2015 Rookies Thread

[NovU]

Remember how much we were excited about Michael Carter-Williams around this time last year? Well, excitement is on again, this year.. err, we have Bojan Bogdanovic for the best rookie so far into the season. This is a fact no matter which angle you look from. LoL

It's kinda disappointing to see supposedly the Best Rookie Class since LBJ/Wade/Bosh year getting off to such a slow start. All but just teasers of potential from big names like Wiggins, Jabari, Exum, Nerlens, and Smart.

As for who were considered 2nd tier in the draft, McDermott kinda stands out a little bit as he's made a rotation on a very nice team. But you probably want to see more than 5ppg from him. Elfrid Payton? He could have been this year's MCW but his shooting is x2 worse than MCW so Kidd will probably limit his upside.

Out of 3rd tier rookies, KJ McDaniels is worth a mention. This guy's making a name as freak defender. Possibly he is already the best blocking guard in today's league. He's averaging 1.7blk per game in 23.7 minutes per game.



Anyway here's the best rookie so far.

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It'd be funny for Bojan to become a second foreign player ever to win ROY, out of class that's considered strongest ever in this new era.


Feel free to bring your thoughts and discussion about rookies here.

[Bruce]

I see a lot of talent in this draft class, but like you said, this early it is disappointing as the media was trying to sell this draft class to be at par with the 2004 (LBJ,Melo,Wade) draft class.

Agreed that Bojan is doing well, but at 25 yrs old it is also a given that he is older than most draftees. My bet before the draft was that Jabari would be far better than everyone expected (or at least much better that wiggins). I was also expecting that James Young would be a sleeper in this draft, that also has not panned out yet. Biggest disappointment for me so far is Stauskas, I though he'd be where Bojan is at right now. Biggest unknowns for me is KJ McDaniels and Jusuf Nurkic, at least on paper it seems that these two would have some sort of a career in the NBA.

[Kevin]

I think anyone could look good if they make highlights of their plays.

[NovU]

Agreed that Bojan is doing well, but at 25 yrs old it is also a given that he is older than most draftees. My bet before the draft was that Jabari would be far better than everyone expected (or at least much better that wiggins). I was also expecting that James Young would be a sleeper in this draft, that also has not panned out yet. Biggest disappointment for me so far is Stauskas, I though he'd be where Bojan is at right now. Biggest unknowns for me is KJ McDaniels and Jusuf Nurkic, at least on paper it seems that these two would have some sort of a career in the NBA.

Agreed on all cylinders. Jabari I thought was going to be a clear winner in 'Wiggins vs Parker' conversation at least for this year but hard to say so. Stauskas is a big disappointment as well. I also thought he'd be doing something close to what Bojan is doing right now but Ben McLemore completely shunned him. Nurkic's unfortunate that the team has so many bigs. But I think he's shown enough that he's a NBA talent for sure. He has good chance to be a freak rebounder but we aren't going to see that this year.


However verdict is not out yet for James Young and Mitch McGary. Once they are healthy, maybe they can crack a rotation.

[NovU]

Bogdanovic bounces back nicely with 22 points on efficient 8-11 shooting, 4-5 from downtown.

TJ Warren in the meantime makes a debut quitely.

[Mandich]

If only he could stay consistent, could be a 15 ppg guy for his career.

[Stress Fracture]

Jordan Clarkson has been inconsistent. Not surr if it's just rookie jitters or Byron Scott not giving him his minutes.

[NovU]

If only he could stay consistent, could be a 15 ppg guy for his career.

That's certainly feasible in his prime under right circumstance. He's already doing a 10ppg.

I know he's older but he's adapting to the league fast. He's still no Drazen Petrovic but he reminds you of Jao Athletic version 2.1 so you have more reasons to root for him. Now, he's no shot creator much but he's extremely smart and is a capable shooter in wide frame body for a perimeter player. His high basketball IQ and quality shooting will carry him through successful prime years in this league imo.

