Jusuf Nurkic (USATSI)
Denver's Jusuf Nurkic has 38 blocked shots this season. (USATSI)

Welcome back to Ranking the Rookies, where we discuss the performance of the best first-year players in the NBA.

Often, those players are first-round picks. However, one first rounder that was unexpected to make a big impact this season was 20-year-old Jusuf Nurkic out of Bosnia. Nurkic, a 6-foot-11, 280-pound was still considered a raw talent last June, one that may struggle to compete in the NBA right off the bat due to his youth and body type. But this season, Nurkic has shown that we may be watching a budding star at the center position.

To this point, Nurkic has been a per-minute monster. Averaging 15.3 points, 13.6 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per-36 minutes, it's clear that he's able to affect the game already on offense. However, it's his play on the defensive end that makes a veritable impact for the Nuggets.

The Nuggets go from being one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA when he's off the floor -- with a defensive rating of 110.5 that would be 30th among all NBA teams -- to one of the best when he's on it. Denver's 99.9 defensive rating with Nurkic on the floor would be good for sixth in the league. Mostly that has to do with his ability to protect the rim compared to Denver's other options. Seth Partnow over at Nylon Calculus has come up with the metric "points saved" in order to value a big man's ability to protect the rim. On a per-minute basis, Nurkic comes in 10th in the entire NBA in that regard. The next closest Nugget on that list is J.J. Hickson, who is considered a net negative. When you take that into account along with Nukic's ability to end possessions after one shot through his rebounding, it's clear he's become an impact player defensively in his first season.

And that's good enough to see him rise into the top-three on this list. Here's the rest of it. 

RANK COMMENT
1 Andrew Wiggins, Timberwolves  (Previous: 1) Barring injury, I'd be surprised to see anyone overtake Wiggins in this spot the rest of the season. Since December 23, he's averaging 19.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.4 assists, and he's doing it on 47 percent shooting from the field. Simply put, the confidence level that he has right now is above anything that I've seen from him, even going back to his days at Kansas. As long as that continues, he should keep having a season that will likely culminate in his winning Rookie of the Year. 
2 Elfrid Payton, Magic (4) In the month of January, Payton has been absolutely superb. Averaging 10.8 points, 7.3 assists and 4.6 rebounds with only 2.5 turnovers per game, the point guard has become a pretty legitimate starting point guard in the NBA. Plus, his field goal percentage has rebounded to a totally respectable 46.6 percent in that time. When you take those numbers into account with his defense -- which is excellent -- it's really tough to be anything but impressed with the way this small school guard is adjusting to the NBA.
3 Jusuf Nurkic Jusuf Nurkic, Nuggets  (5) We already chatted about the great things that Nurkic brings to the table. Let's chat about the downsides. First and foremost, he's still averaging 7.3 fouls per-36 minutes. Mostly, it seems like he's still adjusting to using his body against NBA level speed. That should improve throughout the year. Secondly, his scoring efficiency hasn't been great, especially in the midrange. He's only shooting 32 percent from between three and 10 feet from the rim, and he still doesn't totally seem comfortable trying to create out of the post yet against bigger guys. Those two things will be his key developments in the offseason. For now though, he's still extremely useful for the Nuggets.
4 Nikola Mirotic, Bulls  (2) Mirotic's playing time has all but dried up, but he's still been good when he sees the floor. Having played only 15 minutes per game over his last 12 as Joakim Noah has intermittently played, Mirotic has been slightly less effective on a per-minute basis. However, he's still extremely ready to play in bursts when the opportunity arises, and his per-36 numbers of 15.7 points and 9.3 rebounds are among the best in the class. If it was any other coach, I would assume that Mirotic would get increased time moving forward in order to rest Pau Gasol and Noah a bit. but with coach Tom Thibodeau, who knows what his time will look like from here on out. 
5 K.J. McDaniels, 76ers  (3) McDaniels' scoring efficiency has been really rough since about mid-December. He's only averaging 8.5 points on 36 percent shooting despite playing 36 minutes per game since December 15. Still though, the athleticism makes a difference on defense, and he's getting an opportunity to earn his time still. Hopefully the rookie wall doesn't last, and we will start to see more of the high-flying athleticism that put him in this position in the first place. 
6 Nerlens Noel, 76ers  (6) Noel's defense still makes him worthy of this spot. He's a legitimate difference-maker on that end both protecting the rim and in space. However, we should probably start talking about how much of a problem his shooting is. Among players 6-foot-10 or taller, only one rookie in the past 20 years has had a true-shooting percentage as low as Noel's 45.4 mark. The good news: it was a No. 1 overall pick. The bad news: that pick's name was Michael Olowokandi. The Kandi Man did last for 500 games and made an estimated 38 million dollars, but that's not exactly the kind of company Noel wants to keep. Of course, part of the problem is that he's probably asked to do too much for his offensive skill level. Maybe that will benefit him in the future, but for now he's actively hurting his team on offense. 
7

