We live in an impatient society. The digital age has given us everything we could want instantaneously.
Want dinner but feeling too tired to cook? Order delivery with any number of apps. Need a laugh? Plenty of places online to force a chuckle. It's an instant gratification world out there.
The world of player development isn't quite so instant. Rookies are hampered by injuries, or stuck behind a veteran. They'll have what seems like a breakout run, then go 4-19 like Jalen Green against the Grizzlies this week.
That is part of what makes this exercise difficult. What do you weight more heavily, breakout games or season-long averages? Do you punish a player for having the opportunity to make mistakes?
Well, our job here isn't to develop the players - it's to judge them. While Green has been the primary ballhandler for Houston, which I'm sure is great for his long-term projections, he has been forcing his shot a bit. The production isn't always there.
These are impatient rankings. The here and now. What have you done for me lately?
With that in mind, here are the rookies that have produced for their teams. They're getting minutes, and impressing with them.
1. Scottie Barnes, Toronto Raptors
Season stats: 17.6 PPG, 8.4 RPG, 6.9 APG, 1.6 SPG, 0.9 BPG
Want to talk about production? Scottie Barnes is a top-5 rookie in each of the five major counting stats. He's second in points per game, second in rebounds, fourth in assists, first in steals, and second in blocks.
He has been helped by his team's bad luck - Pascal Siakam missed the first two weeks of the season while recovering from labrum surgery, played six games, then broke his leg against the Kings. He'll be out until after the new year.
Barnes has made the most of this, leading the Raptors and all rookies in minutes per game with 34.2. He's second in usage for the Raptors behind Fred VanVleet, and his frequent use by Nick Nurse as an initiator has him leading the team in possessions.
He's been thrown into the fire, and his 23-15-9-3S-2B game vs the Warriors is a thesis statement for the impact he can have in the NBA. If these early returns hold, the development of his jumpshot will be the barrier between star and superstar.
2. Cade Cunningham, Detroit Pistons
Season stats: 17.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 6.9 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.5 BPG
The #1 overall pick has been producing too, no doubt. He and Barnes have identical points and assists averages, and Cunningham on fewer minutes. Cunningham has been more efficient as well, with 2.0 turnovers per game to Barnes' 2.7 and a .596 TS% to Barnes' .486.
So why Barnes over Cunningham? Two reasons: defense and team success. Our #1 pick in this edition of the Rookie Ladder has 2.7 "stocks" per game to Cade's 1.6, and the Raptors sit a game below .500 while Detroit is at the bottom of the NBA.
Of course, you can't lay that all at Cade's feet. But with a tight race to the top you have to break the tie somehow. It might not stay this way for long - Cunningham's best performance this season came just this week versus the Pacers and fellow Rookie Ladder denizen Chris Duarte.
Cunningham scored a career-high 31 points, pulled down 11 rebounds (another career high) and dished out 7 assists. He added three blocks and a steal, so how's that for defense, Scottie? Heck, the Pistons even won! It's clear both teams have franchise-level pieces in Barnes and Cunningham, and they're getting plenty of chances to make an impact early.
3. Evan Mobley, Cleveland Cavaliers
Season stats: 13.0 PPG, 9.3 RPG, 4.9 APG, 0.6 SPG, 1.4 BPG
In terms of team success, no rookie has been more impactful than Evan Mobley. Who predicted the Cavaliers would be a play-in team, let alone fighting for a guaranteed playoff spot, before the season? Certainly not this writer.
His impact on the defensive side of the court has been significant. He and frontcourt partner Jarrett Allen have led a terrifying paint defense for Cleveland that has them sitting at a respectable 13th in our latest power rankings.
He's no slouch on the offensive side of the ball either - a respectable 13.0 points per game and 4.9 assists shows he knows his role. It's hard to get touches when you have two primary shot creators, including a sophomore having something of a breakout like Darius Garland is.
You'd like to see slightly better efficiency out of Mobley as a big, but showings like his 22 points on 9-14 shooting vs the Wizards (which he paired with 10 rebounds and 8 assists) have to have Cleveland excited for the future.
4. Josh Giddey, Oklahoma City Thunder
Season stats: 10.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 7.9 APG, 1.0 SPG
Josh Giddey is a fun player. There were a lot of questions coming into the season as to how Giddey and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would mesh. Giddey has taken some possessions from SGA, who has seen a drop from 21.7 to 19.2 per game, but he's made the most of them as a playmaker with only 12.9% of possessions ending in a turnover (best among rookies with 10+ possessions/game). He leads the Thunder in pure point rating (8.2 to SGA's 5.4).
