Rookies: Categorized and Ranked

You Cannot Draft

These guys are gonna start

1. Wemby – Now if there’s any team in the league who would bench Wemby, it’s San Antonio. Even so, there’s no chance he falls to us

2. Scoot Henderson – With Dame out of the way, the new face of the franchise can begin blossoming

3. Ausar Thompson – We’ll find out real soon, but I suspect Detroit start freak athlete and plus defender Ausar

You Should Not Draft

These guys aren’t going to play enough to warrant a pick

1. Kobe Bufkin – Backing up Trae Young and Patty Mills doesn’t leave much room for Bufkin

2. Jalen Hoods-Schifino – Bron hates rookies

3. Brandin Podziemski – The Warriors are way too all-in to waste time on rookies again

4. Taylor Hendricks – Roster-wise, he should grab a few minutes. Olynyk’s flexibility ahead of him hurts his stock, though. And I can’t tell if the Jazz are trying to win or develop

5. Leonard Miller – I’m putting him here even though he’s a freak athlete and the Wolves have such a big-heavy roster that they might need some in-between guys. They’re just a difficult team to figure out, and they’re trying to win now. So rookies might slide by the wayside

6. Jett Howard – The big shock of the draft. Howard might fit Orlando like a glove, or with the addition of Joe Ingles he might never see the court

7. Nick Smith Jr – Depending heavily on how the Hornets play their starting roster, Smith Jr is either a decent-minutes guy or he’ll James Bouknight and be terrible

8. Noah Clowney – The Nets have Day’Ron Sharpe at backup center already, so I don’t think Clowney will see much of the floor

9. Marcus Sasser – Detroit have too many ball-handlers ahead of him

10. Ben Sheppard – Indiana have plenty of shooting wings. Now if they trade Buddy, things could look up for Sheppard

11. Brice Sensebaugh – There’s just too much ahead of him in Utah. But if they decide to shut it down for some reason, he’s a prime candidate. Shades of Bennedict Mathurin

12. Amari Bailey – The Hornets are a tire fire, but they shouldn’t be so bad as to play a second round rookie big minutes

13. Emoni Bates – Listen, I want this guy to play so he can break Allen Iverson’s record for shots per game, but there’s just not much of a chance he breaks into the Cavs’ rotation

You Can Draft

These guys should play

1. Jarace Walker – Rick Carlisle hated every four on the Pacer’s roster so much last year that he started Aaron Nesmith. With Toppin securing the starting role (I assume) Walker has a chance to try and change Carlisle’s mind. Don’t expect a repeat of Andrew Nembhard’s rookie year, though

2. Jordan Hawkins – With Jose Alvarado dealing with a small injury and Trey Murphy out for the first month or so of the season, Hawkins stands a chance of getting a run in

3. Bilal Coulibaly – Wizards are gonna be tough to figure out, and this guy’s as raw as they come. But man does he show some flashes, and what are they playing for if not the future?

4. Derrick Lively – Dallas’ center situation is crowded in a sad way. Powell should start, then we get Richaun Holmes, rookie Lively, Maxi Kleber, and if they wanna go super small Grant Williams. If Lively hits, he fits this team perfectly. So I expect them to give him a shot

5. Anthony Black – Tall guard, not a great shooter, very tough to tell where he fits into this Magic team. But you don’t draft a guy 6th overall and not play him

6. Olivier-Maxence Prosper – Dallas need wings. Win-now doesn’t necessarily mean regular season success to them, though. If they can get Prosper some serious minutes before the playoffs, he could really help them

7. Andre Jackson Jr – The Bucks helped their guard depth with Cam Payne, but Jackson should earn more minutes than TyTy Washington Jr, who’s on a two-way

8. GG Jackson Jr – Another Jackson Jr, this one for Memphis. With Morant out the first 25 games of the season, the Grizzlies will look in a couple different places for guard depth. GG could be that guy. Memphis love throwing curveballs at us

You Should Draft

Get these guys

1. Amen Thompson – With KPJ out of the way, Amen just shot to the clear backup PG spot. He’s gonna have people questioning if Jaylen Green should still be starting. I predict a massive year

2. Brandon Miller – He might start, but in order for that to happen, the Hornets would have to sit Rozier or Hayward. Or sit PJ Washington and play small. Regardless, that would be an awful lot of talent and money for the bench. Miller should get carte blanche off the bench

3. Jaime Jaquez Jr – Fits the Heat in every way: smart, switchable, dogged defender. With their hollow roster, I see big minutes for him

4. Cam Whitmore – Another beneficiary of KPJ’s exit. Whitmore looked like a grown man in Summer League. Houston are balancing winning and getting their young cats experience, but I don’t see any way Whitmore doesn’t pop this year

5. Kris Murray – Big wings who shoot the three tend to play, even on wonky rosters like Portland

6. Keyontae George – An absolute heater who’s going to sub in for Jordan Clarkson and provide exactly the same energy

7. Cason Wallace – A tall, fast, playmaking guard backing up Shai and Giddey? Sign me up

8. Jordan Walsh – Boston traded all its depth, so a feisty rookie who does all the hard work should fit right in

9. Grady Dick – The Raptors love wings