Ranking of the 11 best rookies this season

As the New Year of the Draft, none of the 2024 rookies have shown their star potential, but some rookies have shown their potential to become excellent supporting roles, and excellent supporting roles can often play a key role in finding the weakest link in the opponent's lineup.

So which rookies have shown this year have shown this potential, let’s analyze it in depth.

11.Carlton Carrington, Washington Wizards

Carrington has an excellent body shape and shows the ability to jump in the emergency stop with an extremely high upper limit, but there are problems such as inefficient scoring and passing choices being limited to basic cooperation. His performance in the rookie season is similar to the evaluation of the scout report. This season, he averaged 2.3 three-pointers per game, with a shooting percentage of 34.9%, which is usually a star-level offensive skill.

Worryingly, he lacks attacking the basket, has a ability to finish shooting percentage of only 55.2%, and has weak foul ability. To increase the influence of the game, he must reduce his turnovers and improve his defense. It is good to be able to rely on high-difficulty jump shots, but it is not the key to winning the game. However, in teams like the Wizards in the early stages of reconstruction, someone needs to have this skill.

10. Kyle Weal, Miami Heat

Vale showed excellent physical fitness in her rookie season, relying on her height of 2.13 meters, 2.26 meters and bounces far beyond other players of the same size. He could finish the basket at the end of both offense and defense, and his 4.9% blocking rate could have ranked among the top ten in the league this season. Although he only ranked 199th in the league in total playing time, he ranked 12th in the number of dunks (117 times).

three-point shooting is the key to Weil's potential ceiling. He has a good feel in his rookie season, with 105 three-point shots and a shooting percentage of 32.4%. Lazy, which has been criticized in college, has also improved after entering the NBA, and has given outstanding data with a defensive rebounding rate of 27.5% (11th in the league). His partner with Adebayo is worth looking forward to, and I am curious why such a player fell out of the lottery in the New Year of the Draft.

9. Alex Thal, the Washington Wizards

Sal is a rare player who can coordinate height, athleticism and balance, but the rookie season proves that it will take years to realize his potential. Although he has played several exciting games, such as scoring 34 points against the Nuggets, it is still difficult for him to adapt to NBA-level confrontation at the moment.

Sal's scoring efficiency is very poor, with TH% (real hit rate standardized value) being only 84, below the league average of 100. As an inside player, it is not worthy of playing like this. He shot 30% of his shots in the short and medium range zone and shot only 35% from the field. If a good point guard could feed him the ball, Saar would benefit a lot, but there is currently no such player in the Wizards.

Sal still has the potential to be the best player of this class, but he needs to become more mature and he needs to become tougher on the defensive end.

8. Zach Eddie, Memphis Grizzlies

Eddie is probably Purdue’s best player in the past 40 years, with a usage rate of 33.4%. After entering the NBA, his usage rate plummeted to 16.4%, and he quickly adapted to the core-to-supporting role transformation. The Grizzlies are the team with the least pick-and-roll in the league this season, which is a bit of a waste of Eddie's pick-and-roll efficiency in the league's leading pick-and-roll. The Grizzlies will only design tactics for him in a specific lineup.

Eddie has shown excellent scoring efficiency (real shooting percentage of 62.5%), top offensive rebounding ability, textbook pick-and-roll quality, and even initially developed three-point shooting (48 shots hit percentage of 37.5%). Obviously Eddie has an extremely high lower limit. If he gets a more adaptable role in the future, he will have a chance to touch his upper limit.

7. Zachary Rissache, Atlanta Hawks, Rissache, plays completely differently like a typical No. 1 pick. He is not very good at creating shooting opportunities independently. More than 81% of his goals in the rookie season come from teammates' assists. He has the potential to be a good 3D, but he performs poorly in data. His DEPM is only 17% better than the league's players, and when he is on the court, the team's defensive and net efficiency values ​​are -3 and -4 respectively.

Rissache also scored highlights in the absence of the ball, such as the 36-pointer against the Bucks. But to be at his best, he must be an influential defender and a stable catcher shooter, and he has the potential to achieve that.

6. Jaylen Wells, the Memphis Grizzlies once again dug up the treasure in the second round. Jaylen Wells has become the best outside defender in the Grizzlies, and DEPM is better than 74% of the league's players. On the offensive end, his 35.4% three-point shooting percentage can also open up space for the team and rarely make mistakes.

Willes won the starter for himself in the fifth game of his career and stabilized his position. In my personal heart, he is the best rookie of the season. Although his upper limit is not as high as others, the low lower limit makes him one of the best players of this class.

