2021-22 NBA Rookie Thread (part 5)

[srhcan]

I feel like Duarte gets slept on in terms of which rookies are playing well right now because he's like 5 years older than some of these dudes but he's been good

He's such a baller. Great shooter, great playmaker, high IQ, and a solid defender. It sucks that he's 24 years old already but I'd love to have him on my squad. I wonder if Pacers consider trading him.

one positive from older rookies they are locked up thru there prime in small markets...cant be ufa till what he turns 31? you draft 19 yr old they can walk right at start of prime

You should know more than anybody, remember Orlando stole Tracy McGrady from Toronto

[whitehops]

I feel like Duarte gets slept on in terms of which rookies are playing well right now because he's like 5 years older than some of these dudes but he's been good

he started hot so he got some notice then but the pacers got some players healthy again which limited his opportunities.

he has a nice game and i'm honestly not too concerned about his age. skill/IQ is more important than "potential" simply because of a player's youth. lillard, mccollum, fred vanvleet, butler, draymond green, etc. were all 3/4 year players in college and besides lillard they all started slow but became darn good players.

heck even HOF players like steve nash and tim duncan were 4-year college players. i'm not trying to predict how duarte turns out, i'm just saying skill+bball IQ are two of the most important factors for a player hanging in the league, regardless of what age they are.

[kane0801]

Jalen Green is so unimpressive,seems like another 2nd pick bust

[thelead]

Scottie Barnes heard you guys talking about a rookie wall

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I didn't get to catch the game. Did he look healthier and more active? He just didn't look right to me physically (and energy-wise) over the last few weeks.

[The Moose]

Watch on YouTube

[orlando_joe]

He's such a baller. Great shooter, great playmaker, high IQ, and a solid defender. It sucks that he's 24 years old already but I'd love to have him on my squad. I wonder if Pacers consider trading him.

one positive from older rookies they are locked up thru there prime in small markets...cant be ufa till what he turns 31? you draft 19 yr old they can walk right at start of prime

You should know more than anybody, remember Orlando stole Tracy McGrady from Toronto

i do ..he came back home to florida..magic have lost there share

[orlando_joe]

Scottie Barnes heard you guys talking about a rookie wall

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how can you hit a wall at only 8 games a month? when he plays 3 months in a row of 15 then sure i can see hitting a wall
he did have a great game shooting!

[orlando_joe]

suggs last night 22/4/9/2/2
since back 5 games 14.8/5.6/5.2
and great d
still needs work on turnovers but looking solid

[lobosloboslobos]

Scottie Barnes heard you guys talking about a rookie wall

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I didn't get to catch the game. Did he look healthier and more active? He just didn't look right to me physically (and energy-wise) over the last few weeks.

Absolutey. Much looser and more comfortable looking. He has definitely had a lingering hip injury that has slowed him and he was still getting treatment on it during the game, but it seems to be a lot better thankfully. Shot 12-19 and was killing it in the paint.

Watch on YouTube

[PD28]

Scottie Barnes heard you guys talking about a rookie wall

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how can you hit a wall at only 8 games a month? when he plays 3 months in a row of 15 then sure i can see hitting a wall
he did have a great game shooting!

The Rookie Wall is just teams adjusting and figuring out a player, that can happen at any point in their rookie careers. There are still some rookies that still haven't had a good 5 game stretch yet in their careers lol so we can't even say a Rookie Wall for them yet.

[HumbleRen]

I’m not giving up on Jalen Green but my stance has never changed. Picking Green over Mobley was malpractice.

[whitehops]

I’m not giving up on Jalen Green but my stance has never changed. Picking Green over Mobley was malpractice.

i'm not really worried about his relatively slow start - i think he'll still be a microwave scorer in the league.

the problem is that he hasn't shown (even pre-draft) that he can impact the game besides scoring. and compared to a handful of other rookies who are showing they can impact the game in many ways, green's one-dimensionalness just stands out even more.