Marcus Smart, Celtics  (7) Smart is starting to come into his own as a rookie a little bit more now that he's past his injuries. He's still playing behind Evan Turner as point guard, but I would envision that will change by the time March rolls around. And it will be a deserved switch, as the team is six points better offensively per-100 possessions when Smart plays. He's in the midst of a hot-shooting January where he's making 42 percent of his 3s. That's something of a small sample size mark, but if he continues to make them it'll open the rest of his game for the time being.
8 Langston Galloway

Langston Galloway, Knicks (17): Galloway has been probably the brightest spot on the Knicks over the course of the past three weeks, which is a terrifying indictment of their season. The undrafted Saint Joe's product is averaging 12.1 points, four rebounds and three assists in his eight game sample so far. And he also has been surprisingly efficient, with a 53 true-shooting percentage. I don't know if he's actually a useful NBA player for a real team, but the Knicks would do well to ink him to a longer term deal with team options and find out.
9 Dante Exum, Jazz (10) I'd not go as far as to say Exum has played well of late, but he's moved into the starting lineup for the Jazz as Trey Burke has really struggled recently. However, he's taken well to it over the last couple of games, averaging 14 points and 4.5 assists prior to a dud last night against the Celtics. It'll be interesting to see if the Jazz really try to get him more involved with their core moving forward. But until that happens, I'll just note that the Jazz are 10 points better per-100 possessions on defense when Exum plays. That's a staggering number.
10

Jerami Grant, 76ers (19) You're just going to have to hear me out on this one, as I don't think his play is particularly sustainable. Still though, he's worthy of mention just due to the sheer dearth of rookies. In January, Grant is playing an average of 21.5 minutes per game, and putting up 6.8 points and three rebounds. That's better than most rookies, plus his effect on the floor has been undeniable. The 76ers are five points better on offense when he plays, and 2.5 points better on defense. Yeah, a majority of that has to do with the fact that the 76ers literally have no one else on the wing. But hey, like I said, it gets tough to find more deserving players this low. Kudos to him for deserving the mention.

The rest:

11. Bojan Bogdanovic, Nets (11): Bogdanovic narrowly misses the top-10 this week. He's rebounded nicely from his December rookie wall, and averaged 9.6 points over the last two weeks. He slots in slightly behind Grant due to his defensive game, as the Nets are seven points worse with him on the floor per-100 possessions.

12. Aaron Gordon, Magic (NR): Gordon is playing again, and actually started against Memphis on Sunday. He's still getting his feet back under him, but my guess is he makes a move back into the top-10 in February. His per-36 averages this season: 14.4 points and 7.3 rebounds to go with 1.6 blocks. Solid stuff.

13. Zach LaVine, Timberwolves (8): LaVine is putting up the epitome of "empty stats" in Minnesota. He's fifth in rookies among scoring at eight points per game, but the Timberwolves are five points worse on offense when he plays, and eight points worse on defense. Not particularly inspiring when the team you're playing for is 7-36. 

14. Elijah Millsap, Jazz (NR): Millsap earned a contract for the rest of the season with his solid two-way play for the Jazz over the past few weeks, along with two team option years. He's shot 42 percent from 3, so his best case scenario would probably be as a 3-and-D guy going forward.

15. Tarik Black, Lakers (9): He's been pretty good when he plays, averaging seven points and five rebounds in 17 minutes per game in his eight Laker game. But he's battling an ankle injury right now that has limited his effectiveness a bit overall. 

16. Dwight Powell, Mavericks (NR): Since being acquired by the Mavericks, the stretch-4 has gotten occassional work that has been fairly effective. He's scored in double-digits a few times, and has an insane 68.3 true-shooting percentage in a small sample. 

17. James Ennis, Heat (15): I like what I see athletically when he plays. But he hasn't played in three of the Heat's past four games, so he gets dinged for a lack of action.

18. Shabazz Napier, Heat (NR): Napier re-enters after getting a bump in playing time, but the problem is that he isn't particularly playing well. He's shot 22 percent in the month of January, and isn't effective unless he's shooting well. 

19. Jordan Clarkson, Lakers (NR): Clarkson has started a couple of games in a row as the Lakers try to see what they have without Kobe Bryant in the guard fold. He scored 11 points against San Antonio on Friday and at least looked the part, though. So that's something.

20. P.J. Hairston, Hornets (13): Hairston's averaging 5.5 points per game and has become mostly a rotation player. And hey, the Hornets are better both on offense and defense when he's on the floor. But still, he's a shooter that's only making 32 percent of his shots, and that's an issue.