Last week it appeared that Dallas Mavericks guard/forward Luka Doncic was beginning to pull away from the pack, partly due to his professional experience giving him a leg up on his college-playing brethren in the rookie class. However, this week things got much closer.
Doncic still earned the top spot, though it was largely due to his team's performance. It's rare that a high lottery pick experiences a 3-0 week, so Doncic and his high usage rate get credit for the success. Rapidly climbing the list were a pair of young guards: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Clippers and Collin Sexton of the Cavaliers, who have both been given more responsibility and proven worthy thus far.
New entries this week include Knicks rookie Kevin Knox, who is finally starting to get healthy and give New York fans at least a small reason to watch the games. Here are this week's NBA Rookie Power Rankings.
1 |
Luka Doncic
Dallas Mavericks SF
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Last week: 1 | |
2 |
Deandre Ayton
Phoenix Suns C
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Last week: 3 | |
3 |
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
Los Angeles Clippers PG
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Last week: 8 | |
4 |
Collin Sexton
Cleveland Cavaliers PG
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Last week: 10 | |
5 |
Wendell Carter Jr.
Chicago Bulls PF
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Last week: 2 | |
6 |
Jaren Jackson Jr.
Memphis Grizzlies PF
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Last week: 5 | |
7 |
Trae Young
Atlanta Hawks PG
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Last week: 4 "We love when he's aggressive. Tonight some shots just didn't fall, but I told him he had nine assists, three steals, five rebounds," teammate Kent Bazemore said after Young's four-point, 2-for-12 performance in Tuesday's loss to the Warriors. "When your shot isn't falling, how are you impacting the game? He was good for us down the stretch, with a couple stops and a couple steals. You're not gonna make all your shots every night, but, like I said, it's just finding a way to still impact the game." | |
8 |
Kevin Knox
New York Knicks SF
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Last week: Unranked | |
9 |
Josh Okogie
Minnesota Timberwolves SG
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Last week: Unranked "It definitely is slower," Okogie said. "Like, the faster you go, the more you're in a rush. You've got to slow down. Usually in college, the faster you go, the more you can outrun somebody, obviously, the more efficient you'll be. But here [in the NBA], you've got to take your time, and it's more about being efficient than being super fast."Okogie said the game is slowing down for him, but that he still has a ways to go. | |
10 |
Mikal Bridges
Phoenix Suns SF
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Last week: Unranked |