2021-22 NBA Rookie Thread (part 6) - with ROY poll

[NeoWarriors]

Jonathan Kuminga has really settled in after getting more consistent minutes. His game is progressing at light speed. Add all that to his super athleticism he appears to be a star in the making.

Last 15 games

25.4 mpg
14.3 pt
5.0 reb
1.4 ast
54.6% fg
39.6% 3 pt
81.6% ft


https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/jonathan-kuminga-last-15-games

Also, I'm glad everybody are happy with their picks. Nobody seems to be throwing out any what if scenarios.

Sent from my Golden State Warriors Protoast Elite toaster using RealGM mobile app

[zshawn10]

Mobley walked into one of the best situations for a rookie when he got drafted by Cleveland; I mean he's literally playing with two all-stars lol.

Ah yes, just as everyone predicted. The Cavs are suddenly a competitive playoff team and Garland and Allen are first-time all stars. Cleveland was obviously a fantastic situation for Mobley, what with their over/under of 46.5 wins for the year.



Wait, what's that you say? Their over/under wins was actually 26.5? They were supposed to be a bottom 5 team in the league?

Hmm, what changed?

Weird stance but the Warriors just had a high pick too in the draft and you can't say Kuminga doesn't benefit from the Warrior stars. Garland was absolutely helped by Sexton being out for the year, but Cleveland was looking to trade him anyway. This certainly helps Mobley too: https://i.ibb.co/yS8DsK7/16225280dl-UGqe5.jpg. Are you really arguing having two all-stars don't help a rookie at all?

[GeorgeSears]

Mobley is a -600 favorite. At this stage in the season, that's too big of a gap to close for the rest.

Barnes has been on equal footing with him and will probably end up having the better overall career.

[PhilBlackson]

Interesting cutoff on the assists.

I wonder what that list looks like with these numbers since the all-star break;

22+ppg(22.3)
7+rpg(7.5)
6+apg(6.0)

I know of at least one, Cade Cunningham.

Arbitrary number list's are made to support some players over other players.

I remember when Andre Drummond was putting up actually absurd numbers (20ppg 20rpg 2bpg) for a big stretch of games, and an exact graphic like this was used to proclaim it, and to compare him to some pretty lofty players.

I'm just impressed it's this close despite the huge difference in USAGE lol I can only imagine what beastly numbers Scottie would do if it were comparable...

But hey it's always easy to discredit...we understand Cade is doing his thing too and maybe we dont need you need to discredit one to praise another, just sayin'

I'm sorry if you read my post that way, as I did not mean it in that sense. This rookie class is amazing so far.

I meant to say watch out for Arbitrary "only these players have done this..." style of comparisons, as I've been burnt in the past as I offered up Drummond as a reminder. Thats how he got that max contract from Detroit. *sigh*

Whats more important then just raw stats, is actually watching the players, play.

All I was getting at.

I would be perfectly fine if any of Mobley/Barnes/Cade landed the hardware. It's a very difficult decision this year, and I feel its going to come down to these last 10-15 games. Cade is on an amazing run right now for the past 11 games, and has scored 20+ in the past 7 straight. Mobley just dropped 30. Barnes took it to James, and has had a great run since the all-star break.

It's gonna be a tough decision.

Have no problem saying that's "my bad" lol definitely just a misunderstanding there...this is how I'm looking right now

Watch on YouTube

It's my mistake because that's all I keep seeing in this thread is one fanbase digging into another anytime one guy has a great game, someone feels it's their duty to point out why "X" player is supposedly so much better (and I'm guilty of thinking I was responding in kind lol). But that's why I pointed out I'm not sure why people the feel the need to discredit one to praise the other but we're all good because clearly we're alluding to the same thing overall.

I legitimately believe all 3 of these guys could end up winning it depending how each of them look during the last stretch. BUT (and that's a huge one lol not that kind you might like) also acknowledge that I think both Cade & Barnes are fighting against the running narrative that it's "Mobley's to lose". I believe that comment may be true in terms of public perception but imo it's NOT in terms of actual on court play.

