Cooper Flagg set a rookie record with his 42-point showing on Monday in Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n
Some day, and it might come sooner than we think, people will look at the NBA careers of Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel and wonder how a Duke team that had both of them stalled out in a 70-67 loss to Houston in the NCAA semifinal game at San Antonio last April.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s kind of hard to believe already, with the two Blue Devils ranked No. 1-2 yet again on the Kia Rookie Ladder. For the record, while Flagg (27) and Knueppel (16) combined for 43 points, the other eight Duke players totaled just 24.<\/p>\n
But that has no bearing on the rookie seasons Flagg and Knueppel are having at the pro level. They rank first and second, respectively, in scoring and shots taken, and second and third in average minutes. Based on the first quarter or so of the NBA season, they figure to finish high in Rookie of the Year balloting and claim two of the five spots on the All-Rookie first team honor squad.<\/p>\n
Here, in a short week due to Emirates NBA Cup<\/a> scheduling, is the latest ranking of the NBA\u2019s top rookies:<\/p>\n Weekly recap<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Fortunately, only one Ladder denizen got snared in the NBA Cup\u2019s there-but-not-there bookkeeping for its championship games. San Antonio\u2019s Dylan Harper scored 21 points in the title loss to New York<\/a>, as many points as he managed in the Spurs\u2019 two games that officially counted this week. We\u2019re pretty sure neither Harper nor his teammates would trade the experience they got in Las Vegas, right through Tuesday\u2019s game. But at a time when so few players appear in all 82 games, would it really skew the record book to count those achieved in the Cup championship in Vegas? An argument could be made that an extra game\u2019s worth of stats would be a nice reward for helping your team get that far.<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Ace Bailey slipped off the Ladder this week, in part due to his 33.3% shooting and 7.5 ppg in Utah\u2019s two contests. But it\u2019s part of a harsher reality for this year\u2019s rookies, including the likes of Egor D\u00ebmin and Tre Johnson, that some solid first-year players might get snubbed from the two All-Rookie teams by season\u2019s end, given the 12, 13 or 14 potentially deserving candidates in a truly deep class.<\/p>\n Storyline to watch<\/p>\n \u2022\u00a0Flagg is aging before our eyes. \u00a0And that\u2019s a good thing. By next week\u2019s Ladder, Dallas\u2019 prize rookie won\u2019t be 18 anymore (he turns 19 on Sunday). Thus, all the age-related gushing that has come his way, like this<\/a> and this<\/a>, will need to shift to 19-year-old comparisons. Look, the company Flagg has kept chronologically has been impressive, but the Ladder committee isn\u2019t a big fan of such plaudits because so many of the league\u2019s greatest players didn\u2019t arrive until 19, 20 or (gasp!) older. It will allow folks to evaluate Flagg not by his birthdate but by all his other pertinent numbers. Too grumpy? Humbug!<\/p>\n (All stats through Tuesday, Dec. 16)<\/p>\n 1. Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks<\/p>\n Season stats:<\/a> 18.4 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 3.5 apg Now here is a \u201cyoungest this, earliest that\u201d achievement that really doesn\u2019t hang on Flagg\u2019s age. His 42-point game<\/a> in Monday\u2019s overtime loss at Utah came in his 26th NBA appearance, which was quicker than a bunch of legendary players<\/a> had their first night of 40+, including Elgin Baylor, Larry Bird, Allen Iverson and LeBron James. The only giants who got there before Flagg? Oscar Robertson (14), Michael Jordan (nine), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (seven) and all-time best rookie Wilt Chamberlain, who dropped 43 with 28 rebounds at New York in his NBA debut (and would have broken the Internet by averaging 37.6 points and 27 boards that season).<\/p>\n 2. Kon Knueppel, Charlotte Hornets<\/p>\n Season stats:<\/a> 19 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 3.5 apg When Hornets teammate LaMelo Ball was voted Kia Rookie of the Year in 2021, he averaged 14.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists, while shooting 43%. Knueppel\u2019s same stats \u2013 in an admittedly deeper class \u2013 are 18.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 3.5 apg and 46% on 3-pointers. His 89 3-pointers trail only Donovan Mitchell (101) and Stephen Curry (93).<\/p>\n 3. Derik Queen, New Orleans Pelicans<\/p>\n Season stats:<\/a> 12.7 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 4 apg Rookies, no matter how successful in their pre-Christmas appearances, don\u2019t get much prerogative when it comes to playing through a clunker. Queen had scored only four points and taken just four shots through three quarters when New Orleans coach James Borrego decided to call on Karlo Matkovi\u0107 \u2013 who hadn\u2019t played and averages just 11 minutes \u2013 to fill Queen\u2019s spot for the whole fourth quarter. Worked out in the 114-104 victory in Chicago on Sunday, though Queen did chip in eight boards and six assists.