Every week I anxiously await the new NBA Rookie Ladder that is released, just to see our own Evan Mobley at the top. However, this week I suspected that Cade Cunningham might be slowly creeping into the back of NBA.com writer Steve Aschburner’s mind. Well, I was correct. For the first time in a while we have a new name atop the Rookie Ladder. Cade Cunningham took over the top spot this week after a string of good performances. However, I disagree with Aschburner on this one, but I’ll get to more of that later.
With Cunningham at the top of the ladder, the rest of the rungs stayed pretty much the same, except for Josh Giddey surpassing a falling Franz Wagner. As most of you are familiar with those guys, let’s take a better look at some of the guys outside the top, who could make the leap to the top five in the coming weeks.
Before being held to only three points against a tough Cleveland Cavaliers defense on Monday, Herb Jones has had a string of good games, as he slots back into the sixth spot. His last game against the Detroit Pistons he had six points, but got in foul trouble early. For the season, he’s been a great pickup by the New Orleans Pelicans. One of the only good stories on the Pelicans roster.
Behind him is Ayo Dosunmu, who really just does everything for head coach Billy Donovan and the Chicago Bulls. Back in the eighth spot is Chris Duarte of the Indiana Pacers. As the season has gone on he’s come back down to earth. However, he’s having a great season, averaging over 13 points per game, for a very bad Pacers team, albeit one with a litony of injuries.
Bringing up the rear are two names who could make a huge splash after the All-Star break; Jalen Suggs, and Jonathan Kuminga round out the top 10. Since returning from injury, Suggs has struggled with his shooting, but his defensive effort and explosive plays make him someone to watch closely. Kuminga has struggled to find consistent minutes playing for the Golden State Warriors. But, when he gets his chance he more often than not produces. Another super exciting player to keep an eye on.
So with all that being said, it’s been a great half of the year for a lot of rookies. But, with Cunningham at the top, Aschburner has some explaining to do.
Cunningham’s head-to-head win doesn’t top Mobley’s season
As most of you know, and likely watched, we had to watch a very bad Cavalier performance on Sunday night when they took on the Pistons, and the fourth quarter really did the Cavs in there. In one of the few bad losses we’ve had to watch all season, Saddiq Bey and number one overall pick Cade Cunningham were excellent for the Pistons.
In the win, Cunningham finished with a triple-double, scoring 19 points, dishing out 10 assists, and collecting 10 rebounds. It’s the latest in a string of good games for the number one pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. In a back-to-back versus the Denver Nuggets and a game with the Orlando Magic, Cunningham averaged just over 23 points, and dished out over seven assists per game.
However, on Tuesday, he injured his hip in a game versus the Pelicans, and finished with only six points in 21 minutes. As of this writing he’s questionable for Thursday’s game versus the Minnesota Timberwolves.
To reiterate, though, while Cunningham has really come on of late, putting him over Mobley, who has had 16.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game in his last 10 outings, seems off to me. Mobley’s on a team that’s fifth in the Eastern Conference, at that.
Overall, it’s becoming more and more clear that this Rookie of the Year Race might be between two guys instead of three, like I mentioned last week. Even still, for Cunningham to be ahead of Mobley at this point in the season is ludicrous. I mean, hell, the Pistons are 12-38 this season.
Cunningham might be the starry eyed popular pick, but Mobley has been the best rookie all-around in the first half of the 2021-22 NBA season, and I don’t think it’s really that close.
This was an odd week to drop Mobley and Wagner
Like I briefly mentioned earlier in the article, it’s a very weird time for Cunningham to have this ascension to the top of the ladder. Franz Wagner, who fell to the fifth rung this week, has averaged 21 points per game on 54 percent shooting from the field in that period. It doesn’t make sense that Aschburner dropped him, just as it doesn’t make much sense that he dropped Mobley as well.
To me, this is a problem that people around the NBA are starting to have. Mobley and Wagner don’t look the prettiest while getting the job done, but they get it done. More importantly, Mobley is doing it on a team with real playoff aspirations.
I’m not going to keep blasting Aschburner, but I would have to say this ladder was horribly wrong, well the top-five at least. Mobley should be at rung number one, considering he’s been the best rookie this season wire-to-wire.
Next, in my opinion, I would put Wagner second behind Mobley. He’s been a Swiss Army knife for the Magic, and now that Jalen Suggs is back, they are a team to look out for. I would probably place Cunningham in the third position right ahead of Scottie Barnes, from there.
I understand he was the number one pick, but Cunningham has not played like the best rookie all season, and he was injured for the start of the season. It’s good to end on a note that Evan Mobley scored a season-high 29 points and had 12 rebounds in the Cavs loss to the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night.
It was a loss, but with that being said, Mobley should be back on top next week, no doubt.