Ah, another week, and yet again, another Rookie Ladder with Cleveland Cavaliers big Evan Mobley not in the pole position. On the plus side, after falling a spot last week, he came back strong to stand pat at number two. However, if you didn’t know about the Orlando Magic’s Franz Wagner after I wrote about him in last week’s article, you should now. Especially after the spectacular week he had.
For the second week in a row, Wagner landed at the top rung on Kia’s Rookie Ladder. Following him was a crowd of guys that have been near the top all season in Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes, and of course, Cade Cunningham. Below those guys, are some young hoopers that are quickly rising the ladder. Josh Giddey of the Oklahoma City Thunder finished out the top five, while Jalen Green made the jump to sixth.
It’s important to note the roles that some of these guys have on their respective teams. For a guy like Cade Cunningham, the entire Detroit Pistons organization is counting on him to become a star. On the other side of things, while Evan Mobley has been exceptional all season, he isn’t asked to carry the load for a young Cavalier team. Wagner’s role on the Magic is sort of a mix of both Mobley and Cunningham’s roles. Right now, Wagner is one of the only players on the Magic’s roster keeping the team afloat for extended stretches.
With that being said, there’s a reason why it seems like the top three or four rookies are in the top five every week. They are essential to their teams’ success or failure. It also makes what those guys are doing that much more impressive, considering the spots they were drafted in.
Wagner wins Rookie of the Month
After Evan Mobley won Rookie of the Month for October and November, Wagner is the latest rookie to bring home the award in the Eastern Conference. The man from Michigan averaged 19.5 points per game, added five rebounds, and dished out three assists per contest throughout December. With closing on three months of full NBA basketball in his pocket, it looks as if he’s only going to improve as the year goes on.
As I stated earlier, the Magic are in a tough spot right now. Orlando has lost seven straight, with their next game coming on Saturday versus Cade Cunningham and the Pistons. Wagner will need to keep playing well for the Magic to be able to even contend in some of these games.
Clearly Wagner has grown into one of the best, if not the best, player on the Magic roster thus far into the season. Finally, the Magic are starting to trust the young man a bit more. In the opening months of the season, Wagner was only averaging 2.3 seconds per touch, as was noted by Bryan Kalbrosky of HoopsHype and was h/t Steve Aschburner of NBA.com.
Basically, every time he got it, he would shoot, or look to pass right away. However, with injuries and COVID ravaging through the NBA, Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley has been forced to put the ball into Wagner’s hand more. As the season has progressed, so has the amount of time Wagner has with the ball in his hands.
As of their most recent game, Wagner is averaging nearly four seconds per touch, meaning the Magic are looking to him more often. If Wagner keeps improving his play, he might even be bringing the ball up the court for Orlando in the near future.
Mobley is still pushing hard for the top spot
It’s not as if Evan Mobley has done anything wrong over the last two weeks, it’s just that Wagner has been incredible over this most recent stretch of games. However, don’t let that take away from how great Mobley continues to play.
Mobley has missed time for a sprained elbow and also spent time in the NBA’s Health and Safety Protocols. But once he got back on the court, it was like he didn’t miss a beat. He even started getting more aggressive on the offensive end, as point guard Darius Garland, among others, was placed into the Health and Safety Protocols.
Mobley had this to say about being more aggressive of late, via Aschburner.
"“I feel like through this whole COVID, how we started missing pieces and stuff, I feel like I had become more of an aggressive player,” Mobley said. “And I feel like that helps the team even more.”"
Over the past week, we’ve seen a lot more of the big man’s arsenal of offensive weapons. He has never been scared to dial it up from three. On top of that he’s extended his comfort level outside of the lane quite a bit. However, the most intriguing aspect of Mobley’s potential to me, is his offensive arsenal.
He’s introduced us to his post fadeaways, along with a myriad of other moves around the basket. Early on, the biggest question mark regarding Mobley was his thin frame. While, yes, he is still very thin and needs to add muscle, he has no problems getting his shot off from down low.
From there, the last thing I’ll say about Mobley for now is that I would love to see his free throw shooting get up to around 80 percent. He’s been largely consistent from the charity stripe this season, shooting around 75 percent, but as we go on, and the more it looks like the Cavs will be contending for the playoffs, those free throws will be huge.
Cade Cunningham vs. LaMelo Ball Part One
Would you believe me if I told you that Cade Cunningham is only one month younger than LaMelo Ball? Well, I got you, he is. Both players can be excellent on-ball defenders when they put in the effort, and they can both fill it up from anywhere on the court.
That said, there is a massive difference in their game, considering Ball already had to take his lumps during his rookie season last year. Well, both the guards met on Wednesday of this past week, and both players were impressive.
Cunningham looked out of place on the defensive rotation at times, and he did not have to guard LaMelo one-on-one very often. However, Cunningham clearly knows where his shot is best, and never hesitates to shoot. Additionally, Cunningham has also proved to be a pretty good distributor as well. He’s averaging over five assists per game this season, while also hauling in six rebounds per night.
Now, LaMelo and the Charlotte Hornets got the best of the Pistons on Wednesday, 140-111. Cunningham bagged 16 points, and dished out seven assists. But, the night went to Ball, who had 12 points and 12 assists. He was also only two rebounds shy of a triple-double, too.
LaMelo has taken a pretty big step this season, and from the looks of it, Cunningham is headed in that direction.