[LoveMyRaps]

suggs last night 22/4/9/2/2
since back 5 games 14.8/5.6/5.2
and great d
still needs work on turnovers but looking solid

Yezzzzzzzir. It's comical how quickly people gave up on this guy. I never stopped believing once that he'll become a bonafide star in this league eventually. His only weakness is his outside shooting and handles and only reason those aren't strengths of his is because he hasn't played basketball nearly enough compared to other top rookies (i.e. lack of reps) since he used to be a football player. Give this dude some time, he's gonna be Orlando's big star for years to come.

So many young, promising players on Orlando. Off the top of my head I believe they have the best young crop moving forward:
A-level prospects: Suggs, Wagner, WCJ, Cole (though I don't see him being part of the team long term)
B-level prospects: Bamba, Hampton

I just hope every single one of those guys has long and healthy career. I was pretty high on Isaac (and still am) but it's unfortunate how injuries impeded his progress.

[K_chile22]

I’m not giving up on Jalen Green but my stance has never changed. Picking Green over Mobley was malpractice.

i'm not really worried about his relatively slow start - i think he'll still be a microwave scorer in the league.

the problem is that he hasn't shown (even pre-draft) that he can impact the game besides scoring. and compared to a handful of other rookies who are showing they can impact the game in many ways, green's one-dimensionalness just stands out even more.

I think he'll be more than a "microwave scorer" but that may just be semantics. I, like Mike Schmitz, think he has a good shot to lead the league in scoring one day.

But otherwise yeah. He was showing nice passing flashes earlier in the year but those are just gone now. not sure what's up with that but he was making a ton of nice interior passes and now he just goes up for the shot every time he drives which results in throwing a bunch of junk shots at the rim. Not sure if the game is too fast for him rn or what.
Also did not realize how slim/weak he was until I saw him in an NBA game. He just bounces off everyone right now which really limits his ability to get off the ground and use his athleticism.

[whitehops]

I think he'll be more than a "microwave scorer" but that may just be semantics. I, like Mike Schmitz, think he has a good shot to lead the league in scoring one day.

But otherwise yeah. He was showing nice passing flashes earlier in the year but those are just gone now. not sure what's up with that but he was making a ton of nice interior passes and now he just goes up for the shot every time he drives which results in throwing a bunch of junk shots at the rim. Not sure if the game is too fast for him rn or what.
Also did not realize how slim/weak he was until I saw him in an NBA game. He just bounces off everyone right now which really limits his ability to get off the ground and use his athleticism.

yeah i know microwave scorer is usually a term for like sixth man types that just come in and get a bucket, but that's really not what i meant. i didn't want to use the word elite so i probably should have went with the term great scorer? i had a feeling microwave scorer wouldn't get my meaning across, my bad.

and yeah i wouldn't be too worried about his frame tbh. plenty of guys have come in slender (just look at lavine, one of his nba comps) and while they never end up playing bully ball they get strong enough to handle contact, which is all green needs.

in my eyes how good green becomes will always depend on how well he can create offense for others, defend adequately and make the small, "intangible" plays.

[John Murdoch]

1st time i watched Suggs last night vs my Lakers...agreesive player but low IQ...nearly every attempt he would go for a highlight dunk that resulted in a charge. Maybe if he settles down he can have a nice career but i personally would take Talen over him

[ConSarnit]

suggs last night 22/4/9/2/2
since back 5 games 14.8/5.6/5.2
and great d
still needs work on turnovers but looking solid

Yezzzzzzzir. It's comical how quickly people gave up on this guy. I never stopped believing once that he'll become a bonafide star in this league eventually. His only weakness is his outside shooting and handles and only reason those aren't strengths of his is because he hasn't played basketball nearly enough compared to other top rookies (i.e. lack of reps) since he used to be a football player. Give this dude some time, he's gonna be Orlando's big star for years to come.

So many young, promising players on Orlando. Off the top of my head I believe they have the best young crop moving forward:
A-level prospects: Suggs, Wagner, WCJ, Cole (though I don't see him being part of the team long term)
B-level prospects: Bamba, Hampton

I just hope every single one of those guys has long and healthy career. I was pretty high on Isaac (and still am) but it's unfortunate how injuries impeded his progress.

