Draft Digest Rookies of the Week: Mathurin and Branham Lead the Way

Each week, the Draft Digest team picks an NBA rookie from each conference as the best player of the week.

Most rookies across the league have now made their debuts and are starting to get more comfortable at the NBA level. As they emerge more, the impact on winning will become more important.

The talent in this rookie class continues to shine bright, but some players are beginning to stick out over the rest.

Who brought home the hardware this week?

Eastern Conference

Bennedict Mathurin (Indiana Pacers)

Stats Since Last Week: 1 GP | 16.0 PPG| 2.0 ORPG | 40% 3PT | 50% FG

Although he wasn’t taken in the top five, Mathurin is still pushing for an NBA Rookie of the Year nod. There’s no question he’s been one of the best first year players in the league thus far.

It was a small sample size of games this week, but Mathurin continued his success with a 16-point outing. He also showed his range with great 3-point shooting efficiency.

Western Conference

Malaki Branham (San Antonio Spurs)

Stats Since Last Week: 1 GP | 13.0 PPG | 3.0 APG | 2.0 RPG | 75% FT

Branham played his second ever NBA game this week and made the most of it. Although he wasn’t the most efficient, he had his first double-digit scoring output and also had a great assist to turnover ratio.

Moving forward, he’ll need to make more of each shot attempt. In the meantime, the flashes he showed this week are indicative of why Branham was selected in the first round.

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