Evaluating the Biggest Sleepers for the NBA’s All-Rookie Teams

Each season, a handful of fresh NBA draftees hit the ground running, finding themselves on the first or second All-Rookie teams.

Typcially, these are dominated by top picks, and recently-taken players such as AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and Caleb Wilson are sure to make a run at so few spots.

Still, there's a handful of prospects who were drafted later who could be well-positioned to find themselves on that very same list. Here are a few choices who could have an outside chance at landing on one of the All-Rookie teams.

Meleek Thomas, Cavaliers

Based on his Summer League campaign, Cavaliers’ guard Meleek Thomas may not seem a “sleeper” selection for this list, though he fell all the way to the second round on draft night.

He played like a combo guard scorned in Las Vegas, leading the event with 27.3 points per game on 50% shooting, including white-hot 44% shooting from beyond the arc. Even more, he averaged 3.5 rebounds, 3.8 assists and 2.0 steals per game.

Thomas is still likely to have an outside chance at making the All-Rookie team given he’s a second-round pick joining a team looking to contend. Though there’s a chance that Cleveland has simply hit on a combo guard ready to hit the ground running in the NBA.

Bruce Thornton, Rockets

The first pick of the second round, former Ohio State standout Bruce Thornton has landed in the exact right spot to maximize his individual talent.

The Rockets were completely and totally deprived of point guard help last season. And while Fred VanVleet is set to make his return, there will still be plenty of opportunity for Thornton to get buckets in Houston’s secondary rotation.

Thornton did that all the way through college and continued his scoring output into Summer League, averaging 18.6 points per game in Las Vegas.

Dailyn Swain, Bulls

Dailyn Swain was the first non-lottery pick at No. 15, making him an interesting choice for a sleeper selection. Issue being, he was downright abysmal in Summer League, averaging 4.3 points on 13% shooting from the field.

Swain didn’t necessarily look NBA ready — or really even G League ready for that matter — but there are cases to be made he can have a bounce back as early as his rookie season. The Bulls lacked real play-makers, sometimes looking to Swain to create himself, which rarely worked out. Those like Josh Giddey and Matas Buzelis should be able to take major pressure off Swain, be it through passing or scoring gravity.

Right now, Swain’s All-Rookie case seems an outside chance, though debut seasons and careers are long, and there’s plenty of time for him to bounce back on the wing given his size, athleticism and skill.

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