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Last week: No. 1
Stats this week: 18.7 points, 10.7 rebounds, 4.3 assists, 3.3 steals Man, he almost lost the No. 1 spot this week ... I swear. Simmons sat out the Sixers' game on Saturday and then only had 10 points against the Cavs on Monday. But then he had to go and put up a 38-point, 18-rebound game in a win over the Wizards, aided by Washington employing the hack-a-Simmons after it fell behind. The strategy worked, technically, as the Wizards came back from 24 to make it competitive in the final minutes. Simmons performed well enough from the line, however (15-29), that you won't likely see teams treating him like Shaq or DeAndre Jordan any time soon. We're still looking for a glaring flaw in his game. |
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Last week: No. 7
Stats this week: 21.3 points, 4.0 assists, 1.7 steals The Jazz needed Mitchell to step up in an injury-filled week, and boy did he respond. Mitchell shot 52 percent from the field and made 13 of his 25 3-pointers (52 percent) in leading the Jazz to a 3-0 week. Nearly as impressive as his scoring was his ability to facilitate the offense. Given his athleticism and shooting stroke, we all knew Mitchell was capable of scoring in the NBA, but he's taken on the added playmaking ability while limiting his turnovers (1.7 per game this week). Take this pass for example, where he easily could have tried to force a defended shot at the rim, but instead found a cutting Derrick Favors for an uncontested dunk: This is a great sign for Utah, who may have gotten the steal of the draft at No. 13. Playmaking ability like Mitchell has displayed in the past week will allow Quin Snyder to confidently deploy him at both guard positions, making Mitchell an even more dangerous asset. |
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Last week: No. 3
Stats this week: 15.0 points, 3.0 assists, 2.0 rebounds Kuzma only played one game this week -- he sat out the Lakers' overtime loss to the Warriors with back spasms -- but that doesn't do much to affect his ranking here. Thanks to the return of Larry Nance Jr., Kuzma moved back to the bench after 11 consecutive starts despite being the team's leading scorer. The decision was met with some criticism, but it's purely a defensive move from Luke Walton, who has improved the Lakers defense considerably from last season. During Kuzma's 11 starts, the Lakers' defensive rating ballooned from 91.2 to 103.8 when he was on the court. He'll need to improve on that end of the court, as most rookies do, if he wants to be more than a bucket-getter off the bench. |
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Last week: No. 2
Stats this week: 11.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.5 assists Tatum appears to be mired in the first mini-slump of his career, but the Celtics keep winning so it's not like he's hurting the team. Scoring comes naturally to Tatum, but as teams gather film on him they're starting to recognize the places he likes to get on the court. Now it's up to him to make the necessary adjustments. |
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Last week: No. 4
Stats this week: 9.0 points, 8.5 assists, 3.5 rebounds The Lakers had two games this week and they couldn't have been more different for Lonzo. He followed up a three-point, seven-assist game in a bad loss to the Kings with a 15-point, 10-assist game in Wednesday's overtime loss to the Warriors. The Warriors game was a huge turning point for Lonzo since, in a short but exciting stretch, he took over the game with his scoring. He went on a personal 8-0 third-quarter run with two 3-pointers and a blow-by layup to give the Lakers a four-point lead against the world champs. Lonzo looked confident with both his jump-shot and his halfcourt playmaking ability, but so far moments like this have been few and far between for the No. 2 pick in the draft. While he'll likely continue to be inconsistent, it's good that he's showing signs that he can score against elite defenses, which will open up the court for his passing. |
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Last week: No. 10
Stats this week: 14.7 points, 4.0 assists, 1.7 rebounds Smith continued his inefficient offense this week, shooting 43 percent from the field and 29 percent on 3-pointers, but it's not all his fault. If he finishes the season at his current usage rate of 29.6, it would be the third-highest all-time for a rookie -- second-highest if you discount Mark Aguirre, who only played in 51 games. The highest ever? Michael Jordan, with a 29.8 percent usage rate as a rookie in 1984-85. All this to say that Smith carries a pretty large load as a rookie on a very bad Mavericks team, so it's going to take a while for him to get his percentages up. |
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Last week: No. 6
Stats this week: 14.3 points, 7.8 rebounds, 1.3 assists The Bulls are bad. Like, really bad. So it's hard to know how Markkanen would fit in if he were on a competitive team. He's still shooting the 3-ball relatively well (35 percent this week), but his 2-point field-goal percentage plummeted to 23.1 percent (last among all rookies who actually play). It's been a steady decline for Markkanen when it comes to shots inside the arc, which is a shame because part of what made him so exciting during the first few weeks of the season was his ability to do more than just shoot 3s. Markkanen has the tools to become a great offensive player one day, and hopefully playing for such an awful team doesn't stunt his development. |
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Last week: No. 5
Stats this week: 10.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, 1.3 steals Collins put up a dud in a blowout loss to the Raptors on Saturday, but in the team's other two games he was his normal, solid self. The knock on Collins coming out of college was his inability to defend, and that's been true of his one-on-one defense (opponents score 1.25 points per possession against him in isolation situations, which means he gets scored on a lot). However, the positive sign for him and for the Hawks is that so far Collins has done a great job defending the pick and roll. In addition to picking up steals himself, he's done a good job trapping the ball handler, using his length and athleticism to cause turnovers. Pick and roll defense is an essential part of being a modern NBA big man, so Atlanta must be thrilled that Collins is already doing so well in that department. |
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Last week: No. 9
Stats this week: 9.0 points, 4.0 assists, 2.3 rebounds So far, Mason is playing like the Kings' best rookie. Coach Dave Joerger called him a "stud muffin," and this was before he led the Kings' fourth quarter comeback to beat the Warriors on Monday. Mason earned the crunch-time minutes over fellow Sacramento rookie De'Aaron Fox, and was a plus-7 down the stretch as the Kings held on for the upset. One of the main reasons Mason's been able to become a regular part of the rotation is his ability to operate in the halfcourt -- he generates 1.252 points per possession by either scoring or assisting in the halfcourt, according to Synergy, which leads the team. He's played as many or more minutes as Fox over the last two games, and you can expect that to continue since Mason's clearly earned Joerger's trust. |
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Last week: Unranked
Stats this week: 14.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.0 steals Adebayo finally got some playing time this week, scoring 19 points in 18 minutes in a blowout loss to the Cavs and then putting up nine points, five rebounds and two steals while filling in as a starter for Hassan Whiteside against the Knicks. Whiteside is expected to be out two weeks, so we'll get a good look at Adebayo in the middle for a struggling Heat team. He better make the best of it, because opportunities like this don't come often. |
