Cavs’ Evan Mobley remains at #1 in Rookie Ladder heading into ASB
For the last time before the All-Star break, Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes are once again on the rookie ladder’s top two rungs this week. Both Barnes and Mobley’s effect on winning has put them in a different tier than most other rookies. Last week, I went over how rare it was to see Mobley have such a big effect on wins and losses, and Barnes is having much of that same effect on the Raptors as well. With both the Cleveland Cavaliers and Toronto Raptors locked in a tight Eastern Conference Playoff race, I think it’s safe to say that a lot of these rookies could use the time off.
The workload that has been put on some of these rookies’ plate has been crazy, with Barnes 12th in the league in minutes per game with 35.5. Mobley isn’t far behind him, putting in 34.1 minutes per game for the Cavaliers. So yes, these guys are young and spry, but they need a break sometimes, too. So let’s take a look at the full list, and even get into the Oklahoma City Thunder’s Josh Giddey, who is quickly rising up the rookie ladder.
As I mentioned, Mobley and Barnes go 1-2 on the ladder for what feels like the 10th time this season. Both have been impressive on both ends of the floor.
Even as the break drew nearer, and both players looked to be getting a little fatigued, they looked strong in recent performances. Mobley put up 18 points and and 10 rebounds in the Cavaliers loss to the Atlanta Hawks Tuesday night. Even in the loss, the rookie snatched four steals. Barnes put up 17 points and grabbed five rebounds in a tough loss to the Nuggets. For both of those two, however, I’m sure the only thing that matters is the loss. It should be a great show on Friday night, watching those two go back-and-forth in the Rising Stars Challenge. But, let’s not forget there are a lot of other rung-holders playing in the game.
Making his way up to number three this week, is Josh Giddey, who has stepped his game up as of late. The no-doubt-about-it best rookie in the Western Conference put on a quite a show at Madison Square Garden on Monday. The Australian had 28 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds against the New York Knicks, and enjoyed every minute of it. Oh, that was coming off another triple-double against the Chicago Bulls over the weekend. At 19, he became the NBA’s first teenager to have back-to-back triple-doubles, as pointed out by NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner.
Rounding out the top five, is the number one overall pick Cade Cunningham at fourth, and Franz Wagner back at five. Cunningham has had some recent injury struggles, so his game has been off. I would imagine after the long break, he should be back to putting on great performances, like he had versus the Cavs at the end of last month.
Meanwhile, Franz Wagner is your prototypical great young player, just playing for a bad team. But, the Magic shouldn’t be down for long with guys like Wagner, Mohamed Bamba, Jalen Suggs, and Cole Anthony on one of the youngest teams in the league. Here’s are the full rankings:
- Evan Mobley, PF, Cavaliers
- Scottie Barnes, Forward, Raptors
- Josh Giddey, Guard, Thunder
- Cade Cunningham, Guard, Detroit Pistons
- Franz Wagner, Forward, Magic
- Ayo Dosunmu, Guard, Bulls
- Herbert Jones, Forward, New Orleans Pelicans
- Chris Duarte, Guard, Indiana Pacers
- Jonathan Kuminga, Forward, Golden State Warriors
- Jalen Suggs, Guard, Magic