NBA Rookie Rankings: Harkless emerging, Valanciunas showing signs of life

With the Cavaliers having two rookies playing prominent minutes, WFNY thought it would beneficial to see how the fresh meat around the league is faring in comparison with the Cavalier rookies. Each week, we’ll have NBA rookie power rankings where we’ll rack and stack the freshman class of the NBA. The rankings will be weighted with the most recent games carrying the most importance, but the whole body of work will be taken into account. Great nicknames, beards, and great celebrations may also play a large factor.

1. Damian Lillard (Last Week: 1)

After winning two in a row and climbing back in the hunt for the West’s 8 seed, Lillard and the Blazers have stumbled to two losses in a row, keeping them three games back of the Lakers for the final playoff spot¹.

Lillard hasn’t been quite his usual phenomenal self of late, but is clearly still the top rookie. While there haven’t been many games of late that “wow”, the Portland point guard is still averaging 17.6 points and 6.2 assists in his last five games. But for Portland to make the playoffs they’re going to need to lean more on Lillard.

Nicolas Batum and LaMarcus Aldridge are two exceptional options for Portland, but the fact of the matter is Lillard is heartbeat of that team, and if he isn’t on top of his game the Blazers will struggle. In Portland’s latest loss to Brooklyn, Lillard struggled shooting from the floor (despite being 3-5 from downtown), and turned the ball over four times.

In the Blazers last five wins, Lillard is averaging just 2 turnovers a game compared to the nearly 4 he is averaging in their last five losses. For as dynamic as he is, Lillard must also be efficient to keep Portland out of the lottery and move them into the playoffs.

2. Anthony Davis (Last Week: 2)

Look out — the New Orleans Hornets have won 3 out of their last 4 thanks in large part to play of last year’s top pick. Last week I mentioned how a signature win over a premier team can ignite a team and it’s fan base, and boy does that seem to be happening right now in NOLA.

After Anthony Davis’ game winning tip in over Boston, the future Pelicans have won 3 out of 4 with the other wins coming in hard fought game against Memphis and a 24 point beat down of Denver to snap the Nugs’ 15 game winning streak.

Davis has been everything you would expect he’d be over that stretch. He’s been nothing flashy, but he is averaging just under 14 points and 10 rebounds a game during this favorable run for the Hornets and is doing so on over 60% shooting. It’s efficiency like that and hysterical talking unibrow commercials like this that is making me come around on the Hornets’ young star.

3. Maurice Harkless (Last Week: 3)

Harkless was a straight monster last Friday against the Thunder. Not only did he have a career high 25 points, but how about 9 rebounds, 4 steals, and 4 blocks as well? Moe Harkless was the best small forward on the court that night, and that includes Kevin Durant.

Harkless has become far and away the best scoring small forward of this draft class and this last week he was thrown into an Advanced Placement NBA Defense class having to run up against LeBron and Durant. The St. John’s product kept the league’s two biggest stars from going off but each still managed 25 plus points on over 50 percent from the field.

As each game passes Harkless is looking more and more like the real deal. Scoring from the wing is vital in the NBA and Orlando seems to be on the right track filling that void with Harkless.

4. Harrison Barnes (Last Week: NR)

Barnes continues to chip in for the playoff bound Warriors. He’s not scoring 20 a night or single handedly influencing games, but he’s scoring efficiently when called upon and playing strong defense for Marc Jackson and company.

Barnes is very reminiscent of Kawhi Leonard last season for the Spurs. Both are dependable to knock down open shots, play good defense on the wing, rebound, and have the athleticism to make the big play. Neither is called on to do too much, and simply is called on to just play within the system.

The Warriors have won 6 of their last 9, a stretch that has seen the steady Barnes average 10.4 points on 54% shooting. Barnes has Warriors fans very stable at the moment, not too many highs and not too many lows from the rookie from UNC.

5. Jonas Valanciunas (Last Week: NR)

After a strong start to the season, Valanciunas hit the typical rookie wall in the winter months, but has bounced back nicely of late for Toronto. The bruising big man out of Lithuania has been in double figures in 9 of his last 10 games. Big V seems to be settling into his starting role for the lowly Raptors, logging 27.5 minutes a night during the Raptors last 10.

Valanciunas is earning a reputation around the league for being an absolute pest. The way in which he throws his body around underneath the glass has sparked a couple different altercations in the last month. He’s becoming a guy you hate to play against, but would love on your team.

He’s not going to be a star, and is still behind Tristan Thompson who the Cavs selected just in front of him in terms of development, but Valanciunas is showing signs of life north of the border.

1. Good news for Cavs fans [↩]