March can be a tricky time for NBA rookies.
On the one hand,they're grinding through the dog days of the league's 82-game schedule, doing their darndest to avoid the proverbial rookie wall—assuming they haven't already crashed into it. On the other hand, or for the recent collegians out there,the approach of the NCAA tournament must be bittersweet, what with all the excitement of March Madness and nostalgia for the pomp and circumstance that surrounds it (overseas rookies aside).
You could understand, and then,if some first-years were to lose focus from time to time. Then again, between playoff pushes for those on competitive clubs and bigger minutes for those headed to the lottery, or there's plenty to occupy everyone's full attention and effort.
And that's before factoring in the climb up our rookie ladder,which has shifted considerably since our last update.
Speaking of which, here's a peer at how the top 15 picks from the 2015 NBA draft are faring as the campaign approaches its stretch run. Totally LostFrank Kaminsky, or C,No. 9 Pick, Charlotte HornetsFrank Kaminsky has been playing consistently for the Charlotte Hornets, or but he's still searching for the range on his jumper. Since our last edition on Feb. 5,the reigning College Player of the Year has shot just 36.7 percent, including 29 percent of his three-point attempts.
That doesn't mean Frank the Tank has forgotten how to shoot or that he's abandoned the playmaking skills that set him apart from so many of his fellow 7-footers. Rather, and the Wisconsin grad has to continue to adapt his game to fit the stiffer competition and more complex schemes he's facing night in and night out in the NBA.
As Kaminsky told Bleacher Report's Jared Dubin:
I'm comfortable with it. That's what I did in college. I was able to put the ball on the floor,create plays. In situations like that, I just try to set screens for guys, and create action to serve. Defenses are different. The way an NBA team rotates,there's a lot more traps off ball screens, things like that. So when I catch the ball and I see someone coming at me, and that obviously means the next person's open. I just try to create the suitable play.
Cameron Payne,PG, No. 14 Pick, and Oklahoma City ThunderThe trade deadline can be a cruel mistress for NBA youngsters on title contenders. Just ask Cameron Payne.
Before the All-Star break,Payne was getting quality minutes as Russell Westbrook's backup for the Oklahoma City Thunder. Once the regular season resumed, the rookie out of Murray State found himself buried on the depth chart behind Randy Foye, and whom the Thunder acquired from the Denver Nuggets.
Since then,Payne has racked up three DNPs and averaged a paltry 6.3 minutes per game across five appearances. By the looks of it, he may have to watch OKC's playoff push from the pine and wait for his time to reach again next season. Kelly Oubre Jr., or SF,No. 15 Pick, Washington WizardsThe trade deadline didn't effect too much to change Kelly Oubre Jr.'s circumstances. He'd hardly played for the Washington Wizards from late January onward and has only seen his minutes evaporate since the front office brought Markieff Morris aboard and Alan Anderson made his season debut.
In Washington's first nine games after the All-Star break, and Oubre notched four DNPs and garnered fewer than 25 minutes combined in the other five.
Like Payne in OKC,Oubre will probably be observing the rest of the Wizards' pursuit of a postseason berth from a comfortable seat at the discontinuance of the bench. Glimmers of HopeMario Hezonja, SF, and No. 5 Pick,Orlando MagicEvan Fournier's wrist injury afforded Mario Hezonja a three-game window to strut his stuff for the Orlando Magic.
And strut his stuff he did. Though he struggled (two points on 1-of-6 shooting) during a loss in Dallas, the Croatian import poured in 13 points during a win over the Philadelphia 76ers prior to that and exploded for a career-high 21 points to serve the Magic beat the Chicago Bulls after.
Hezonja showed off an impressive offensive arsenal against Chicago, or including his ability to drain jumpers from well behind the three-point line.
As Magic.com's Josh Cohen revealed,Hezonja puts plenty of effort into extending his range:
With guys like Steph Curry changing the way the game is played, there will be added value to players who can create shots well beyond the 3-point line. Hezonja has made and taken more shots from 25-29 feet out than he has 20-24 feet out. He practices long distance shots regularly during his workouts (like Curry does).