I feel like outside shooting and handles might be pretty important for a guard. I'm not going to write Suggs off but he's possibly the worst shooting rookie of all-time. A guard who has loose handles and terrible shooting doesn't bode well for him becoming a "bonafide" star.

And Suggs has played pretty high level basketball since grade 8, so I'm not exactly sure where you're getting this idea he doesn't have the reps.

I don't know why there is this idea that they need to get rid of Anthony to make room for Suggs. He's only a year older and might just be flat out better than Suggs. Keep the better guy.

[basketballRob]

suggs last night 22/4/9/2/2
since back 5 games 14.8/5.6/5.2
and great d
still needs work on turnovers but looking solid

Yezzzzzzzir. It's comical how quickly people gave up on this guy. I never stopped believing once that he'll become a bonafide star in this league eventually. His only weakness is his outside shooting and handles and only reason those aren't strengths of his is because he hasn't played basketball nearly enough compared to other top rookies (i.e. lack of reps) since he used to be a football player. Give this dude some time, he's gonna be Orlando's big star for years to come.

So many young, promising players on Orlando. Off the top of my head I believe they have the best young crop moving forward:
A-level prospects: Suggs, Wagner, WCJ, Cole (though I don't see him being part of the team long term)
B-level prospects: Bamba, Hampton

I just hope every single one of those guys has long and healthy career. I was pretty high on Isaac (and still am) but it's unfortunate how injuries impeded his progress.

I feel like outside shooting and handles might be pretty important for a guard. I'm not going to write Suggs off but he's possibly the worst shooting rookie of all-time. A guard who has loose handles and terrible shooting doesn't bode well for him becoming a "bonafide" star.

And Suggs has played pretty high level basketball since grade 8, so I'm not exactly sure where you're getting this idea he doesn't have the reps.

I don't know why there is this idea that they need to get rid of Anthony to make room for Suggs. He's only a year older and might just be flat out better than Suggs. Keep the better guy.

Anthony struggled with his handle and shooting his first 20 games of his rookie season.

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[HotelVitale]

He's such a baller. Great shooter, great playmaker, high IQ, and a solid defender. It sucks that he's 24 years old already but I'd love to have him on my squad. I wonder if Pacers consider trading him.

one positive from older rookies they are locked up thru there prime in small markets...cant be ufa till what he turns 31? you draft 19 yr old they can walk right at start of prime

You should know more than anybody, remember Orlando stole Tracy McGrady from Toronto

Yeah, but no player that a team really wanted to keep and had RFA rights for has EVER left that team. It could happen at some point but right now we've never seen it happen, agents understandably hate the idea of not only earning one year less of a max (your QO year) but also exposing yourself to 2+ full years of injury risk before you get that huge second deal in hand. Right now that's the type of thing fans talk about all the time on sites like this but isn't really a consideration for almost any NBA player.

In the case of TMac, I don't think they had RFA rights (some fact check that?) and they weren't willing to max him. Also didn't help that he wanted a bigger role and beefed with coaches, but he still probably would've stuck if the team could've extended him in his 3rd year and he would've had to do the whole QO routine.

[Van_Trump]

Games PpG MpG
Cade Cunningham DET 36 15.6 31.9
Franz Wagner ORL 47 15.3 32.3
Evan Mobley CLE 38 15 34.2
Scottie Barnes TOR 36 14.8 35.5
Chris Duarte IND 38 13.5 29.1
Josh Giddey OKC 40 11.6 30.7
Davion Mitchell SAC 41 9.1 24.7
Herbert Jones NOP 42 9.1 29.2

Interesting stat for me is Minutes per game. I know most rookies are just not used to playing 30 minutes a game. And a lot more games per season. All of these top minute rookies are going to suffer from fatigue. This will lead to a drop in performance and/or injury.
Minutes per game is important because the respective teams can't afford to leave these guys on the bench. The drop off when the veteran strubs come on is too high.

Site where I got the stats: https://www.statmuse.com/nba/ask/nba-rookie-leaders-in-points