This year’s rookie class is proving to be one of the best in recent years, backed by the strong play of Mobley and Barnes.
It’s far too premature to crown the 2021 rookie class among the best ever, though early returns suggest there’s legitimate All-Star potential in several of the youngsters who entered the league this season. And we’ve seen more than mere flashes of this elite talent.
Cavaliers center Evan Mobley and Raptors forward Scottie Barnes sit at the top of their class at the moment, with both players looking more than comfortable with the professional game. Mobley pairs his immense wingspan with the processing speed of a cagey veteran. Barnes is already one of the game’s strongest wings, barreling his way to the rim with ease against even the stoutest interior defenses. Add in a recent charge from Pistons rookie Cade Cunningham, the No. 1 pick in the draft, and we very well could see a three-way battle for Rookie of the Year in the spring. The impressive depth of the 2021 class was evident on draft night. The wealth of potential stars is a more recent development.
Let’s take a look at the top rookies in what’s proving to be an impressive class.
1. Evan Mobley, Cavaliers
It’s been a quiet week for Mobley compared with his rookie counterpart in Toronto, but even the recent charge from Barnes isn’t enough to dislodge Mobley from our top spot. Mobley enters Friday night leading all qualified rookies in blocks, rebounding and defensive rating. Opponents are scoring a laughable 0.55 points per isolation attempt against him. His defense is as good as advertised.
On the offensive end, the Mobley–Darius Garland pairing is outscoring teams by 9.6 points per 100 possessions. That mark is even better when Mobley plays alongside Ricky Rubio, as the duo runs an artful dance near the foul line. His vision and offensive maturity are leaps ahead of most young big men. In a class of precocious talents, Mobley still stands as the leader in the clubhouse.
2. Scottie Barnes, Raptors
Barnes has looked comfortable in the NBA from his first minutes as a professional. His 6' 9" frame is filled out in a manner that is truly reminiscent of a young LeBron, and NBA spacing has unleashed his immense athleticism. But it’s more than the mammoth dunks and highlight swats that have stood out of late. The game is slowing down for Barnes. He’s turning the ball over on a paltry 3.9% of isolation possessions and taking advantage of switches with an increased aggression. Barnes had no trouble going toe-to-toe with Kevin Durant on Tuesday night, and Toronto appears to have an elite two-way force again after Kawhi Leonard’s departure.
3. Cade Cunningham, Pistons
Cunningham’s rookie season has been a little more typical than that of Barnes and Mobley. His team enters Friday night losers of 13 straight, and he’s still yet to crack 40% from the field. Yet the flashes of a future All-NBA talent are increasingly on display. Cunningham has tallied 25-plus points three times in the last seven games. His effective field goal percentage has crept above 50% since Thanksgiving. The No. 1 pick’s impressive vision has been evident since he entered the league, and each night features at least one brilliant read in the pick-and-roll. Becoming a consistent threat as a shooter will unlock his obvious potential.
4. Franz Wagner, Magic
A pair of 20-point performances in Los Angeles over the last week marked the highlight of what’s proving to be an impressive rookie season for the Michigan product. Wagner doesn’t necessarily dominate in any one aspect, though the totality of his skills creates what could be a franchise anchor for years to come. Wagner is shooting 38% from three this season. He sports a smooth handle off the bounce for a player of his size, and his footwork inside the foul line is reminiscent of Orlando’s last impact frontcourt piece. Wagner is even adding some defensive punch, jumping passing lanes to the tune of 1.1 steals per game.
The Magic still seem a touch devoid of direction at the moment, but don’t mistake that for a lack of talent. Wagner is one of numerous Magic youngsters who could make an impact in the coming seasons.
5. Alperen Şengün, Rockets
The word seems to be getting out on Şengün, who drops outrageous dimes on a nightly basis. Yet the Turkish big man is good for much more than the nightly highlight. Şengün ranks third among rookies in true-shooting percentage. He leads his class in John Hollinger’s PER metric. And he’s averaging 1.02 points per post-up possession this season, the fourth-best mark (trailing Jaren Jackson Jr., Durant and Nikola Jokić) of all players with at least 50 attempts. Houston's rookie enters his third month as a pro as one of the most advanced offensive centers in recent memory.
Şengün’s current defensive shortcomings—he’s an absolute foul magnet at the moment—have limited his minutes thus far. But Houston’s young big man would almost certainly be a top-10 pick in a redo of the 2021 draft. There’s true All-Star potential at play here.
6. Josh Giddey, Thunder
Giddey enters Friday mired in a difficult shooting slump—7-for-36 from three in his last five games—though he remains an integral part of Mark Daigneault’s rotation. Giddey leads all rookies in assist percentage. He rebounds 16.7% of opponents’ misses, the 13th-best mark out of 193 qualified guards league-wide. Opponents who attempt to bully the baby-faced Aussie down low are quickly disappointed, and when Giddey gets the ball in the open floor, look out. The 19-year-old has found little difficulty adjusting to the NBA. Whether Giddey can raise his ceiling to an All-Star level is one of the top questions facing Oklahoma City in the coming seasons.
7. Davion Mitchell, Kings
Mitchell has finished in double figures in four of his last five contests, and he helped drive a Sacramento win over the Wizards in his first career start Wednesday. It’s not hard to see why Mitchell joined the starting group. He provides a dogged backcourt presence to the NBA’s No. 28-ranked defense, a group that ranks in the bottom third in turnovers generated. There’s a blueprint for some degree of success in Sacramento, one predicated on Mitchell’s defense complementing diminutive guards De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton. The Baylor product has held up his end of the bargain thus far.
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Rookie Highlight of the Week: Alperen Şengün, Rockets
We highlighted Şengün’s brilliance above, but this pass from Monday’s win in Atlanta is too good not to share. There are only a handful of players in the league who would even dream of this pass, let alone a 6' 10" rookie. Şengün’s sporadic minutes are enough to make a Rockets broadcast worthwhile even as Houston works through a rebuild.
Rookie Riser: James Bouknight, Hornets
There’s concern Bouknight can fall into Malik Monk territory in Charlotte, struggling to make a consistent impact as a slim, shoot-first guard. But the UConn product showed a glimmer of his microwave scoring ability in a win over the Kings on Dec. 10. Bouknight finished the evening with 24 points on 9-for-14 shooting, canning six triples in the process. He isn’t a consistent part of James Borrego’s rotation quite yet, though that could change when the calendar turns to 2022.
Rookie Matchup to Watch: Raptors vs. Magic – Monday, Dec. 20
We should see a pair of skilled forwards matched up plenty in Orlando on Monday night as Barnes and Wagner square off. It’s too bad Jalen Suggs won’t be available for the matchup, where the No. 5 pick in the 2021 draft could have worked toward a slight rookie-year revenge game (the Raptors chose Barnes over Suggs at No. 4). We’ll settle for the frontcourt battle for now, keeping an eye on Wagner’s attempt to corral one of the most advanced rookie wings in recent memory.
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