Unfortunately for Cade & Barnes I think they're gonna have to play at a noticably different level to get over that public perception that it's already Evan's award - Cade will need to sustain what he's doing AND then some...and Scottie will need increase his scoring a little AND pass the Cavs in the standings for people to shake the narrative that I feel a lot of media has tried to cement early on. But I think each guy has been damn impressive at various points of the season and likewise could all potentially be franchise changing talents. I genuinely believe that each guy has a valid argument to win it but if I had to guess who will actually get it, it's Mobley based under the assumption things play out similar to how they've been going most of the season and there's not a substantially greater ramp up that's well over and above what Mobley is doing.

I think Barnes & Cade (even more so) are up against the early narrative that Evan locked in the ROTY something like LaMelo to Ant. Especially Cade like Ant, will need an offensive explosion between now and the end of the season to push Evan out and Scottie has been in the conversation the whole season BUT team success favored the Cavs early and for majority of the season so that put in people's heads he's the better player. Scottie will need to see his team pass Evan's AND add a bit more scoring punch to attribute some of that winning to Scottie and also impress people with his upside. Bit of a blab but it's a fun race to watch something like a mini MVP race lol

[zshawn10]

From The Ringer:

Cade Cunningham, Pistons (No. 1 Pick)

Top comps: (1) Cole Anthony, (2) Dennis Smith Jr., (3) Kemba Walker, (4) LaMelo Ball, (5) Brandon Jennings

What it means: I want to preface this section by expressing my own personal opinion, independent of the numbers: I think Cunningham will be an excellent NBA player.

So why does his comp list look so confusing? Mostly, it reflects the extreme risks and rewards of a high-usage, lower-efficiency rookie guard. Walker worked on his jumper and recovered to become an All-Star; Smith and Jennings didn’t; the jury is still out on Anthony. (Ball wasn’t really an inefficient scorer as a rookie; that’s one of the main differences between him and Cunningham, and why he’s not the no. 1 comp here.)

For all of Cunningham’s strengths this season, he’s shooting just 41 percent from the field (32 percent from 3), and his true shooting percentage rates 12 percent below the league average. There’s good reason to think he’ll improve: Cunningham made 40 percent of his college 3s, for instance, and his mid-80s free throw percentages suggest he has a workable stroke from distance. He’ll get easier looks with better teammates.

Yet these early misses also add weight to the predraft concerns about his explosiveness. Cunningham struggles to score in traffic around the basket: He’s made just 56 percent of his shots in the restricted area, according to NBA Advanced Stats, which ranks 76th out of 80 players with at least 200 attempts.

Most worrisome of all is his apparent inability to get free points at the line. In summer league, Cunningham attempted just two free throws in three games. And in the regular season, he’s drawn fouls on just 5.2 percent of his drives, according to Second Spectrum, which ranks 44th out of 54 players with at least 500 drives. Other than fellow rookie Josh Giddey (2.8 percent), every player who ranks below Cunningham by this measure is shorter than him.

While Cunningham should gain more respect from referees as he grows older, his problem is unique even among rookies. This century, 34 rookies have at least a 25 percent usage rate—and Cunningham ranks last among that group in free throw rate. The names closest to him are not inspiring comps.
Lowest Free Throw Rates for High-Usage Rookies This Century
Player Usage Free Throw Attempts Per 100 Field Goal Attempts
Cade Cunningham 27.1% 15.0
Jordan Crawford 27.0% 16.8
Dennis Smith Jr. 28.9% 18.8
Marcus Thornton 25.3% 20.0

Cunningham has some Luka Doncic in his game, as a bigger ball handler with the pace and patience to manipulate defenses. But Luka shot 41 free throws for every 100 field goals in his first season, third highest among the 34 high-usage rookies and nearly three times as many as Cunningham is attempting now.

There’s no shame in not being as resplendent a rookie as Doncic, one of the best young players in NBA history, and I think Cunningham will make multiple All-Star teams in his career. But his rookie season also raises questions about his ceiling as a leading scorer and no. 1 option.

Green:

Jalen Green, Rockets (2)

Top comps: (1) Bradley Beal, (2) J.R. Smith, (3) Jamal Murray, (4) Devin Booker, (5) Tyler Herro

What it means: Wow! For a rookie with such a poor start as Green’s—midway through the season, multiple advanced metrics rated him as the least valuable player in the league—these comps are extraordinary. This is basically a dream list for a shooting guard.

