TI’s week 6 rookie ladder: OKC Thunder Giddey cements his place

No. 1 – Scottie Barnes – Toronto Raptors

Now, the fact Mobley won the East’s Rookie of the Month over Scottie Barnes I take a bit of umbrage with.  Although I do agree there should be extra credit given for rookies contributing to winning efforts and those who play both ends of the court.

Likewise, there should be credit given to rookies like Barnes and Giddey. Both are taking on increased roles due to core members being out injured and have become integral to their team’s success.

I’m not saying Mobley won’t end up winning Rookie of the Year or quite possibly be the most talented prospect from this class. Rather, that the rookies who are making the biggest impact should get their just rewards, and in the case of RoM for Oct/Nov that was Scottie Barnes in my humble opinion.

In the meeting between the Raptors and Cavaliers, Barnes guarded Mobley straight up but in the majority of Barnes offensive plays both Mobley and Allen, tag-teamed the Raptors rookie. And, other than points (4 extra points for Mobley) Barnes outperformed him statistically.

That was one game, but it’s also the case for the six weeks of play where Barnes led the majority of key categories and was top five in the others.  While the award was for October/November the stats used for Mobley said he “tied for rebounds” and that’s not true. The pundits dove into December to add one more game in order to have his numbers match Barnes — sorry but that’s just SUS.

Mobley leads blocks but compare the main areas of their stat lines for the period and it honestly feels like Barnes got robbed:

Mobley: 14.4 points, 8.0 rebounds 1.6 (OR), 2.5 assists, 0.9 steals, 1.8 blocks

Barnes: 15.4 points, 8.2 rebounds 3.0 (OR), 3.3 assists, 1.2 steals, 0.8 blocks

Rookie category rankings:

• Points: 15.2 – first
• Rebounds: 8.3 – first
• Offensive rebounds: 3.1 – first
• Field Goals Made: 6.2 – first
• Minutes per game: 35.3 – first
• Double-Doubles: three
• Blocks: 0.6 – third
• Free Throws Made: 2.2 – tied third
• Assists: 3.3 – fourth
• Turnovers: 2.2 – fifth
• Steals: 1.1 – two-way tie for fourth
• Field goal percent: 48.6%
• 3-point field goal percent: 35.3% (shooting 46.7% in last four games since increasing his attempts)

The other major difference is while Barnes began the year reluctant to shoot 3-pointers Nick Nurse tasked him to take more shots from the perimeter and the results are shocking.

Through the first 15 games, Barnes attempted 13 shots from behind the arc hitting two for an atrocious 15.4 percent. However, since the challenge from Nurse, he’s flipped the script.

Since then he’s taken 27 triples and connected on 13 for a robust 48.1 percent. The success isn’t limited to one great performance either. Rather, in four of those six games, he took between three and nine 3-pointers and shot between 44.4% and 66.7%. He’s been so effective that his seasonal average has blossomed to 37.5% overall.

It’s sort of unfair to compare Mobley with Barnes because while they have similarities (full toolbox of skills, two-way players) they look completely different. Mobley is the graceful, fluid big while Barnes is all energy, bravado, and power. They’re both equally fun to watch but are two distinctly different styles.

Moreover, like Giddey and the OKC Thunder, Barnes has been hampered by his roster. Giddey is surrounded primarily by inexperience (and if we’re honest mostly because they are purposely tanking). The Raptors rookie has dealt with constantly changing lineups given the injury situation in Toronto. Of the eight players, Nick Nurse uses the most, each has missed two games but half have missed between eight and 19 games (frequently at the same time).

It’s one thing for a rookie to adapt to being in the pros but when you’re playing with a different lineup every other night that only adds to the difficulty. Barnes ranks top five in every major category on his own team except 3-point attempts (which is likely to change now that he’s taking more). In fact, he ranks first, second or third in 14 of the 23 major categories on the Raptors.

Asked recently if he cared about winning RoY, Barnes said he cares about winning – and then followed that statement with “but I’ll also try to win.” Now that he got snubbed for the first Eastern monthly honor we’ll find out how competitive he is. If the first game after the announcement was any indication I’d say it matters:

With no Antetokounmpo in the game, Barnes asked Nurse to be the primary defender on Khris Middleton (and notably KM didn’t start scoring until the third when Barnes wasn’t on the floor).

In addition, he accumulated 13 points, hit half his 3-pointers (3 of 6), seven boards (2 OR), four assists, three steals, a block, no turnovers, and made the game-winning play tapping a missed free throw out to his teammate. Yeah – I’d say he’s taking this award thing seriously.

While Cade Cunningham will certainly factor in the mix for Rookie of the Year – I think it’s a pretty safe bet that one of Mobley, Barnes, and possibly Giddey (depending on the health of the other two) will win the award!

In the interim, as fans, we get to watch the most exciting rookie class in a very long time.