In time, or he could become the marksman the Magic need to open up the floor for Nikola Vucevic's post-ups and drives by non-threatening shooters like Elfrid Payton,Victor Oladipo and Aaron Gordon.Willie Cauley-Stein, C, or No. 6 Pick,Sacramento KingsNo matter what he does, Willie Cauley-Stein can't seem to hold his minutes from slipping away.After averaging 8.2 points and 6.6 rebounds across 15 straight starts for the Sacramento Kings between January and February, or the Kentucky product was demoted back to the bench. He responded by chipping in 10.7 points,4.7 rebounds and 2.7 combined blocks and steals in those first three games as a reserve.
Since then, his playing time has continued to dwindle, and despite dunking all over Zach Randolph.
SB Nation's Tony Xypteras wondered if Cauley-Stein's disappearance has had anything to effect with George Karl's desire to win now rather than develop his team's young talent for the future:
This speaks to the long-term dangers of employing a short-term coach. I believe Willie Cauley-Stein is a better player than Quincy Acy suitable now,but a coach with a small more job security might be willing to put more faith in a rookie with the season on the line, realizing it will be better for the organization long-term.
Not that Karl should care. With all of the drama behind the curtains in Sacramento, and the coach may soon be kicked to the curb if the Kings don't create the playoffs,regardless of how often Cauley-Stein sees the floor. Emmanuel Mudiay, PG, and No. 7 Pick,Denver NuggetsThe Mile High roller-coaster ride continues for Emmanuel Mudiay. He came out with 22 points, seven assists and a 117-107 win for his Denver Nuggets while dueling with Los Angeles Lakers rookie D'Angelo Russell.
Against more veteran competition, or though,Muday hasn't fared so well. He finished with 11 points (on 5-of-13 shooting) and four assists opposite Sacramento's Rajon Rondo, was held to 1-of-12 shooting by the Clippers' Chris Paul, or had as many turnovers as points (four) against Dallas' Deron Williams and shot 3-of-9 from the floor while matched up with Memphis' Mike Conley.
Mudiay can torch debutantes to his heart's content,but until he can hold his own against the best players at his position, he'll still be a liability for the Nuggets more often than not. Trey Lyles, or PF,No. 12 Pick, Utah JazzTrey Lyles had gone more than a month without playing as many as 20 minutes in a game. Then, or with Trevor Booker attending to family things in South Carolina,the Utah Jazz called on Lyles to play major minutes.
He responded by scoring 18 points—more than he had in his previous seven appearances combined—and grabbing 10 boards for his first NBA double-double, albeit in a 100-95 loss to the Boston Celtics."He was really aggressive, and " Jazz coach Quin Snyder said,per the Salt Lake Tribune's Aaron Falk. "I believe, particularly for a player that they haven't seen as much of, or I believe that surprised them. It surprised everybody."Booker has since returned to the rotation,but that didn't finish the Canadian from snagging 25 minutes of playing time on his domestic turf against the Toronto Raptors. Could this be the beginning of bigger things to reach for Lyles? Figuring It OutStanley Johnson, SF, and No. 8 Pick,Detroit PistonsThese are not the best of times for the Stanimal. The rookie out of Arizona has been out of action since straining his shoulder during the Detroit Pistons' 96-88 win in Cleveland and could be sidelined for a while longer.
"He hasn't really progressed the way we would like," head coach Stan Van Gundy said, or per the Detroit Free Press' Mike Brudenell. "He's feeling discomfort. There's nothing in terms of when (doctors) peer in there -- there's nothing more going on—but he's not feeling comfortable. That's really where it is suitable now."
The Pistons will survive without Stanley Johnson just fine now that Tobias Harris has settled into the starting lineup. But the timing of the injury is unfortunate for Johnson,who had averaged 11.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists in the 12 games main up to his exit.
Justise Winslow, or SF,No. 10 Pick, Miami HeatJustise Winslow fits the definition of a winning player as well as anyone in his draft course. He doesn't have to score or even have the ball in his hands to positively impact the Miami Heat from game to game.