Green’s season-long numbers look solid now because in his past 20 games, he’s scored more, shot better, and improved his passing:
Jalen Green’s Tale of Two Seasons
Statistic First 33 Games Last 20 Games
Points/Game 14.2 18.1
Assists/Game 2.2 3.3
Turnovers/Game 2.4 1.7
FG% 37.4% 46.8%
3P% 29.1% 36.4%

Green won’t receive a single first-place Rookie of the Year vote this season; he probably won’t even make first team All-Rookie, given his sour start. But nobody on his comp list received a single first-place Rookie of the Year vote, either, and now—Smith aside—they’re all among the top shooting guards in the league. Green should prepare to score plenty of points in his career.

Mobley:

Evan Mobley, Cavaliers (3)

Top comps: (1) Wendell Carter Jr., (2) Rui Hachimura, (3) Luol Deng, (4) Darius Miles, (5) Kelly Olynyk

What it means: As a reminder, these comps don’t look at defensive statistics, so they inherently miss a great deal of the appeal of a player like Mobley, who already looks like one of the top defenders in the league. I was in attendance at the Cavaliers’ loss in Chicago over the weekend and almost jumped out of my seat at this Mobley block:

What about Mobley’s offense? It’s no surprise to see some wings on his comps list, given that Mobley has mostly played as a forward next to the now-injured Jarrett Allen, and had to expand his shooting range and passing accordingly. But Carter, fittingly, looks like the best comp: Like Mobley, the rookie Carter displayed a deft touch around the rim and good passing chops for a big man, but he needed to grow into his jump shot. (And he has: Carter has attempted about twice as many 3s this season as he did in his entire career before now.)

Mobley’s a bit different in that he’s at least taking 3s in his first season, but like most members of this rookie class, he needs to improve his shooting. His current figures of 26 percent from 3-point range and 68 percent from the free throw line—both in line with Mobley’s numbers in college—won’t cut it for a superstar.

Barnes:

Scottie Barnes, Raptors (4)

Top comps: (1) Rui Hachimura, (2) Luol Deng, (3) Omri Casspi, (4) Kelly Olynyk, (5) R.J. Hampton

What it means: Barnes and Mobley have many commonalities. They’re the two leading contenders for Rookie of the Year; they’re stellar defenders; they’re playing multiple positions for a surprising Eastern playoff contender; and they have similar offensive stats, which explains why so many of their top comps overlap.

Per 75 possessions, Mobley is averaging 16 points, nine rebounds, and three assists; Barnes is at 16, eight, and four, respectively. Mobley has a 20 percent usage rate, Barnes 19 percent. Their true shooting percentages are separated by half a percentage point. So take almost all of the analysis in Mobley’s section and apply it here, too: In both rookies’ cases, there’s a lot to like about a player with such versatile offensive production and anchor-level defensive ability.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/3/15/22978146/nba-rookie-comps-cade-cunningham-jalen-green

[Madhouse]

Read on Twitter

?s=20&t=t3hadJ1YjzXaNV2HnagRFw

[Madhouse]

From The Ringer:

Cade Cunningham, Pistons (No. 1 Pick)

Top comps: (1) Cole Anthony, (2) Dennis Smith Jr., (3) Kemba Walker, (4) LaMelo Ball, (5) Brandon Jennings

What it means: I want to preface this section by expressing my own personal opinion, independent of the numbers: I think Cunningham will be an excellent NBA player.

So why does his comp list look so confusing? Mostly, it reflects the extreme risks and rewards of a high-usage, lower-efficiency rookie guard. Walker worked on his jumper and recovered to become an All-Star; Smith and Jennings didn’t; the jury is still out on Anthony. (Ball wasn’t really an inefficient scorer as a rookie; that’s one of the main differences between him and Cunningham, and why he’s not the no. 1 comp here.)

For all of Cunningham’s strengths this season, he’s shooting just 41 percent from the field (32 percent from 3), and his true shooting percentage rates 12 percent below the league average. There’s good reason to think he’ll improve: Cunningham made 40 percent of his college 3s, for instance, and his mid-80s free throw percentages suggest he has a workable stroke from distance. He’ll get easier looks with better teammates.

Yet these early misses also add weight to the predraft concerns about his explosiveness. Cunningham struggles to score in traffic around the basket: He’s made just 56 percent of his shots in the restricted area, according to NBA Advanced Stats, which ranks 76th out of 80 players with at least 200 attempts.

