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This year's rookie class has, so far, fully lived up to the pre-draft hype that a lot of NBA analysts attached to it. We have 3 players who're shouldering a heavy, franchise player-like workload for their teams, and they're excelling at their roles to a point where it's clear that they have superstar potential - you'll learn their names soon enough.
What's also encouraging is that nearly every rookie has turned out to have strengths as we expected them to have, but they spent the offseason brushing up on the weaker parts of their game - most of them, at least - and the difference between their Summer League and regular season performances is absolutely clear.
Also read: The Favorites to win NBA Rookie of The Year 2018-19
Who're the likeliest rookies to win the award next June, based on the first fortnight of NBA action? Read on to find out!
#5 Josh Okogie
The rookie leader in steals per game so far by a sizeable margin, Okogie has been a revelation for the Minnesota Timberwolves. He got his chance after initially tallying 2 DNPs when Jimmy Butler rested a game. He then took the floor for 30+ minutes in the following few games due to Andrew Wiggins being out with a quad contusion.
In six games, the No. 20 pick out of Georgia Tech is averaging 9.8 points (8th among rookies) and 5.3 rebounds (sixth).
Okogie is a Marcus Smart variety of player, whose impact on the game is far more than box scores show. A tenacious defender at 6'8" and able to guard up to 4 positions, the rookie has impressed mightily with his energy and hustle. His offense needs a lot of improvement, but he's unequivocally the best defender in the 2018 rookie class so far.
#4 Marvin Bagley III
The Sacramento Kings boast of a 6-3 record right now, and while sophomore De'Aaron Fox has been the key to their success, their second unit has been offensively propped up by Bagley. While Bagley was more of a typical post-up player at Duke, he’s an All-World athlete at 6'11" who will be one of the league's most terrifying rim-runners in the years to come.
Despite playing only 23.3 minutes per game, Bagley is currently 4th in scoring (12.4 ppg) & 2nd in rebounding (7.1 rpg) among rookies. He's shooting 53.4 percent overall and 5-for-9 from 3-point land - translating his sparingly used shooting range from college to the pros already.
His best performance came Oct. 23 in a loss to the Nuggets. He finished with 20 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks in 32 minutes. Bagley is primed for a starting role if/when Willey-Cauley Stein slows down, and will have the stats to match the top 3 players on this chart then onwards.
#3 Trae Young
The No. 5 pick has been hit-or-miss as a scorer, but he's already established himself as an above-average point guard on offence due to his ravishingly good playmaking skills. In the Hawks’ third game of the season, Young went off for 35 points and 11 assists, while going 6-for-14 from downtown in a 131-117 loss to the Grizzlies. He’s only the third rookie since 2000 to drop 35 and 10 - LeBron James and Stephen Curry are the other two players to have achieved this feat.
What we’re going to see from Young through the course of this season will be a mix of briliant performances interspersed between typical rookie struggles - magnified by being on the weakest roster in the league. He leads all rookies in assists (6.6 per game) and the Hawks will provide him with every opportunity to shine individually.
#2 DeAndre Ayton
The No. 1 overall pick has lived up to the hype early in the season, averaging a double-double (16.9 ppg, 10 rpg). What's sold me on even more to Ayton is how much better he's on defense right now than he was advertised to be during the draft. Sure, he's still a net negative as a rim protector, but he has much better instincts than given credit for by scouts who only watched him play man-to-man marking in college basketball.
Ayton is shooting at a 61.6-percent clip (85.7 pct. on free throws). Another underrated aspect of his game during the pre-draft talk was his ability to facilitate, which he has showcased plentily already - he's really comfortable passing the rock out of the post.
Expect Ayton and the next player on this list to be at loggerheads for the Rookie of the Year award all season long.
#1 Luka Doncic
If you thought there was any other player as NBA-ready as an 18-year-old Euroleague MVP and Final Four MVP in the 2018 draft class, you clearly don't hold European ball with the respect it deserves. Doncic has been the most consistently entertaining rookie, and it’s the well-rounded nature of his game that sets him apart from every other rookie
The thing with Doncic is that he looks so comfortable being the Mavs’ leader. He’s already the team’s top scorer (19.6 ppg, first among rookies) and got 31 points and eight rebounds in a tough 113-108 overtime loss in San Antonio on Monday.
Doncic is a much better scorer than most people envisaged him to be in his rookie season, and his feel for the game looks to be at Manu Ginobili, James Harden levels of excellence. Tune in to the Mavericks for the NBA's latest wunderkind and the Rookie of the Year frontrunner, for Luka is must-watch TV.