[Mandich]

He doesn't really have any more room to grow, nor does he have the work ethic of Petrovic. 15 ppg(and I mean throughout his NBA career) would be great, anything above highly unlikely.

[NovU]

Here we go. Jabari Parker is playing some serious rookie ball now days. He's probably a ROY so far given how things work in voting. And it looks like only KJ McDaniels can challenge him at the moment.

It's worth noting that Brett Brown limited KJ McDaniels's minutes for some stretch earlier this season but it appears days of him logging minutes in the teens are over. Jabari has played many more minutes than KJ so difference in stats is kinda deceptive. This competition for ROY will be a fun one. Too bad Canadian kid has fallen out of the picture despite favorable situation in Minny. Also Croatian mature rookie has been struggling so it's probably a safe bet that this will be a race between KJ and Jabari.

My guess is Jabari Parker will win it at the end, but KJ will deserve it more(at least by my standard).

EDIT: NVM, just took a close look at Jabari's stats. He's no ordinary rookie.

[Spree#8]

McDaniels' limited minutes at the beginning of the season were likely caused by Brown getting kinda pissed at him for missing rotations on defense (then again, most people on the Sixers lose them often). He's a very good individual defender and a weakside shotblocker, but in terms of team defense, rotations and general awareness he has a lot to learn.

Even if he did deserve ROTY, he will lose out to Parker and/or Wiggins due to hype alone. 1st Team All-Rookie is looking like a possibility though if he can keep his level of play up.

[NovU]

MITCH MCGARY SIGHTING. I've told you guys I liked this rookie well before this season. He put together a couple nice games, double double quite efficiently.

17pts 10reb
19pts 10reb

Was hoping the Heat would draft this kid instead of LBJ's handpicked boy Napier. Oh well. Do you guys see this kid pulling off second Hassan Whiteside kinda surprise of this year?

Another mention worthy rookie these days is Jusuf Nurkic. With Mozgov out of town, he's getting a chance to showcase his skillset and it seems like he belongs to this league. Not consistent but that's expected from rookies.

As for early season ROTY candidate Bogdanovic, he's now off the discussion. He's been very inconsistent. Kinda disappointing after a very promising start to the season. As for KJ, up & down season continues. But certainly, I like his upside. It almost makes me think the 76ers are holding him back because they want to sign him cheap. Who knows.

Wiggins: He locked up ROTY award with emergence from awhile back.

What you guys think of rookies?

[NovU]

How do you guys think Wiggins will pan out? No doubt this kid's got the talent. But I don't know he's a point forward, he doesn't seem to have a handle which imo is harder to teach than shooting. Perhaps, Carmelo with defense but less scoring?

And Marcus Smart. I think this kid has a good potential. He's looking alright for a 20 years old kid. He's not a natural PG but more suited for defense oriented SG that can score like Corey Maggette. Avery Bradley is redundant in my opinion especially as neither can facilitate. So I think Isaiah and Marcus should be kept as piece going forward and use Avery as a trade asset. I'm not entirely sold on Celtics' bigs though, Sullinger, Zellers, and Olynyk are all looking like above avg players but with flaws of their own. Sullinger can shoot but has a slow release and sucks at rim protection. Olynyk is a shooter but soft. Zellers is tall but easily pushed around. And Celtics' wings aren't anything special. It looks like only 'must keep' pieces are Marcus with potential and Isaiah with a friendly contract.

[Andrew]

I think he has a bright future. I'm not sure about him being a franchise player yet, but certainly a star. He had a slow start and he hasn't exactly the shot the lights out, but that's not uncommon for a rookie. I remember some people writing off Kevin Durant because his shooting and efficiency wasn't tip-top in his first season, an opinion that looks pretty silly these days. I'm not saying Wiggins will be Durant, but once players establish themselves as stars, we tend to forget their early days of growing and adjusting to the NBA, and we're harsher in our analysis of new rookies as a result.