Right around this time last week, I had just finished my most recent version of the weekly rookie ladder articles, and I was not feeling confident heading into the final week. I think Cleveland Cavaliers big Evan Mobley is the clearcut favorite for the Rookie of the Year. Still, I wondered whether NBA.com writer Steve Aschburner would have him there in the last ladder. Well, as it turns out he did.
With the NBA regular season out of the way, Aschburner ranked his top rookies of the 2021-2022 NBA season. With Mobley atop the ladder, which is where he was for most of the season, Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes comes in a close second. Barnes was fantastic this year for Toronto, and will continue to help them in the playoffs. I’ve said multiple times in these articles, I was all the way out on Scottie Barnes before the 2021 NBA Draft. Well, I was wrong and Barnes had a stellar season.
In third place was the Detroit Pistons’ Cade Cunningham. Cunningham has sky-high potential, and could be the best player from this rookie class in the coming years. However, injuries hampered him throughout the season, so we didn’t get to see him play truly healthy for more than a few games. Rounding out the final top five of the rookie ladder are Franz Wagner of the Orlando Magic and Jalen Green from the Houston Rockets.
Wagner has been criminally underrated this entire season. He was a constant on a Magic team that has a chance to be special next season. After a strong performance following the All-Star break, Jalen Green finished on the fifth rung. Personally, I think it still should have gone to Josh Giddey of the Oklahoma City Thunder, but I can get more into that later.
Aschburner referred to the names above as his All-Rookie 1st Team. But, some great players with bright futures still made their way into the article via the second team. The first name on the second-team sheet has to be Josh Giddey. The point-forward from down under was having a stellar season until injuries prematurely ended it. He is definitely a player to watch next year. If he improves his all-around defensive game, he might be able to take a huge leap in 2022.
Following Giddey are two other constants in the ladder articles this season, Herbert Jones and Ayo Dosunmu. Jones was great throughout the year for the New Orleans Pelicans, and Dosunmu also played a major role in the Chicago Bulls getting back to their winning ways. Rounding out the final 10 are Bones Hyland of the Denver Nuggets and Jonathan Kuminga of the Golden State Warriors.
Both players showed out during the second half of the season, and next year could be a huge year for both players. With Stephen Curry aging, and Klay Thompson constantly injured, Steve Kerr might have to start finding ways to get Kuminga the ball next year. Here are Aschburner’s 1st and 2nd Team All-Rookie squads.
All-Rookie First Team:
Evan Mobley, Forward, Cavaliers
Scottie Barnes, Forward, Raptors
Cade Cunningham, Guard, Pistons
Franz Wagner, Forward, Magic
Jalen Green, Guard, Rockets
All-Rookie Second Team:
Josh Giddey, Guard, Thunder
Herbert Jones, Forward, Pelicans
Ayo Dosunmu, Guard, Bulls
Bones Hyland, Guard, Nuggets
Jonathan Kuminga, Forward, Warriors
Putting together my first and second All-Rookie squads
Over the course of the season, Aschburner and I have agreed on most rookie ladder rankings, and I definitely can’t say I disagree with how he had Evan Mobley on the top rung in the final rookie ladder. However, I do have one small change that I would like to make involving two guards, in particular. Josh Giddey deserves to be on the first team more than Jalen Green, at least from my perspective, given his all-around impact this season for OKC.
Green was horrible for much of the first half of the season, and for the most part, pre-All-Star break play in general. He was so bad, that at times the Rockets were better with him off the court, even for extended stretches.
Still, with that being said, he rebounded incredibly well after the All-Star break, and the talent for him as a scorer in undeniable, and he has immense potential in his own right.
On the other side, Giddey missed every game after the break, but his pre-All-Star break play was pretty special as well. Those are really the only two names I would swap. So let’s take a look at my All-Rookie First and Second Teams, to that point.
JB’s All-Rookie 1st Team
Evan Mobley, Forward, Cavs
Scottie Barnes, Forward, Raptors
Cade Cunningham, Guard, Pistons
Franz Wagner, Forward, Magic
Josh Giddey, Guard, Thunder
JB’s All-Rookie Second Team
Jalen Green, Guard, Rockets
Herbert Jones, Forward, Pelicans
Ayo Dosunmu, Guard, Bulls
Bones Hyland, Guard, Nuggets
Jonathan Kuminga, Forward, Warriors
This was a great rookie class overall
We don’t yet know what rookie will actually win the NBA’s Rookie of the Year Award, and we will have to wait and see which rookies make the NBA’s first and second team. However, from top to bottom this draft class was great.
Guys like Ayo Dosunmu and Herbert Jones, who were second-round picks, ended up making a huge impact on the teams they played for. On the other end of the spectrum, it’s very possible that four of the top five picks from the 2021 NBA Draft class will be on the All-Rookie First Team this season. The last time that happened was the 2018-2019 draft class that had Luka Doncic, Trae Young, Deandre Ayton, and Jaren Jackson Jr.
What has striking, though, was that even amongst all these great players, Evan Mobley still managed to stand taller than the rest.
After drafting Mobley with the third overall pick, the Cavs coaching staff and front office had to make a decision. They could go the normal route and play Mobley at the four while Jarrett Allen played center, but when the front office acquired Lauri Markkanen from Chicago, they had to come up with a gameplan on how to play with three big men, even when the rest of the basketball world is turning to small-ball often.
When they came up with the plan, and went to put it to use, everything sort of hinged on Evan Mobley’s ability to defend multiple positions, and hold his own against stronger NBA bigs. Throughout the season Mobley adapted very well, and at this point, he’s often referred to as a one-man zone. All year he cut off passing lanes, closed out hard, blocked shots, and forced turnovers. He did it all for the Cavaliers on the defensive end this season.
His offensive game also improved throughout the season, too. As the games continued to pile up, Mobley looked more and more comfortable in the low and high post. His shooting will determine how high his ceiling is. I will say, though, I think he just completed the first season of an NBA Hall-of-Fame career.
What a year it was. The Cavaliers will be taking on the Atlanta Hawks after their W over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday night in the East #9-10 play-in game on Friday night at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. That’s in order to determine the #8 seed in the East.
It’s uncertain currently as to whether Jarrett Allen will play or not. However, the Cavs need to come out ready to play on Friday, or risk being out of the playoffs after a second half collapse, albeit during which many players got hurt.
But Mobley has proved his worth this year, regardless. I’m not the only one who thinks he has a Hall-of-Fame career ahead of him; he was more on that from Cavs assistant coach Greg Buckner, via Rob Mahoney of The Ringer.
"“If he continues to progress and stays healthy, I truly believe he has Hall-of-Fame talent,” Buckner says. “And he has a Hall-of-Fame brain. A basketball mind.”‘"
Buckner continued on from there about Mobley, again, via Mahoney.
"“This is something different,” Buckner says. “Most rookies, you try to keep it real simple and basic with ’em. But with him, he’s just on another level.'”"
Obviously Mobley needs to put on some bulk and stay healthy, but there’s more than enough reason to believe he will be a Hall-of-Famer one day. I’ve harped on Mobley, because he is a Cavalier, and because we really haven’t seen a player like him come into the league since, Tim Duncan or Kevin Garnett. On top of that, he has the chance to be better than both.
As for the rest of the rookie class, it’s safe to say the league is in good hands. Cade Cunningham should make a huge jump next year, as long as he stays healthy. Jalen Green and Josh Giddey can improve upon their good half-seasons, or so.
Overall it was a great year for basketball, as it always is, and the postseason is on the horizon.