5. Stephen Castle, the San Antonio Spurs had two top eight picks last year, but in the end they only selected Stephen Castle (the No. 8 signing was given to the Timberwolves). Castle averaged 14.5 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game in the rookie season, and the data was quite impressive, but he still had a lot to improve. He has poor shooting ability, with only 28.3% of his three-point shooting percentage, and also needs to improve his frame efficiency. All of this resulted in his true shooting percentage of just 51.6%, 6 percentage points below the league average.

Castle has the conditions to become a high-quality defensive back, but his defensive performance in his rookie season is indeed average. DEPM is only better than 36% of the league players. When he leaves the court, the team's defensive efficiency increases by 3 points per 100 rounds..

The best thing about Castle's rookie season is that he learned how to better assist Vinban Yama. He will be part of the Spurs' future plans and if his outside shooting or finishing ability improves, his other abilities will be released.

4. Matas Buzzellis, Chicago Buzzellis was once the No. 1 pick, but that season in the G League exposed his shortcomings of not being able to adapt to the NBA's three-point distance and professional league confrontation, causing him to fall out of the top ten picks.

But after entering the league, Boozelis proved that he had no problem with shooting, and he seized every opportunity the Bulls gave him, his three-point shooting percentage reached 35%, and his scoring efficiency was close to the league average. He has been using cutting and conversion opportunities to score throughout the season, and has also demonstrated his fascinating control skills in high school. On the defensive end, Boozelis continued his defensive performance in the G League. He is an excellent defender with a blocking rate of 89% of the league's players.

But Boozeris's shortcomings are also obvious. His current passability is not very strong, his pick-and-roll dives are not good, and he is prone to falling into a singles trap. At the same time, his body is too thin and he is easily disturbed when attacking strongly at the basket.

In short, his explosiveness, shooting ability, basket protection and scoring ability have all given the Bulls, who are in urgent need of star players, hope.

3. Ron Holland, the Detroit Pistons are the most unlikely players to choose Holland. They lack shooting. Last year, they chose Osar Thompson, who is both athletic and not good at shooting, just like Holland. As a result, Holland became the key scoring point for Cunningham and the veteran shooter.

As a rookie, Holland performed quite well on both ends of the offense and defense, with his real shooting percentage of 56.1%, mainly due to his 66% basket shooting percentage and 52% mid-range shooting percentage. On the defensive end, his performance is also quite good, with DEPM better than 66% of the league's players. Holland's shooting flaws are still obvious, with his 3-point shooting percentage of just 23%, and he needs to improve on that.

Holland is a very promising star, and it is not easy for a 19-year-old to gain a foothold in a playoff-level team.

2. Donovan Klingen, Portland Trail Blazers

Klingen has become one of the best defensive insiders in the league in his rookie season. He ranks in the top five in height, weight and wingspan. Using his size, he has performed well in franchise protection and rebounding. Klingen's block rate of 7.5% and 16.3% offensive rebound rate exceeded 98% of the league's players, and 24.4% defensive rebound rate also exceeded 92% of the league's players.

Klingen's performance on the offensive end is a bit difficult, and his current offensive methods are not rich enough. Given his size, Klingen's finishing ability is really disappointing, and the passing talent he showed in college has not yet fully demonstrated. But his influence on the court cannot be ignored. When he is not present, the Trail Blazers net loss of 4.9 points per 100 rounds, and when he is on the court, the Trail Blazers' net efficiency value is positive.

Klingen needs to improve his physical fitness, which is a problem he has had in college. If he can average 30 minutes of efficient performance per game, it is no surprise that the Trail Blazers will make greater progress next year.

1. Jared McCain, the Philadelphia 76ers, has only played 23 games this season, and was reimbursed for the season due to a meniscus tear on his left knee. However, in these 23 games, McCain demonstrated his long shot range and solid control ability. He is the player with the strongest offensive ability in this rookie.

McCain averaged 5.8 three-pointers per game, with a shooting percentage of up to 38.3%, of which the three-point shooting percentage of up to 41% in the first half. Given his 87.5% free throw percentage, he only hits 32% in the more easily shot bottom corner three, which looks a bit abnormal. McCain is excellent at running without the ball and can move quickly to an open position on the court.

But he is still a short double-sports guard who will be targeted by his opponent on the defensive end. However, being able to choose such a defender with excellent offensive ability in the draft is the only lucky thing for the 76ers this season.