when he added 30 points against the Trail Blazers in a defeat, in a performance in which he also gave eight assists and took four bags. He continues to impress with every game, as his passing game is far beyond what people expected, where he shows glimpses of being as creative a passer as his brother Lonzo, and his kicking efficiency both on the field and in the 3 points range has continued to improve this season.
He won the honors of Rookie of the Month for the second time this season, as he is the favorite in the Rookie of the Year category. Inserting him on the starting lineup gave the Hornets another offensive weapon alongside Gordon Hayward and Terry Rozier, making Charlotte one of the most exciting teams to watch this year.
Edwards had another ridiculous dunk this week, but what was most impressive about his three performances was how consistent he was. He had consecutive 20-point games and a 19-point performance against Ball and the Hornets. The biggest criticism is still its inefficiency, as it is still hovering around 30 years deep and below 40 percent of the field. This is the time when Edwards is able to work on his kicking efficiency, so he should experience growing pains, but the Wolves probably hope that he will eventually be able to become a more efficient scorer at some point this season.
Quickley was dismissed from the list of rising stars, but when you look at who made it to the US list and remember that it includes both novices and sophomores, then it’s understandable. There were several newbies who would make the list any year, but when Zion Williamson, Ja Morant and Tyler Herro are also on the list, then it makes more sense. Apart from that, however, Quickley had a great week, culminating in a 26-point showing in the defeat by the Spurs. He ended the game with more-less than -13, which is unusual for him considering he has been so efficient this season, but it was also the second minute he played this season, which is also a factor. As he continues to have more playing time, his efficiency should drop a little, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he still played a key role in the Knicks having such a strong start to the season.
Lee is making the most of his continued increase in playing time, as evidenced by a 20-point exit in a surprising victory over the Raptors. His development last month was the best part of the Pistons swapping Derrick Rose, as Detroit can now assess all of his young talents and allow these young players to grow with more opportunities.
It’s just that Lee and Bey are side by side in the ranking, as the Pistons have a number of young players who continue to impress. But while Lee is climbing, Bey stumbled this week on her 3-point shot. He is shooting 40 percent a year and is routinely shooting 50 percent for parts of the season, but in consecutive games he has shot 20 percent beyond the arc. He agreed to make 3 of 13 in a row of two games against the Knicks and Raptors and was unable to find other effective ways to contribute to the attack. It may just be an outlier, but when his kick is not falling, he will need to find other ways to impact the game.
The Celtics are 6-3 this season, when Pritchard scores 10 or more points off the bench, and his 14 points certainly came in handy in a tough game against the Clippers this week. His contribution has been up and down throughout the season, and he hasn’t been in the weekly rookie ranking since the start of the season, but he will often have a performance like that against the Clippers, where he went 4-7 deep, this will show why he earned his place on the regular rotation for Boston.
Williams’ performance against Zion Williamson was certainly an eye-opener this week. Just look at this:
Williams was thrown into the fire at the start of the season having to protect guys like Giannis and LeBron, and he was certainly defeated. But looking at how he was able to put the tank body of a person like Zion in that clip certainly shows some improvement against bigger opponents. Just one more reason why his Chicago selection gets brighter every day.
Tate has been great at attacking the Rockets this season, except behind the bow where he is shooting 32 percent in the year. The Rockets try the third highest number of 3s per game (42), but they are in last place in the percentage of 3 points (33.3%). If Houston is going to continue with this style of play, where the 3-point shot is used a lot, guys like Tate will need to take those shots down. In a year of reconstruction, there is no better time for him to feel comfortable with that photo.
Bane was put in the ring at the Memphis game against the Clippers this week, having to check on Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on different occasions. While this will certainly be a learning opportunity for him against a dominant LA team, Bane continued to work and show small improvements throughout the game. His one-on-one defense still has a long way to go, but he showed glimpses of being a solid defender, which is everything you can really expect from a newcomer.
In a shocking victory over the Sixers, Okoro scored 15 points, eight bags, three assists and three steals. That was the high point of his career in points and rebounds, and probably closer to the performance that the Cavaliers thought they would get from him every night, when they called him in fifth place overall. It is a positive sign that he has the ability to score at a high level in this league, but now he needs to improve and become consistent.