Draft Digest Roundtable: NBA Rookie Impact on Winning

In the 2022 NBA Draft, quite a few teams near the bottom of last year's rankings selected rookies that should have a major impact on the franchise moving forward. While it's usually unlikely that a rookie completely transforms a team in year one, many of the first-year players entering the league this season could truly help their respective team win a few more games than they would have without them.

This week, the Draft Digest team gives their thoughts on which teams will be most positively impacted by rookie production.

Derek Parker

The easiest choice for me here is Houston, who essentially drafted three first-round level talents on a roster that pretty desperately needed it.

Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason, offensive skill aside, will immediately plug in as two of the Rockets best overall defenders. They're high energy and even have fairly high offensive floors as well.

TyTy Washington could be a consistent, smooth pick who can contribute with winning plays and decision making in year one.

Nick Crain

The Kings have the longest active playoff drought in the NBA, but if that streak is broken this season you have to assume Keegan Murray plays a big part in that happening. On a team that's got the talent on paper to make the play-in tournament, the rookie out of Iowa has a real chance to play significant minutes.

Murray looked phenomenal in NBA Summer League and is versatile enough to play in quite a few different lineups in Sacramento. I'm not convinced the Kings will take that huge leap this season, but if they do Murray will be a primary reason.

Jam Hines

For this, I'm looking at talent, fit and opportunity. Houston and Oklahoma (even without Holmgren) make sense as the leading candidates, but I'm going with the Spurs.

In Jeremy Sochan (9th overall), Malaki Branham (20th overall) and Blake Wesley (25th overall), the Spurs drafted three talented rookies that should all see significant minutes as the team rebuilds and evaluates who their core group of young players will be moving forward. Each of the mentioned players possess the skills and tools to produce in both the short and long term, albeit with plenty of growing pains this season.

An undrafted rookie, Jordan Hall, who drew accurate comps to former Spur Kyle Anderson, could be a factor in year one as well. Don't be surprised if San Antonio has multiple rookies that earn a place on the NBA All-Rookie team.

Ignacio Rissotto

For me it's the Detroit Pistons, considering how both of their first-round rookies seem to fill certain needs for the team. Jaden Ivey looked as good as advertised in Summer League, small sample size and all.

I know it can take a bit longer for guards to catch up with the speed of the league, but his profile as a dynamic scorer fits extremely well in a team that lacks an elite shot creator. Similarly, Jalen Duren fills a role of primary rim protection for the team. I don't think there's any other team in the NBA where you could realistically expect two different rookies to play starter-type minutes by the end of the season except for the Pistons.

Morten Stig Jensen

The Sacramento Kings will see a major uptick due to the presence of Keegan Murray, who is probably also going to be my pick for Rookie Of the Year. Murray is a release valve that the Kings never quite had before. They had bail-out options in players such a Buddy Hield and to some extent Tyrese Haliburton, when he was used off ball.

But in Murray, they have a player who can get the ball when the offense grows stagnant, who can somehow facilitate a shot or a pass, or some type of action that allows the Kings to maintain a higher level of production than before.

Do note I specifically underline the Haliburton mention as when he was playing off the ball, and alongside De'Aaron Fox. There's no question he's evolved to the level where he now is also able to make something out of nothing - but that wasn't always the case when he had to play off of others, and was more of an afterthought.

Murray is not only going to give the Kings a major injection of offense, he's also a sturdy and switchable defender with great IQ, who understands how to guard certain players. He'll pick up blocks, despite not having the physical profile of a shot-blocker, simply due to his understanding of angles, timing, and savvy.

These Kings have for years missed high-intelligence players, and in Murray they gain one of the brightest young basketball minds. If the Kings fail to utilize him properly, there should be no more excuses left. He's the guy who can return them to respectability.

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