Most worrisome of all is his apparent inability to get free points at the line. In summer league, Cunningham attempted just two free throws in three games. And in the regular season, he’s drawn fouls on just 5.2 percent of his drives, according to Second Spectrum, which ranks 44th out of 54 players with at least 500 drives. Other than fellow rookie Josh Giddey (2.8 percent), every player who ranks below Cunningham by this measure is shorter than him.

While Cunningham should gain more respect from referees as he grows older, his problem is unique even among rookies. This century, 34 rookies have at least a 25 percent usage rate—and Cunningham ranks last among that group in free throw rate. The names closest to him are not inspiring comps.
Lowest Free Throw Rates for High-Usage Rookies This Century
Player Usage Free Throw Attempts Per 100 Field Goal Attempts
Cade Cunningham 27.1% 15.0
Jordan Crawford 27.0% 16.8
Dennis Smith Jr. 28.9% 18.8
Marcus Thornton 25.3% 20.0

Cunningham has some Luka Doncic in his game, as a bigger ball handler with the pace and patience to manipulate defenses. But Luka shot 41 free throws for every 100 field goals in his first season, third highest among the 34 high-usage rookies and nearly three times as many as Cunningham is attempting now.

There’s no shame in not being as resplendent a rookie as Doncic, one of the best young players in NBA history, and I think Cunningham will make multiple All-Star teams in his career. But his rookie season also raises questions about his ceiling as a leading scorer and no. 1 option.

Green:

Jalen Green, Rockets (2)

Top comps: (1) Bradley Beal, (2) J.R. Smith, (3) Jamal Murray, (4) Devin Booker, (5) Tyler Herro

What it means: Wow! For a rookie with such a poor start as Green’s—midway through the season, multiple advanced metrics rated him as the least valuable player in the league—these comps are extraordinary. This is basically a dream list for a shooting guard.

Green’s season-long numbers look solid now because in his past 20 games, he’s scored more, shot better, and improved his passing:
Jalen Green’s Tale of Two Seasons
Statistic First 33 Games Last 20 Games
Points/Game 14.2 18.1
Assists/Game 2.2 3.3
Turnovers/Game 2.4 1.7
FG% 37.4% 46.8%
3P% 29.1% 36.4%

Green won’t receive a single first-place Rookie of the Year vote this season; he probably won’t even make first team All-Rookie, given his sour start. But nobody on his comp list received a single first-place Rookie of the Year vote, either, and now—Smith aside—they’re all among the top shooting guards in the league. Green should prepare to score plenty of points in his career.

Mobley:

Evan Mobley, Cavaliers (3)

Top comps: (1) Wendell Carter Jr., (2) Rui Hachimura, (3) Luol Deng, (4) Darius Miles, (5) Kelly Olynyk

What it means: As a reminder, these comps don’t look at defensive statistics, so they inherently miss a great deal of the appeal of a player like Mobley, who already looks like one of the top defenders in the league. I was in attendance at the Cavaliers’ loss in Chicago over the weekend and almost jumped out of my seat at this Mobley block:

What about Mobley’s offense? It’s no surprise to see some wings on his comps list, given that Mobley has mostly played as a forward next to the now-injured Jarrett Allen, and had to expand his shooting range and passing accordingly. But Carter, fittingly, looks like the best comp: Like Mobley, the rookie Carter displayed a deft touch around the rim and good passing chops for a big man, but he needed to grow into his jump shot. (And he has: Carter has attempted about twice as many 3s this season as he did in his entire career before now.)

Mobley’s a bit different in that he’s at least taking 3s in his first season, but like most members of this rookie class, he needs to improve his shooting. His current figures of 26 percent from 3-point range and 68 percent from the free throw line—both in line with Mobley’s numbers in college—won’t cut it for a superstar.

Barnes:

Scottie Barnes, Raptors (4)

Top comps: (1) Rui Hachimura, (2) Luol Deng, (3) Omri Casspi, (4) Kelly Olynyk, (5) R.J. Hampton

What it means: Barnes and Mobley have many commonalities. They’re the two leading contenders for Rookie of the Year; they’re stellar defenders; they’re playing multiple positions for a surprising Eastern playoff contender; and they have similar offensive stats, which explains why so many of their top comps overlap.