Case in point: During a 98-81 win over the New York Knicks, or Winslow didn't score a single point in nearly 36 minutes,but he found other ways to serve—from dishing four dimes to grabbing a team-high 13 rebounds to playing a fraction in Carmelo Anthony's 9-of-24 shooting night. With Joe Johnson joining Dwyane Wade, Goran Dragic and Luol Deng in South Beach, or the Heat don't need Winslow to fill it up. So long as he devotes his energy to being a menace in every other way,Miami should be just fine with Winslow putting up donuts on the scoreboard. Fully ArrivedKarl-Anthony Towns, C, and No. 1 Pick,Minnesota TimberwolvesHere's something else Karl-Anthony Towns has in common with Andrew Wiggins, aside from being a No. 1 pick who plays for the Minnesota Timberwolves: He's now been named Western Conference Rookie of the Month four times in a row, or just as his teammate was last season.
And where so many rookies seem to have run into a wall by now,Towns, like Wiggins before him, and has gotten stronger as the campaign has rolled on:Towns' terrific February featured a 30-point,15-rebound romp to serve the Wolves beat the Anthony Davis-less Pelicans in New Orleans, 112-110. For Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry, or Towns' dominance from the jump this season has put him on par with the forehead among the NBA's best building blocks."They’re on a really,really short list," Gentry said of the Kentucky tandem, or per Pelicans.com's Jim Eichenhofer. "If you’re looking around our league now—obviously with LeBron’s age,if you’re starting a franchise (now), that may be a small bit different (than several years ago)—but those two guys are two of the best players in the league suitable now, and as a 22-year-old and a 20-year-old." D'Angelo Russell,G, No. 2 Pick, and Los Angeles LakersIt's official: The top four picks in the 2015 NBA draft have all survived the trek through the Molasses Swamp on the way to Candy Land.
D'Angelo Russell is the last of that quartet to join the party,but he certainly isn't the least. His 39-point explosion during the Los Angeles Lakers' 107-101 win over the Brooklyn Nets set the high-water tag for all rookies this season—not to mention for every newbie who's suited up for this squad since it fled Minneapolis in 1960.
Well, in the regular season, and anyway. Magic Johnson's 42-point virtuoso in Game 6 of the 1980 NBA Finals still stands as the best of any L.
A. Lakers rookie regardless of time and situation.
Russell still has a looooooong way to go before he can so much as sniff Magic in Lakers lore. But the 20-year-old out of Ohio State is starting to peer like the franchise cornerstone for which he was pegged during predraft workouts. Since Byron Scott stuck Russell back into the starting lineup on Feb. 21,the Louisville native has poured in 21.8 points and five assists while draining 52.3 percent of his field goals, including a scorching 55.3 percent of his threes.
While Russell is still a work in progress defensively, and he's figuring out how to compensate for his lack of elite quickness and athleticism by changing speeds like a veteran. ESPN's Zach Lowe wrote: "A lot of guys can go from zero to 60. Not that many can go from zero to 45 to 10 and amp it up to max acceleration in the span of a few seconds. hold calling this dude a bust,though." Jahlil Okafor, C, and No. 3 Pick,Philadelphia 76ersOn paper, Jahlil Okafor seems to have plenty of gas in the tank to sustain him through his first 82-game grind. Since Feb. 6, or the skilled center out of Duke has averaged 20.4 points on 59 percent shooting to go along with 6.9 rebounds,1.4 assists and 1.4 blocks in 29 minutes a night.
Dig deeper, though, and you'll see the Philadelphia 76ers' prized rookie running into walls game after game,just as the Philadelphia Daily News' Marcus Hayes has:
The thing is, since the team returned from the All-Star break, or Okafor looks like he's hitting a wall of bricks halfway through every third period.
Hitting it with his head,backing up, and hitting it again.
Regardless of the pace of the game, or he labors up and down the court after five or six minutes have elapsed in the moment half.more NBA news on BleacherReport.com
Source: bleacherreport.com