<\/p>\n 4. Jeremiah Fears, New Orleans Pelicans<\/p>\n Season stats:<\/a> 15.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.1 apg Nothing like a little team success to boost a rookie\u2019s profile, or vice versa. The Pelicans\u2019 two-game winning streak<\/a> vs. Portland and at Chicago saw Fears score 39 points on 27 shots. A Sports Illustrated story<\/a> noted the rookie guard averages fewer minutes but more drives to the basket nightly than Anthony Edwards and Paolo Banchero.<\/p>\n 5. VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia 76ers<\/p>\n Season stats:<\/a> 15.2 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 4.0 apg Injuries fueled Edgecombe\u2019s heavy minutes at the start of the season, and Tyrese Maxey\u2019s illness absence saw the rookie\u2019s role bump up again this week. He averaged 39 minutes and 24 points against Indiana and Atlanta. After the Baylor product\u2019s 26-point outburst<\/a> vs. the Hawks that included 4-of-10 from the arc, teammate Joel Embiid said of Edgecombe: \u201cBeing aggressive, taking shots when they\u2019re available.\u201d<\/p>\n The Next 5: Season stats:<\/a> 13.4 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 2.8 apg After a six-game stretch in which he shot 34.4% overall, made only two of 23 3-point attempts and scored in single digits four times, Coward has averaged 15.8 and shot 54.4% in his past four appearances. Two of his class-high double-doubles have come in the past two weeks.<\/p>\n 7. Dylan Harper, San Antonio Spurs<\/p>\n Season stats:<\/a> 13.1 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.7 apg The guy drafted immediately after Flagg has yet to start for San Antonio, but has been a real bonus off the bench. Harper\u2019s per-36 minutes numbers \u2013 he\u2019s only averaging 21.9 minutes (10th among the 14 lottery picks) \u2013 are All-Star and even Sixth Man worthy at 21.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6 assists per game. For comparison, his teammate Stephon Castle was named Kia Rookie of the Year for averaging 14.7 ppg, 3.7 rpg and 4.1 apg in 26.7 minutes \u2013 or 19.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg and 5.5 apg per 36 minutes.<\/p>\n 8. Ryan Nembhard, Dallas Mavericks<\/p>\n Season stats:<\/a> 8.6 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 5.2 apg The guy who was there to be chosen by any team on Draft night has as many games of 10+ assists \u2013 all in December \u2013 as the rest of the rookie class has since Opening Night. He is tied with Coward for 7th in that category<\/a> with 73, while ranking 22nd in minutes<\/a> (281) and 18th in turnovers (21).<\/p>\n 9. Maxime Raynaud, Sacramento Kings<\/p>\n Season stats:<\/a> 8.5 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 0.9 apg The Frenchman isn\u2019t shy: in barely half the total minutes, the Kings\u2019 new starter already has taken more shots than Charlotte\u2019s Ryan Kalkbrenner. His opportunities in the wake of Domantas Sabonis\u2019 knee injury last month have shown him to be a quick study. In a recent interview with Eurosport, Raynaud said: \u201cI know where I have to be and when. It\u2019s easier now than on the first day of training camp.\u201d<\/p>\n 10. Ryan Kalkbrenner, Charlotte Hornets<\/p>\n Season stats:<\/a> 8.9 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 1.9 bpg The Hornets\u2019 7-foot-1 newbie ranks first among rookies in offensive rebounds<\/a> (63 to second-place Queen\u2019s 44) and blocked shots<\/a> (45 to Queen\u2019s 21). But he\u2019s 15th in field-goal attempts and has yet to take more than nine shots in a game.<\/p>\n * * *<\/p>\n Steve Aschburner has written about the NBA since 1980. You can e-mail him\u00a0here<\/a>, find\u00a0his archive here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0follow him on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 1
Draft pick:<\/a> No. 1<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 2
Draft pick:<\/a> No. 4<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 3
Draft pick:<\/a> No. 13<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 5
Draft pick:<\/a> No. 7<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 6
Draft pick:<\/a> No. 3<\/p>\n
\n6. Cedric Coward, Memphis Grizzlies<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 4
Draft pick:<\/a> No. 11<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 7
Draft pick:<\/a> No. 2<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 8
Draft pick:<\/a> Undrafted<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> Not ranked
Draft pick:<\/a> No. 42<\/p>\n
Last Ladder:<\/a> No. 10
Draft pick:<\/a> No. 34<\/p>\n