Per 75 possessions, Mobley is averaging 16 points, nine rebounds, and three assists; Barnes is at 16, eight, and four, respectively. Mobley has a 20 percent usage rate, Barnes 19 percent. Their true shooting percentages are separated by half a percentage point. So take almost all of the analysis in Mobley’s section and apply it here, too: In both rookies’ cases, there’s a lot to like about a player with such versatile offensive production and anchor-level defensive ability.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/3/15/22978146/nba-rookie-comps-cade-cunningham-jalen-green

Crafted NBA has a great comparison tool.

https://craftednba.com/similarity

[JackTalkThai]

6’7” Cunningham’s top three comps are all guys that are around 6’1”? Does that make sense to anyone? This is the problem with letting spreadsheets create player comparisons. They’re fairly useless.

Mobley’s comps seems massively off as well.

From The Ringer:

Cade Cunningham, Pistons (No. 1 Pick)

Top comps: (1) Cole Anthony, (2) Dennis Smith Jr., (3) Kemba Walker, (4) LaMelo Ball, (5) Brandon Jennings

What it means: I want to preface this section by expressing my own personal opinion, independent of the numbers: I think Cunningham will be an excellent NBA player.

So why does his comp list look so confusing? Mostly, it reflects the extreme risks and rewards of a high-usage, lower-efficiency rookie guard. Walker worked on his jumper and recovered to become an All-Star; Smith and Jennings didn’t; the jury is still out on Anthony. (Ball wasn’t really an inefficient scorer as a rookie; that’s one of the main differences between him and Cunningham, and why he’s not the no. 1 comp here.)

For all of Cunningham’s strengths this season, he’s shooting just 41 percent from the field (32 percent from 3), and his true shooting percentage rates 12 percent below the league average. There’s good reason to think he’ll improve: Cunningham made 40 percent of his college 3s, for instance, and his mid-80s free throw percentages suggest he has a workable stroke from distance. He’ll get easier looks with better teammates.

Yet these early misses also add weight to the predraft concerns about his explosiveness. Cunningham struggles to score in traffic around the basket: He’s made just 56 percent of his shots in the restricted area, according to NBA Advanced Stats, which ranks 76th out of 80 players with at least 200 attempts.

Most worrisome of all is his apparent inability to get free points at the line. In summer league, Cunningham attempted just two free throws in three games. And in the regular season, he’s drawn fouls on just 5.2 percent of his drives, according to Second Spectrum, which ranks 44th out of 54 players with at least 500 drives. Other than fellow rookie Josh Giddey (2.8 percent), every player who ranks below Cunningham by this measure is shorter than him.

While Cunningham should gain more respect from referees as he grows older, his problem is unique even among rookies. This century, 34 rookies have at least a 25 percent usage rate—and Cunningham ranks last among that group in free throw rate. The names closest to him are not inspiring comps.
Lowest Free Throw Rates for High-Usage Rookies This Century
Player Usage Free Throw Attempts Per 100 Field Goal Attempts
Cade Cunningham 27.1% 15.0
Jordan Crawford 27.0% 16.8
Dennis Smith Jr. 28.9% 18.8
Marcus Thornton 25.3% 20.0

Cunningham has some Luka Doncic in his game, as a bigger ball handler with the pace and patience to manipulate defenses. But Luka shot 41 free throws for every 100 field goals in his first season, third highest among the 34 high-usage rookies and nearly three times as many as Cunningham is attempting now.

There’s no shame in not being as resplendent a rookie as Doncic, one of the best young players in NBA history, and I think Cunningham will make multiple All-Star teams in his career. But his rookie season also raises questions about his ceiling as a leading scorer and no. 1 option.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/3/15/22978146/nba-rookie-comps-cade-cunningham-jalen-green[/quote]

[MotownMadness]

6’7” Cunningham’s top three comps are all guys that are around 6’1”? Does that make sense to anyone? This is the problem with letting spreadsheets create player comparisons. They’re fairly useless.

