Who is the most impactful rookie in the NBA?
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00:00 (air whooshing)
00:02 - The NBA draft class that was touted as subpar
00:09 has proven to be anything but.
00:11 I'm Madeline Burke for Sports Illustrated
00:13 along with Ben Pickman and Michael Pena.
00:15 And guys, the latest wave of young talent
00:17 is making their presence known in this league.
00:19 Some of these guys, the impact was expected
00:21 while others have proven value in unexpected ways.
00:25 Who's been the most impactful rookie so far
00:28 in this early point in the season?
00:30 - To me, it's James Wiseman.
00:34 And I have a difficult time sometimes
00:37 of disentangling potential from production.
00:40 So every single time Wiseman does something good
00:44 on a team with Steph Curry and Draymond Green,
00:46 I kind of lose my mind a little bit
00:47 and I started comparing him to David Robinson.
00:50 And then when he struggles,
00:51 I realized that he kind of just looks like a beefier
00:53 Nerlins Noel.
00:54 But the Golden State Warriors really need
00:57 James Wiseman to be an impactful player on both ends
01:00 if they're going to make any sort of noise
01:04 as the season progresses.
01:06 He is obviously just this freak athlete
01:08 who really accentuates Steph Curry in the pick and roll.
01:13 And he's a lob threat that the Warriors
01:16 have never really had since they've been this dynasty.
01:19 So it's really intriguing to see his fit
01:21 and it's gonna be really intriguing
01:22 as the season progresses just to see how he kind of
01:25 is able to accentuate Steph and Draymond
01:29 and the rest of the crew.
01:30 - Yeah, I think that's a really good point, Michael.
01:34 And he certainly is ranging and gonna make a big difference
01:37 both in the short term and I think clearly the long term.
01:39 I'm gonna go a different way
01:41 and go with the most impactful non-lottery pick.
01:43 And I, for me, am going with Cole Anthony
01:46 of the Orlando Magic, right?
01:48 We saw him in North Carolina last year
01:50 and we saw his draft stock kind of stumble a little bit.
01:53 So he fell to number 15 overall to Orlando.
01:56 And with the Magic so far, he's played a pretty big role.
01:58 He's averaging around nine points a game.
02:00 He's in the top five in rookie categories
02:03 for both rebounds and assists.
02:05 With Markel Foltz now going out with an ACL injury,
02:08 Cole Anthony is gonna play an even bigger role on this team,
02:11 become one of their primary guards and primary ball handlers.
02:14 So it's gonna be interesting to watch him.
02:16 One area of concern that's pretty obvious
02:18 is his three-point shooting though.
02:19 He's averaging just 19% from three right now from deep.
02:23 So that's obviously gonna need to improve
02:25 if he's gonna be a lead guard on a team
02:27 that has some post-season aspirations.
02:29 - Yeah, well, and speaking of three-point shooting,
02:30 one guy who's kind of jumped off the page in that category,
02:33 Tyrese Halliburton, taking number 12 overall.
02:36 A lot of scouts were wondering if his jump shot
02:38 would translate to the NBA,
02:39 if his game was going to translate.
02:41 I mean, he's averaging almost 11 points,
02:43 four assists, two rebounds a game, 53% from the field,
02:46 50% from three.
02:49 And also, you know, De'Aaron Fox
02:50 leaves the game the other night with a hamstring injury.
02:53 Halliburton really kind of showed up,
02:54 played the best game of his young career.
02:57 You know, 17 points in that one.
02:58 He's proven to be a confident player
03:00 and one of the high points of the Sacramento Kings team.
03:04 You gotta love seeing these rookies making this impact.
03:07 But one, you know, a question for you too,
03:08 a lot of these guys were, you know, touted as,
03:11 oh, we'll see.
03:12 We didn't know a lot about a lot of these guys
03:13 in the draft class because of the COVID shortened off season
03:16 and the no March Madness that we had.
03:19 But why have these rookies been able
03:21 to translate their game
03:22 so well without summer league,
03:24 without much of a training camp process
03:26 leading up to the league,
03:27 like the season like they usually do?
03:29 - Yeah, I think that's a really good question, Madeline.
03:35 I mean, we've seen some struggles just with, you know,
03:40 field goal percentage and outside shooting with these guys.
03:42 But I think that, you know, for example,
03:45 there's someone like Peyton Pritchard in Boston
03:47 who is a four-year player
03:49 who's actually older than Jason Tatum, his teammate,
03:52 which is kind of wild.
03:53 And Peyton Pritchard's basically saved Boston season
03:56 as they try to float above water
04:00 with Kemba Walker out with his knee injury.
04:03 So that's just an example of someone
04:05 who is tried and true in college, won everywhere he went.
04:08 And the NBA hasn't really surprised him at all so far.
04:12 - I mean, that's a good point,
04:16 but at the same time, there are also some unknowns, right,
04:19 who have fit right in very well, right?
04:21 I look at Tao Maladon of the Oklahoma City Thunder, right?
04:24 He's been your most successful second round pick so far.
04:27 He's averaging around 20 minutes per game.
04:29 And, you know, he was 18 last year
04:31 playing in EuroLeague action.
04:32 He's just 19 right now,
04:33 and he's fit in and had an opportunity to shine.
04:35 I mean, I think right now we've seen a lot of players
04:38 who look like solid role players at least
04:41 and have played, you know, important roles,
04:42 whether it's a Pritchard, a Manuel Quickly,
04:44 to name some others who are kind of later names.
04:46 But we haven't seen the kind of star power,
04:49 at least that we saw with John Moran say
04:51 at the start of last year.
04:52 - Well, and speaking of John Moran,
04:54 I gotta give a hat tip to his teammate, Desmond Bain.
04:56 Not only is he named after a Batman villain,
04:59 well, not after, but, you know, he shares the same name,
05:01 but he's also leading all rookies in three-point shooting
05:03 and has been really emerging the number 30 overall pick.
05:07 Lot of talent from this rookie class
05:09 at this early point in the season.
05:10 Looking forward to seeing how their game develops
05:12 as the season continues.
05:14 Guys, thanks so much for the insight.
05:15 And for more, continue to check in with SI.com.
05:18 [BLANK_AUDIO]