Giddey posted the first triple-double of his career in last week's win over the Pelicans, posting 14 points, 10 rebounds, and 13 assists. He also pilfered the Pels for four steals.
If Giddey holds his current averages to the end of the season, he'd be one of only four rookies to ever post 10+ PPG, 7+ RPG, and 7+ APG. The other three are Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson, and Ben Simmons. Not bad company, especially given he'd be the youngest of the four.
5. Jalen Green, Houston Rockets
Season stats: 18.6 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 4.4 APG, 1.2 SPG
All that talk about production and the Rookie Ladder committee places the highest-scoring rookie at 5. A more efficient and consistent Jalen Green would push for a top-3 spot - so far, we haven't seen that version of him.
Green has been the primary playmaker for a Rockets squad that has surprisingly won four of their last six, including wins over Cunningham's Pistons and Giddey's Thunder. Those two games, however, illustrate the yo-yo of Green's season well: vs the Pistons, he posted 14 points on 3-14 shooting; vs the Thunder he scored 22 on 10-17 shooting with 11 assists.
Scoring 36 in just his second career game (his first matchup against Giddey and the Thunder) might've set some unrealistic expectations, but it's clear Green can get buckets when he's on. It's just a matter of how often "on" can be.
The Next 5:
6. Chris Duarte, Indiana Pacers
Season stats: 15.8 PPG, 3.6 RPG, 2.8 APG, 1.1 SPG, 0.5 BPG
Duarte is trending downwards after a red-hot start to the season. He's holding onto a top-5 position in points per game for rookies, but recent shooting lines like 1-8 vs Charlotte and 3-12 vs New Orleans could be cause for concern.
7. Franz Wagner, Orlando Magic
Season stats: 13.5 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 3.0 APG, 0.6 SPG, 0.5 BPG
Wagner has been the brightest prospect for a Magic team loaded with youth. Wagner has proven to be a serviceable NBA wing right off the bat, which is good news for an Orlando franchise that has struggled to get production out of other first round picks.
8. Davion Mitchell, Sacramento Kings
Season stats: 7.8 PPG, 2.5 RPG, 4.1 APG, 1.1 SPG
The Kings' Davion Mitchell gets our Next 5 feature in this edition of the Rookie Ladder. Coming out of Baylor, Mitchell was projected as an instant impact defender and perhaps the best defending guard in the class. He's certainly been that so far, leading rookies in steals per 36 minutes with 1.8 (which is good for 13th among PGs league-wide).
An early highlight came with this game-sealing instinctual steal off an inbounds against Utah:
On the offensive side of the ball, there have been flashes of shot creation, like this possession in the season opener vs Portland. He breaks down CJ McCollum before driving and pulling up for a successful jumper in the midrange:
There have been plenty of times, however, where his offense leaves something to be desired. Take, for example, this play against Phoenix. Mitchell gets an advantageous switch onto Javale McGee, but his size seemed to be an issue despite the obvious mismatch:
Mitchell has been closing games as a point-of-attack pest for Luke Walton's Kings, but one would want to see him playing a bit better when he's given ballhandling responsibilities. Overall, he seems to be an impact player on one side of the ball, which is more than can be said for most rookies.
9. Herb Jones, New Orleans Pelicans
Season stats: 6.2 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 2.3 APG, 0.7 SPG, 0.7 BPG
Herb Jones' impact hasn't been seen on the statsheet in the way others on this list have. He's played nearly 24 minutes a game for the second-worst team in the NBA. But his defensive effort deserves recognition. Jones likely won't be a star, but he can be a switchable defensive chesspiece for a very good NBA team sooner rather than later.
10. Alperen Sengun, Houston Rockets
Season stats: 4.7 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 1.2 APG, 0.5 SPG
The more-efficient half of Houston's rookie pair, Sengun has been trending upwards with increased minutes. Sengun leads rookies in rebounds per 36 and is a top-5 rookie by PER. His 13 minutes per game could see an increase over the remainder of the season.
Bubbling under:
Jonathan Kuminga, Golden State Warriors - Jalen Suggs, Orlando Magic - Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, Oklahoma City Thunder