2021-22 NBA Bric-a-Brac (Week 2)

Rookie Extensions

Sixers pick up rookie options on Matisse Thybulle and Tyrese Maxey

Big thumbs up. Thybulle is really having a nice start to the season, I think he's the new PJ Brown: steady reliable defender that should become a legend as he matriculates into his hired gun phase. Maxey is probably working a little too hard right now, I don't think he's a proper PG, more of a combo guard, once they find his natural position, he'll be a really good playmaker, scorer and defender. The Sixers would be crazy not to extend these guys. 

Hornets pick up rookie options on LaMelo Ball and PJ Washington

I love PJ, tough start to this season but he's gonna get going and I think he's the real leader of the Hornets. I like LaMelo, shooting really well right now, as this team finds its form, he'll put up good numbers. These are the building blocks of the future, the core of the Hornets for a while to come, gotta keep these guys.

Jazz pick up rookie option on Udoka Azubuike

I don't know Azubuike. Utah has trouble luring free agents, so they have to hit on every draft pick and max every rookie deal. In short, I have no idea if Azubuike is gonna be good and it doesn't matter anyway because the Jazz were going to keep him pretty much no matter what. Good move? I have no idea.

Warriors pick up rookie options on James Wiseman and Jordan Poole

I think Wiseman can be great and I'm glad to see Poole getting some love. I think Poole had arguably the toughest rookie season I've ever seen: the Warriors went from one of the great teams of all time to the worst team in the league in the blink of an eye, with rookie Poole trying to tread water while everything goes to shit around him. Sheesh! Welcome to the NBA! The Warriors put a lot of trouble in this guy's way already, they owe him another contract out of appreciation for the grit he's shown already. Great moves.  

Cavs pick up rookie options on Darius Garland, Dylan Windler and Isaac Okoro

All nice prospects. Still not sure about the future of the Cavs, definite moves to make, solidifying these guys makes them more valuable as trade options or as players, either way these guys are all worth re-upping. 

Pacers pick up rookie option Goga Bitadze

I have no idea. The Pacers are not exactly as desperate for bodies as Utah or OKC, but they're kinda close, so I'm not sure if this is a basketball move or a business move. 

Celtics pick up rookie options on Aaron Nesmith, Grant Williams, Romeo Langford and Peyton Pritchard

Like all things Celtics lately, these moves are a mixed bag. Williams and Nesmith seem like guys that could be really useful in an NBA rotation, Pritchard seems like a solid career backup PG, still not sure what Langford does; on the other hand, all four of these guys could be bagging groceries at Ralph's by the time these contracts are complete, so... I think these are good moves but I could be totally wrong. We'll see. 

Rockets pick up rookie option on Kevin Porter Jr

I haven't been blown away by what I've seen of Porter, but he's definitely got upside, so keeping him around is the right move for the Rockets. 

Suns pick up rookie options on Jalen Smith and Cam Johnson

Wait, I thought the Suns did NOT pick up Smith...? Haven't seen Smith play so I don't know anything about him, but I thought the Suns were already looking to move on from him (#10 pick in 2020 draft), sounds like they're giving him another look. As for Johnson, I'm all in! I was blown away by Cam in the playoffs last year, re-upping him is the obvious thing to do.  

Steals + Blocks (as of Nov. 2)

27 Myles Turner (Pacers), 27 Matisse Thybulle (Sixers); 26 Anthony Davis (Lakers)

I feel certain Thybulle is going to keep up this pace, Turner has a good chance, too. Is Davis gonna be top 3 at year's end? He could if he wanted but I just can't imagine that's how it'll work out. 

+4:1 Assist : Turnover 

71:16 Chris Paul (Suns); 59:13 Dejounte Murray (Spurs); 44:11 Derrick White (Spurs); 44:12 TJ McConnell (Pacers); 32:4 Ish Smith (Hornets); 38:8 Spencer Dinwiddie (Wizards); 22:1 Tyus Jones (Grizzlies); 20:4 Patrick Beverley (Wolves); 18:3 Patty Mills (Nets); 12:3 Kelly Oubre (Hornets); 12:3 Andre Iguodala (Warriors)

If Murray and White can both keep up this pace (and keep shooting around 50% from the floor), then can't the Spurs be efficient enough to win some games?

Rookie of the Year Update

The top 14 Rookies in MP: Chris Duarte (Pacers), Evan Mobley (Cavs), Franz Wagner (Magic), Scottie Barnes (Raptors), Jalen Suggs (Magic), Jalen Green (Rockets), Josh Giddey (Thunder), Herb Jones (Pelicans), Davion Mitchell (Kings), Trey Murphy (Pelicans), Austin Reaves (Lakers), Alperen Sengun (Rockets), Jeremiah Robinson-Earl (Thunder), Ziaire Williams (Grizzlies)

The top 15 in MPG is the same (though not the same order), along with Cade Cunningham (Pistons) who has played only 2 games but averaging 24 mins so far. FWIW: I haven't given up on Cunningham yet. He's played 2 games with no minicamp, no pre-season, just thrown into the middle of the Association on a bad team, and while he hasn't looked particularly good at anything, I say we give the guy a minute. 

