The Grizzlies on Monday waived Troy Williams, who was second among rookies in steals, 15th in minutes, second in defensive rating and had a better efficiency rating than lottery picks Brandon Ingram and Domantas Sabonis. It’s a setback for Williams but also the latest big-picture assessment on the dilapidated state of the first-year class.
Being relatively productive — emphasis on the comparison to the other newcomers — doesn’t guarantee a job in a season when a lot of rookies can’t even get on the court for bad teams whose 2016-17 priority is building for the future. It has been that bleak.
To have only five in the class averaging 24 minutes, half the game, as the season passes the midpoint is a bad indicator that cannot be offset by the upbeat storylines of Joel Embiid at an All-Star level, Malcolm Brogdon going from the second round to immediate contributor, Marquese Chriss impacting sooner than most front offices projected, and the recovery of Caris LeVert.
As noted before, seven rookies finished at 24 minutes or more last season and three (Karl-Anthony Towns, Emmanuel Mudiay and Jahlil Okafor) were 30 or better. Seven also reached 24 in in 2014-15, five in 2013-14 and nine in 2012-13, the season Damian Lillard averaged 38.6.
This time, it’s Ingram at 27.6, Rodney McGruder at 25.9, Brogdon 25.5, Embiid 25.4 and Dario Saric 24.0, although it is reasonable to expect Embiid would have more if not for the minutes restriction as he comes back from two seasons lost to injury. The same number by Ingram would have been seventh last season.
Playing time will remain a key indicator, for the entire group and specifically in how many minutes No. 1 pick Ben Simmons gets once he debuts for the 76ers after a foot injury. It will tell a lot once early-February has turned into end-of-season evaluations.
As for the position-by-position breakdown so far:
Point guard
Malcom Brogdon, Milwaukee Bucks
Andrew Harrison, Memphis Grizzlies
Isaiah Whitehead, Brooklyn Nets
Malcolm Delaney, Atlanta Hawks
Kris Dunn, Minnesota Timberwolves
Dec. 2 ranking: Brogdon, Murray, McGruder, Troy Williams, Tomas Satoransky.
Summary: Brogdon was previously No. 1 at shooting guard, but started at the point during Matthew Dellavedova’s injury absence and has taken care of the ball all season. It’s semantics anyway — he’s at the top of either list as the second-best newcomer overall, behind only Embiid, and at the very worst is third, among those who give Saric an edge for No. 2. Whitehead’s improvement provides a solid three-deep with the chance to move up if his good run continues and Harrison’s minutes sag again. For now, though, Harrison is shooting better, an important development. Kay Felder of the Cavaliers had a case for No. 5 before falling short based on inconsistent, and sometimes nonexistent minutes, but could make the list next time.
Shooting guard
Buddy Hield, New Orleans Pelicans
Caris LeVert, Brooklyn Nets
Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets
Alex Abrines, Oklahoma City Thunder
Rodney McGruder, Miami Heat
Dec. 2 ranking: Delaney, Harrison, Jonathan Gibson, Tyler Ulis, Whitehead.
Summary: A big shakeup from the previous list, and another possibly on the way. LeVert with the same impact the entire first half would be No. 1, perhaps by a wide margin, but he missed the first 20 games while recovering from a knee injury that also had a role in the drop to 20th in the Draft. The longer the season goes and the longer he plays like this, getting healthier as he goes, the better he looks. While four of the five have been in the overall top 10 of the Rookie Ladder — all except Abrines — it is not a strong season for the position, especially now with Hield and Murray deep into shooting slumps.
Small forward
Brandon Ingram, Los Angeles Lakers
Davis Bertans, San Antonio Spurs
Jaylen Brown, Boston Celtics
Mindaugus Kuzminskas, New York Knicks
Dorian Finney-Smith, Dallas Mavericks
Dec. 2 ranking: Ingram, Brown, Taurean Prince, Bertans, Finney-Smith.
Summary: No spot is safe. Bertans is going good, Brown continues to shoot well, particularly noteworthy in a season when that is such a rarity, and Kuzminskas has been getting big minutes despite (wait for it) poor shooting, but no position is as fluid. That includes No. 1, with Ingram in the top 10 in several categories among all rookies, except while 35.6 percent from the field, a number that would make anyone vulnerable. There is also the possibility he could move out of small forward, after playing several spots the first half, including recently starting at point guard. Bertans going back and forth with Brogdon for the class lead in three-point accuracy to earn minutes on a contender.
Power forward
Dario Saric, Philadelphia 76ers
Marquese Chriss, Phoenix Suns
Pascal Siakam, Toronto Raptors
Domantas Sabonis, Oklahoma City Thunder
Juan Hernangomez, Denver Nuggets
Dec. 2 ranking: Saric, Siakam, Sabonis, Chriss, Hernangomez.
Summary: The same five as last time, only with a different order and feel. Saric has been the best, even with shooting woes, but has also spent time at small forward as part of the ripple effect of the 76ers trying to mash Embiid, Ersan Ilyasova, Jahlil Okafor and Nerlens Noel into something resembling a big-man rotation. (Saric would have been No. 1 at small forward as well.) Chriss was named Western Conference Rookie of the Month for January on Thursday, a sign of his month and, more importantly, his continued upward trajectory for the entire season. He would have been a solid No. 1, not a last-resort fallback, if Saric had been placed at small forward. While Siakam’s role in Toronto is disappearing, he has months left to work back into the rotation — and up the rankings.
Centers
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Willy Hernangomez, New York Knicks
Ivica Zubac, Los Angeles Lakers
Jakob Poeltl, Toronto Raptors
A.J. Hammons, Dallas Mavericks
Dec. 2 ranking: Embiid, Hernangomez, Poeltl, Hammons, Zubac.
Summary: Depth! We have depth! It’s not as good as last season with Karl-Anthony Towns, Jahlil Okafor and Nikola Jokic on a consistent basis plus occasional Willie Cauley-Stein sightings, but definitely a step forward to have three 2016-17 centers putting up numbers at the midpoint. Hernangomez continues to show he will at least rebound, and occasionally more, if he gets the minutes, which has not always happened. Zubac had the kind of January — 8.4 points and 5.9 rebounds in 16.9 minutes, 54.8 percent from the field — that showed the constant shuttle to and from the NBA D-League is paying off. Poeltl is not in the Toronto rotation, but that lottery pick by a title hopeful was always an investment in the future, not immediate returns.
Scott Howard-Cooper has covered the NBA since 1988. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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