This year rookies in the NBA had high expectations. There were a handful of players who were expected to be stars. Others have come out of nowhere to be solid contributors. Let’s look at the top rookies right now.
5. Keegan Murray Kings
An extremely hot start to his NBA career in the NBA Summer League as well as the preseason had people thinking that Murray would be a candidate for Rookie of the Year. So far he has been solid but the Kings have a ton of other scorers who take shots from him compared to other top rookies.
4. Jaden Ivey Pistons
A slow start for Ivey but he has now broken out likely due to Cade Cunningham being injured. He now can play with the ball in his hands more and shoot the ball more as well.
3. Walker Kessler Jazz
Early in the season Kessler was buried on the bench and the Jazz were playing extremely well. As their overall play declined and Kelly Olynyk got hurt, Kessler has seen big minutes and has had some massive rebound and block games so far.
2. Benedict Mathurin Pacers
This rookie looked like he was going to take the league by storm early in the season. Since December he has cooled off but he is starting to pick up his play yet again recently.
1. Paolo Banchero Magic
Banchero has been a monster all season long. An injury gave him a minor setback early on but he is right back to being a fringe All Star in just his first season.
Photo Credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Keegan_Murray_2022.jpg
