NBA Rookie Rankings: Jalen Williams' star continues to rise; Paolo Banchero chasing Magic history

Also, Jeremy Sochan's production broken down by hair color

We're officially one month out from the NBA regular season ending on April 9, and for most of these rookies their first year will end there. But for some we'll get an extended look at them in the postseason, like Keegan Murray on the Kings. Other teams with key rookies who are still in the run for a play-in or playoff spot are the Pacers, Thunder, Jazz and Trail Blazers, so perhaps we'll see a few more first-year guys in a high stakes game a month from now. But for everyone else, this last month is all about maximizing the rest of the season and ending the rookie year on a high note.

Now it's time to break down this week's Rookie Rankings. Keep in mind that these rankings will reflect a rookie's performance on a week-to-week basis only, not the collective season. These aren't Rookie of the Year standings, but rather a reflection on the player's performance over the past week. 

Every week I do these rankings it just feels like Williams outdoes the performances he had from the previous week. Last week I wrote how Williams had the best month of his career in February and finished it off with a career-high in points (27 points). Silly me for thinking he would take a week off of doing spectacular things, because he topped last week in a 32-point outing where he shot an absurd 80% from the field and 80% from 3-point range. He's the first OKC rookie to post a 30/5/5 game since Russell Westbrook, and just the third in franchise history to do it, joining Kevin Durant on that list as well.

After the game, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had high praise for his rookie teammate, though he isn't surprised about his development.

"He works on his game and it gets better," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "His progression, I'm not surprised to see at all. The kid works hard, he's got game and he's showing it."

The hard work and development are plain to see when you watch Williams, but he's also just doing things I don't think many expected of him this early in his career. While Williams was a lottery pick in the 2022 NBA Draft, he's playing like someone who should've been drafted way higher than 12th. The feel he has for the game, how he's able to read defenses to get what he wants, and as he showed against the Jazz, his ability to take a game over are not common for most rookies. In the fourth quarter, Williams scored 16 of his 32 points, getting to the rim at will, and just punishing Utah's defense. 

On this possession despite the defense collapsing on him, and block machine Walker Kessler coming over to defend at the rim, Williams knew to put the ball high enough out of reach of any Jazz defender:

His ability to even contort his body midair to get square with the rim to get the shot off is also just as impressive, and also not the only time in this game where he made a difficult shot. Look at this jumper he gets off despite picking up his dribble and getting knocked off balance:

Although Paolo Banchero has the Rookie of the Year award locked up, Williams' consistent performance over the last couple months should be enough to have him finish second for the award.

No disrespect to Rudy Gobert, but there is some hilarity in Kessler immediately stepping into Utah and providing the same type of production Gobert did during his Jazz days. Obviously Gobert is multiple Defensive Player of the Year awards better than Kessler, and his career averages are higher than what Kessler has put together throughout his rookie year, but he's certainly on track to be named to several All-Defensive teams, and he's just 21 years old.

He's going on six-straight games of 10 or more rebounds, with two of those games including five or more offensive rebounds. Oh and then there's the three games during that stretch where he's had at least five blocks. The even funnier aspect in all of this is the Timberwolves trading Kessler and a wealth of other assets to get Gobert, when they could've just, you know, kept the standout rookie, whose a younger, more versatile version of the Frenchman. But Minnesota's loss is Utah's gain, and despite Danny Ainge's penchant for getting the most out of every deal he makes, I don't think even he could've imagined Kessler would be this good this early. 

He's got great touch around the rim, can be a lob threat, and will always fight for offensive rebounds. And of course there's is great ability to time blocks, and avoid fouls in the process.

On this play, Gilgeous-Alexander noticed Kessler was slow to get back on defense, so naturally that's a green light for the All-Star guard to attack the rim. Unfortunately for SGA, Kessler is great at recovering and managed to get just enough of the shot to stop it, resulting in a rebound for Utah.

Try to go up soft with it? Not a chance with Kessler on the floor, and Aaron Wiggins learned that the hard way after Kessler literally sent his shot to the front row.

When Kessler's on the floor, the Jazz allow 5.4 fewer points than when he sits, which ranks in the 88th percentile in the league. There's not many rookies who have that level of impact on defense, which is just more evidence of how vital he is on that end of the floor.

Banchero's efficiency has waned at times in the last couple of months, but that hasn't stopped him from having a positive impact on the game. His 31-point outing against the Hornets, where he shot 50% from the field to go along with six rebounds and five assists was the most recent example, however, of how dangerous he can be when his shot is falling consistently. Banchero is also great at bouncing back from poor performances, which is what he did against the Milwaukee Bucks this week. Last week Banchero put up just nine points against the Bucks on 30.8% shooting from the field. He bounced back with a 20-point game against Milwaukee, and while he still only shot 38.9% from the floor, it's a sign that he's learning on the fly, which is always a positive. 

Oh and here's another interesting tidbit that shows just how dominant Banchero has been: his 31 point-game against Charlotte ties him with Dennis Scott for second-most 30-point games by a Magic rookie with five. Shaquille O'Neal sits first with 10 30-point games, which may be out of reach for Banchero, but he could definitely close in on that record as the season winds down.

Even if you're not familiar with Sochan's game, you'll at least recognize him from the colorful hair he's always sporting. He's changed it many times over the course of this season, most recently adopting a multi-colored variant which he's apparently seen the most success with, at least according to Spurs Muse on Twitter.

Jeremy Sochan’s Stats By Hair Color:

💜💙💖: 17.8 PPG, 3 APG, 7.8 RPG

🖤: 5.0 PPG, 2.5 APG, 5 RPG

💛🌸: 14.4 PPG, 2.7 APG, 5.7 RPG

💚: 10.8 PPG, 3 APG, 6 RPG

💖: 9.4 PPG, 2.6 APG, 4.8 RPG

🪙: 7.6 PPG, 1.7 APG, 2.7 RPG

💜: 5.8 PPG, 1.3 APG, 4.8 RPG

Which one you picking? pic.twitter.com/yFFJgPvwMi

— Spurs_Muse (@spurs_muse) March 7, 2023

This is the type of content I'm on Twitter for honestly, and while it doesn't break down how many games he's spent with each hair color, it's obvious that Sochan has to stay with this Trix-yogurt-colored hair because the fact that he's averaging 17.8 points, 7.8 rebounds and three assists with it should be reason enough. For Michael Jordan it was the shoes, for Sochan it has to be the hair color.

Ivey capped off the week with back-to-back double-doubles. His performance against the Wizards, where he had 26 points, 12 assists, five rebounds and one steal that stood out a bit more than the other double-double. He was far more efficient, shooting 45% from the field and 50% from deep, and while Detroit still lost, it certainly wasn't because of lack of production or effort from the rookie. He hasn't been receiving the same level of attention as some of his counterparts recently, but he's currently on a 26-game streak of scoring at least 10 points that goes back to Jan. 2. His production has been consistent, and while it hasn't always been efficient he's learning and growing with this opportunity so that when next season rolls around, perhaps his efficiency will improve.