From The Ringer:

Cade Cunningham, Pistons (No. 1 Pick)

Top comps: (1) Cole Anthony, (2) Dennis Smith Jr., (3) Kemba Walker, (4) LaMelo Ball, (5) Brandon Jennings

What it means: I want to preface this section by expressing my own personal opinion, independent of the numbers: I think Cunningham will be an excellent NBA player.

So why does his comp list look so confusing? Mostly, it reflects the extreme risks and rewards of a high-usage, lower-efficiency rookie guard. Walker worked on his jumper and recovered to become an All-Star; Smith and Jennings didn’t; the jury is still out on Anthony. (Ball wasn’t really an inefficient scorer as a rookie; that’s one of the main differences between him and Cunningham, and why he’s not the no. 1 comp here.)

For all of Cunningham’s strengths this season, he’s shooting just 41 percent from the field (32 percent from 3), and his true shooting percentage rates 12 percent below the league average. There’s good reason to think he’ll improve: Cunningham made 40 percent of his college 3s, for instance, and his mid-80s free throw percentages suggest he has a workable stroke from distance. He’ll get easier looks with better teammates.

Yet these early misses also add weight to the predraft concerns about his explosiveness. Cunningham struggles to score in traffic around the basket: He’s made just 56 percent of his shots in the restricted area, according to NBA Advanced Stats, which ranks 76th out of 80 players with at least 200 attempts.

Most worrisome of all is his apparent inability to get free points at the line. In summer league, Cunningham attempted just two free throws in three games. And in the regular season, he’s drawn fouls on just 5.2 percent of his drives, according to Second Spectrum, which ranks 44th out of 54 players with at least 500 drives. Other than fellow rookie Josh Giddey (2.8 percent), every player who ranks below Cunningham by this measure is shorter than him.

While Cunningham should gain more respect from referees as he grows older, his problem is unique even among rookies. This century, 34 rookies have at least a 25 percent usage rate—and Cunningham ranks last among that group in free throw rate. The names closest to him are not inspiring comps.
Lowest Free Throw Rates for High-Usage Rookies This Century
Player Usage Free Throw Attempts Per 100 Field Goal Attempts
Cade Cunningham 27.1% 15.0
Jordan Crawford 27.0% 16.8
Dennis Smith Jr. 28.9% 18.8
Marcus Thornton 25.3% 20.0

Cunningham has some Luka Doncic in his game, as a bigger ball handler with the pace and patience to manipulate defenses. But Luka shot 41 free throws for every 100 field goals in his first season, third highest among the 34 high-usage rookies and nearly three times as many as Cunningham is attempting now.

There’s no shame in not being as resplendent a rookie as Doncic, one of the best young players in NBA history, and I think Cunningham will make multiple All-Star teams in his career. But his rookie season also raises questions about his ceiling as a leading scorer and no. 1 option.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/3/15/22978146/nba-rookie-comps-cade-cunningham-jalen-green

[/quote]
The only one that even makes some sense is Ball. The other guys, two of them have played for Detroit and were nothing like Cade at all.

[zeebneeb]

6’7” Cunningham’s top three comps are all guys that are around 6’1”? Does that make sense to anyone? This is the problem with letting spreadsheets create player comparisons. They’re fairly useless.

From The Ringer:

Cade Cunningham, Pistons (No. 1 Pick)

Top comps: (1) Cole Anthony, (2) Dennis Smith Jr., (3) Kemba Walker, (4) LaMelo Ball, (5) Brandon Jennings

What it means: I want to preface this section by expressing my own personal opinion, independent of the numbers: I think Cunningham will be an excellent NBA player.

So why does his comp list look so confusing? Mostly, it reflects the extreme risks and rewards of a high-usage, lower-efficiency rookie guard. Walker worked on his jumper and recovered to become an All-Star; Smith and Jennings didn’t; the jury is still out on Anthony. (Ball wasn’t really an inefficient scorer as a rookie; that’s one of the main differences between him and Cunningham, and why he’s not the no. 1 comp here.)

For all of Cunningham’s strengths this season, he’s shooting just 41 percent from the field (32 percent from 3), and his true shooting percentage rates 12 percent below the league average. There’s good reason to think he’ll improve: Cunningham made 40 percent of his college 3s, for instance, and his mid-80s free throw percentages suggest he has a workable stroke from distance. He’ll get easier looks with better teammates.

