| RANK | ROOKIE | RUNDOWN | RECENT |
| 1 |  |
DAMIAN LILLARD, G, PORTLAND: Captured third straight Rookie of the Month and heating up from the arc lately. In case you care, John Wall, Brandon Jennings, Al Horford, Carmelo Anthony and Caron Butler are only rookies to win four monthly awards and not win Rookie of the Year. | 1 |
| 2 |  |
ANTHONY DAVIS, F-C, NEW ORLEANS: Just went through Monty Williams’ four-day in-season mini-camp and responded by scoring in single digits for the first time in seven games with one rebound. Consistency is getting there and ceiling is obviously limitless. So how about a breakout game, kid? | 3 |
| 3 |  |
ANDRE DRUMMOND, F-C, DETROIT: Squandered a chance to get himself some real pub as he tried to one-hand last-second lob in loss to Lakers when two hands would have given him a signature highlight. Has made just five of his last 27 free throws. Bad back has limited minutes lately. | 2 |
| 4 |  |
DION WAITERS, G, CLEVELAND: Still doesn’t have quite the consistency Cavs coach Byron Scott is looking for. But with C.J. Miles out, he is getting plenty of minutes and opportunities. Shooting is improving, playmaking still strong. And hey, he’s healthy, which certainly counts. | 5 |
| 5 |  |
HARRISON BARNES, F, GOLDEN STATE: Returned from a one-game absence due to a knee injury to average 15.3 points on 66 percent shooting (23-of-35) in four games. Increase in production is directly correlative to Andrew Bogut’s presence in the pivot, which wasn’t the case earlier this season. | 8 |
| 6 |  |
KYLE SINGLER, F, DETROIT: The trade of Tayshaun Prince should give him more minutes and he made the most of them this week with 12.0 points and 5.3 rebounds in four games. Shooting 9-of-18 from the arc in last seven games. An obvious sub for the Rising Stars if MKG, Drummond or Beal can’t go. | 7 |
| 7 |  |
BRADLEY BEAL, G, WASHINGTON: Hasn’t played this month due to a wrist injury, missing the last five games. He has to get back on the court to stay in these rankings. At least he didn’t hurt his wrist the way Sacramento rookie Lionel Simmons did many years ago. | 4 |
| 8 |  |
ALEXEY SHVED, G, MINNESOTA: Still getting his numbers (11.3 ppg, 4.8 apg in four games) but shot just 35 percent (16-of-46) this week and has made more than half his shots just once since Dec. 14. With Wolves in irreversible slide, it might be time for an extended look at Shved-Rubio backcourt. | 10 |
| 9 |  |
JEFFERY TAYLOR, G-F, CHARLOTTE: Appears to be unwilling to be dragged down by his team’s myriad issues as he put together three double-digit games for the first time since November. Also shot 64 percent (14-of-22) overall and 6-of-11 from the arc. Welcome back, young man. | – |
| 10 |  |
MOE HARKLESS, F, ORLANDO: Playing huge minutes lately (30-plus in last six games) and averaged 10.8 points, 9.0 rebounds and 2.3 steals in four games this week. Has missed his last eight 3-pointers, however. Orlando is going nowhere and should play him until he collapses. | – |
DROPOUTS: Tyler Zeller, C, Cleveland (6); Thomas Robinson, F, Sacramento (9).
FIVE TO WATCH: Bernard James, C, Dallas; John Jenkins, G, Atlanta; Andrew Nicholson, F, Orlando; Jonas Valanciunas, F-C, Toronto; Tyler Zeller, C, Cleveland.
PREVIOUS RANKINGS: Rookie | Power | Most Improved | MVP | Sixth Man
Chris Bernucca is the deputy editor of SheridanHoops.com. His columns appear Monday during the season. You can follow him on Twitter.
Pages: 1 2
Do you think Davis would have a legit shot at ROY if he played more minutes?? His PER and per/36m number are great, but Monty refuses to play him more than 30mins and often not even 20.
Thomas,
I don’t watch them a lot, but what’s going on down there is befuddling. I don’t know why Ryan Anderson comes off the bench. I don’t know why Austin Rivers isn’t in the D League building his confidence. And I don’t know why Davis doesn’t play more. I think he should. As for PER, don’t know how many writers actually use that as a deciding factor. If they did, they would have to vote for Drummond. In my opinion, it’s another number. It’s not THE number. And if the Blazers make the playoffs, no one else has a chance. Thanks for reading.
just to say, exactly. WHY is austin rivers playing? (well, why was he drafted that high?) but clearly he’s not close to ready. And anderson off the bench? Its all very oddly managed.
good points. Its always what makes this fascinating……….zeller had a bad week, but only offensively. But again, that team added speights and the rotation changed. Its tricky to evaluate these kids. Taylor and Hark on terrible teams………..Zeller on a slightly less terrible team……..who has helped their terrible team more? hard call.
good list. I think zeller stays on there…….glad Bernard James got a hon men at least. Honestly, jeff taylor should be about number three……..the guy has been sensational and i feel validated for saying he should have been a top twenty pick before last years draft. And i would drop waiters down if not out of this list………he’s learning, but right now misses way too many shots and gets lost on D way too often. Barnes also continues to have defensive problems. I drop waiters and Barnes and add Zeller or even T Robb. Its so hard on awful teams like the Kings. Poor Tyreke, poor jimmer and poor T Robb………its impossible to really evaluate any of them.
Stepxxxxz,
Thanks for reading. You make some fair points. But it is SO hard to consistently score in this league. Eleven players average 20 ppg; just over 25 percent score in double figures. Six rooks score in dubs. So I give that a little weight. Just thought Zeller had a bad week while other guys had good ones. And Harkless is on a REALLY bad team but he got it done this week. And yes, it’s tough sometimes. CB