Draft Digest Roundtable: Rookies Deserving of More Minutes
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For most rookies, it takes time to really break into the regular rotation at the NBA level. With that in mind, we're starting to see more first year players earn minutes, even on good teams.
Even then, there's still a handful of rookies that aren't playing as much as we'd like. Experience on the court is the primary driver of development, which is key in ensuring your players reach their full potential.
This week, the Draft Digest team gives their thoughts on which rookies are deserving of more court time.
Derek Parker
Jazz center Walker Kessler is a player I think has earned more run in the early slate.Kessler’s averaging just 15.4 minutes per game. But in games he’s played more than 20 minutes this season, usually hovering just over and no more than 23 all season, he’s averaging 2.8 blocks per game.
While he’s got a long way to go as an all-around prospect, Kessler is a legitimate rim-protector in the short-term. And Utah could certainly start his development right now.
Nick Crain
Dyson Daniels of the New Orleans Pelicans is absolutely worthy of playing more minutes. To be clear, he has played a ton as of late, but that's due to injuries.
Once Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum return to the lineup, I'd like to see Daniels remain part of the regular rotation. His defensive upside coupled with the ability to facilitate makes him a player that can impact winning despite being a rookie.
Bryce Simon
The first name that popped into my head was AJ Griffin of the Atlanta Hawks. He has been playing more as of late, 21.4 minutes over his last 12 games, but they playing time has been a little sporadic.
The sharp shooter is knocking down 3-pointers at a respectable 37% and has been better than expected inside the arc at 58% on all twos. Cerebro has him as the 11th best rookie with at least 10 games played and 10 minutes per game but he is getting the 2nd lowest minutes per game of that group.
The rookie getting the least? Walker Kessler. Kessler actually comes in No. 4 in the C-Ram metric and is second, behind only Tari Eason, in the defensive stats impact metric. Kessler was not a prospect I was high on coming into the draft, and the Jazz have been surprisingly competitive, but more minutes for the rookie center could be in the best interest long term for the organization.
Morten Stig Jensen
This starts and ends with Tari Eason. His activity level, switchability, and overall energy is a skill, and the Rockets need to give him a reason for him to keep being invested.
Eason should be getting 25 minutes per night, at least, so he can find the stability and consistency that is in there. He's played between 13 and 22 minutes over the past five games, which isn't exactly a good way of carving out a role for the guy.Yes, he's been mostly inefficient.
Yes, he has a tendency to foul a lot. But those are areas that are fixable, especially when giving a role that's more fleshed out.
Unleash Tari Eason, Stephen Silas!
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