Yet these early misses also add weight to the predraft concerns about his explosiveness. Cunningham struggles to score in traffic around the basket: He’s made just 56 percent of his shots in the restricted area, according to NBA Advanced Stats, which ranks 76th out of 80 players with at least 200 attempts.

Most worrisome of all is his apparent inability to get free points at the line. In summer league, Cunningham attempted just two free throws in three games. And in the regular season, he’s drawn fouls on just 5.2 percent of his drives, according to Second Spectrum, which ranks 44th out of 54 players with at least 500 drives. Other than fellow rookie Josh Giddey (2.8 percent), every player who ranks below Cunningham by this measure is shorter than him.

While Cunningham should gain more respect from referees as he grows older, his problem is unique even among rookies. This century, 34 rookies have at least a 25 percent usage rate—and Cunningham ranks last among that group in free throw rate. The names closest to him are not inspiring comps.
Lowest Free Throw Rates for High-Usage Rookies This Century
Player Usage Free Throw Attempts Per 100 Field Goal Attempts
Cade Cunningham 27.1% 15.0
Jordan Crawford 27.0% 16.8
Dennis Smith Jr. 28.9% 18.8
Marcus Thornton 25.3% 20.0

Cunningham has some Luka Doncic in his game, as a bigger ball handler with the pace and patience to manipulate defenses. But Luka shot 41 free throws for every 100 field goals in his first season, third highest among the 34 high-usage rookies and nearly three times as many as Cunningham is attempting now.

There’s no shame in not being as resplendent a rookie as Doncic, one of the best young players in NBA history, and I think Cunningham will make multiple All-Star teams in his career. But his rookie season also raises questions about his ceiling as a leading scorer and no. 1 option.

https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/3/15/22978146/nba-rookie-comps-cade-cunningham-jalen-green

The only one that even makes some sense is Ball. The other guys, two of them have played for Detroit and were nothing like Cade at all.[/quote]If anyone actually watches Cade play they know immediately that list besides Ball is absurd. Just a simple eye test will tell you that.

Cade had a rough start coming off an injury, no training camp, nothing. Since then his numbers have been really close to Doncic's rookie numbers, and the last 11 games they have been better. He also leads all rookies in clutch time scoring, and is 31st overall in the league. I cannot parse the free-throw disparity either. Cade routinely gets hammered, and drives into contact, and just doesn't get calls. I have no idea why, other then he doesn't really complain all that much, especially like Luka does.

The whole report makes me think whomever wrote it, has watched like 5 games Cade played in.

[Madhouse]

These comparisons are the worst I've ever seen. They make zero sense.

[MotownMadness]

Where does Cade rank as a mid range shooter? I could of swore i watched a video stating he was up there with guys like Derozan percentile wise.

[Madhouse]

Where does Cade rank as a mid range shooter? I could of swore i watched a video stating he was up there with guys like Derozan percentile wise.

[Boardbreaker]

Mobley is a -600 favorite. At this stage in the season, that's too big of a gap to close for the rest.

Barnes has been on equal footing with him and will probably end up having the better overall career.

Vegas had Mac Jones as a heavy favourite with 2-3 weeks left in the regular season. Ja’marr Chase ended up winning. There’s still enough time for the odds to change.

[MotownMadness]

Where does Cade rank as a mid range shooter? I could of swore i watched a video stating he was up there with guys like Derozan percentile wise.

Look at Cam Thomas running out of room for the chart

[Tripod]

Where does Cade rank as a mid range shooter? I could of swore i watched a video stating he was up there with guys like Derozan percentile wise.

Barnes can't shoot they said.

[JackTalkThai]

Where does Cade rank as a mid range shooter? I could of swore i watched a video stating he was up there with guys like Derozan percentile wise.

Just out of curiosity, what is considered “mid range”, particularly in regards to that graph? Is a baby hook from one foot out considered mid range?

[tmorgan]

Can Thomas never met a shot opportunity he didn’t take, but dude can definitely score.

[everdiso]

When is the last time the rookie who was only 5th in rookie scoring had such a "ROY locked up" narrative around him?

[LoveMyRaps]

When is the last time the rookie who was only 5th in rookie scoring had such a "ROY locked up" narrative around him?

It's a weird narrative for sure. Award is far from locked up. It's such a tight race, I can make a strong case for all 3 guys.