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Who would some candidates be?

Hakeem? Deke? Etc

Russell and DRob are the first names that come to mind. Most players come in on a bit of a learning curve; coming in with 4 years of college under your belt definitely helps.

penbeast0 wrote:Russell and DRob are the first names that come to mind. Most players come in on a bit of a learning curve; coming in with 4 years of college under your belt definitely helps.

Wilt as well.

Tim Duncan was pretty bonkers. Led the NBA in defensive win shares (yes, this stat is not perfect), putting up a crazy 7.2. Second in defensive rebounds behind only Rodman. Sixth in blocks. All-Defensive 2nd team. His impact was off the charts from the get-go.

I'd like to give a shout to Brevin Knight though. His Cavs was a very good defensive team, but the man had some crazy steal rate (4.2%; led the league in total steals, too). Top 10 in defensive win shares. A very smart and pesky defender. And one of the very few rookies that received DPOY votes (was surprised to learn that Andrés Nocioni is on that list).

70sFan wrote:

penbeast0 wrote:Russell and DRob are the first names that come to mind. Most players come in on a bit of a learning curve; coming in with 4 years of college under your belt definitely helps.

Wilt as well.

Are guys like Kareem , Zo in the conversation?

Kareem was a good defender and improved as his rookie season progressed, but I do not think he was at the level of rookie Hakeem or rookie Wilt, to say nothing of rookie Russell.

George Mikan worth mentioning, going back to the 1940s. Maurice Stokes in 1955 was a stand-out too. Thurmond conceivably could have been if dropped onto a hapless team, but instead he spent his rookie year as the second big next to Wilt.

Lot of respect for Duncan overall but do not think the rookie signal was up to par defensively, with acknowledgement that playing next to Robinson is defensively analogous to Thurmond playing next to Wilt. In the 1990s, I am more impressed by rookie Mutombo and Mourning, and I am not even sure either were the most defensively impactful Georgetown rookies.

For me the clear top four is Russell, Wilt, Robinson, and Hakeem, and any top options after become tough to demarcate.

penbeast0 wrote: Most players come in on a bit of a learning curve; coming in with 4 years of college under your belt definitely helps.

Not great defensive bigs—almost all of them were big plus defenders from the get-go with few exceptions. It might be a little bit harder now for rookies because playing defense as a center has a lot more components to it than it did in the 90s or 80s or 70s or 60s, but even now, Wemby and Chet were big plus def elders from the jump.

It was always amazing to hear the old cliché people throw out about (not you but in general) how “it takes a lot longer to adjust for bigs because they have to learn post moves, etc., etc,” completely ignoring the defensive side of the ball. The most immediate impact any basketball player has made as a rookie of the last 50 years at least has been a good defensive big player right from his rookie year

Russell, wilt, Thurmond, Kareem, Walton, Ewing, Hakeem, DRob, Duncan, Mourning, etc., etc.

Some wing choices from what I noticed

Rookie Andre Iggy, - impressive timing , wingspan to disrupt plays

Rookie Artest


Rookie Michael Cooper - not a lot of counting defensive stats but visibly a very impressive “suffocating “ defender even as a rookie

1993Playoffs wrote:Some wing choices from what I noticed

Rookie Andre Iggy, - impressive timing , wingspan to disrupt plays

Rookie Artest

Rookie Michael Cooper - not a lot of counting defensive stats but visibly a very impressive “suffocating “ defender even as a rookie

For other non-bigs: 1975 Bobby Jones, 1982 Buck Williams, 1995 Eddie Jones, 2002 Kirilenko, 2002 Battier (awful team though), and more recently, 2022 Herb Jones.