A nice crop, I like all these guys. Early, but for now the ROY is Evan Mobley: he's already the driver of that team. Too bold? I thought the Cavs had too many guys that overlapped, but suddenly they seem like a deep and thorough team and the reason why is because Mobley is so effective all over the floor. Lauri Markannen fits when I thought he wouldn't, Kevin Love has decided he's tired of being a grumpy douche and wants to play ball again, Jarrett Allen is stretching into a defensive monster and Ricky Rubio is the sneaky great pickup of the off-season--all because of Mobley! The Cavs are looking at the post-season solely because of Mobley's versatility. I think ROY is already wrapped up. (Yup, I said it: there are only four dudes (Suggs, Cunningham, Green, Giddey) even capable of being as impactful as Mobley this season)  

NBA Rookie of the Year Update

60 players have debuted this year in the NBA. That number got to 51 within the first 2 weeks of the season then slowly trickled up to 60. There were 82 debuts last year so we can expect about 20-25 more debuts for the rest of the year, so certainly we've seen the cream of the crop although a handful of useful NBA players might still appear. So who's the best? I start with Minutes Per Game as an indicator of the team's faith in their player. Right now there are 20 guys playing more the 15MPG, let's start with those dudes.

Top 20 MPG: Okafor (30.7), Mudiay (29.3), Towns (29.1), Porzingis (28.2), Russell (27.1), Winslow (26.4), Johnson (22.3), Hollis-Jefferson (22.1), McConnell (21.4), Kaminsky (21.0), Nance Jr (20.5), Booker (19.4), Neto (19.1), Jokic (18.8), Bjelica (18.7), Lyles (18.2), Anthony Brown (17.7), Cauley-Stein (17.7), Grant (15.9), Turner (15.5)

Clearly, Okafor, Towns and Porzingis are the top 3 candidates with Mudiay as a pretty solid #4 (although due to injuries, he's quite a bit behind in games played). Porzingis has New York love (a powerful and loud thing). The eye test suggests that Towns is already a complete presence on the floor. Okafor is a helluva scorer, needs to round out his game (and clean up his off-court persona). Mudiay needs to avoid injuries but otherwise looks like he's gonna be a solid player on an overachieving squad; I'd say right now he's a distant 4th place but there's a lot of season left for him to shine out.

Just to show how head and shoulders the top 4 guys are, here's a coupla more stats:

5 rookies scoring double digit PPG: Okafor (17.5), Towns (15.6), Porzingis (14.0), Russell (11.9), Mudiay (10.7). 7 rookies above 5 RPG: Towns (9.5), Porzingis (8.0), Okafor (7.4), Hollis-Jefferson (6.1), Jokic (5.4), Nance Jr (5.0), Cauley-Stein (5.0). And only 3 rookies have 100 FTA: Okafor (68%), Porzingis (86%), Towns (86%).

Russell, Winslow and Johnson are having fine rookie campaigns and suggest that they're going to continue to get better in the future (which I think should be a part of ROY consideration).

Hollis-Jefferson looks like a solid role player but he's been out for a while and I think won't return for several more weeks; even still, he's a bright spot for the Nets.

McConnell...uh....nice kid....plays hard....should make a nice backup PG some day....but I gotta say his minutes are exemplary of the Sixers' desire to lose more than anything.

Kaminksy and Nance Jr are nice players on thin rosters, they deserve their minutes and both seem crafty enough to last in this league but neither are clearly stars to my eye.

Booker is just starting to get more minutes and taking advantage of them; he's a natural born scorer and with Bledsoe out, there's plenty of room for him to release his inner chucker.

Neto, Jokic, Bjelica and Lyles are getting minutes on teams that are used to giving minutes to new guys; I haven't seen much of Neto actually but Jokic looks like a really solid player, Bjelica is one of my personal faves of this bunch and I think Lyles is gonna be really good in 2-3 years.

Uh, I don't know much who Anthony Brown is, he's only played 18 games and has shuttled back and forth to the D League. I assume his advanced minutes are peculiar to nights when the Laker bench was extra thin. Sometimes these statistical analyses catch these flies in the ointment. No offense to Mr. Brown, I wish him well but I suspect he's not really a top 20 candidate for ROY.

Cauley-Stein is a great athlete on a team that needs way more than what he can provide; hopefully some day he'll get to the right team and be the all-out berserker he was born to be.

Grant was one of my favorite PGs in the NCAA last year, not at all surprised to see him getting solid minutes with NYK.

Turner is another one that's still getting used to his minutes, shows promise, looks solid but hasn't done much yet.

Others worth noting: Portis, Hezonja, Oubre look pretty solid so far; Payne and Harrell are just now starting get some run; and Marjanovic certainly has his admirers. I don't think any of those six guys really has a shot at ROY unless they really really (really!) take off in the last half of the season but they look like ballers that will be around for a while.

Right now I'd take Towns over Porzingis with Mudiay and Okafor as #3 and #4. But there's still plenty of season left and at this point (hate to be that guy) but injuries can still derail this race. Others that could still steal some serious votes if they start getting more minutes: Winslow, Russell, Booker, Jokic and Portis.